Shyam's Blog

We completed our Rajasthan trip successfully. Planning started couple of months in advance and we started from Bangalore on Dec 19th and returned on Dec 30th. Pictures: Here . With approximately 2 days each in each destination, we covered Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner. Mode of transport from one city to another was either by RSRTC Volvo/Mercedes bus OR train. This was convenient and saved a lot of money from our wallet. Apart from Jaipur-Udaipur stretch which is about 420 Kms, other places are about 300 Kms apart and should take 5 hrs each to cover the distance. Within each city, we used auto, local cab or Ola cabs (by booking via App). Food was amazing. Tea was the best wherever we had. Not to mention the best part - Sweets. Nowhere else we will find such lovely sweets. Few memorable things: 1. Food, sweets and tea 2. Weather - It was freezing cold. Though we were prepared for it, it took a while for us to get used to it. 3. Palaces and their grand...

Visited Goa on road last week. Road condition on NH4 is excellent. Road from Hubli to Panaji via Alnavar is bad. We took this route in onward journey. While returning, we took Panaji-Belgaum-Hubli-Bangalore route. The road between Panaji and Belgaum is very good and scenic too. Total highway toll would cost around Rs. 1,500 for a round trip if you are travelling in your own car. Total distance from Bangalore is 750 Kms. A stopover in Hubli is recommended. From Bangalore, it would take about 6 hours to reach Hubli without any breaks. From Hubli, it would take maximum of 5 hours to reach Panaji via Belgaum. Traffic between Bangalore and Tumkur is heavy. Once you cross Tumkur, road is all yours with minimum traffic and you can easily drive at 110 Kms/hr. Road map from B'ore to Panaji, Goa National Highway 4 (NH4) Scenic Drive from Panaji to Goa Chorla Ghats Visit to Baga Beach and Calangute Beach was nice. Dona Paula had jet ski and it was a quick ride for le...

Our visit to Mysore was a memorable one. With couple of family gatherings to attend, we wanted our kids to enjoy some of the main attractions of Mysore. Zoo is a good place to start Mysore tour. Getting there at 9:30am or so is recommended as we saw less crowd and sun was not at its peak. It takes around 4Kms of walking inside. Kids need to be able to sustain that energy throughout the walk. There could have been attractions for kids like, elephant show or alike which are seen in other zoos. Apart from watching animals from far, kids don't have any activity based entertainment. KRS visit on one evening was a flop. We landed there at 6pm and the crowd was huge. We entered, finished a quick walk and returned home as we didn't think it was worth staying with the crowd. Mysore Palace is one of the best palaces in India. Photography inside palace is not allowed. Pictures can be taken from outside and camera has to be put in locker before going in. Though th...

I traveled in train after many years. From the last train journey in India till now, I traveled in many other places outside India and I was curious to experience the Indian Railways hospitality. Booking was done in First Class A/C for an overnight journey from Bangalore to Dharwad in Rani Chennamma Express. After reaching the Railway Station an hour early, I checked the platform I need to be in. The station in first look, looked very crowded. Quickly, I agreed to myself that it must look busy and filled with people as train travel is the most efficient and cheapest mode of transport in India. It was ticking 9pm and train started on the dot. Once I settled in my first class cabin, I looked around to see identify some of the key features/facilities. Noticed the below: 1. Electrical points for charging laptop/phone. 2. Electronic indicator of restroom vacancy status - this was interesting. 3. A cute reading light near the head. Slide it, it switches OFF. Open it, light switches ON....

Visited Jungle Lodge Resorts, Bannerghatta on Jan 10-11, 2014. The visit started off with lunch and then followed by Safari tour. Butterfly park was not attractive as the season is non-breeding one. Best time to see butterflies is in Monsoon. Safari tour is done in a jeep/van that is owned by the resort. First is the bear safari. The bear came close to the van to check for food. Loin safari was restricted as there was construction/renovation. Tiger safari too was restricted and there were only 2 tigers. White tigers were great and we got nice glimpse of 2 of them as they came near our van. Herbivorous safari with bison, deer, and black buck were good to see. Food in the resort was good. Hospitality by resort hosts was nice. Staying overnight in the tent/log house is a nice experience that one must not miss. Photos here .

Recently, I got a chance to drive around South India and cover about 2000 Kms in a span of 10 days. Started off with a trip to Pondicherry and Chennai. Then, a quick trip to Belur. Ended my travel today with a surprise visit to Yelagiri. My first outcome of these trips - Driving on National Highway is good and easy compared to 2 decades ago. This is mostly because, all the NHs are tolled and are constructed by private companies like L&T, GMR, etc with partnership with the government. Next outcome - there are lot many opportunities in future as kids grow older. Am sure, there are places in Karnataka that are interesting and worth visiting. Car - i10 automatic gave the comfort of driving on these highways.

Day-2 of PMPC 2013 was good with interesting talks. Prof. Gupta from IIMB talked about balance of ecological system and infrastructure.  Talk by Mr.Hari and Mrs. Hari was very good. Their book on India's history and prosperity, "You Turn India" tells how this country was plundered in the past. It also gives an insight of how 'water' can change India! Talk by Mr. Rana on Solar Park project in Gujarat showed how Narendra Modi transformed the state. This project was completed in record period of 12 months from Dec 2011-Jan 2012. Last talk of the day by Mr. Ravichander from Feedback Consulting was all about Bangalore's problems - in general, how urban projects are driven. It highlighted garbage problem, road condition and traffic congestion. 

Got the new Nexus 4 yesterday. My iPhone 4 is 3 years old and is behaving weird at times. I had got the screen replaced few weeks ago. I am facing problem with sensitivity of screen when battery drops below 20%. Nexus 4 is looking good with nice features. I am back to Android after 3 years. In 2010, I had got my first smartphone, Motorola XT720 with Android in it. Enjoying Nexus 4...

Got Tata Sky+ HD connection last week. We had local cable TV connection prior to this. With this new connection, TV experience is just great! We can record programs, watch few channels in HD, download movies/shows as part of Video On Demand and many other stuff. Also, we can access our box remotely sitting anywhere. Lets say, I want to record a show, all I need to do is, go online to my account and select 'record'. By the time I am home, the program will be ready to watch. Finally, there is an iphone app that acts as a remote! This app also has the feature of record remotely.

As I was driving home from office the other day, I did a glance around Outer Ring Road, Bangalore. Every direction I looked, there was some construction going on. Be it a multi-specialty hospital or a big 10-floor residential building. Imagine the investments in these infrastructure projects! Good that it is shaping Bangalore to be better place to experience life. But, currently, the amount of pollution (dust/noise/etc) is huge. Bangalore is no different than some of the cities in China that have high pollution levels. As of today, infrastructural improvements are creating a havoc more than benefits. Seeing the Metro Train projects, it is not a positive sign to have these constructions running for a decade long. Clogging the roads and creating traffic jams is the side effect.

I became the Secretary of our Apartment Association few months ago. Our apartment complex houses 576 units and managing it is like managing a business or a company. Everyday, I am bumping in to things that will need attention being Secretary. Here is a sample of things I get pulled in to. 1. Everyday, I check my email early morning to look for any task that needs immediate attention. These emails are sometimes beyond my control. I see emails that says, "MC (Management Committee), please get rid of monkey menace in our apartment. There are too many these days and are destroying our clothes in balconies". Sadly, these monkeys were invited by few animal lovers and they fed fruits and nuts to them. Now, if we kick them away, it feels like we are kicking away our guests :). 2. At 9am, estate manager calls and tells BESCOM (electricity board) guy has come to disconnect power of people who have not paid bills. For next 30 minutes, I negotiate with that guy and convince him tha...

This morning, I had forgotten my iPhone in the office cab. Later, I was able to track it using "Findmyiphone" App. I informed the transport team and the security team. I could track the phone using this link  - https://www.icloud.com/#find Within couple of hours, I had the driver come and hand over the phone to the security! Thanks Transport Team and Security team.

As a constant internet user, one would have atleast 10 online accounts. Let me jot the list based on most common things that I see people use. 1. Yahoo email account - This is one of the earlier emails that became popular. 2. Gmail - seeing the features of gmail, people slowly moved out of Yahoo mail to Gmail. 3. Skype - It has become a mode of communication. Not having a skype account is like being disconnected. 4. Facebook and Twitter - Can't believe if someone using the internet and says, 'I don't have an account in facebook'. 5. Online Banking/Credit Cards - This is becoming popular in India and I see a good IT business in it. 6. Bill Payments - Cell phone, electricity, etc can be paid online by registering your account. Uff, this is adding up to the list of 'passwords to remember'. 7. Online shopping - Wow, this is picking up speed. Atleast for a 'try', people have created accounts online to experience online shopping. Oh no... :(. I can...

Visited Belur and Halebidu with my good old friend, Tanu. Started from Bangalore at 5am. Route from Bangalore -Reach Tumkur road, take Toll road upto Nelamangala exit. Stay left to join Bangalore-Mangalore Highway. Reach Hassan via Kunigal, Channarayapattana. Take a deviation to Belur from Hassan. Belur is 30 minutes away from Hassan. Total distance from Bangalore - Approx 225 Kms. Drive was calm and smooth. We stopped at Cafe Coffee Day in between and then for breakfast 20 Kms before Belur. We reach our first destination by 9:30am (4.5 hours of total time). After visiting Belur, we headed towards Halebidu that is 30 minutes away. The tour guide walked us through the temple and its sculptures. Ruins of the palace was found couple of hundred meters away from Halebidu temple. Our next stop was a kilometer away from Halebidu temple at the Jain Basati and the Halebidu prototype. These places are not in the visitors' list, but worth visiting. The last place seen was Hulikere tha...

Silk board junction is synonymous to 'mess'. Off-late, I have been using the Outer Ring Road and can't imagine a solution to this huge traffic on ORR. The cab stays around that place for about 30 minutes. Once we cross that junction, traffic is smoother. Only solution is to drive early to office and return early to beat rush hour traffic.

Purchases from Apple iTunes is not available in India, but is available in countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, etc.!!! Apple iTunes Page

Tomorrow is Annual Sports Day at our son's school. He is in LKG and this is his first sports day. We heard that he has been selected for finals that will be held tomorrow (Nov 30 2012). Our son has not told us what he is participating in. We just know that he is doing something! All the best son!!!

I see so many Ads on TV about online shopping in India. Below is a sample list. http://www.flipkart.com/ http://www.quikr.com/ http://www.myntra.com/ http://www.jabong.com/ http://www.junglee.com/ http://www.tradus.com/ http://www.olx.in/ http://www.ebay.in/ With fast growing Internet users, customer base for online shopping is increasing. I have started to do a bit of research on this market. Few questions that need to be answered... 1. Why are there so many players? 2. What is the business strategy to attract Indian customers? 3. How is online shopping in India different from that in the West? 4. Why is Amazon not a player in India? 5. How is 'cash-on-delivery' working compared to credit card payment? 6. What will be the scene 10 years from now? I haven't done any online shopping in India. As a shopper, I am more comfortable visiting the store and getting a closer look at the product. This seems to be faster than ordering something online and waiting...

I am a customer of BSNL in Bangalore and I find that they are the best and worst telephone service providers in the city. Coming to best part first - 1. Most cost effective service. 2. Broadband is the fastest among ADSL vendors. I can go on and on with the other side of the coin. 1. Worst customer support. I had to change homes twice in one year. Each time, I was out of connection for more than 45 days. It takes a lot of effort and follow-ups to get the connection transferred. The linesman, Assistant Engineer, Executive Engineer - none of them pick up their cell phone most of the times. Once in a blue moon, the phone rings and I get to talk to them about my transfer request. 2. If a fault occurs, we have to better keep our fingers and pray the Gods crossed to get it resolved. Once, my broadband account had got locked due to unknown reason. I had to struggle for 15 days to get it re-activated. 3. Bills don't arrive, but, line gets disconnected if not paid. Due to system ...

I have been noticing road traffic offenses. Some rules that are broken regularly in Bangalore roads are: 1. Two wheelers riding without helmet 2. Riders talking on cell-phone 3. Wrong side riding/driving 4. Changing lane without indicators (it is an offense as per rules) 5. Jumping traffic signal 6. Parking in the middle of the road 7. Overspeeding 8. Driving/riding without driver's license 9. Driving with alcohol influence 10. No proper headlights/tail lights. Now, to some fancy calculations: Number of vehicles registered in Bangalore - 36,53,368. (source = here ) . This is, as of 2009. I see an offense being made at every beat of my heart! If we assume, an offense every second, total offenses per day = 86,400 This is less than 3% of the total vehicles mentioned above. Minimum penalty is Rs. 100 (For complete of penalties and offenses list, see here ). Total penalty collected per month = 86,400 x 30 days x Rs. 100 = Rs. 25,92,00,000 (Rs. 25.92 crores). If 10...