NDLS trip

Journey time ... off to the north for a week

BCT-BRC:BL=WCAM-2P
BRC-NDLS:GZB=WAP-5
NZM-BRC:BRC=WAP-4
NDLS-AGC-BPL:GZB=WAP-5

All about the BEST Rs. 40/- ticket

Alt. title : 40.00 Rupay Daindin Pravas

You can buy this ticket on any bus route - all conductors stock them (sic) . Just say "chalees rupay tickeet" and he will give you a normal looking ticket (green) . It will say "40.00 Rupay Daindin Pravas". The left bank of numbers represents the day of the month and the right bank, the month. Numbers (i.e. stages for normal tickets) run from 1 to 26. For 27 to 31 they use the "Balak" , "Saman" column. So make sure you know the date. Else you are in trouble if a TC (blue-topi) gets to you.

The BEST conductors "ought" to have stocked some "chalees rupay" tickets in their boxes. Else I guess you should be able to undertake the journey for free. Or else the conductor should arrange to get you such a ticket by stopping another BEST bus or get some stock from a passing depot.

It can be used in any bus on the BEST network. Except AC buses (numbered as A-1 , A-2 etc.) and Express (also known as "Jald" and named as "EXP"). You can travel on all ordinary routes (white nos. written on black backgrounds), limited (red on white), special (numberd as SPL-1 etc.).

It can be used till 12 midnight of the particular day. I dont know what happens during the borderline conditions - before your the bus reaches your desired destincation, the clock strikes 12.

Preserve the ticket. Torn and mutilated ones can be rejected by the blue-topis. So laminate the ticket as soon as you get off from your first journey.

This scheme promotes "load balancing". You tend to take the bus thats empty or the first bus that comes in front of you. You know you can get in and get off at any stop. So know your routes and keep your eyes open at junctions, signals for other buses around you. People can tend to change 4 to 5 buses over a journey. This may mean advantages in either getting seats or faster travel - rather than wait for a single connection route thats empty - which might mean waiting all day at the bus stop.

Chargeable luggage has to taken care by another ticket bought for that particular journey. I dont know if you can buy a "chalees rupay" for your VIP Aristrocrat or POLO-SPORT and then lug it all over the city.

There are no concesssions for such ticket holders. You cant get in from the front door of the bus. No preferential treatment for seats inside. No bouquets or coolie service. No tea. No newspaper. No whiskey. You must show this ticket to the conductor when he punches his "metal ticket puncher" in the air in front of you ( i.e. asking you to pay up to buy your ticket) - tik tik tik.

The scheme saves you from lugging around the Nasik Mint in your shirt / frock pocket all day. Or carrying all those small tenners and fifty buck notes all the time.

The ticket doesnt have your name or sex. So lend it to others for small trips around the neighbourhood you are in. (Tumhee mumbai darshan free karoo kay ???). Make sure the bastards come back with the ticket in case you need to travel more for that day. Also, recover some cash at the end of your "yatra". Sell your ticket to some passenger who is about to board a bus. Ask him where he (or she) is going - calculate the fare - charge him (or her) lesser than that. He (She) can pay you and use the ticket for the journey. This idea may spread like wildfire and soon bus-stops in the evenings will turn into trading zones. Perhaps qualify for some preferential SEZ status later on.

The scheme benefits long distance travellers. And shouldnt it. More usage of a product or services should translate into preferencial treatment. Ask any MBA. Perhaps some have made it into the BEST.

Hope the scheme stays. Its one good thing that these guys have done after a long time.

Railway museums

Rail museums exist at the following places in India

• New Delhi - National Rail Museum, Chanakyapuri
• Mysore - Rail Museum
• Nagpur - Narrow Gauge Railway Museum
• Howrah - Regional Rail Museum, Near HWH
• Chennai - Regional Rail Museum, New Aradi Road, ICF Furnishing Div.

See this

Pondicherry

Pondicherry has four parts

1. Pondicherry, which is 160 km South of Chennai
2. Karaikkal, a small town south of Pondicherry (in Tamil Nadu)
3. Yanam, again a small town near Vizag in Andhra Pradesh
4. Mahe, a tiny town in north Kerala between Cannanore and Calicut

CDT D. V. Ghorpade

Alt. Title : Warrior Race

Three in formation. Waiting for the fourth. The behind one wishes.
Hey You ? What the is this ? Take a 20 to .
Single ? That’s when the cycle rides on you.
Juliet. Foxtrot. Echo.
Equestrian.
Peacock Bay.
Ronaldhino in the making. Fifty football fields.
Four minutes. No time. No food. One kilo ice cream and twenty gulab jamuns.
Three years.
Uniforms for each hour.
Oceans of blood, sweat and tears.

What is all this ? This is the way our boys (only boys, no girls) train to defend us. This is the way how young kids are moulded into the warrior race. It’s a story of orders and more orders. A rather serene and royal place that teaches you “THE” tricks of the trade. Its here that one learns to “manage”.

Beg, steal or borrow. But don’t get caught.

The place where ragging is official and sees no limit. And its part of the curriculum. And moreover - its imparted by the teachers themselves. The kids just dont match the profs.

Ten thousand bucks per kid per week.. And when there are twelve hundred kids inside, then it cant be a joke. As long as you stay inside you get the “boot” each day. If you cant sustain – you are given the “boot” – please pay and leave. Some lessons here for our IIT kids perhaps. The country’s resources aint free.

The best part – its untainted of reservation. No Arjun Singh. No Mandal. Hence no bundal.