The joy of bicycling

I had always considered bicycling to be a pleasure. I used to use a bicycle to commute for the most part of my junior college days. Bicycling was also a favorite past time / exercise for many evenings during those days. Due to an incredible increase in traffic and decrease in traffic manners and tempers, I had to sell off the bicycle.

The joy returned again. The first few days at IITB seemed to be a pleasure bicycling around the campus on the new bicycle. Gone are the days of the past when running from one building to another or to / from the gate was a big tiring and boring task.

The joy, however, got reduced over the week as I took possession of a room in Hostel 6 (yes, I am now a "Hexalite" as the Hostel 6 residents are called).

Away from the main gate, deep into the campus, almost the end of the main road inside the IITB campus, lies Hostel 6. Only 2 hostels exist beyond it - the newer hostels 12 and 13 - that are very close to the Rennaisance Hotel. But, the problem is that the road from the main gate to the hostel (especially from my school to the hostel) is full of ups and downs (slopes). This resulted in quite a stressful activity just going and coming to / from the hostel. Hopefully I will get used to it as the time goes by and it won't be such a big problem. One got the feeling that having a bicycle with gears would have made it much more easier.

Of course, that does not take away the fear of panthers...gosh, the logo of Hostel 6 has got what looks like a panther on it. Maybe its better to stay in the school than to venture out to go to the hostel beyond 9 p.m.

"The bicycle has been bought"

After days of dilly-dallying, I've finally bought (well, almost) an used Avon bicyle from the "Red and White" bicycle shop inside IITB. It will cost me Rs. 1350 better than a new bicycle for about Rs. 2100 or above. This also signals the decision to join the MTech programme at IITB. The orientation programme starts tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll also get a hostel that I can stay at if it gets too late.

I had to spend a lot of energy just deciding whether to join or not. It was quite surprising that my entire family wanted me to join the programme. It seemed evident that my mother was quite sure that my high score at the GATE (examination) was just an accident and could not be obtained again.

Many others at my workplace stood by me and helped me take the decision. A few others felt that I should pursue my MBA and not MTech. Time alone will tell if my decision is right or wrong.

Meanwhile, wish me all the best.

Cheats at the photocopier

Today was the second time I saw some cheats at the photocopier's. I was at a typical big photocopier's shop that offers all kinds of printing services, photocopying and also lamination. I was there to laminate all my important documents (one less thing to worry about when the water level in the house rises for whatever reasons). As the lamination was in progress, 2 guys (quite rough from their looks) disembarked from a motorcycle and demanded from one of the boys at the counter to colour photocopy what looked like a laminated government-issued document. Their idea, which they foolishly expressed, was to change the number (id) at the top of the document in the photocopy. The boy at the counter cooly replied that it was not possible for them to do that...if they wanted a photocopy, it would come laminated and no change of id would be permitted. I tried to see what document it was that they wanted to forge. It turned out to be a "Zopadpatti Rahivashi Olakhpatra" (translation: a "Slum Resident Identity Card"). Later, those guys went away a bit disappointed. The boy at the counter said they could not take the risk of forging such documents as it may land them in a jail.

That reminded me of another incident in the month of March 2006. This time I was at a smaller photocopier's shop. It was about 09:00 in the morning and I wanted to get photocopies of some documents. A girl came in and she had a chemistry text book in hand. She wanted to make small (reduction to about 25%) of some important pages. The boy at the counter readily obliged. When the photocopies were given to her, she folded them into small chits. It was then that I realised what purpose she was doing that for. It was the month of March and the 12th standard board examinations were in progress. She wanted to use those chits to hide somewhere so that she could copy from them!

A close encounter with a WDP4

It was Saturday morning about 09:30 - an off from work. I was at TNA (Thane station) waiting for a fast local to TLA (Titwala). The TLA visit was for praying at the popular Ganesha temple there and also at the Vitthal temple close to the Ganesha temple. An announcement on the station public address system made me aware that the 0103 Mumbai-Madgaon (MAO) Mandovi express was to arrive shortly on platform 7. It would be running quite late since its usual departure from CSTM is at 06:55. Now, being a regular browser of the IRFCA site and also by personal observation, I knew that the train to MAO would be most probably hauled by the mighty 4000 hp WDP4. A few minutes later the train arrived and as I was just a platform away from the train, I realised that I was face to face with the DLW (Varanasi Diesel Loco Works) manufactured SHF (Short Hood Forward) KJM (Krishnarajapuram) WDP4 # 21022. I could not help admire the beauty...it also seemed to be a mighty powerful loco. One could see the huge 6000 litre fuel tank underneath.

The pilot and his assistant were busy with their checks in the cab of the loco...a few minutes later, the cab was empty. I could see that the cab looked much more sophisticated than the WDM2s - also, very cleaner and probably more ergonomic.

The pilots returned and I could see that they had brought with them what looked like something packed in silver foils - either a late morning breakfast or their lunches. They kept these somewhere in the cab. A moment later, the pilot clicked some switches and pulled some levers; the sound that the loco started making gave one a feeling that it was an aircraft ready for lift-off. A short horn and an exchange of the green flag later, the loco started rolling and soon disappeared from sight.

The WDP4 is a loco that can effortlessly haul large trains and the original models were from GM (General Motors), USA. It is also the loco that is being run at 150 kmph in some sections of the Konkan Railway.

The "spirit" will evaporate

Every one outside Mumbai and the media keep harping about the so-called "spirit of Mumbai". Actually, it is a bit sickening to hear that term being used again and again and again. Whenever any calamity strikes Mumbai, the media is quick point out how the "spirit" brings back Mumbai back to normalcy. We had the rains floor us, then the riots in Bhiwandi, then the strike on Sunday and the serial blasts on Tuesday.

If they don't do something about the calamities, the spirit is soon going to evaporate.

The biggest thing is that other people (in Delhi and other places) are making merry at the expense of Mumbai's hapless junta. Someone must teach those thugs a lesson and bring them to their senses.

Die Another Day

Monsoon is here and Mumbai is already feeling jittery about waterlogging at many places. Some idiots (road contractors) raised the height of another road leading to the lane to our apartment complex. The result is that 100 mm of rainfall in a day is now enough to cause waterlogging on the lane on which we reside; to cause alarm bells to ring in our minds and to start the drill - to keep valuables high enough (hopeful that the water won't reach them there) and to start packing and move on the 1st floor (or higher). But, that was not to be...we die another day, not the Tuesday and not the Wednesday that went by.

Luckily, the gods had other plans...and there was still a couple of feet left before the rain water could enter our ground floor apartments. Others I know were not so lucky...several areas and homes were flooded once again.

A new template

I've just put in a new template from one (Powell Street) of the designs over at Blogger Templates. Hopefully, this is more pleasing than the earlier one.