Bliss!

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.

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!

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!

Over the last week, while watching movies, I happened to notice the following dialogs that have stayed on in my mind!


1. “Accept the pain” — in a Tamil Movie
2. “I’ve got to keep breathing. Because tomorrow, the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?” — In ‘Cast Away’

Came across this simple but very effective website called www.mychipper.com which helps you to manage your personal expenses.


Best of all they have a gtalk interface through a robot buddy. Once you add this robot as a buddy in your gtalk you can just send a chat message to update your expenses. A message like “lunch, 50, at office” will add an expense item for category ‘lunch’ for 50 Rs and with a note ‘at office’. There is a mobile (gprs) interface as well.


Link: http://mychipper.com

Give it a try!

That’s Snowy, my first bonsai. Picked her up during the Lalbagh flower show. She is a ‘Serissa foetida’, also knows as a snowrose. I wanted to be involved with something closely and a bonsai seems to be the answer!


Ever since I started with this I have been getting lot of comments on the ethics of growing a bonsai. People ask me if I’m doing the right thing by arresting the growth of a tree. Honesty, I do not know if it’s right. But at least I’m growing a tree which I was not doing prior to getting Snowy. Moreover, a bonsai makes a normal tree beautiful and lovable! I was searching in the web regarding this and got the following:

This question comes up from time to time and is typical of the political correctness thinking popular in some circles. Let me ask a similar question; Is it correct to mow your lawn to keep it short? Is it correct to harvest corn, soy beans, rice, potatoes and fruit? Shouldn’t all of these things be able to live their lives unmolested by human activity?

Of late, she has been shedding some of her leaves. Looks like she is yet to get accustomed to the new place. I read the following in the web about this:

It responds adversely by dropping leaves if over-watered, under-watered, if it’s too cold, too hot, or even if just moved to a new location. The plant usually grows back to health when put back to better conditions.

‘So finally I’m sitting down to setup my blog’. I’m saying this fully conscious about the fact that this is not the first time I’m commenting like this!

‘Let’s keep it simple’ – there’s a technical discussion going on over phone in the near by desk in office and this is what I hear from the other side of the phone from someone who is audibly upset on a Fri evening. So let me also keep it simple. I’ll write about photography, about travel and anything else that interests me.


The motorbike trip to Ladakh has left me with enough things to write about or so I feel.


Ha! So, that’s my first post!!