Bliss!

Just got a mail from google that I’m getting a 100$ payment from google for the Ads displayed on http://flickr-explorer.com.


Yeah, it took four years for this! But it is a good feeling that there are quite a few regular users of the service and that they are paying back in whatever small way possible!


Next target is to get this payment within an year! That will pay for the hosting, if I can manage to do that. Before that, got to fix some of the bugs!

Within the last few days I happened to witness multiple shameful and cheap behavior by the Bangalore policemen.


This evening I was cycling on the 16th Main in BTM Layout when I stopped by a pushcart selling boiled ground nuts. As I was about to leave, a police van slowed down, stopped next to the pushcart and waited. The groundnut seller took a bunch of ground nuts and gave it to the policeman sitting at the front window seat.


I witnessed a similar incident yesterday night when I was on the Maruthi Nagar main road. A police van slowed next to the Pongal resturant and the siren on the van went on couple of times. Karthi who was riding with me informed me that that was the usual signal for the restaurant guy to go and pay the police!


A day before, I was walking just outside my office on Palace road, when I saw a policeman on duty “buying” mango from a road side seller. He rightfully didn’t pay a rupee for the mango!


All these happened on the streets in full public view. The policemen were acting as if they were executing their fundamental right!


Shame on us all for letting these things happen around us!

Recently came across a very useful post in a public forum about the issues we all face with auto ricks in Bangalore. Thought of posting it here:



Disclaimer: I’m yet to try this myself
Another disclaimer: IMHO auto ricks in Bangalore are actually not that bad when you compare them with their counterparts in Chennai!

The System
Note the vehicle number (KA-XX-YY-ZZZZ) and email the details to transcom@kar.nic.in , Based on the prefix XX (for example KA-01), complaint will be sent to one of the ten RTO offices in Bangalore and adjacent taluk areas. Alternatively, one can also call these offices at the number given below based on the vehicle number prefix and directly lodge a complaint.


Vehicle Prefix (KA-XX) Bangalore location Phone number


* KA-01 Koramangala 080-25533525
* KA-02 Rajajinagar 080-23324104
* KA-03 Indiranagar 080-25254310
* KA-04 Yeshwantpur 080-23376039
* KA-05 Jayanagar 080-26630989
* KA-41 Gyanabharthi 080-28602833
* KA-50 Yelahanka 080-28561366
* KA-51 Electronic City 080-25735522
* KA-52 NeelaMangala 08234-285598
* KA-53 KR Puram 080-25617951


Once the complaint is received at the corresponding office, a notice is issued to the address of the vehicle’s registered owner, requiring him/her to turn up at the RTO office within 7 working days. Every RTO has about 10 IMV’s (Inspector of Motor Vehicles) who seize the vehicles which don’t report to the RTO.


The penalty levied from the auto-waalas is rs.100 under section 200.


The various offences among others for which one can lodge a complaint


* Refusal to come to destination (Any destination!!!)
* Demanding excess fare
* Using rough language
* Cheat the public, for e.g. taking longer routes.
* Faulty Meter


There is also a helpline number – 080-22353785 available Monday – Saturday from 10:00 am – 5:30 pm on which one can call to lodge complaints.

If you have some experience using this system, please share it here.

It’s exactly an year after we embarked on a wonderful little trip to Ladakh! The memories are still very fresh in my mind!


Lazy me … have been planning to write about the trip for an year. Only god and time know when I’ll really sit down and write about this trip!


For now, thought of uploading a few pics from the trip!

See here for a few more pics!
My Flickr set on Ladakh!

At the high altitude pang gong tso lake, which is partly in India and partly in China.

Pong gong tso lake

Zozila pass, near Srinagar

What will you do if there is a broken bridge ahead which blocks all the traffic for hours?

Will sleep anywhere!

We were down, but not out! The low oxygen levels at the high altitude passes took a big toll on us.

Yes, the next filling station was 365KM away. What would be your reaction if this guy tells you that his pump isn’t working!

Interesting section of road!

The spot where we were stuck as we couldn’t cross a heavy stream. We were stuck for several hours starting a cold evening till late night. Turned out to be the toughest night of the trip.

At the summit! Highest motorable road in the world

Blocked!

Last week’s Nagercoil trip was special and interesting for more than a few reasons!


I was waiting at the bus stand to board my return bus to Bangalore when a middle aged gentleman, standing next to me, started a conversation. Going by my looks he started like “Thambiku IT a?”. I simply said “Yes” with a gentle smile. I was not interested in the conversation.


After a long pause, “When does this bus normally reach Bangalore?”, he persisted.
“By 7 – 7:30″, I said. Again stopping the conversation there.


After a even longer pause, “Thambi, let me tell you something…”, he was not gonna give in!


At that point I was really worried about what he was going to tell. To my surprise, he started talking about wealth creation and management! Why on earth would someone talk about this to a stranger!


He went on to classify income into two – active and passive. According to him active income is the one you earn through your job or main business. This income typically lasts only till you are actively working. Passive income is the one earned through means where your active participation is not needed – like rental from house, bank interest on deposits etc. To him, the secret of financial success is in converting the active income into passive income! He also commented that educated people tend to be complacent about money and loose out on the long run.


He completed telling me all this and more with suitable examples in about 5 minutes time. It was as if he was rehearsing a lecture that he had keenly prepared for! After all this, I could no more put off the conversation. I asked about himself. He had worked in the gulf as an electrical engineer for a long time. He had earned his wealth the hard way – may be one reason why he values money this much!


All this left me wondering with lot of interesting questions!


- Why did he tell me this?
- Do I look like a financially broke person!
- How did he actually know that I’m financially broke?


But then all he said makes full sense to me! This will be a nice way to manage whatever income that comes in!
He has left a long lasting influence on me!

Last week, I was on a short trip to my home town Nagercoil when I heard this surprising news. The Kanyakumari district administration has banned the usage of plastic as packaging material. What is more surprising is the adaptation of this rule by the general public. In the five days I had spent there I saw a plastic carry bag only once!


I happened to hit a conversation with an auto driver about this only to be lectured about biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste! I could see even road side vendors using either paper bags or newspapers for packaging. The fruit and meat stalls have gone the traditional ways of using banana and lotus leaves for packaging! Many shops had signs urging the customers to bring in their own bags. Such is the effectiveness of the campaign!


I’m really feeling happy about this. I hope that this is taken as a model proof-of-concept implementation and rest of India follows this path soon!


Here are a few links on this:
http://kanyakumari.com/news/?p=847
Chennai Online’s report

If a bowler taking a tail ender’s wicket can have his citi moment of success,
If a team taking a wicket on the 20th over of a T20 can have their citi moment of success,
If an umpire ducking a mis timed shot can have his citi moment of success,
If a dog running around the ground can have have its moment of success …


I can have mine too!


I had my citi moment of success when I closed a savings account I had with them in which they want me to maintain a minimum avg balance of 25,000 Rs or pay 250 Rs every month!

Last time when I visited Chennai, I got a small handbook on Origami for my little niece, Steffy. And before the weekend was over she came up with a neat colorful swan:





The colors on the swan are her own personal touch – the book had no mention of that!

I have been wanting to try my hands on a photo documentary and saw a nice opportunity when Mercy akka decided to start her dream ‘Kundhavai’ tanjore painting project. Documenting the various steps involved in the making of a tanjore painting seemed to be an interesting project, and interesting it was!


Thanks to Mercy akka for all the co-operation and patience during the month long project. At times, she even waited for a few days before moving on to the next stage, so that I could capture the art work during all its intermediate stages. And thanks for this nice write up too. I’m going to use it here along side the photos!


Artist: Mercy GP
Text: Mercy GP

Tanjore paintings are a traditional Tamil art works that dates back to 1600 C.E. Nayaks of Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu of the bygone era were the chief patrons of this art. Tanjore paintings have a rich gold work with semiprecious / precious stones, vibrant colors, and a devotional composition. The themes of these paintings are usually limited to Hindu gods and goddesses, and saints. Bigger composition of these art works habitually includes a central figure for the core theme and episodes from Hindu mythology sprawling around that central deity. They are also referred as “palagai padam” (palagai – wood, padam – picture) as they are made in solid wooden planks. They involve various stages – Sketching, Relief Work, Gold Foil and Coloring.

Sketching

Plywood is used as the base which is covered with a fine cotton cloth by a water soluble adhesive. This will be followed by a thick coating of chalk powder or zinc oxide and Arabic gum. Base is allowed to dry well and mild abrasives are used to make a smooth base. After this, preliminary sketch is traced on to the base. Images need not be traced in detail to the board. The outline of the figure and layouts like the pillars and mandapams are enough to proceed. Details such as the ornaments and jewel are added in the next stage.

Relief Work

This stage is called as “muck work’ or “gesso work”, where the artist accentuates the details of the painting. Mix of chalk powder or zinc oxide and Arabic gum is used again for this stage. This mix could be liquid, semi liquid, or thick as dough for rotis. Based on the designs, artist would choose the type of the mix to be used. Inlay of stones and pearls can be decided now. Semiprecious Jaipur stones are stuck to the board at this stage. Precious stones and pearls are marked clearly and left for the final stage. Abrasives could be used to soften out the surfaces of the embossed reliefs. Threads or laces could be used to augment the effect of jewellery and the others.

Gold Foil

24 carat or 22 carat gold foil is used to ensure that the painting is a collector item and that it lasts for generations to become family heirlooms. Press the gold foil to take the impression of the relief works and are cut into that shape. These leaves will be glued to the reliefs with Arabic gum. Remove the gold foil pasted over the semi precious stones with a pin. After that black engineering pens are used to highlight the relief works over the gold.













Coloring

Set of poster colors are used for the painting. The depiction is motionless often. First the base colors are done followed by light and shades of it. The key figure gets painted first in skin tones as visualized by the artist. The colors of the background are vivid with a striking blue, red, or green. Sometimes dark brown is also used. Once coloring is dried, precious stones and pearls are stuck at the required places.

Some finished paintings:
















Some links:
Mercy’s blog
Mercy’s blog post on the Kundhavai project

And if yours is a floating (up?) interest rate loan then you may want to call them up and ask them about your current interest rate.


They have some “offers” going on which they tell you only if you call them. They may tell you about an ‘interest reset’ option by which you can bring down your interest rate by paying a penalty (they call it processing fee). They have this to combat the huge number of customers refinancing their loan with other banks.


I could bring down my interest rate to 8.75 from 9.5 by paying 0.5% of the outstanding principle.


Well, I always expected that a floating rate loan will float up as well as down! In the last three years, my interest rate floated up by 2.75% but managed to float down only by 1.25%. But the bank still managed to sell new floating rate loans at 8.25% when my loan was at 11%. I’m not a financial wizard, but I can sense some foul play. Just because all banks do this doesn’t make it right!