Changing my "religion"

No, not that one; the other one. A few visits to "Idli House" has made me forget the other eatery at Matunga I used to frequent. When I did visit "Cafe Mysore", the coffee was off and the sambar was unusually liquid-y.

"Idli House" and "Ram Ashraya" (just opposite to where the Matunga Z-bridge ends) have now replaced visits to "Cafe Mysore" and "Anand Bhavan".

"Idli House" has an unusual policy of closing for lunch (its closed from 13:30 to 16:00).

The BEST "Smart Card"

Update: As of mid-2010, this facility was withdrawn by B.E.S.T.  Early 2011, the B.E.S.T. made some significant changes to the smart card system. New readers cum ticket vending machines  were introduced with the conductors (these machines are much lighter than the heavy metal ticket boxes they used to carry earlier). So, the below post is now no longer valid.
 
The B.E.S.T. (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport) "Smart Card" was introduced about a month ago; it was supposed to offer commuters various benefits including the hassle of finding change to buy tickets during their daily commute. After some inquiries with various people including the pass vendor at a bus depot, I finally bought a one-month bus pass that I thought would help me get the touted "benefits".

For the consumer, the process is simple: Go to a bus depot that offers these "Smart Cards". Decide which route you want to travel on (starting and end points plus the route) and decide the period of validity (weekly, monthly, quarterly). "Route" here does not necessarily mean the bus route number, but in the most usual cases, a route could be referred to with the bus route number(s). The person at the counter (probably a sub-contractor's employee) has an "Intel WebTerminal" with only a keyboard and a monitor with the appropriate network connection. The mouse pad is embedded onto the keyboard. After determining the fare, you are asked to pay the amount. For the monthly fare, it works to slightly more than what you would have paid for a 6-day-week 2-way daily commute. For example, if the regular one-way fare is Rs. 9, then the monthly fare is Rs. 480. Buying a quarterly pass would result in savings. An I-card with the holder's photograph stamped by the BEST (ala Railway Season pass) is supposed to be carried along with the "Smart Card".

To use it, one needs to simply board the bus and give the Card to the conductor, instead of buying a ticket. Technically, the destination must also be stated. The conductor has a clumsy card reader with which the conductor can check if the Card is valid (date wise) as well as whether it is valid on the route of the bus.

This last point had me thinking: I thought the card reader would have some complex "graph-based" implementation; Prof. Abhiram Ranade of CSE, IITB and his "Mumbai Navigator" did ring a bell. I thought the logic might compare the route (points) on the Card with the route of the bus that the reader is used in and it would tell if the pass is valid on the route or not.

It turns out that the reader is rather dumb, heck, even the "Smart Card" seems to be dumb. The Card seems to be nothing more than a storage area where certain information (the expiry date, the source and destination, as well as the I-card number) is stored. The reader simply reads this information and displays it on its screen. In addition, there is a green LED that glows to show whether the card is not past its expiry date (a red one probably glows to show it has expired...there's one more LED that has the label "Concession").

That's where the fun begins: it is now up to the conductor, I guess, whether to consider whether the Card is valid on the route of the bus or not. Given the complexity of the various bus routes, it seems strange as to how the conductor could make a guess. For example, if I have a bus pass from Powai to Vashi, does it mean I can go to Airoli. (There is at least one bus that goes from Powai via Airoli as well as the normal way via Ghatkopar). I have not tried this out, but I'm sure there might be conductors that object. For example, suppose with the Powai to Vashi Smart Card, I travel from Bhandup to Sonapur on a bus that goes from Sion to Mulund. How on earth would the conductor know that there is a route that exists that takes passengers from Powai to Vashi via Bhandup, Sonapur and Airoli. On one occasion, I even had a bus conductor ask me if the Card was valid for that route!.

The only benefits that I have gotten so far are the ability to use it on a wide variety of buses on the same route and unlimited number of commutes on the route.

There are some disadvantages with this:

1. I used to rely on the BEST conductors to give me change (ATMs just dispense in multiples of 100s and the BEST conductors - especially those on the night buses - usually oblige passengers). Of course, I could still stick a Rs. 100 note and ask the conductor to give me change, but my collection of coins / notes seem exhausted just when I need them.
2. The reader is too clumsy to use and it takes the conductor anywhere between 10 to 15 seconds to check the Card. That is too much of time - in crowded buses, conductors usually don't bother to check the Card at all.
3. The ticket collectors have no way to identify where a passenger with a Card got in; the physical ticket used to have a punch to indicate where a passenger boarded the bus.
   

The Smart Card proudly proclaims "Mumbai BEST / Mumbai Suburban Railways". I wonder what that "Railways" part is for; it might be for the upcoming Metro Rail. With the Smart Card looking real dumb, I wonder how long would take a hacker (well, "cracker" for purists) to fake the details on the Card.

Update (2007-December-15):
For some reason, this post is getting read a lot. I thought I must update this to put in some more information. Here are some more points regarding this "Smart Card":

• For about Rs. 800 a month, one can load the "card" with an "all-route travel" option. With this, the commuter can travel anywhere, any number of times using any B.E.S.T. bus (except for the air-conditioned ones).
• There was news a few weeks back that the B.E.S.T. Smart Card could be used to buy tickets from the newly installed "Ticket Vending Machines" on the Mumbai suburban railways. The railways have come out with their own version of the "smart card", but it works differently than the B.E.S.T. one. The B.E.S.T. general manager had announced that they were "trying to integrate" the usage of the B.E.S.T. card on the railway system, but I have not heard anything after that.

Update (2008-February-18):

• It finally happened...but it took one year. One conductor declared that my pass was not valid on a (section of a particular route). I asked him what took them so long to find out; after all, I'd been travelling on that route for nearly an year! Anyways, to avoid all controversies there after, I've changed my bus pass for an all-suburban route validity. More information about this is in this post.

Update (2008-July-20):
Information on how to use the "SmartCard" for suburban railway travel is in this post.

Does their opinion count?

Recently I attended a discussion by a panel of "eminent Mumbaikars"; the topic was related to the future of Mumbai and how it was positioned currently. While most panel members expressed happiness that Mumbai was now better than it was in the previous decade, a few (actually, only one) panel members disagreed. Those who disagreed were from the "anti-Bihari / anti-UP illegal migrants" camp.

A little while later I got fed up of the discussion and walked away. I wondered later why we attach so much importance to these people's opinions. No doubt they are highly educated and well connected and all. But I wondered if their opinion should really matter. After all, these people hardly travel on the bus/train. They have hardly wandered out of their cars and out of their cosy castles. They would never have walked on the roads (try walking around Andheri station) and would never have taken a Virar fast from Dadar (and got off at Mira Road). They would never dare to walk alone in the dead of the night on the streets of Mumbai.

Yet these very people were talking about how life in Mumbai has become safer, how conditions have now improved, etc. Of course, if by "conditions", they meant "malls and brands", definitely things have improved. And by "safe", if they meant travelling in a car at night zooming over the flyovers, things have improved.

And the funny part was that the others (commoners) were listening. It should really have been the other way around! The commoners should have been talking and they (the people who could influence the authorities) should have been listening.

A new year...a new semester

The first day of the New Year is here and close on its heels is the start of the semester. Time again to slog it out for the next 4 months; time again for all the exams, quizzes, tests, reports, homeworks, assignments. Time again to choose courses (subjects) wisely.

Like many of the recent years, this New Year's eve too was no different for me...no celebrations and no partying for me. However, the eve fell on a Sunday...I went to ISKCON Juhu just to see what was the scene was all around along the way.

The wine shops were full of customers...some wine shops had opened "additional counters" so that they could service more customers at the same time. Those who did not want to spend money drinking in restaurants chose to buy the drink and consume it directly on the streets (the drinks wrapped in black plastic carry bags). Not to lose an opportunity, the "boiled-egg" vendors also positioned themselves close to these shops so that they could provide cheap snacks to such drinkers.

Those who had the money to spend chose to dress up in choicest (party) clothes and headed off to the party of their interest. Many of these would no doubt will still be in bed at the time I write this.

Politicians are magicians!

It seems some political parties are promising 24-hours water supply to Mumbai. How on earth this is going to be possible is anybody's guess. Even on getting "abundant" rainfall year after year and with the lakes (that supply water to Mumbai) overflowing during the rainy season, no one raises a question as to how there is a water shortage by December. If so, without building additional lakes or catchment areas, it beats me to how there could be 24-hours water supply. Of course, we should also not forget how Mumbai can accomodate more "migrants" while still meeting all these constraints.

Oh! maybe they meant 24-hours water supply to the non-tax-paying, free-housed, underprivileged and the "minority". That's what maybe someone meant by saying the minority has the first claim to the resources of this country. Leeches, get off my back. Enough of plundering Mumbai.

Sem 1 results declared...

By the grace of the Supreme Lord and all the other Gods, Goddesses, saints and gurus, I have managed to pass comfortably semester 1 of the MTech programme.

After days of delay in declaring the results for one of the courses (aka subjects), the results for all the courses in Semester 1 have been declared. While the results for the other courses were out more than a week earlier, we had to wait for the results of one of the courses for at least a week. The big relief is that I have passed the semester. I also seemed to have accomplished my goal of "scoring well" early on to avoid hiccups later on. (A CPI of less than 6 at any point in the MTech programme at IITB will almost always result in being kicked out of IITB. That way, no one in an MTech programme at IITB can be a "5-point someone"...people will always be at least a "6-point everyones".)

My strategy of taking "easy" courses early on seemed to work. I can now look forward to taking "dangerous" courses later on without the fear of dipping below the 6-point mark.

End of End Sems

Its been a fast paced period of 4 months...joining in July, the end sems ended yesterday. There's only a small project left to be done in the next few days. There's the vacation to look forward to. Also, time to catch up on all the other stuff. And above all to have fun...that's until the results are declared.

Happy Diwali 2006

The air is full of smoke and smells of gunpowder; the asthama patients have run away from the city...
As Diwali (the set of festivals that falls on various days) draws to a close, those guys who ran away can return back. It seemed to me that this year the number of fireworks burnt were much lesser compared to the previous years. The High Court order did not seem to be working completely, but maybe it did make a difference. Or perhaps, this year people became wiser and decided to spend their monies on other things.

Around this time of the year, people are much happier probably because they get paid more salary (bonus). Shoppers of all kinds of hues and sizes flocked to the shops and bought all kinds of things. It is almost mandatory for people to buy new clothes - so most shops selling clothes were completely swamped with customers. The shops, in turn, utilized the opportunity to entice customers with "huge discounts". Shops selling snacks and sweets made a roaring business. It is probably also customary in businesses to gift a "gift hamper" containing dry fruits or sweets or whatever to loyal customers / associates.

As is the usual custom, sweets and snacks were exchanged with friends and families. I also got a much needed break (change of routine).

The past few years (and this year too) I've also been utilizing the mini-Diwali break to catch up on things. Its an ideal time to complete (or at least try to complete) unfinished assignments and projects.

Mid-sems now over

Whoa...what a relief. The mid-sems are over and though I did not fare particularly well in any of the exams, it seems that I might scrape through. Given the fact that the weights attached the mid-sem exam scores vary, I might now have to depend on other forms of evaluation (quizzes, assignments, course projects, etc.).

Of course, my strategy was to get as good scores as possible in the mid-sems. The reason was simple: there are fewer topics during the mid-sems than the end-sems. Again, another strategy was to get "good" grades in the earlier semesters - there is always the danger of not being able to keep the required CPI later.

It seems to me that I am back to my old habits again - faring very nicely compared to others during minor tests and doing badly compared to them during the important exams. Anyways, it should not matter as long as I pass and keep the grades at the minimum required level.

*cha Raja : the carnival ends

This year's Mumbai "carnival" (this is the word used by some journalists - actually that's what it is now) has come to an end. A nightmare for the security forces, luckily no attacks / disasters during the period. While some attributed this to the Lord Himself, others felt that it was a job well done by the security.

As usual, some of the people accompanying the processions seemed to be disinterested in the religious nature of the festival. One could see drunk people dancing and leading the processions.

The naming convention seems to have caught on...most Ganesh pandals now had the "*cha Raja" suffix. For example, "Powaicha Raja", "Ghatkoparcha Raja". Others went a step ahead and had "*cha Maharaja" as the suffix.

One could see numerous hoardings put up by all political parties. In some of these hoardings, numerous pictures of the various local "thugs" were displayed - some of these banners had a very small photo of Ganesha - much of the space was taken up the "thugs" themselves.

I could see many North Indians also keeping Ganesha idols in their homes - this might be the effect of Bollywood and other actors popularizing by walking to Siddhivinayak, etc.

Learning to "stay afloat"

A month has elapsed since the courses for MTech have begun. With so much of "load", it is quite difficult to get a break to do anything other than studies. Suprisingly, I haven't had to stay back in the hostel...I am still commuting to / from home. The mid-semester exams are just a few days away and the strategy is to just try and keep "afloat".

Fear, fear everywhere

Security has been stepped up, thousands of police have been deployed, reserved forces have been called out...It seems that the terrorists have instilled fear in the minds of the people.

One wonders if publishing information about how "secure" we have made the important places would help. One of the key things in security, one would imagine, is to not alert the "enemy" at all and simple prepare as quitely as one can. One would think that publishing openly what security measures are in place would cause the enemy to backoff only to attack at a time when it is least
expected.

On the other hand, there is another angle for doing that. There are some guys who when provoked would like to "show off" how they can attack the toughest secuirty rings. That way, we would catch the enemy red-handed. This is the mind-game or pyschology angle.

It doesn't seem that our authorities are so bright as to be doing the second thing. They seem to be doing it to want to show people that they are acting on the threats perceived and doing something about it. Lest something happen and people then blame them for sitting on the "input".

India was never perceived as an "Islam enemy" by its non-neighbors until recently. Two incidents that changed this come to mind: the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the Gujarat riots. It seems plain as water to me that these incidents may have changed India's image in the terrorists' viewpoint. India has now been caught in the middle of the gunfire.

I remember my conversations more than a decade ago with a Bangladeshi Muslim I had met with in the United States. He seemed to have some misunderstanding about how bad Indians treat Muslims. I am sure biased media reports in their country would have played a role in making them believe that India was the "terrorist" country. Of course, at the same time, there were reports of hundreds of Hindus being harassed and burnt in Bangladesh. One could read reports of these on the websites. But I did not hear any outcry or anything of that sort in India.

Why? We've taken down things lying down for too long. That's why.

Feels like "jail"

The first semester of the MTech course having begun, it seems unlikely to be able to be doing anything else other than studies. We are made to believe that the first semester is a "killer" one. From the experience in the past 2 weeks, it certainly seems to be so.

Let's hope there is some relief in the second semester.

Although I haven't started staying in the hostel room, it is on "stand-by"...so that I can use it at any day or night that I may have to spend there. That means that all things like bucket, mug, table lamp, spare clothes, mattress, etc. are in place.

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.