Sunday, December 24, 2006
Portability of transport : Part I
International airports have never been busier. The buzz is that all modes of transport will be interconnected in Jan 2007. Two years worth of bus tickets from Jayanagar to the Majestic bus stand in Bangalore can be redeemed for a flight to Rochester, Minnesota ( did you say what, where...?!). Like they do in Zurich with the ZVV. Quote : One ticket for everything. A user-friendly zone system with a standard tariff ensures that you can use all forms of transport with just one ticket. Unquote.
Here's a peek at what a bus commuter will like about plane rides :
Queues : If you are tired of the mad scramble for the front or rear door of the bus or sometimes even a large gaping window, this one is for you. At airports, the queues are orderly and if you have a few children with you, you get preference for waiting. But here is a insider tip : like a wise investor, you have to learn to time the market ever so subtly. If you can browse the airport gift shop AND from the corner of your eye see a new attendant open a closed X-ray machine counter, dash for it ! There is no joy like being at the head of a queue despite not having waited in it !
Tickets: If you like the fine print on the Rs. 2.00 ticket, you will love this. Airplane tickets range from staid printed booklets 100 pages thick to pure PNR #s stored in the human RAM. Sometimes, when flight delays are imminent (see Reasons For Flight Delays : RFFD), the hard-copy material can be a life-saver. Browse the document or simply try and map airports back to their codes. Its a post-graduates delight. Did you know that all "IX" codes belong to Indian airports ? And that you can take a connection to IXT (Pasighat, India. what, where?!) from RZZ (Halifax, US). In just 21 hops.
Conductors: The Philharmonic orchestra has our very own Zubin Mehta. And if you have actually put a face to one in a BTS ( Bangalore Transport Service) bus, the air-borne version of it will be a pleasant change. They are smartly dressed, wear identity badges and dont ask you to get off if its crowded. The leather sling-bags are passe: they sport a large metal contraption on wheels. And they dont issue tickets and ultimatums. They serve with a smile. Sometimes, you will find them at the rear of an aircraft catching up on a romantic novel or simply picking their nose. Dont disturb them. The orange juice is usually on the self-service counter.
Let me not lull you into a feeling good about this new phenomenon of portability. Here is why you may want to reconsider abandoning 12B to Shivajinagar.
Delays: RFFDs (see, even web sites can be difficult) are being invented every single day. Carly Fiorina(CEO HP 1999-2005) would be proud. Last time I travelled 70 miles from MSP, USA to RST, USA it took us 3 hours. Because somebody from the incoming flight left the last page of his "The World is Triangular : how to transform it from an isoceles to an equilateral." at the gate and we had to turn back for it. Nobody batted an eyelid the time I lost my ceramic tooth-filling in my dinner tray.
Comfort: If you are looking to switch modes of transport for comfort, think twice. Due to federal safety regulations, every seat-pocket in front of your seat has 20 hand-outs that you are mandated to read. Including the one on "How to steer your plane to safety if you ran out of mouth-freshners". Sometimes, they run you through a quiz. The questions are easy. Its just that the answers require a peek into your neighbours responses. And copying is a federal aviation offence. And nature's call isnt addressed by getting off at the nearest bus-stop. The lavatory signs are set to "Occupied" and with the finesse of Karpov battling the Deep Blue at a chess game, you have to make a dash for it when it flashes "Available".
End of Part I.
(Part II will be published in the next instalment. It will cover RFFDs, RFIDs and other Riff-raff (RFs).Until then the author can be reached at bhatsr at gmail).
International airports have never been busier. The buzz is that all modes of transport will be interconnected in Jan 2007. Two years worth of bus tickets from Jayanagar to the Majestic bus stand in Bangalore can be redeemed for a flight to Rochester, Minnesota ( did you say what, where...?!). Like they do in Zurich with the ZVV. Quote : One ticket for everything. A user-friendly zone system with a standard tariff ensures that you can use all forms of transport with just one ticket. Unquote.
Here's a peek at what a bus commuter will like about plane rides :
Queues : If you are tired of the mad scramble for the front or rear door of the bus or sometimes even a large gaping window, this one is for you. At airports, the queues are orderly and if you have a few children with you, you get preference for waiting. But here is a insider tip : like a wise investor, you have to learn to time the market ever so subtly. If you can browse the airport gift shop AND from the corner of your eye see a new attendant open a closed X-ray machine counter, dash for it ! There is no joy like being at the head of a queue despite not having waited in it !
Tickets: If you like the fine print on the Rs. 2.00 ticket, you will love this. Airplane tickets range from staid printed booklets 100 pages thick to pure PNR #s stored in the human RAM. Sometimes, when flight delays are imminent (see Reasons For Flight Delays : RFFD), the hard-copy material can be a life-saver. Browse the document or simply try and map airports back to their codes. Its a post-graduates delight. Did you know that all "IX" codes belong to Indian airports ? And that you can take a connection to IXT (Pasighat, India. what, where?!) from RZZ (Halifax, US). In just 21 hops.
Conductors: The Philharmonic orchestra has our very own Zubin Mehta. And if you have actually put a face to one in a BTS ( Bangalore Transport Service) bus, the air-borne version of it will be a pleasant change. They are smartly dressed, wear identity badges and dont ask you to get off if its crowded. The leather sling-bags are passe: they sport a large metal contraption on wheels. And they dont issue tickets and ultimatums. They serve with a smile. Sometimes, you will find them at the rear of an aircraft catching up on a romantic novel or simply picking their nose. Dont disturb them. The orange juice is usually on the self-service counter.
Let me not lull you into a feeling good about this new phenomenon of portability. Here is why you may want to reconsider abandoning 12B to Shivajinagar.
Delays: RFFDs (see, even web sites can be difficult) are being invented every single day. Carly Fiorina(CEO HP 1999-2005) would be proud. Last time I travelled 70 miles from MSP, USA to RST, USA it took us 3 hours. Because somebody from the incoming flight left the last page of his "The World is Triangular : how to transform it from an isoceles to an equilateral." at the gate and we had to turn back for it. Nobody batted an eyelid the time I lost my ceramic tooth-filling in my dinner tray.
Comfort: If you are looking to switch modes of transport for comfort, think twice. Due to federal safety regulations, every seat-pocket in front of your seat has 20 hand-outs that you are mandated to read. Including the one on "How to steer your plane to safety if you ran out of mouth-freshners". Sometimes, they run you through a quiz. The questions are easy. Its just that the answers require a peek into your neighbours responses. And copying is a federal aviation offence. And nature's call isnt addressed by getting off at the nearest bus-stop. The lavatory signs are set to "Occupied" and with the finesse of Karpov battling the Deep Blue at a chess game, you have to make a dash for it when it flashes "Available".
End of Part I.
(Part II will be published in the next instalment. It will cover RFFDs, RFIDs and other Riff-raff (RFs).Until then the author can be reached at bhatsr at gmail).
Sunday, November 05, 2006
On writing or the lack of it
The local newspaper in Rochester, The Post Bulletin, had an interesting piece about writing today. Every year over 50,000 people from the US participate in a book writing contest over a couple of months. And surprisingly, most of them manage to get past the minimum word count required. In another section of today's newspaper, children were felicitated for their writing/literary skills. Recently a good friend attended a writers workshop and enjoyed the experience. All of this is heartening news for a person who currently has a block so large it could have been the entire tree !
Anthony Trollope in one of his essays ( the title of which escapes me) opines that a writer always deliberates and plots his stories with care and preparation and that the act of writing itself is laboured. Spontaneity does not play a role and impulse is always put down. I wish that were true for lesser mortals such as I. Most of my writing dashes (such as this one, sitting in the dark on a Sat night with hubby's soft snores providing a constant background) have been a spur-of-the-moment thing. The time spent writing is itself quite pleasurable but that cannot be said of the output. Sometimes, the sheer stupidity or illogical nature of the piece is embarassing and at other times the whole lumpy amalgamation of words can be flushed down ones toilet for being that - waste !
About this piece, I let the few readers of my blog decide while I say to myself "Amateur writers of the world unite - we have nothing to lose but our prose".
The local newspaper in Rochester, The Post Bulletin, had an interesting piece about writing today. Every year over 50,000 people from the US participate in a book writing contest over a couple of months. And surprisingly, most of them manage to get past the minimum word count required. In another section of today's newspaper, children were felicitated for their writing/literary skills. Recently a good friend attended a writers workshop and enjoyed the experience. All of this is heartening news for a person who currently has a block so large it could have been the entire tree !
Anthony Trollope in one of his essays ( the title of which escapes me) opines that a writer always deliberates and plots his stories with care and preparation and that the act of writing itself is laboured. Spontaneity does not play a role and impulse is always put down. I wish that were true for lesser mortals such as I. Most of my writing dashes (such as this one, sitting in the dark on a Sat night with hubby's soft snores providing a constant background) have been a spur-of-the-moment thing. The time spent writing is itself quite pleasurable but that cannot be said of the output. Sometimes, the sheer stupidity or illogical nature of the piece is embarassing and at other times the whole lumpy amalgamation of words can be flushed down ones toilet for being that - waste !
About this piece, I let the few readers of my blog decide while I say to myself "Amateur writers of the world unite - we have nothing to lose but our prose".
Monday, October 02, 2006
Loss
At a loss for words when within reach of a dictionary. No dearth of feelings that overwhelm. At a loss to find solace and comfort with a warm hearth in the living room. No dearth of understanding kith and kin. At a loss to fathom the rude shock even when comforted with a hug. No dearth of parallels in this world.
A loss that I will get used to but will never get over....
At a loss for words when within reach of a dictionary. No dearth of feelings that overwhelm. At a loss to find solace and comfort with a warm hearth in the living room. No dearth of understanding kith and kin. At a loss to fathom the rude shock even when comforted with a hug. No dearth of parallels in this world.
A loss that I will get used to but will never get over....
Friday, September 15, 2006
Duality is not ditty
The recent feud in the HP boardroom aside, the fallout of the much publicised scandal should have investors thinking about corporate governance. The CEO is also the Chairman now and perhaps will continue to be so until there arrives another emergency cleaving the posts.
But on a lighter note, it got me thinking about the duality of many things in the human world.
a. Its always a couples' world and the single man/woman is often subject to a feeling of inadequacy. And, no, I am not talking about the primal urge to procreate.
b. Its always the heart and soul, separate though inseparable. Atleast while one is alive.
c. There is Yin and Yang and a whole host of other meta-physical concepts including the very Hindu paap-punya that wont exist without one another.
d. Science goes that way too with Newtons law of action-reaction, his mathematical theory of differentiaton and integration and, infinite other pairs.
Nick Hornby's About a Boy takes the bull by its (yes, dual) horns and punctures its jugular with precision. What about back-up, redundancy and disaster recovery ? And Marcus, forced into being a twosome with his dysfunctional mother, forces a loner-seeking-dual-status-Will into the game. Of course, as the vital third...
Cheers !
The recent feud in the HP boardroom aside, the fallout of the much publicised scandal should have investors thinking about corporate governance. The CEO is also the Chairman now and perhaps will continue to be so until there arrives another emergency cleaving the posts.
But on a lighter note, it got me thinking about the duality of many things in the human world.
a. Its always a couples' world and the single man/woman is often subject to a feeling of inadequacy. And, no, I am not talking about the primal urge to procreate.
b. Its always the heart and soul, separate though inseparable. Atleast while one is alive.
c. There is Yin and Yang and a whole host of other meta-physical concepts including the very Hindu paap-punya that wont exist without one another.
d. Science goes that way too with Newtons law of action-reaction, his mathematical theory of differentiaton and integration and, infinite other pairs.
Nick Hornby's About a Boy takes the bull by its (yes, dual) horns and punctures its jugular with precision. What about back-up, redundancy and disaster recovery ? And Marcus, forced into being a twosome with his dysfunctional mother, forces a loner-seeking-dual-status-Will into the game. Of course, as the vital third...
Cheers !
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Tracing ancestry
The latest trend in anthropological studies is the tracing of human ancestry to the earliest living man. The Genographic project conceived and designed by Dr. Spencer Wells and National Geographic is perhaps one of the most publicised studies of our times. And, to its credit, has marketed itself well. While in Washington D.C earlier this year, I visited the NG museum and found a grand display of the project. And earlier this month, I read a full page feature in the Time magazine about a woman who attempted to trace her roots.
Every passing day renders the human gene more "diluted". Globalisation has brought different cultures, races and tribes in contact with each other and in the process has mired the human tree with more twists in its branches than every before.
If Sherlock Holmes and Jack Frost are icons of the detective world, then the Genographic project is the mother of all snoops. Would you disagree that there can be no greater curiosity than to determine with whom the buck started in the game of Life ?
I shall soon embark upon my personal journey ...
The latest trend in anthropological studies is the tracing of human ancestry to the earliest living man. The Genographic project conceived and designed by Dr. Spencer Wells and National Geographic is perhaps one of the most publicised studies of our times. And, to its credit, has marketed itself well. While in Washington D.C earlier this year, I visited the NG museum and found a grand display of the project. And earlier this month, I read a full page feature in the Time magazine about a woman who attempted to trace her roots.
Every passing day renders the human gene more "diluted". Globalisation has brought different cultures, races and tribes in contact with each other and in the process has mired the human tree with more twists in its branches than every before.
If Sherlock Holmes and Jack Frost are icons of the detective world, then the Genographic project is the mother of all snoops. Would you disagree that there can be no greater curiosity than to determine with whom the buck started in the game of Life ?
I shall soon embark upon my personal journey ...
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Conservation
100 Minutes well spent on a Saturday evening. The drive to the theater was made alone (because hubby was out at a Twins game) and to confess, with a little trepidation about the choice ! If you havent already guessed, the subject of discussion is "The Incovenient Truth" a motion picture by Al Gore that is busting charts in the USA.
This is a "Green" movie made for the janta with different levels of awareness . It is made to scare, educate and provoke thought. Data, information and visual effects have been blended well to present a rather enlightening commentary on the state of the geographic world. And it has its light moments too.
In my childhood and college days such a film would have inspired an near-idealist zeal in me to perfect being a environment-friendly person. Today, pragmatism and conservation go hand-in-hand. And, surprise, that is what Mr.Gore advocates for us folks in a capitalist world. Suddenly, environmentalism didn't sound rabid.
If you have a chance to watch this film, please do. It may not change your lives but surely it will tell you what it might mean to not !
Have a great weekend..
100 Minutes well spent on a Saturday evening. The drive to the theater was made alone (because hubby was out at a Twins game) and to confess, with a little trepidation about the choice ! If you havent already guessed, the subject of discussion is "The Incovenient Truth" a motion picture by Al Gore that is busting charts in the USA.
This is a "Green" movie made for the janta with different levels of awareness . It is made to scare, educate and provoke thought. Data, information and visual effects have been blended well to present a rather enlightening commentary on the state of the geographic world. And it has its light moments too.
In my childhood and college days such a film would have inspired an near-idealist zeal in me to perfect being a environment-friendly person. Today, pragmatism and conservation go hand-in-hand. And, surprise, that is what Mr.Gore advocates for us folks in a capitalist world. Suddenly, environmentalism didn't sound rabid.
If you have a chance to watch this film, please do. It may not change your lives but surely it will tell you what it might mean to not !
Have a great weekend..
Friday, May 12, 2006
The wheels of democracy run smooth
There are the elected forms of government and the rest. Common to the latter form of nations is a sentiment of latent unrest that remains fettered by force. The stranglehold of non-democratic forms of rule and civilian attempts to break free have resulted in bloody struggles - sometimes successful and at other times mere blips on the nation's radar.
Democracies, too, have not had it easy. Young nations have grappled with the institutionalisation of the practises of this form of governance (note: not rule). Middle-aged nations have been debating the fine balance of participation versus effeciency and older nations have needed resuscitation of its institutions quagmired in red-tape. The process is always bitter-sweet and usually leads to a satisfactory (if not fairy-tale) ending. As shown by India in the very recent past.
The elections in five states in India was the cynosure of the media for over a month now ( only deflected lightly when Pramod Mahajan (was) shot into the limelite!). TamilNadu, Assam, West Bengal, Pondicherry and Kerala together represents one-fifth of India's population (~200m). Elections to these state assemblies concluded May 7th. It brought mixed fortunes for the incumbents and the opposition alike. The frenzied fervour with which political opponents went at each other during campaign contrasted with unnatural calm during the counting. But, presto, once the verdict was out, the victor and the vanquished accepted their new positions with grace, the media spotlight moved from the battleground to the boardroom (aka assembly), the common man after a few hours of arm-chair psephology moved on to greater things in life, and the election commission breathed a sigh of relief !
Therein lies the beauty of democracy. It hangs by the single, delicate thread of the willingness of a 1 bn people to respect the mandate of the majority. It also revels in the untiring spirit of the people to hope and will the change.
I hope the rest of the world sees anomalies such as "Gujarat" as a mere spot on the otherwise spotless fabric of secular, democratic India.
There are the elected forms of government and the rest. Common to the latter form of nations is a sentiment of latent unrest that remains fettered by force. The stranglehold of non-democratic forms of rule and civilian attempts to break free have resulted in bloody struggles - sometimes successful and at other times mere blips on the nation's radar.
Democracies, too, have not had it easy. Young nations have grappled with the institutionalisation of the practises of this form of governance (note: not rule). Middle-aged nations have been debating the fine balance of participation versus effeciency and older nations have needed resuscitation of its institutions quagmired in red-tape. The process is always bitter-sweet and usually leads to a satisfactory (if not fairy-tale) ending. As shown by India in the very recent past.
The elections in five states in India was the cynosure of the media for over a month now ( only deflected lightly when Pramod Mahajan (was) shot into the limelite!). TamilNadu, Assam, West Bengal, Pondicherry and Kerala together represents one-fifth of India's population (~200m). Elections to these state assemblies concluded May 7th. It brought mixed fortunes for the incumbents and the opposition alike. The frenzied fervour with which political opponents went at each other during campaign contrasted with unnatural calm during the counting. But, presto, once the verdict was out, the victor and the vanquished accepted their new positions with grace, the media spotlight moved from the battleground to the boardroom (aka assembly), the common man after a few hours of arm-chair psephology moved on to greater things in life, and the election commission breathed a sigh of relief !
Therein lies the beauty of democracy. It hangs by the single, delicate thread of the willingness of a 1 bn people to respect the mandate of the majority. It also revels in the untiring spirit of the people to hope and will the change.
I hope the rest of the world sees anomalies such as "Gujarat" as a mere spot on the otherwise spotless fabric of secular, democratic India.
