The Write Nonsense

How do you pay your Internet bill?

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 12:56:00 +0000

You would assume that any internet service provider will let you pay your internet bill online, wouldn't you? Of course, since ISPs are the only reason you're connected to the internet right now, it would be a piece of cake for them to let you pay your bills online, right? I don't think so!

At least, not Reliance Broadband! I will rant about their pathetic internet services in another post later... but right now, I just wanna pay my bill! I had called up their customer service asking how I could pay my bill online and I couldn't believe my ears when they said I couldn't pay it online but instead I should go to one of their many offices and pay it there. WTF?

So, now I have to find the hard copy of my bill, find one of their stupid offices, pay by cash (I'm assuming they don't accept credit cards either), get a receipt, thank them and then go home. That's a lot to do and it's gonna take me at least couple of hours of my time to get it done.

How dumb can Reliance be? Not letting you pay your internet bill online is like not letting you.....hmm..... man, I can't even think of a comparison.. it's that dumb!!!

Get Ready for a Google Credit Card!

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 05:58:00 +0000

Just thought I'd take a break from bad roads and potholes and write something different.

Read this humorous article by my manager, an expert in SEM, about the Google Credit Card!!

Search Engine Marketing Thoughts - Blogation: Get Ready for a Google Credit Card!

Who's Riding Pillion?

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:44:00 +0000

We have a helmet rule in Bangalore that says all two wheeler riders should wear a helmet while riding. This rule doesn't currently apply to the pillion riders though.

So who's a pillion rider? A person sitting at the back of the bike? Well, if this is the case, the person in the pictures below is clearly flouting the rule.

Captured at the busy Silkboard Junction today, you can clearly see the pillion rider wearing a helmet but not the person in the front.

Where did he go?

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 22 May 2007 07:19:00 +0000

I know.... I know... I know... I haven't written anything for almost a month.

It's not that I don't see any disturbing things around anymore and it's not that I don't care about it anymore. It's just that recent changes at work has kept me real busy the past month.

My fight ain't over yet.

I'll be back!

Death with its mouth finally closed!

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 06:31:00 +0000

In my previous post, I had mentioned how there was an open manhole near the Mahadevapura Junction and my plan of writing to the authorities and the media.

Well, I did write to the authorities but as expected, I didn't get any reply from them. I then wrote to Times of India and as expected, they published my report in their 'My Times, My Voice' section on Friday, April 20. Here's the news clip they published:

On the same Friday evening, on my way back home, this is what I found:

Here's a closer view:

Is this awesome or what??? The manhole was closed the very day the article was published on Times of India!

Makes you wonder if the authorities only work if they're humiliated. If that's what they want, that's what they'll get!

Death with its mouth wide open

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 05:11:00 +0000

Manhole deaths are common in India. Every now and then you can see newspaper reports, usually about children who had fallen to their deaths in a open manholes left uncovered by the municipal corporation.

Sadly, none of these reports are a deterrent to the civic authorities have absolutely no respect for their work.

Here's a picture of an open manhole near the Mahadevapura junction, Bangalore. I've seen this manhole in this state for months now and I'm glad I made a decision to click this image.

How many kids should fall into this one for the authorities to take notice?

I will be writing about this to the Bangalore civic authorities and also to all major newspapers.

Will keep everyone updated about the progress, if any.

I've been Metblogged!

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 11:34:00 +0000

I've started blogging at Bangalore Metblogs. Yey!!

This is a great place to view your thought and views on Bangalore. You can read my posts at Metblogs by clicking here.

But keep coming back to this site too cuz I haven't abandoned blogging here. :-)

The Crib - Great Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 09:44:00 +0000

Check out Ushasi's The Crib, for some very insightful/powerful thoughts from a very intelligent woman.

Great read!

You can run but never jump the signal!

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 11:27:00 +0000

Today, I saw something very commendable of a private traffic policeman.

Scene:

Traffic signal near the Intel office on the outer ring road.

Act:

There was a lone traffic policeman, probably hired from a private agency, manning the traffic at the above mentioned signal. We were stopped at the signal to let the vehicles from the other direction to pass. But there was this "wise" biker, who thought he had better things to do than wait for a couple of minutes.

As soon as the traffic was stopped at our end, this biker guy sped up but unfortunately, he got stuck among the oncoming traffic. The alert policeman manning the traffic, noticed this and quickly ran over to him and snatched the bike keys from the ignition. He then casually returned to his traffic duty.

I was having a ball of a time watching this drama and laughing at the biker. The man looked visibly embarrassed. Soon, the signal was free for us to pass. As I passed by the offending biker, I had a big grin on my face which said "Loser!!!".

Maybe that biker thought a private traffic guy isn't powerful enough to do anything to him, maybe he jumps signals all the time, but whatever the reason, I hope he learned his lesson and I hope he was fined a hefty sum for jumping the signal.

Kudos to the dutiful traffic policeman!

Road median? What's that? - Update 5

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 04:48:00 +0000

One of my blog readers, Chrisvasa, suggested I write to DCP-Traffic about this situation. I was skeptical that anything good would happen by writing to the DCP but I wrote anyway.

Then the unbelievable happened!

On Sunday afternoon, I got a call from the DCP office, thanking me for my mail and also for the pictures I had sent them. The man was very polite and sounded very concerned about the road situation. He also said that under the new B-Trac program, the road median will be raised and this situation will be resolved. This, according to him, will happen ''very soon''.

I found it hard to believe that someone actually called me from the DCP office. I thought my mail would be treated as another ''one of those mails'' and wouldn't even be given a second thought.

I don't know how seriously they've considered the situation I had mentioned in my mail, but I was happy they actually made an effort to call me and update me on the situation. Hopefully, the B-Trac program will be implemented very soon and the road median will be raised high enough to separate the oncoming traffic. But, only time will tell how soon is ''very soon''.

Victory? Getting there.

Road median? What's that? - Update 4

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 06:11:00 +0000

Continuing my efforts to inform the media about the road condition, I had emailed Times of India, The Hindu, Times Now and CNN-IBN, yesterday. And to my pleasant surprise, Times of India actually published my report in their 'My Times, My Voice' column. It's actually not much of a report but rather a few lines of it.

I only hope the concerned authorities take notice and do something to resolve this issue.

Here's a snapshot of the report:

Victory? Not yet!

Road median? What's that? - Update 3

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 05:27:00 +0000

In my first update to this post, I had mentioned how I wish I had a photo of a BMTC bus crossing over the median. Guess my luck, here's what I found yesterday evening, on my way back home.

# 1 - Aah... here's a good spot to make a U-turn

#2 - On your mark... get set...ready...

#3 - GO!!!

#4 - Get out of my way!!!

#5 - Almost there...

#6 - Phew... finally made it! Wonder where I can make my next U-turn

I think this would make a good photograph in all the major newspapers...

We don't need no sex education...

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 05:35:00 +0000

If you've read today's Times of India, Bangalore edition, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Sex education will not be adopted in state schools. Here's what primary and secondary education Minister Basavaraj Horatti had to say:

“School-going children are too young to contract the disease.”

Read the entire article here.

What??? As far as my knowledge goes, I don't think AIDS has a minimum age factor. Some reports suggest that India has the highest number of HIV affected people than any other nation.

According to the website Avert.org:

India is one of the largest and most populated countries in the world, with over one billion inhabitants. Of this number, at least five million are currently living with HIV. According to some estimates, India has a greater number of people living with HIV than any other nation in the world. ¹

So Mr. Horatti, don't you think we need to teach our kids about dangers of unprotected sex and other ways of contracting the HIV virus?

If our education minister thinks school-going children are too young to get AIDS, I say he should stop schools from imparting education all together.

Why?

Cuz the kids are too young to get skilled jobs anyway!

Road median? What's that? - Update 2

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Here you go, a few pictures of the pathetic condition of the road median on the outer ring road, Bangalore.

# 1 - Once a upon a time, there was median...

#2 - In case you couldn't see the above one clearly, here's a close-up.

#3 - Shattered glass near the median. Notice the tyre marks.

#4 - No comments. The picture says it all.

#5 - "I don't think anyone taking our photographs". Busted!!!

#6 - A regular sight... offending cab drivers.

Next steps: Write to the media. Will keep you all updated.

Road median? What's that? - Update 1

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 04:57:00 +0000

Nisho, the fastest photographer in South Bangalore, has finally manged to take a few snaps of vehicles crossing over the road median. That's right!

Today morning, I was determined that I should expedite the whole process of informing the media about this. I packed my camera and I was out on my mission (I was actually on my way to the office). I stopped at a few places where the median was actually at a lower level than the road itself and clicked a few pictures of its sad status. I did manage to get a few good snaps but unfortunately there weren't any vehicles crossing over the median on that particular spot. "No problem", I thought to myself. I had another 10 kms to go before the median actually stands up to its name.

2 kms further, I stopped at another low lying median area where there were actually shattered glasses on the road, obviously from a vehicle's windshield. This vehicle probably was a victim of the median crossing. Anyway, I stopped my bike again and clicked a few more snaps of the crime scene. Still no pictures of vehicles in the act.

Another 2 kms passed, and I stopped near the Innovative Multiplex at Marathahalli. Here, I finally managed to get a few good pictures of bikes and a car blatantly jumping the median. There were a lot of bystanders nearby wondering what the hell I was doing taking pictures of the road. They must have thought I was a tourist ;-) That works fine for me. I would be lying if I said I wasn't slightly scared of the public or of the offenders of whom I clicked the pictures. But I survived. No one cared if I was taking their pictures. They probably would have posed for it if they had a choice.

I intend to take more pictures tomorrow, if I can. I'd like to get a truck or a BMTC bus in the act. Lets see if my luck permits that tomorrow.

Sadly I forgot to take along the data cable for my camera and I would not be able to post any of the pictures today. But I promise you'll all get to see it tomorrow.

I will also be writing in to all the major newspapers and also to Times Now tv. They have a program called Action City where they encourage viewers to send in reports like this about their city.

I'll be an extremely happy resident of Bangalore, if something good comes out of all this.

Please feel free to write in you comments and suggestions.

Topic hunting for the day

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 12:13:00 +0000

I've been hunting for a new topic to write on. I know the photos of the road median is still pending. I still have to shoot some, photos I mean, not the violators (even though I wish I could shoot a few of them).

I'll try and post a few pics before the end of the week and also write to Times and Hindu about it. Interestingly, there was small note from a TOI reader in todays newspaper about the road divider being on the same level as the road.

This is what the reader, Sivaram, wrote:

Asphalted woes: The Outer Ring Road stretch has been tarred twice in the past six months. As a result, the road is now of the same level as the dividers. Vehicles now cut across the dividers to avoid making a proper U-turn. This increases the risk of accidents on this road.
— Sivaram, Bangalore

I hope the authorities take notice.

Now back to the topic hunting topic. Should I write about Cricket? But I don't know much about that sport. I remember playing cricket in school. I used to be good pace bowler, I think. Anyway, since everyone is talking about cricket, let me also jolt down a few lines on what I feel about it.

I was disappointed, like a billion others, when India lost to Sri Lanka. I even stayed up late to watch the entire match. But in the morning, I was ok. I didn't really care anymore that India was out of the world cup. Maybe I'm not a big fan, maybe I think it's just a game, maybe I was too tired (I hardly got 4 hours of sleep), maybe I.... I don't know.. I just didn't care...

Why people commit suicide over India's loss is beyond me. Why irate fans throw stones at Zaheer Khan's house is too much for my small brain to handle. I don't know if they do that in other countries (barring Pakistan, of course).

What India need is another Sport. Something new. Something only Indians can be good at. Something we're sure we'll win every time we play it.

Any suggestions?

The award for the smallest bladder goes to...

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:23:00 +0000

...Indians!!!

That's right, we Indians have the smallest bladder in the world. Otherwise, why else do you see everyone peeing on the roadside? I'm guessing our bladder cannot hold that stuff for more than 10 minutes.

It's not just the uneducated or the daily wage workers who suffer from this problem, I've seen well-dressed (Obviously working professionals), stop their cars and heal their bladder problem, right on the roadside.

Hmmm... it's really hard to understand why God would make us this way because if we were indeed normal, I'm sure we could've waited a lil' while longer until we reach our workplaces or homes before doing something as disgusting as peeing on the roadside. But then again, like I said earlier, we have the smallest bladder in the world.

Helplessly Hoping - Taxiride

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 10:37:00 +0000

Oh, what a song! It was featured as a bonus track for the movie A Walk On The Moon.

This song was originally sung by Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young) in 1969. 30 year later, Taxiride (my current favorite band by the way) created an amazing rendition. I'm listening to it right now and man, what a song!

Road median? What's that?

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 08:35:00 +0000

Wikipedia defines a median as "the area which separates opposing lanes of traffic". But this is not the case on the Bangalore outer ring road.

Here's the problem:

I've been living on the outer ring road for the last one year, and I've seen the entire stretch of road leading from K.R Puram flyover to Sarjapur Junction, being tarred 3 times in the last 12 months! I'm not saying this is a bad thing but nevertheless, they could at least take that extra tar and use it on other roads that have not even seen tar in the last 12 years!

But this again is not my problem. My problem is that the authorities have tarred the above mentioned road so much and so many times that the road median and the road are at the same level. The median doesn't even serve its purpose anymore, i.e, to separate opposing lanes of traffic. I see cars, bikes and even BMTC buses crossing OVER the median on to next side, every single day. This is VERY dangerous to the oncoming vehicles. In fact I've gotten into couple of arguments with drivers (who've narrowly missed me in the process), who have done this.

I've seen 2 major accidents, one involving death, due to vehicles crossing over the median. I would blame the road development authorities more than the vehicle drivers. If they plan to tar the road 3 times in a year, they should also ensure that the median is also raised proportionately. I will post a few pictures of the road soon and show the world how bad the situation really is.

My next step is to send pictures of the situation to Times of India, hoping that they would publish it and that the concerned authorities will take notice. If any of you know better ways to tackle this problem or if I should approach the concerned authorities directly, please let me know.

I'll be out with my camera, waiting to take pictures of vehicles crossing over the median, and if YOU are one of those guys doing that, God save you!!!

My first fight ...continued

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 06:28:00 +0000

I just got an update from Sapient regarding the rash driving I had reported earlier. The guilty driver has been suspended from service for 7 days. He also has been sternly warned that anymore rash driving complaints against him will cost him his job.

The driver deserved the punishment. Maybe from now onwards, he will be more considerate on the roads.

Well, I'm happy and satisfied that I could do my part in making this city a little more safer. This fight ain't over, and I will continue doing my part. Will you?

My first fight

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 12:34:00 +0000

Owing credit to a couple of blogs like The Everyday Bloggy and Bangalore and Bangaloreans, I've taken up a cause of my own: To make Bangalore a better, safer place.

Anyway, I've a small story to share. Here's what happened:

Just 2 days back, on the outer ring road, I saw a Tempo Traveler being driven like an ambulance, narrowly missing me and other motorists on the road.

Initially I thought it WAS an ambulance but then I saw the vehicle picking up random passengers on the road. On closer inspection, I saw the 'Sapient' logo stuck to the rear window of the vehicle. Other than ambulances, I've never seen a vehicle being driven that way on such busy nights on roads like the Outer Ring Road.

Anyway, I memorized the registration number of the vehicle and today, I called up Sapient and made a complaint against this particular driver. The transport guys at Sapient were very receptive and promised me they'll take it up with their transport vendor. He even promised to call me back tomorrow and update me on the progress.

This is first complaint of this kind that I've made ever. And I wouldn't have taken this so seriously if I didn't think this driver was endangering the lives of other motorists, including me.

I'm glad I did this and I will encourage this kind of action among my friends too.

I will continue this fight till the end..

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 12:30:00 +0000

This is my very first blog entry... I have no clue where to start... what the hell, no one else is gonna read this anyway.. ;-)