eNidhi India

Talakona waterfalls, AP- revisited

2010-07-27T08:55:00.003+05:30

Revisited Talakona waterfalls in AP (70kms off Tirupati) this weekend. My last visit was in Dec 2008 [Details], during which I couldn’t notice the roads as we travelled late evening. This time we drove their during day time (in Ford Endeavor) This post offers some additional information about the place.

Several blog readers and internet visitors have been asking for contact details of the AP Forest department facilitated community guest house in Talakona. Kindly refer the image for the phone numbers. The community guest house now houses 2 new loghuts, taking total number of loghuts to 4, in addition to 2 dormitories. Rent is Rs 500 per night. Advance booking strongly recommended for weekends.

At the entrance, guards did check our belongings for hard drinks, which we didn’t have. Despite such checks we did spot some abandoned barcadi bottles on top. For each water bottle, guard collected Rs 5 as a deposit, which he said he’ll refund once we come back with the bottles. Many might forget to collect it back, but we did and he reluctantly gave the money back.

Last time the community guest house had a pet deer named Raja. Upon enquiry we were told that he has been released into the forest. A forest Safari has been introduced, but with no assurance of any animal sighting. If you’re lucky you might spot a deer. (IITM Campus gives you better choices)

Water level was far less this time, compared to Dec 2008 (Oct-Nov is the rainy season in this region). The right most photo was taken in Dec 2008 and left most one taken in July 2010.

The canopy walk is now tolled at Rs 10 per person. however there’s no guard on the other end and its free if you can get into the guest house campus… Meals at the campus is good and priced at Rs 35.

Monkey menace has grown leap and bounds in Talakona campus. They damage leather seats of two wheelers, threaten people and snatch bags. One lady whose handbag was snatched by the monkey was cribbing that it had some certificates and her friend was not able to do anything but watch helplessly. Avoid carrying anything expensive and unnecessary.

Though water levels at the falls were less, the vegetation has grown nicely. A trail on which we’d trekked last time had thick vegetation around it making it difficult for us to enter. There is a jeep trail till top of Tala Kona, which doesn’t appear to be in use. (Probably used in British Era) Need to find out where it originates from. View from top is exciting as always.

Approach roads are nice and Talakona is a nice destination to add if you’re visiting Tirupati. Buses, share autos and jeeps are available if you don’t have a vehicle. Read my previous post on Talakona here

How to reach Talakona?
From Tirupati, drive towards Bengaluru. At Chandragiri fort turn right, go into town, take left (ask people for help), drive straight. At next intersection (where you'll see a temple entrance in front), turn left, keep driving. Signboards will guide you at turns.

Nearby places: Horseley Hills, Venkatagiri, Chandragiri Fort, Tada, Pulicat Lake, Tirumala, Tirupati

Spicejet vs Jetlite: A bit of Aviation Gyan

2010-07-22T21:29:00.007+05:30

This post lists a set of observations and comments sourced from my close to a dozen domestic flights taken during March-July 2010. Frequent flyers might find this post redundant and are advised to check June archives instead.

1. What is the difference between JetLite, Jet Airways Konnect and Jet Airways Codeshare?
Had lots of confusion why they're having so many names and prompted me to do some study. Jetlite refers to flights earlier operated by Air Sahara. It is a permanent low cost carrier with its own branding, in flight magazine and aircraft..

Jet Airways Konnect is a temporary branding carved out of Jetairways fleet. Jet Konnect runs on the same aircraft used by full service Jet Airways, but at a lower fare, in No-frills mode. On many Jet airways routes, full service aircraft had very low occupancy, hence Jet Konnect was created as a temporary measure, to fly on those routes targeting budget passengers. If demand for full service seats at Jet Airways resumes, Jet Konnect will be abolished and will be operated as Jet Airways. So if there’s an option between Jetlite and Jet Konnect, opt for Jet Konnect. Jet Konnect flights will have business class seats and Jet wings magazine.

Jetairways Codeshare again refers to Jetlite operating on Jetairways routes, with flights coded 9W instead of S2

2. In-Flight Magazines: Spice Route is found to be better than JetWings

Of all the in-flight magazines, I found SpiceRoute most interesting. In March, both JetWings and Spice Route had title article on Holi, but Spice Route was much more exciting overall. However, Spice route carries a column which explains how to cover a city in 48 hours. I thought this is a great idea when I read about Pune in March edition. But when I read about Hyderabad in its April edition, I realized that they have written the article without experiencing it. (it said 4PM Durgam Cheruvu and 7PM Lumbini Garden or 9AM Golconda fort and 11 AM Quli Qutb Shahi tombs- which is not practical, coz the drive from Durgam Cheruvu to Lumbini itself would take 60-90mins, while Golconda takes 2-3 hours to climb up n down.)

Jetlite and Jet airways have got different inflight magazines, which I feel is waste of money. Kingfisher Red on the other hand offers a film magazine.

Spicejet also offers some additional magazines, though they're seldom interesting.

3. No previous Month’s editions.
All airlines keep only current month’s edition of their in-flight magazine. Previous editions are promptly removed. In April I took 3 spice-jet flights and it was boring to read same magazine again and again. In May I didn’t fly a single SpiceJet flight. In June, when asked the crew if I can have May edition of spice route, the reply was negative. Providing a few erstwhile editions on demand wouldn’t cost much and will add value to not so frequent fliers who enjoy reading. You can refer Spiceroute mag website for archives though. But the website is poorly designed and maintained.

4 On time: Spicejet was the most on-time airline, while Jetlight and Jet Konnect were consistent in delayed departures. But point to be made, most of my Spice jet flights were in the morning and jet flights in the evening. Evening ones will have higher probability of delay as a result of delays accumulated all through the day.

5. There is a nice veg restaurant close to departure terminal, Mumbai Airport. Priced reasonably (ex: Coffee: Rs 30) it might be a better idea eating something here before entering the airport, to avoid being ripped off inside the airport or in-flight.

6. Add 45 mins-1 hour to your Delhi flight time, due to 15 mins taxi time, 10 min bus ride, delays and hovering time… It is like landing in Noida and driving to Delhi. (we indeed landed at Jaipur once as the aircraft didn't have enough fuel to hover around. But they didn't show me Hawa Mahal)

7. Passengers have a tendency to get up from their seats as soon as aircraft stops, while doors open good 10 minutes later.

8. BMTC’s Vayu Vajra is the best way to travel to and from Bangalore International Airport… Taxis are a rip off. Other cities should catch up on this idea and should offer similar Bus Services. At Delhi and Chennai Metros are being planned though.

9. It is high time airlines change the statement “Now you can use laptops and CD players” to “Laptops and ipods/mp3 players” as no one uses CD player anymore.

10. Lots of near misses are being reported off late. Do pay heed to safety instructions and other emergency procedures. You never know when something would go wrong…

11. Jetlite’s in-flight shopping, auction and scratch card (take home anything for Rs 599) schemes are visibly an eye wash. The minimum bid prize is more than the real value of the products kept for auction.

12. Spicejet also scores higher on in-flight service. They give complementary water in a 300ml pet bottle, while Jetlite serves water in cup, only on demand. While majority of passengers prefer breakfast/meals, airlines carry them in very little numbers and run out of stock super-fast. Passengers will be left with overpriced sandwiches (Rs 120). Spicejet serves ready made tea, while JetLite gives you hot water, milk and tea bag, leaving the task of preparing your tea for yourself. (Should we be thankful they don't provide a kettle and cold water?)

13 ATR flights will have much lesser cabin space and some regular cabin bags may not fit in…

14. Each Spicejet flight is named after a spice. Now, with Marans buying a stake in SpiceJet, I am wondering if they'll rename each flight after a family member...

15. Of all the airlines, I like Indigo's branding- Indigo to 35000 feet, their TV commercial and other aspects are nice. Didn't fly Indigo since long time, will be flying them August first week. Hope they've not increased the price of cashew nut on-board... (Read a previous post on Indigo in-flight shopping)

16. Most of the flight attendants do not recognize in-flight mode feature present in your mobile (this feature disables all communication functionality and allows rest of the harmless features like music, games etc, so that there'll be no interference with aircraft's communication and navigation systems) They insist you switch off the mobile.

Similar Posts: Kingfisher Experience *

Disclaimer: All information and comments as observed by the author during his flights. Experience may vary from person to person and information, pricing and service levels are subject to change over a period of time

Assembled vehicle Jugaads (aka Maruthas) of North India

2010-07-21T16:37:00.003+05:30

This is a fairly old post that was published in my photoblog (now dead) after our July 2008 north India trip. Republishing now, to reach out to wider range of audience. You know about assembled computers-know have a look at these assembled vehicles, which I found in hundreds in UP/Haryana region. Initially I didn't know the names of these vehicles, but thanks to Indiamike users and other readers, I figured out that they're called Jugaads (aka Maruthas)

Jugaads are made by local mechanics, using spare parts of other vehicles. Engine could be from a Mahindra Jeep, a tractor, a van or even a generator. Other than engine there's nothing much. Basic control like steering wheel, levers and pedals. No cover for engines, no instrument panel. Lighting and decorations are done as per the taste and requirements of the designer/buyer

First time when I saw this, I thought some local mechanic might be experimenting with this makeshift vehicle, but during next 2 days, I saw hundreds of them. Seems quite popular and visibly cheap-couldn’t have cost more than a lakh per vehicle. (And you thought TATA NANO is pretty cheap-I’m sure given enough support these guys can make even cheaper car) None of the vehicles have any sort of registration details on them. There’s no proper protection to engine, which braves everything from dust, air, rain and sun. Rear view mirror, turn indicators, Airbag, seat belt, ABS- try explaining them all these...

Clearly, this is very much an unorganized business, but with no proper branding, license, permits and such things that bother any legitimate enterprise. Whoever is behind this, must be pretty genius and could have taken up this initiative on a large scale adhering to applicable guidelines. (May be he’ll lose the cost advantage if he starts following rules and regulations) Law enforcement agencies seem to have turned a blind eye towards these unauthorized vehicles on road. Though our driver Ajay told these vehicles are found only in villages and on highways, where policing is pretty low, we did notice them almost everywhere in Punjab, Haryana and Agra.

A side view:

One of these jugaads was also featured in the movie Shakti, starring SRK and Aishwarya Rai.

Just wondering if someone has thought about CNG version...

Bannerghatta National Park Wildlife Safari pics

2010-07-20T08:10:00.003+05:30

I don’t remember going to Bannerghatta National Park earlier. Guess I’ve never been there earlier. Don’t know how I missed out on this popular place just outside Bengaluru…

Went to Bannerghatta for a half day visit last Sunday. Went off better than expected. Sandeep had warned us that there’ll be a huge queue for the jungle safari. We reached there by cab+bike by 10.15 AM and the camp wasn’t that crowded. As we entered tiger safari area, our guide Keshav exchanged a few words with the driver. From their conversation I understood that during the last Safari the previous day, they couldn’t spot any tigers and visitors had to return disappointed. He was hoping that won’t repeat today and so did I.

Spotted a few wild bears, oxen, wild cow and other herbivore animals first and eventually entered into carnivore area where lions and tigers were housed. A lioness and 3 of her cubs were our first catch.

Our safari van driver, Venkatapati, turned out to be an excellent photographer as well. When the van stopped near some wild animals he almost snatched the camera from me saying he’ll take the photographs. :) I hesitated for a moment, but then gave him the camera, partly due to his enthusiasm and mainly because he had the most strategic place in the entire van for photography. While rest of the van is fully covered with mesh, only driver’s seat window had clear view, so from his seat he had better chance of taking a clear shot.

He turned out to be an good at photography too. Within seconds he figured out basic controls like wide, tele etc and started taking snaps. For example, below photo of the lioness yawning, it taken by him. After sometime I almost forcefully took my camera back, as he was doing all the clicking and I was just watching. Immediately he took camera from another tourist and continued his photography.

However, unfortunately I couldn’t get a clear shot of any white tigers. Spotted about 4 of the 5 white tigers in the park. One was extending its Sunday morning sleep on its bed (images below), the other was stationery with its back towards us (above). Two more were in cage, couldn’t get clear view of them for photograph.

Apparently even these animals have various groups within them and if left loose, they would fight among themselves. Hence they are let out one group at a time, while rest are caged.

Post safari, we came back to the zoo. Now the queue for Safari had grown into a fairly long one and we felt good that we came early. The range of animals there is fairly high. The zeebra below was hoping to get some food from visitors, but when I got a clear view, it refused to budge and I had to settle with a photo of its rear…

Most of the animals couldn’t be photographed well due to heavy mesh surrounding them. You better visit in person to checkout.

Sunday morning well spent. I’ll probably go there again, just to get different poses of those tigers and lions. BMTC has frequent bus service to Banngerghatta National Park (Route 365 from Majestic).

Lodhi Garden, New Delhi: Photo feature

2010-07-12T22:14:00.003+05:30

Lodhi Garden, located close to India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road is a vast green park in North Delhi. Spread over 90 acres, Lodhi Gaden houses several tombs of Lodhi empire, inside Gumbad, (Gumbaz or small buildings built around the tomb, reminds me of Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur) most of them were built during 15th Century.

I had a free time of couple of hours and I ventured into Lodhi Garden.First thing I noticed was the presence of numerous squirrels and mynas moving freely all around. This immediately reminded me of Agra Fort where I’d seen similar population of squirrels.

The first major building I saw on entrance was this…Bara Gumbad (probably meant Bada Gumbaz or Big Dome). There was nothing inside. Each corner was occupied by one couple, who were little worried if I might take their photographs. I had to be conscious not to get them into the frame or give them a feeling of it. The buildings were visibly deteriorated, damages clearly visible all around. But then, they’ve survived 6 centuries and will survive many more. As I moved ahead I realized that this is just one among many such buildings in the garden. The one immediately behind this is called Sheesh Gumbad. A stranger, who identified himself as South African, asked me about the history of these buildings, which I was clueless about. I advised him to refer to the stones(images below) which had details inscribed in them.

Sheesh Gumbad had some designer glasses in its exterior design. However the inside had a series of tombs, with a dog comfortably sleeping on one of them (look at the right most one) Only one corner of this tomb was not occupied by any love-birds, hence I took liberty of taking a photograph.

As I walked across, saw a big group of birds-lots of pigeons, parrots and squirrels feasting on grains. Of the two parakeets I saw, the one had a dark ring across the neck while the other didn’t. Not sure of the difference-male and female may be.(any idea?)

I walked further, spotted a mini fort like structure. This thing houses Sikandar Lodhi’s tomb, surrounded by a garden. The garden was all dug up, understandably under renovation ahead of commonwealth games. The workers were spotted taking a powerful afternoon nap.

Walking across the walkway takes you to the other exit. Next to Sikandar Lodhi’s garden lies a water body, which is believed to connect to river Yamuna. It also houses a small bridge, called Athpula (8 pillared) which is build on 8 pillars and showcases 7 arches, center one being biggest. The water body is not well maintained and houses dirty stagnant water. Spotted a few birds swimming in the same. A Cormorant just came out of its swim and stood still with its wing spread out, drying itself in the sun.

There was still a lot to see and might have spotted few more birds if I had the time and patience, but had to rush back to IHC for work. Do leave your comments.

Nano Superdrive in namma Bengaluru

2010-07-11T10:59:00.004+05:30

June 18th, 2010: We re-entered Karnataka from Hosur side, at around 5PM and were expecting lot of traffic after crossing electronic city. Surprisingly there were none. Probably due to the recently opened elevated flyover, traffic was minimal and we reached our destination, Concorde Motors near Dairy circle, ahead of time. Weather was nice and for a change, we stopped AC, rolled down windows and have a pleasant drive. Also spotted a new variant of electric car, Reva, which was being at a fairly high speed, which Nano couldn’t chase. Later, while heading towards the hotel, got to see this beautiful rainbow.

The next day, we set out for our landmark activities. First destination was Bangalore Palace.

We passed through MG Road, which seemed to have lost its charm, due to al the construction work of Namma Metro. An auto driver, named A Joseph, who had a badge of Ka. Ra. Ve (Karnataka Rakshana Vedike), asked us curiously if Nano is available in diesel. After briefing him that it is not, I just asked him how is Narayana Gowda. After a minute he realized whom I was referring to and reply was “he he!”

Doordarshan’s TV Tower and a giant wheel opposite to hit looked majestic. After a brief stop at Bangalore Palace, we headed out to Cubbon Park, our second destination. The media was invited here and they turned up in larger number, compared to other cities. I spoke to couple of TV Channels here, including TV9 and Kasturi, about the Superdrive.

Also met Prashant (who blogs at Payaniga.com). The right hand side photo above is clicked by him. TV9 report was telecasted same day evening, a poor quality recording, which I made using my camera, can be found below.

Then we headed towards Vidhana Soudha. Taking photographs here was very tricky. Busy traffic and with no permission and space to park the cars, we had to click while cars were moving slowly, hoping that no other vehicles come in between. Managed to click some decent shots (Check this post for more Vidhana Soudha shots)

From TataNanoSuperdrive

The 3rd location was Lumbini Garden, Hebbal. FM Radio winners were invited here, but the turn out was very less. (Attributing to the fact that Lumbini garden is at the other end of town and on a Saturday afternoon people would have many other things to do) Nano was also kept on display at Garuda Mall, competing with Volkswagen Beetle for attention, which was also displayed in the same campus.

In the evening, a customer get together was organized at Crown Plaza, electronic city. This also had lesser than expected turn out, again because Electronic city is on the southern extreme of the city. But over 200 people who turned up had good time.

That’s a brief on Bengaluru visit. Next day we drove across Karnataka, from Bengaluru to Kolhapur, just bypassing Hubli, Davanagere, Belgaum… Road (NH4) was superb and we could cover 630kms in 12.5 hours, including all breaks and stops. More about it later.

Social Media and ICT for SMEs

2010-07-10T21:30:00.002+05:30

I attended a day long conference last week at Delhi on how SMEs can use ICT and Social Media. This post published some key information, observations and ideas jotted during the conference, which was organized by IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India) in association with Indiamart.com and FISME.

Small and Medium (or Midsized) enterprises, termed as SMEs (aka Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, Small and Medium Businesses (MSME, SMBs)), contribute significantly to Nation’s growth. There’re about 35 million SMEs in India. They account for about 99% of the companies in numbers and about 40-50% in terms of contribution to GDP. SMEs will have some typical challenges and characteristics. While they possess all the zeal to expland and grow their business, they won’t have the financial muscle like a large corporation to spend heavily on R&D, Marketing, Advertising or other investments/expenditures. This makes them cautious about every rupee they spend.

Govt of India has lots of schemes for SMEs. Mr Dinesh Rai, Secretary, Ministry of MSMEs, Govt of India briefed about few of them. Govt subsidises spend on skill development, (Upto 30% for plants and machinery, Rs 30-60 per person per hour for skill development (depending on rural/urban) is paid by Govt. Those who wish to get trained will get vouchers with which they can redeem in partner institutions and get trained, Upto 60 lakhs is provided for institutions to set up incubation centres and so on). Rajiv Gandhi Udyami Mitr Yojna will help emerging entrepreneurs. Full details are available at msme.gov.in

SMEs appear to be highly confused or misled on the ICT (Internet Communication Technology) front. Most of the enterprises do not have an online presence, which is very critical these days. There’re 35 million SMEs in India, but only 0.5 million registered domains. Gautham Gandhi of Google India was hot favourite among the audience post session, as everyone wanted to know how to select a SEO vendor and how much to pay. Gautham did his best to clarify that any claim made by SEO vendors that they’re associated/affiliated/partners with Google are outright false and such companies will not be able to produce any documentation to the effect. Also its best for business owners to spend some time and effort to understand the basics of SEO, Social Media and other aspects, so that they would know what they’re dealing with when the work is outsourced to other companies.

Similarly Social Media is something companies definitely adopt to, but expecting overnight return from Social Media spend would result in failure. At this stage social media can be used to create better brand awareness, better brand recall and loyalty. Once these 3 are achieved, sales will naturally improve. But expecting sales to increase just after creating a fan page in facebook can be catastrophic. (This is my personal opinion)

SME Portal Milagrows co founder Rajiv Kharwal spoke about how SMEs can leverage open source softwares. Though there’re open source softwares available for almost all business requirements, because there’s been no awareness, because there’s no proper training and service available, open source softwares are seldom used in SMEs. Softwares like Sugar CRM, Orange HRM and .proj are very helpful tools for managing business. Full details at milagrow.in

Mobile marketing and online listing (directory services) were other topics of discussion. Most of the speakers also spent good amount of time talking about their companies and their service offerings. if you’re interested and have some time, excerpts from all sessions are available at IAMAI Official Blog

Horsley Hills Hillstation, AP

2010-07-04T21:28:00.003+05:30

Continued from previous post, we reached Horsley Hills by about 2pm, checked into our rooms, had buffet lunch at APTDC Restaurant and had a nap.

Evening time, Ram was the first to set out on Horsley Hills exploration. I was next and others followed suit.

Above: A Scorpio venturing further into rocky terrain while all other vehicles were parked behind. Below: Ram doing his photography, commando style… Right, view from top of watch tower behind Governor’s Bungalow.

What is there in Horsley Hills?

Horsley Hills is a hill top converted into a tourist facility. Almost similar to Nandi Hills, Bangalore. A bit larger in area. It has multiple attractions to keep everyone occupied. A swimming pool, (Rs 100 per hour, from 8AM to 6PM) kids play area, tiny adventures like rope walking, a crocodile bank with 2-3 crocs, an enclosure housing few birds and other animals, a tiny water body, generously named as Manasa Sarovara, Garden, a wide-open rock ideal for evening sit outs, a watch tower and some massive rocks.

Above: Manasa Sarovara at Horsley Hills. Right: A building wall with markings which reminded me of Rifle Target practice zones. Below: A tortoise resting on a stone in Manasa Sarovara & staff quarters.

Weather was cooler, but certainly not chilling. That’s fine, because it was far better than superhot Chennai. Option for food are limited to 3-4 restaurants/eating joints. After one round of explorations and dinner and walk we retired for the day. I played cards after a very long time-may be decades and needless to say lost out first.

Morning began calmly. We went out to explore the nearby Manasa Sarovara and some rocks beyond that. AP Foest department guest house campus has another view point, nice flowers in their garden and an age old tractor, declared Prabhutva Vahanamu (Telugu for: Govt Vehicle)

Our original plan to start early and visit few other locations like Chandragiri fort and then return to Chennai. We came back from rock exploration, got ready, checked out and got into the car, only to find that it would not start. After a complete rest of about 20 hours, the already “poorly maintained” engine had caught cold and wouldn’t start. Pushing it down hill, pushing it further, attempts by others, check by few other drivers, all proved futile. (here’s a detailed discussion on team-bhp about Indica’s cold start problems)

All my 4 years of studying Mechanical engineering was of no use, because they never thought us how to fix a problematic diesel engine. This is the first time I faced some problem with self drive rented cars. May be I should not rent them in the first place if I don’t feel good about the car while taking delivery. Nevertheless, now that our far wouldn’t start and local people and other drivers couldn’t help, he had to seek external help. We had 2 options-get a mechanic from nearby town, get it fixed and proceed, or leave the car (let the agency take care of it) and return to Chennai in a bus. The day being Sunday, Tata motors service centers were closed and we managed to get the number of a mechanic from nearby town who offered to come. He promised to arrive within 1 hour and our forced stay in Horsley hills pursued. Having checked out of the rooms, we killed time in the gardens. Even after full 4 hours, there was no sign of our mechanic. With each telephonic call, he would offer a new excuse (“Sir, I’ve come to pickup the tools”, “Sir, diesel is over in my vehicle, have to get it”, “I’m on my way” and few other ones) Fed-up, we almost decided on abandoning the car and returning by bus, as all of us had to attend offices next day. We decided to try one last time, and surprisingly it roared to life as Rajesh held the pedal to the ground for few mins. Thick black smoke from exhaust ensured that we had everyone’s attention and with new found joy, we took off.

Drive back was uneventful. Heavy rains near Palmaner welcomed us and with a bit of night driving we reached city by night.

Also read Ram's travelogue on the trip...

How to go to Horsley Hills?
From Chennai-NH4- Ranipet-Chittoor-Palmaner-Madanapalli-Horsley Hills (About 280kms, roads are good)
From Bangalore: Kolar-Palmaner-Madanapalli-Horsley Hills (about 190kms)

Verdict: Not a must visit, but very decent place, can surely be visited once from Bangalore or Chennai. Ideal destination to stopover or add to your Tirupati itinerary. Do remember to get advance booking at AP Tourism’s Haritha Resort

Kaundinya Wildlife Sanctuary, Palmaner, AP

2010-07-03T22:58:00.003+05:30

Let me take a break from Nano and write about something else. About our 2 day trip to Kaundinya Wildlife Sanctuary and Horsley Hills in AP. Actually there isn’t much to write about this sanctuary. As I started writing about Horsley Hills trip, the post got elongated and I had to split it into part 2, so Day 1 activities are being published in this post under the above title.

Horsley hills, a small hill station some 300 kms from Chennai, (200kms from Bengaluru) located in Andhra Pradesh, was on my hit list since long time. Many people declared “there’s nothing interesting there” and internet websites only had typical marketing contents-all similar.

After multiple attempts, a trip to Horsley hills finally materialized on last weekend of May. We (myself, Ram, Rajesh and Satish) had booked a Swift Diesel and even paid advance, but the stupid and unreliable dealer failed to give us the Swift VDi we’d booked. (these local dealers offer cars at a rate cheaper than regular agencies like Hertz, but that cost saving comes at a price- they are highly unreliable) Our option was to take a petrol car (city) or an old India Diesel or cancel the trip.

(Above: An multi axle truck toppled over- a common scene on NH4. No I wasn’t driving this thing)
We decided to proceed with Indica Diesel, which had logged over 1.3 lakh kms and was in not so good condition. We set of on Saturday early morning and reached Horsley hills by afternoon. Once on highway I realized that its 5th gear is not working properly as well and our max speed was confined to about 100-110kmph (Nano was better off!) We entered Chittoor town in search of breakfast and also took a deviation near Palmaner searching for elephant sanctuary.

Above: Ram looking at a Natural lake at Palmaner. Right: A dragonfly

Internet sites suggested existence of Koundinya Elephant Sanctuary off Palmaner. When we reached Palmaner, localites had no clue about any wildlife centres around. We faced a bit of launguage problem-I called a telugu friend and got exact telugu words (Vanya Jantu Pradarshana Shala- Telugu for wildlife sanctuary and another phrase for Elephant habitat, which I forgot). Still no one were aware. Eventually, one gentleman offered to guide us. He took us several kms inside. We found No elephants, but found several small water bodies having good number of birds around it.

Above: 4 of my best bird photographs during the trip. Disadvantage of point and shoot camera-higher the zoom, lower the resolution were obvious (In first Row: Cattle egret and Red wattled lapwig, identified by Shankara. In Second Row: Pied Kingfisher and Ashy Wood Swallow respectively, names sourced from Ram) I still have a lot to learn.

Finally the guide suggested that we go another 6 kms inside a kachcha road, we decided to abort the plan and return to main road and head towards our primary destination, Horsley Hills. This sign board is all we could see, as far as elephants are concerned (also it is a vast area, spread over 358 square kms and supposed to have about 50 elephants-we can’t expect them to be visible near the roadside)

Above: A signboard confirming that its supposed to be an elephant reserve. Right: Gangotri, a pond few kms earlier to Horsley Hills. One is supposed to find Sambar Deers and other wild animals here, a per the adjacent signboard.
Without any difficulty we reached Horsley Hills after another stop near Gangotri, a nice and scenic water body.
The Main accommodation facility, run by APTDC (there’re different types of rooms suiting various budgets) was all full. Other two major options were Governor’s Bungalow and AP Forest department’s guest house. While APTDC accommodation can be booked in advance online, the other two are let out only selectively. So we were guided towards another private facility, which rented us a dungeon kind of room for 500 Rs. Buffet lunch at APTDC restaurant costs Rs 100 and food was reasonably good.
Read the next post about Horsley Hills.

Similar: Wayanad Travelogue * Ooty Travelogue *

Tata Nano FAQs

2010-07-02T16:12:00.002+05:30

A few of you might feel this blog has become an overdose of Nano related posts. Can't help it-After spending so much time with Nanos I have to take it to a logical conclusion. Have a few more posts about Nano and Nano Superdrive lined up (One complete review of the car and another concluding post about Superdrive),after which this blog will revert to normalcy.

From TataNanoSuperdrive

I’ve answered several questions about the Nano during my road trip. These questions and answers provide a good review of the car and people's perspective on it. Here’re the 10 popular Nano FAQs, which public and media asked us during the superdrive. (If the topic doesn't interest you. click here to read best of 2009)

1 What material is the car body made from? Is it plastic? Aluminium?
Mr Ranjit Patel, who owns a shop in Prime Market, Surat, was very skeptical about the car and posed us with the above and many other questions. Mr. Jigar Shah, Customer Service Manager, Tata Motors, clarified that car’s body is made from Cast Iron and engine is Aluminum.

2 Is there power steering in any of the models?
No. None of the variants have power steering. I didn’t feel the need for it, except couple of times while attempting tough maneuvers for parking.

3 Can it climb up a hill?
It did. With 3-4 people on board, Nanos comfortably climbed western ghats with decent speed as we drove from Cochin to Coimbatore and other hilly terrains.

4 How much does a Nano cost on road?
On road price ranges from 1.4 lakhs to 2.3 lakhs depending on city. It was cheaper in Kolhapur, Maharastra compared to Karnataka, due to taxation differences. Standard version which costs 1.4 lakhs is the bare minimum version with no ac.

5. The supposed to be Rs 1 lakh car costs as much as 2.3 lakhs-How is it better that Maruti 800 that is available at similar prices? (Media question to Tata Motors Official in Goa)
At 2.3 lakhs, you’re comparing Nano’s top end variant with Maruti 800’s entry level version. Nano LX is available in BS4 while Maruti BS3, among many other differences. Further, M800 is being phased out, which means there’s no other new car one can buy in 2 lakh range.

6. Bajaj and others are planning on small cars-How will it impact?
Nanos are already on the road while the competition is still in drawing room or concept stage. Nano will be miles ahead of competition in terms of innovation, pricing and other parameters

7 Is Nano Available in CNG/Diesel?
People in North India were very keen on a Nano CNG version while those in South asked about Diesel. Unfortunately as of now Nano is available only in Petrol. However, Tata Motors officials have said off the record that they’ve a long term (10 years) vision for Nano and Nano CNG and Diesel versions will be launched in future (exact timelines not known) Also a variant with luxury interiors, targeting women customers, is also on the cards

8 How fast does it go?
I too was skeptical about Nano’s top speed and was expecting it to be around 60-70kmph. Initial few days of the trip we drove very slowly and cautiously, never exceeding 80kmph. However, once on Mumbai Pune expressway, we touched upto 110kmph and thereafter, wherever road conditions permitted, we cruised at decent speeds of 100kmph+. So that’s quite practical speed for city car.

9 Can I buy a Nano now?
Nano’s Sanand plant is now operational, with a capacity of 2.4 lakh cars per year (expandable to 5 lakh cars) Cars that have been manufactured so far will first be delivered to those who’ve already booked Nano and waiting. Once waiting list is cleared, fresh bookings would open. In about 2 month’s time, Tata Motor Officials are optimistic that one will be able to walk in and drive out a Nano

From TataNanoSuperdrive

10. How's the response been from public for Nano?
The response has been great. Initial few Nano customers in each city proudly explained the celebrity status they got because of Nano (as everyone were curious about the new car) About the performance and other aspects as well, people were very pleased with the car. One journalist in Surat expressed that engine should have been more powerful. An elderly couple in Pune said they got only 15kmpl, a customer in Chennai mentioned about engine noise, A prospective customer in Mumbai wanted Nano with an airbag... Excluding few isolated cases like this, feedback has been great

Interesting bits from my South India tour

2010-06-25T19:17:00.004+05:30

This post offers 5 standalone bits of incidents/interesting information, sourced during my current South India tour in Nano.

1. Roses win hearts
As we were heading from Solhapur to Kolhapur, we paid a visit to Pandit automotives, Sangli. We were all welcomed with a small rose each. Usually flowers go waste after the welcome ceremony, but in our case, it served a unique purpose. One of our drivers had his fiancée in Solhapur. Evening time, he cleverly collected the roses from everyone and took them to shower on his fiancée… So thoughtful no?

From TataNanoSuperdrive

2. Interstate Travel is so expensive…
We’ve an events team which takes care of hotel and mall events in each city. (At each city we visit in our Nano, this team goes ahead of us and does settings in the Mall and Hotels (where customer meets are scheduled) They carry their materials (backgrounds, standees, games materials etc) in a tourist bus and go to the next city ahead of us to do the preparations. As we travelled across 6 South Indian States in past 26 days, this team has paid a whopping Rs 1.5 lakhs for interstate tourist permit alone (for their tourist bus). Though we’re free to move anywhere in India, if you’ve to move in a vehicle, there’s a heavy price to be paid at each state border… (Toll and other expenses not included)

3. Kolhapur’s Mercedes Connection
Though Kolhapur is a visibly small city with non existent traffic signals, poor roads and other facilities, it houses several rich businessmen and industrialists. Apparently several years ago when a Kolhapur Businessman went to Mumbai to place an order for Mercedes Benz, dealer refused to deliver the car to a small town like Kolhapur. This irritated the businessman, who had a discussion with all his peers in town and they together placed an order for a whopping 110 Mercs. This took entire Merc management, including their Head Office by surprise and eventually, Merc’s second showroom in Maharastra was opened here after Mumbai.

Recently another Maharastrian Town is competing with Kolhapur- Rich men in Aurangabad have recently placed order for 115 Mercs, 60 of them E Class. Unfortunately I couldn’t meet any of those super rich businessmen during my trip, but instead I did spot this guy on the roadside counting crisp currency notes.

From TataNanoSuperdrive

4. Fraud Mechanics on Mumbai-Pune Expressway
As we were driving from Mumbai to Pune, we noticed several scooter riders riding slowly on the opposite direction, near Lonavla area where uphill journey starts. We’re told about their Modus Operandi- The roads in the area appear to be straight and plain, but are steadily uphill. The slope may not be obvious to the eyes, but the engine of your car will reciprocate with drop in speed. New car owners or unskilled drivers get worried with the sudden drop in engine response and often pull over concerned. These scooter riders who ride in opposite direction scout for such cars and stop nearby offering to help/suggesting that there’s a mechanic nearby. The Fraud mechanics at this makeshift shop near top of the hill will act like repairing the car and charge you 500-1000 Rs. From there downward slope starts and you’ll cruise happily thinking that your car has been fixed, while in reality it didn’t have any issues at all.

From TataNanoSuperdrive

So next time on Mumbai-Pune highway, look out for these crooks.

5. Nano Carnival and Nano Seal
At each city, we've Nano Customer Meet, called Nano Carnival. Its more of a party and entertainment than a formal meeting. It involves lots of games and entertainment, music and of course buffet dinner. The entry is by invitation only. (Nano customers in that city, and a few FM Radio winners are invited)

Access control is very critical in events like this, (to ensure that uninvited people do not get in) and after verifying the invitation of the Tata Nano customer, he/she and his/her family members will be let in, after putting a seal on their arms. This seal is the basic rubber stamp with Nano logo on it and helps identify that a person's entry has been confirmed.

From TataNanoSuperdrive

Regular party goes are used to this mode of authentication and readily extend their arm for the seal. For others this is a new experience and they take it with good spirit. I've seen a few kids showing discomfort towards this and trying to rub it off...

In Mangalore, one esteemed gentleman, who came pretty late to the event, almost got ignited when the guy manning the door touched his hand to put this seal. "What is this? What are you doing? I'll write to Tata Motors!" was his reaction. The poor guy, who was a college student,working part time for an event management co in Mangalore (to which Tata Motor's event management co Shobiz had sub contracted) was taken aback. The gentleman was eventually allowed in without the seal but I am still wondering what text would have gone into his letter/mail if he were to write about this to tata motors!

South India Hotel Reviews

2010-06-24T19:16:00.004+05:30

During My 26 day road trip, I stayed at around 15 hotels. This post is a quick review of those hotels. All of them were budget to 2 star hotels, with room rents ranging from 1k to 2.5k (after corporate discounts). This review might help those looking for some decent accomodation in these cities.

1. Ginger Hotel, Ahmedabad
There’re multiple Ginger Hotels in Ahmedabad. We stayed at the one located in Drive-in Road. Ginger Hotels are run by Tata Group and are unique and standardized. While rooms are clean, well maintained, cost is saved in every other aspect (this cost advantage is directly passed on to those who pay for the rooms (not necessarily to those who stay there-you got the difference?)

There’s no room service, no free soaps in bathroom (can be purchased from reception at MRP). Breakfast costs Rs 150+ taxes and Lunch & Dinner, Rs 250+tax. For certain packages breakfast can be complementary and for others its not (if your employer gives you separate food allowance, then they can request Ginger hotel to exclude complementary breakfast and give some cash discount). Wifi is free at few hotels and few other facilities like Gym are available in few hotels. Regular rooms cost Rs 3000 per day onwards, but with proper corporate discount, it can be as brought down to much as 50% of that.

2. Hotel Ashoka International, Surat
Budget hotel, nothing special or good about it. Stayed there to kill the night as we reached Surat at 2.30AM (and Ginger Hotel was at the other end of city) Avoidable.

3. Ginger Hotel, Surat
Same as above, but located on outskirts of City.

4. Hotel New Bengal, Mumbai
So far the worst hotel in terms of facilities, on the trip. Highly cramped, bare minimum facilities, very fragile building, no vehicle parking. (but then, in Mumbai the space is at premium) Located in Crawford Market area. Complementary breakfast at nearby restaurant. While checking out I said I’ll keep the bags in the car n come while they prepare the bill, but the room boys were very particular about me settling the bill first, though it was prepaid, fearing that I might escape without paying…
Verdict: Not recommended at all

5. Hotel Bhushan, off JM Road, Pune
Centrally located, clean and decent place. No lift. Has a tiny balcony, nice place to stay. Complementary breakfast has 2 south Indian items. Good hotel

6. Lotus Resorts, Bernaulin Beach, Goa
Nice Rooms, cost Rs 2000 per day onwards, checkout time 9AM. Very close to Bernaulin beach, ample parking area.
However, mobile and mobile broadband signal is very weak in the area, the resort is too far from city and breakfast won’t be ready even by 8.45-9am, though the display outside the restaurant says 7.30AM. (if you’re on vacation these things are actually plus points, but when on business,they cause a lot of inconvenience)

7. Ginger Hotel, Mangalore
Located on Udupi road. Review same as earlier

8. Hotel East Avenue, Calicut
We had to halt at Calicut as we couldn’t reach Kochi before night. East Avenue was very close to where we’d stopped and they had different rooms ranging from Rs 800 to 3500. Since we wanted multiple rooms, owner agreed to give a spot discount of 20%. I was put up in Rs 2500 (Abt Rs 2000 after discount) room. I asked what’s extra in 3500 Rs room. “LCD TV and better furniture” was the reply. We started very early next morning, so I don’t know if they’d complementary breakfast. Rooms were neat and clean. Good parking and restaurant facilities. Good place.

9. Hotel Aishwarya, Kochi
Off MG Road, Hotel Aishwarya gets an OK status from me. All basic facilities good. No free breakfast.

10. Hotel Sree Murugan, Coimbatore
Located close to Coimbatore Railway Station, Sri Murugan has good parking space, decent and spacious rooms. Hot water was available on during specific timings. Laundry facility is available, but without bill. Food is decent. Though the hotel staff acknowledged that my booking is confirmed and payment received, they insisted that I give them a printout of booking confirmation voucher. This was sorted out later.

11. Hotel Nachiappa Park, T Nagar, Chennai
Worst in terms of Service. When I went there, they made an attempt to send me off to some other hotel, saying all their rooms are full due to a canceled Malaysian airlines flight. I insisted that since I have the confirmation I should be given a room, full refund or send someone with me to take me to the other hotel and complete the check-in formalities. After 10 minutes, they provided me a room in the same hotel. However there was no TV, AC was blowing only normal air and not cold air, no response from room service for requests like water/room freshener etc.

During check in I’d noticed how unprofessionally they deal with customer requests-writing the requests on one dirty piece of paper and then shouting at some unseen person to deliver the items to concerned rooms. Breakfast and parking space was decent. Rooms are Ok. Building electric wiring has earthing problems. Should be avoided if possible.

12. Riverstone Homestays, Koramangala Ring Road, Bengaluru
Decent place. Small but well maintained rooms. Good service. Food not that good, most of the staff speak Hindi and not Kannada, hot water is available only during specific timings when they turn on the geyser.

13. Hotel Shalini Palace, Kolhapur
Nice heritage building, built in 1931, now converted into a hotel. Affordable, with rooms ranging from Rs 1500 to 6000 (for Maharaja Suite). Located next to the huge Rankala lake, nice campus including big trees, lawns, temple and so on.

From TataNanoSuperdrive

However I was told they don’t have a laundry service (strange). The campus is poorly maintained. Lots of beer bottles, broken metal objects which were once part of the palace and other materials are thrown all around carelessly. Gardens are also not maintained well. Doors are fragile and not that safe if you’ve lots of valuables.

Food is just ok. Verdict: Stay purely for the experience of staying in an erstwhile palace. [more photos of this hotel can be found here]

14. Hotel Tripursundari, Solhapur
Good Luxury Hotel and reasonable rates, starting at Rs 1500. Food cost on the higher side, service is good and so is the lobby and building. Has a good veg restaurant.

15. Ginger Hotel, Nasik
Located in MIDC (Maharastra Industrial Development Corporation) area, outside Nasik city limits. No other shops/restaurants in the vicinity, hence you’ll be a captive customer for the restaurant. No free wi-fi. Not recommended unless you’ve some work in MIDC area

16. Hotel Astoria, Churchgate, Mumbai
Will update the post by weekend about this hotel.

Similar posts: Club Mahindra Binsar Valley Resort * Hotel Honeymoon Inn, Mussoori * Club Mahindra Coorg Resort *

June Random Pictures

2010-06-19T06:36:00.000+05:30

Publishing a few random pic clicked during the Nano Superdrive, as we passed through Gujarath, Maharastra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and TamilNadu.

Pic 1: Audi R8 V10 and Tata Nano's Advantages over it
What advantages does a Tata Nano have that Audi R8 V10 5.2 litre mid engine sports Coupe doesn't? (We had spotted one in LOnavla, Mumbai-Pune expressway)

From TataNanoSuperdrive

Nano can comfortably take 4-5 people while R8 can seat only 2.
Audi R8 costs 160 thousand pounds while Nano costs a fraction of that...
2 Nanos can be parked using the parking space required by an R8
Nano's Max speed can probably be reached within city itself, but to drive R8 at its top speed, one has to escape from city n hit a highway.
When you zip across in an R8 people may not notice, but when you drive around in Nano, you'll be noticed for sure...
In terms of turning radius, maintenance, fuel economy, spare costs and lots of other aspects, Nano does win over Audi R8

2. Special Surprise at Office:
Took some time off and went to office when I was in Chennai. Colleagues had arranged for this cute yellow Nano Cake, to mark the superdrive Celebrations

From TataNanoSuperdrive

3. Nana Patekar in Goa

From TataNanoSuperdrive

Nana Patekar was rushing to watch a movie in Inox, Goa. We asked him if he'd like to know more about Tata Nano (as we had it on display there), but we being total strangers and with his movie about to start, he had no time or interest listening to us and he refused and moved on. Thus Nana Patekar became No No Patekar when asked about Nano Patekar... Managed to step back a little and click this snap.

4. A luxury Yatch in Goa Jetty

From TataNanoSuperdrive

5. Autorikshaw converted dining table, at Ginger Hotel, Surat

From TataNanoSuperdrive

Got my caricature done for the first time...

From TataNanoSuperdrive

Will publish another set of photos soon. You can check the picasa album in the meanwhile, by clicking on the album link below the photo

Tata Nano Superdrive FAQs

2010-06-15T22:34:00.001+05:30

I’ve covered about 6 states in past 13 days (Gujarath, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and TamilNadu) along with Nano team. I’ve been getting several questions about the Nano Superdrive. Here’re some of them and answers.

Q0: What is this Nano Superdrive?

Nano Superdrive is a 26 days road trip across India in 9 Tata Nano cars. 3 cars on each route (Saffron-towards Delhi, White-Towards Kolkatta and Green-towards South) would be visiting 36 cities, covering 15000kms.

Q1: I saw 3 Nanos in the pictures. Which one is yours?

Well, there’s no specific Nano assigned to me. There’re professional drivers who’re hired and Tata Motor Officials and other winners who’ll be joining us in the drive. We all share the driving and keep changing the seat and car as per wish/requirements.

Q2: Can you visit our home in Nano when in our city?

No. At each city we leave the cars in the custody of concerned Tata Motors dealership. I won’t have the liberty to take it to places as per my wish.

Q3: Can I drive Nano?

Other than the already selected winners who’ll be allowed to drive from one city to another, only FM Radio winners will be allowed to drive. So your only way is to try your luck and win the contest at FM Radio (its Big FM for most of the cities). Else at the max you might get a ride in Nano.

You may only have to wait a few months more, as Nanos are expected to be available readily in the showroom near you.

Q4: Where can I meet/see the Superdrive Nanos?

At each city, we’ve what’s called as landmark activities. Nanos will visit a few selected (most popular) landmarks in each city (like Bangalore Palace, Cubbon park and Lumbini Garden in Bangalore), usually between 11am and 2pm. You can visit these places and have a close look at Nanos (for exact timing you can stay in touch with me on twitter or phone).A separate Nano will also be on display through out the day at a selected Mall in each city (Spencer's Plaza in Chennai and Garuda mall in Bangalore)

Q5: Where can I see the photos?

Refer to http://superdrive-greenroute.blogspot.com/ or http://picasaweb.google.co.in/enidhi2/TataNanoSuperdrive

Q6: What’s your feedback on Nano?

Its been good so far. Standby for detailed review in subsequent posts

Nano Superdrive-Journey so far

2010-06-12T07:12:00.004+05:30

As you’re aware I’m on the road for past 10 days, driving across the country in a Tata Nano. We flagged off from Ahmedabad on June 2nd Evening and after covering Surat, Mumbai, Pune, Goa and Mangalore, we’re heading further south today, towards Cochin. I've been either busy updating the event blog and or tired/clipped by poor connectivity to update my main blog

From TataNanoSuperdrive

The journey has been great so far. I could visit some of the prominent landmarks in each city, meet interesting people including Tata Motors officials, FM radio RJs, celebrities who are invited to flag off the rally in each city and the ever enthusiastic public. As a blogger I’m treated at par with any other media personnel would have been treated. With a ‘professional looking’ camera and Tata Nano T-shirt, people automatically open up for discussions, photos or videos.

From TataNanoSuperdrive

While Superdrive might look like a bunch of people driving around in Nano, the Nano superdrive is much bigger exercise than I’d initially thought. Close to 300-400 people must be working on this assignment. While we’re around 10-12 member team driving on the south route, two other teams are covering west and north routes. Each route also has an event team which takes care of the mall displays, customer meets and other city specific activities. Then there’re dozens of Tata Motors officials, at different levels who are involved. They join us for a specific leg and fly back. A dedicated PR agency is active in promoting the event through media. In each city local media is invited to check out the car, they’re allowed to drive, photograph. Partner FM Radio channels are involved in spreading the message, selecting winners and give them a chance to drive. There’s a huge backend team which offers support-such as hotel bookings, permissions (say to photograph at particular place), various other arrangements. At each city local dealers support us in checking the vehicles, showing us around in city and guiding us till next destination. Lot of people from event management company, Shobiz and its affiliates ensure that everything goes on as planned. Everyone on board has his or her set of responsibilities, appropriate backup support, supervisor and escalation mechanism. Good amount of documentation and daily reporting is involved. Lots of people-both top down and bottom up-make several phone calls a day, just to ensure that everything is fine.

From TataNanoSuperdrive

The Car has such has been above expectation. Many people didn’t have much expectations from a one lakh car and they still have that mind set that this car is not good enough. In terms of speed (we crossed 100kmph at times), space, pickup, fuel economy and value for money, almost everyone have a praise to say about Nano. We covered hills and bad roads (between Pune and Goa) and with 3-4 people on road, Nanos pulled it off without any difficulty. The Nanos we’re travelling have logged close to 2000 kms in past 10 days and so far there’s been no significant issues with the vehicle (can be attributed to the fact that each day cars are checked by the dealers in respective city. Would have been more challenging if it was non stop long journey). The 15 litre fuel tank makes us stop every 300 kms and for a family outing, luggage space can be little less. With a top speed of 100kmph you can’t compete with other cars, but this speed is decent enough for most of the practical requirements.
Lot of people keep asking about the fire incident and on road price of Tata Nano Given that fire was one isolated incident out of 35000 Nanos that are on road, for the time being I believe that was one off incident. On road price of Nano ranges between 1.5 lakh to 2.2 lakh depending on variant, city etc. Booking is not open now. The new cars made at Sanand will be first delivered to those who’ve already booked and awaiting delivery. Sometime in August/September fresh bookings would open and shortly supplies are expected to be good enough so that you car drive out a Nano from showroom.
Below is a brief presentation prepared by Tata’s Mumbai office on the journey so far. Do check it out.

Tata nano superdrive the journey so far

We passed through my home town and my parents had great time in Nano. Pune, Goa and namma Kudla have been great cities. Visited Goa after some 15-20 years...We're done with Mangalore and will be heading further south today.

Stay tuned to the official event blog, http://superdrive-greenroute.blogspot.com/ for daily updates

Tata Jaguar, Landrover, Mumbai, close pictures

2010-06-05T16:08:00.002+05:30

While I am riding around in World’s cheapest car, also got an opportunity to take a close look at Tata’s recently acquired jaguar and Land Rover, the two iconic and international brands. Couldn’t find out much details, but managed to take some pics. Enjoy the pics for now.

I noticed 2 variants of Jaguar. The XJL and XK, the convertible. Both have 5 litre V8 petrol power plant.(That’s close to 8 nanos in terms of cc) These cars are priced 65 lakh onwards. (XK Range costs upto 90 lakhs

I hope Tata will organize an All India drive in jaguar soon…(and more importantly get me as official blogger!) (July 9th 2009 was when these cars were rolled out internationally under Tata’s ownership. The first anniversary is coming up… someone please please suggest a road trip…)

Land Rover, on the other hand, would compete with the likes of Toyota Landcruiser Prado and 200, with a price tag starting at 65 lakhs and special edition going beyond Rs 1 crore.

From 1 lakh to 1 crore, Tata Motors have lots to offer...Chose your pic.

Also see: Toyota Landcruiser 200 and Prado details * AutoMall Bangalore-Review * Tata Nano Superdrive *

ICICI Bank launches Cycle Banking

2010-06-05T00:19:00.002+05:30

Net banking and phone banking are history. ICICI bank has launched Cycle Banking in Surat…

I saw these cycles with big ICICI branding... They were spotted at Surat, Gujarath. About 5-6 of them were parked outside an ICICI branch. The cycles had multi sided display, announcing the launch of new ICICI branch and other related information (such as services etc)

This is how they look when in motion…

And a closer look…The young riders were clad in saffron uniform.

I feel this is a very cost effective publicity. No need to spend lakhs on newspaper ad, no need to put up huge hoardings… Just pay a few hundred rupees for these young guys to cycle around the city and thousands of eyeballs guaranteed. Employment for the youth, something different for people to look at and good publicity for the bank.

I’ve not seen this kind of promos in other cities. Wondering if this is an initiative by local branch manager… or may be they are testing in concept in Surat? Or is there some special event management company that specializes in this.

What do you think of this? Good idea? Have you seen this in any other cities or any other brands?
Comment.

Tata Nano Roadtrip-What’s it all about?

2010-06-04T07:47:00.002+05:30

I’m into day 3 of 26 days Tata Nano Superdrive’s Green Route, which is a 4800 kms drive starting from Ahmedabad and passing through Surat, Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Mangalore, Cochin, Coimbatore, Chennai, Bengaluru, Solhapur, Kolhapur, Nashik and Ahmedabad…

Based on my first 2 days experience, here’s a brief account on what this trip is all about.

The Superdrive has 2 prime activities at the top level. One is the drive, where we drive 3 Nano cars from one city to another. The cavalry consists of about 6-10 people, which includes one or two Tata Nano officials, a blogger (that’s me!), crew and drivers from Shobiz.

Driving is done by the designated drivers (and bloggers and other members who’ve valid license and are interested in driving). At select stretches, pre-selected members of public will be given a chance to drive the Nano for a good distance.

Second is the city specific activities, which include landmarks (Taking photo of Tata Nano infront of popular landmarks in the city), Mall activity (display of Tata Nano inside popular malls of the city, Test drives (wherein winners of partner FM Radio channels will get a chance to drive/Ride the Nano and customer meets. Nano customer meet in each city is organized in 5 star hotels, wherein all existing Tata Nano customers of the city are invited to a get together party. Lots of games, music, magic show and other activities are arranged for customer meets, with of course good food.

What’s my role?
As an official blogger for the route, my responsibilities are to document the trip, by means of blog posts, photos and videos. Yesterday I interacted with Tata Motors dealer, RJ Sethu of Big FM and FM Radio winners who took a test drive in Nano, members of the Shobiz event management team, Tata Motors officials and Tata Nano customers who shared their experience with Nano and general public who’re curious about Nano.

I’ve started updating my designated blog http://superdrive-greenroute.blogspot.com/ and you can stay tuned to it for detailed updates. My work usually starts when everyone else’s work ends. Once I return to hotel room, I start uploading photos, writing blog posts, recharging my batteries, mobiles and laptop and so on. (I can do it on the move, but if I open the laptop and start writing during day time when other activities are going on, I might miss some action or updates)

Below: Curious customers checking out nano and RJ Sheshu of Big FM and Shilpa Ben, a winner, taking a test drive in Nano.

Miniature Nano at Nano Customer meet and media people photographing the Nano outside Valentine Mall, Surat

The event isn’t as simple as I’d initially thought. More than 300 people are working behind the scenes to make the Superdrive a success. Tata Nano officials, its dealers in each cities, Showbiz (the event management company), Social wavelength (Social Media company), Logistics partners and several other invisible hands and brains need to be thanked for putting together such a massive plan and executing it with perfection.
We’re heading towards Mumbai today. Standby for more updates.

Official Blogger for Tata Nano Superdrive!

2010-05-31T18:14:00.002+05:30

eNidhi to all units: We interrupt your program to make this special announcement. Yours truly is one of the 3 hand picked bloggers, who would be serving as an Official Blogger for Tata Nano to cover a 26 days road trip, called Tata Nano SuperDrive

As detailed in my previous post, India’s much anticipated small car Tata Nano has completed 1 year and is now all set to roll out from its dedicated Sanand Facility in Gujarath, on 2nd June 2010. To mark the occasion; Tata is organizing a 15000 kms road trip. 3 Nanos each will drive towards 3 different routes- Saffron, White and Green… Each route will have one designated blogger, who would cover the road trip extensively.

It feels great to be a part of this expedition. Given that I enjoy driving, visiting places and writing, the Tata Nano SuperDrive trip is indeed a 3-in-1 opportunity for me. I understand there was stiff competition among bloggers to be a part of this trip and getting short listed and selected to be among final 3 is itself an honor.

As an official blogger and brand ambassador, my responsibilities will be to
Extensively document the trip, write daily travelogues, take photos, make videos, share them through blog, facebook and twitter…

Where can you follow the updates?
I’ll be publishing daily updates on "Superdrive-Green route" the official blog for the green route, created by the organizers as well as on event facebook page. Occasionally (probably twice a week), I’ll also publish updates/summary at my primary blog, which you’re reading now.You may also stay tuned to my twitter account for real time updates

How can you get involved?
You can stay tuned to the Event Blog site created by the organizers, facebook page and youtube channel, comment on the posts, like them, share your thoughts, give a suggestion (for example, what are the finest places/landmarks in Cochin in front of which Tata Nano should be photographed)

I am designated to the Green Route, which would be heading south, from Sanand-Surat-Mumbai-Pune-Goa-Mangalore-Cochin-Coimbatore-Chennai-Bengaluru-Kolhapur-Solhapur-Ahmedabad and back to Sanand. This trip will last 26 days, covering about 4800 kms.

We’d be cruising on Mumbai-Pune express way, drive skillfully on the narrow two lane NH17 that runs along the west coast, visit some of the finest Indian cities- Mumbai (5th June) Pune (7th June), Goa (9th June) Namma Kudla (Mangaluru, 11th June), Cochin (13th June)… drive across the western ghats to enter Tamil Nadu, visit Coimbatur, namma Chennai (17th June), namma Bengaluru (19th June), drive across the northern Karnataka to re enter Maharastra and finally back to Ahmedabad (27th June) and Sanand.

Busy packing things. This 26 days road trip is the longest one for me till date and am looking forward for the expedition. Sanand, here I come.

Tata Nano Superdrive Road Trip: 36 cities and 15000 kms

2010-05-31T06:36:00.001+05:30

Those who thought Tata Nano is an underpowered, small city car, take note. Tata Nano team is all set to prove that Nano is as good as any other car, in fact better. To drive home a point and create right awareness about Nano, Tata Nano team will be doing a pan India Road trip, covering 36 cities and 15000 kms in 26 days, in the people’s car, the Tata Nano.

Starting June 2nd, 9 cars will be flagged off from Tata Nano factory in Sanand, Gujarat, to do a cross country trip. June 2nd marks the occasion of rolling out of Tata Nanos from Tata Nano production facility in Sanand, Gujarat. Gujarath CM Narendra Modi and Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata will flag off the rally.

The Road trip will see the Nanos cruising through all sorts of terrains- cities, highways, hills and dry-lands, heading from one city to another. The 26 days expedition would prove that Nano is as drivable, capable and reliable as any other car.

At each city, there’ll be lot of activities scheduled, such as road shows, photo shoots, meeting with Nano owners/fans and so on.

One team will drive towards North India, covering about 4098kms, through cities such as Sanand, Udaipur, Jaipur, Hissar, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Meerut, Agra, Lucknow, Gwalior and Kota. This would be the saffron route.

Second team will drive towards east coast, the white route. This is the longest route covering about 5888 kms, from Sanand, Indore, Bhopal, Nagpur, Raipur, Ranchi, Patna, Kolkatta, Bhubaneshwar, Vizag, Hyderabad, Aurangabad and back to Sanand.

Third team will head down south, covering 4829 kms. From Sanand to Surat, Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Mangalore, Kochi, Coimbatore, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nasik and Ahmedabad.

Nano is believed to be a city car, not meant for long drives or interstate journeys. However, British journalist Venessa Able has already proved that wrong, by doing a 10000 kms India tour in a Tata Nano (fondly named as Abhilasha, The Little Car with Big Balls), (More details in Nano diaries)

Tata Nano road trip, named as Tata Nano Superdrive, is expected to break that record and increase the bar. At select stretches, general public and Tata owners will also be allowed to drive.

Accompanying Tata Nano team on these trips will be bloggers, who will cover the event, photographers and media people. (Standby for some good news on this front)

When I initially read about the trip I felt it would have been far better in a Safari or other higher end car. Nano with its smaller power plant, would take 3 times more time to cover a given distance compared to a decently powered sedan/SUV. 26 day road trip could be a real challenge. But then, that is the whole point of the trip- to prove that Nano is as good as any other car, it can handle Indian cities and highways without pain… Satisfaction comes when a task otherwise deemed impossible is taken up and accomplished.

View Schedule here: to see when Nano is coming to your city. Photos sourced from Social Wavelength.

Disclaimer: Information mentioned in the article are subject to change at the discretion of organizers or due to unavoidable circumstances. All information as available with the author at the time of composing this post.

Related: Self Drive Car Rentals in India * Car Rally for the blind * Chennai-Mysore in a Skoda * Scorpio 2.2 Vls review * Why Blame Tata Nano *

How to make employees blog?

2010-05-26T13:21:00.000+05:30

This blog has completed 4 years on 22nd May 2010 and taking liberty to give some Gyan...

Many enterprises launch their corporate blog (internal or external) with enthusiasm and great expectations. But soon, generating quality content for the blog will become a challenge, as most of the employees do not care to spend some time and contribute quality article to the blog.

Those who’re responsible for the corporate blog often find it challenging to motivate employees to blog. How to make your staff get involved in company’s social media initiatives? Here are a few practical tips.

How to motivate employees to blog:
1 Start from top down. Encourage CEO and CXOs to blog first.
This will reinstate company’s faith in social media and encourage rest of the staff to get involved. Many of the employees, though willing to blog, hesitate to do so, thinking “My boss would feel I’m wasting time on blog”. When the encouragement comes from top, it works.

2 Get rid of their fears about blogging:
Many hesitate to blog thinking “What if I do a mistake?” “My English is not good” “Who will read what I write”, “I can’t write anything interesting”. These fears, even if true, can be eliminated only when he or she takes the plunge. So explaining how blogging can help them overcome these fears and improve their language and communication might convince them to start experimenting

3 Show them what all can be written
When someone is not a natural writer, he/she will not have an idea what all can be written. For example, a subject matter expert with few decades experience will be super rich with knowledge related to his field, but may need some handholding if he’s to put his wisdom into words.

Similarly an employee can write about his passion, experiences, fiction, poems, family celebrations, travelogues and so on. Demonstrating them how various happenings in life can be effectively shared via blog will make it easier for them to get started

4 Identify lead bloggers/champions in each department
Identify a few enthusiastic bloggers in each department who can motivate rest of the guys to blog. They can also help as mentors, clearing any doubts questions or technical difficulties other staff may face while blogging.

5 Incentives and Encouragement
When an employee spends quality time in contributing quality article for the blog, his efforts and contribution needs to be recognized appropriately. Appreciation could be as simple as featuring him/her prominently on the blog (say as blogger of the week) or some other financial and non financial incentives

This element is critical because quality of corporate blog will be diluted if time consuming high quality content is treated at par with another post sourced from an email forward

6 Get good readership at the blog
If there’re good number of readers visiting the blog and blog posts get good no of comments, quality writers will naturally be attracted to the blog. Securing good readership for corporate blog warrants another post on its own, but in brief, it can be achieved by planned promotions, effective corporate communication on blogs & its advantages, friendly design and quality contents.

Upclose Photos from the Mount Everest…

2010-05-19T07:08:00.004+05:30

May 21st Update: Sandhosh will be attempting final leg of the mission and will be attempting the summit from 9pm this evening (21st May). By tomorrow morning he'd have reached the top of Everest and start his return journey. Wishing him all the best.
----------------Original Post--------------------------------
Sandhosh Kumar,who is into his 50th day today into his 65 days Mission Mount Everest, has been sending some really interesting and up close photos of the Mount Everest, along with updates. While complete details are available at his blog, sharing some selected photos and updates with my blog readers here…

Day 44 – Ted climbing the wall

Sandhosh also has been sharing detailed updates of his day to day activities. Here’re a few interesting lines from his updates…

Mount Everest, up close

Sandhosh is very close to enter the final leg of his mission- summitting Mount Everest. The date on which they plan to do this is kept as a secret, because exact date of summit is decided by experts of IMG (International Mountaineering Group) considering weather and other parameters. Lots of other climbers are known to follow IMG’s schedule blindly. If the summit date is leaked, there’ll be big traffic jam when the team attempts its final stretch. Hence the dates are kept as a secret till last minute.

Ladder Crossing

View this interesting video below, a 5 yr old one though, wherein a helicopter (Eurocopter B3) is taken till top of Mount Everest. There’re very few helicopters which are capable of flying at this altitude (which has almost zero oxygen). The video also show how little the surface area is, on top of Mount Everest.

Here’s what Sandhosh says about heli tourism: “It used to be that, no matter how rich you are, it is impossible to reach the summit of Everest without the effort of your own two legs. The landing of this helicopter would change the rules on Everest forever. I am sure in the future, people would be able to pay thousands of dollars to be on that helicopter and sadly, summitting Everest may not take the joyous 2 months after all.”

A broken piece of ice

Of late helicopter sight seeing trips are being offered, but are pretty expensive. Otherwise helicopters are often used for rescue operations. Rescue from base camp costs about US$ 8000 and cost would increase with increase in altitude.
There’s not been a single season without accident… including the current one. A Russian climber of a different team had died while attempting to summit Lhotse. From Sandhosh’s team, one person had to return due to personal reasons.

Day 36 – The traffic jam down to base camp

As he is preparing for the final climb, let us wish him all the very best. All photos copyrighted to Sandhosh Kumar. Do not reproduce without permission.

Book Review-Imprints, Colours of life, Ravi Sidula & GS Vasu

2010-05-15T07:25:00.003+05:30

If you thought techies do not have time/do not care to do anything beyond their software jobs, here is an exception. Two young techies from a leading IT company have put their passion for writing into action, venturing out to publish their stories as a book. This post is a quick review of the book.
Imprints is a self published book, containing a collection of 24 short stories, authored by two writers, Ravi Sidula and GS Vasu Kumar. The 113 pages book is available for purchase on pothi.com for Rs 99 (+shipping)

When I first received the copy of Imprints, I was surprised to see the cover price being under Rs 100. Because when I’d checked last time, it was impossible to get the book price below 100 at Pothi.com (Pothi.com is a self publishing platform, wherein they print a book and deliver, as and when they get an order. This means there’s no huge investment needed in bulk publishing the book, but on the other hand, disadvantage is that per copy price will be a bit high). When I checked with the author on this, I was told that authors have pumped in extra money from their own pocket to ensure that book is priced below Rs 100.
Well, getting back to the book, each story is independent and well knitted. The one I liked the most is titled “You’re not alone”… The story line goes as below: A man is helped to his seat by the Bus Conductor (Mysore-Bengaluru one), a girl sitting next seat starts the conversation saying “how beautiful the world outside…” The man feels excited by the conversation but realizes that the girl is blind. They continue to talk and become good friends, with him explaining how beautiful she is and so on… At Ramanagara the girl gets down and subsequently, someone comes to escort this man as well, as he too was blind…

There’re many other touchy stories, such as one in which an entire family member, suffering from draught, finally decides to commit suicide, unable to bear the burden any more, unaware of the fact that it would be raining heavily next day. There’s another story wherein a person saving money to publish his book had to abandon the plan as he’d to spend his savings on his wife’s hospital bill. Eventually his notebook containing stories reaches a groundnut seller and then to a reader, who likes his writing, goes back to groundnut seller and buys entire notebook from him… (These lines are just to give you an idea what to expect. I’m not able to explain the stories as effectively as it is portrayed in the book)

Like this, several day to day life experiences and observations are converted into short and sweet stories. Language is simple and you’ll be able to connect with the characters very easily as you read the stories.
Each of the stories are dedicated to various persons, which is a good initiative. Most of the stories are also enriched with an image (pencil sketch version of photograph)

The Book is highly recommended by V Balakrishnan, (Infosys CFO) as well

There’s an irony with the pricing of the book. Flipkart says one has to pay Rs 30 for delivery of this book, since the price of the book, at Rs 99 doesn’t exceed Rs 100. This is a bit unfortunate-may be they should just accept Rs 100 and ship it free. A work around for customers would be to look out for another friend who’s interested in buying and buy 2 copies…

Nevertheless, Imprints is a nice book.More about the book and authors at its website

Read other book reviews:It happened in India * Raga Chintamani * 2 States * Not a penny more, not a penny less * Zero percentile *

Navodayan Prayer: Hum Nav Yug Ki Nayi…

2010-05-09T22:26:00.009+05:30

Suddenly all old times are coming to my mind… Do you remember the morning prayer you used to sing during your school days? I still do… Suddenly felt like listening to that song once again…

Our school, Jawahar Navodaya Vidhyalaya is run by Govt of India's HRD Ministry, has nationwide presence, with almost one school per district. Before we proceed, look at the detailed description of the logo of JNV (I was under the impression that the two black heads represented one's father and mother...) More info at Navodaya.net

Below is the lyrics of the song, “Hum Nava Yug Gi…” song we used to sing daily at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya. My rough English translation is included between the paragraphs for the benefit of all.

Hum navyug ki nayi bhaarti… nayi aarti
Hum swarajya ki richa naval bharat ki navlaya hon
Nav suryodaya nav chandrodaya, humi navoday hon

(We represent the new India, the new wave of India, We're the brand new lyrics of freedom...new sun rise and new moon rise, we’re the new rise… )

Rang jaati pad bhaid rahit hum sab ka ek bhagwaan ho
Santaan hain dharti maan ki hum dharti pooja sthaan ho
Pooja ke khil rahe kamal dal hum bhav jal mein ho
Sarvoday ke nav basant ke humi navoday ho

(We do not differentiate based on colour,cast, status… We’re all children of Mother earth and earth is a holy place. We’re the petals of lotus that blossomed after prayers… We pray for well being of everyone, we’re Navodayans…)

Maanva hai hum halchal hum, prakriti ke pavan vesh mein
Khilen falen hum mein sanskriti is apne bharat desh ki
Hum himgiri hum nadia hum sagar ki lahre ho
Jeevan ki mangalmati ke hami navoday ho

(We’re alive and kicking as a pure form of nature, let the culture of this country nurture in us, let us be the mountains, rivers and the waves at the sea, let there by well being for all, we’re Navodayans)

Hari duudhiya kranti shanti ke shram ke bandanvaar ho
Bhagirath hum dharti maa ke suuram pehredaar ho
Sat shiv sunder ki pehchan banaye jug mein hum
Antriksh ke yaan gyan ke hami navoday ho

(Let there be more green revolution and white (milk) revolution, we’ll work harder for mother earth and protect her. We’ll spread the message of Satyam Shivam and Sundaram to the world and to the space… We’re Navodayans…)

Hum navyug ki nayi bharti… nayi aarti
Hum swarajya ki richa naval bharat ki navlaya hon
Nav suryodaya nav chandrodaya, humi navoday hon
Hami navoday ho hami navoday ho hami navoday ho !!

Never seriously cared for its meaning or significance of our prayer those days, but now if I look back I have to appreciate the meaning, insight and passion behind this song. The song was written by a Panjabi born educationist Suresh Chandra Vatsyayan. When I was searching for more about him, most of the links referred to the fact that he died in 2008 of cardiac arrest… Sad. R.I.P Suresh Chandra and thanks for the wonderful poem above.

I searched for a proper video or mp3, but there was none. This video has proper instrumental of the same and this video has first few lines with vocals… Some of us should take care to do proper documentation of the same…

Thanks to Deepak Kumar for helping with meaning of Richa Naval...

Related: Memories of Madhya Pradesh *

मध्य प्रदेश की यादे (Remembering Madhya Pradesh)

2010-05-05T12:56:00.007+05:30

(Note for Non-Hindi readers: This post is written in Hindi, about my experience of studying my class 9th in JNV Pandhana, Madhya Pradesh. Let me know if you need an English translation)

आप मैं से किसी को शायद पता नहीं होगा की मैंने अपनी नव्वी कक्षा मध्य प्रदेश मै पडा था| कुछ महीने पहले जब मैं घर गया था अजनक मैंने अपनी नव्वी कक्षा मैं दी हुई कापी देखा तो सभी पुरानी यादे याद आ गयी|

इस लेखन मैं मै उस अनुभव के बारे मैं कुछ लिखूंगा |

हमारी प्राथमिक शाला, जवाहर नवोदय विद्यालय केंद्र सर्कार की मानव संसाधन विकास मंत्रालय की शिक्षा विभाग से चलाया जाता हैं| ये पाठशाला लगबग देश की हर जिला मैं एक हैं| इस विद्यालय के अनेक विशेषताए हैं, जिनमे से एक हैं, उनकी राष्ट्रीय भाव्य्कता मिशन| ये राष्ट्रीय भाव्य्कता मिशन के अन्दर हर साल कुछ चुनी हुयी छात्राओ को दो विद्यालयों के बीच विनिमय किया जाता हैं| हिंदी बोलने वाले इलाखे से चात्रगन उस इलाखे मैं जायेंगे, जहाँ हिंदी मात्र भाषा न हो, और यहाँ के बच्चे वहां जायेंगे, एक साल की पदाई के लिए.

तो इसी योजना के अंतर्गत मैं और मेरे कुछ साथिया (९ लोग थे, में, भूपेश, गिरिराज, हर्शराज, मंजुनाथ, हरी,वेणु, सुमना, मंगला,रंजीता ) अपनी नववी कक्षा पड़ने के वास्ते जवाहर नवोदय विद्यालय उडुपी जिला (कर्नाटक) से जवाहर नवोदय विद्यालय पंधाना मैं गए थे (जो मध्य प्रदेश के खंडवा जिला मैं स्तित हैं). ये सन १९९७ की बात हैं. उन दिनों मैं कोंकण रेलवे अभी बना नहीं था| हम लोग मंगलौर शहर से हजरत निजामुद्दीन मंगलादेवी एक्सप्रेस पकडके पुरे दाई दिन की सफ़र तैर करके इटारसी जंक्शन पहुँचते थे और वहां से गाडी या ट्रेन के ज़रिये पंधाना|

पंधाना एक अलग किसम का शहर था| उन दिनों मैं वहां केला सिर्फ ३-४ रूपये हर दज़न की भाव मैं मिल्ता था| मैंने पानी पूरी और कचोडी खाना वहीँ से सीखा...एक रूपये मैं चार-पांच पानी पूरी मिलते थे और उनका स्वाध भी अजीब था, जो दक्षिण भारत के चाट की दूकान मैं बिलकुल नहीं मिल्ता|पोहे, ब्रेड पकोड़े और कद्दू की सब्जी वहां की खास चीज थे|

पंधाना मैं लोग निमाड़ी भाषा बोलते थे, जो हिंदी का एक उप-भाषा कहलाता हैं. वहां की विद्यालय मैं कन्नड़ भाषा सिखाई जाती थी, लेकिन कोई उसे मन लगाकर नहीं सीक्था था| हमारे कन्नड़ प्राध्यापक के नाम था कुरी सर. एक और सर थे, खान सर, जो संगीत पढाते थे| उनके केश राशी के कारन वो बिलकुल उस्ताद जाकिर हुसेन जैसे दीखते थे|

हमने पंधाना मैं करीबन १० महीने बिताये. एक बार कुछ संस्कृतिक कार्यक्रम देने इंदोर भी गए थे, जो मध्य प्रदेश का एक प्रमुख शहर हैं. लगबग १३ साल होगये मेरा मध्य प्रदेश से लौटकर| दुबारा जाने का मौका अभी तक नहीं मिला हैं| मिलते ही मैं वहां दुबारा जाना चाहूँगा. उन दिनों हमारे पास डिजिटल कैमरा जैसे चीज़ नहीं था, तो ये जो कापी की तस्वीर आप देख रहे हैं, वाही मैं एक मात्र निशानी जो मध्य प्रदेश की याद दिलाती हैं|

फिलहाल इतना ही, भविष्य मैं और कुछ लिखने की कोशिश करूँगा | बहुत दिनों बाद हिंदी मैं लिखने का प्रयास किया हूँ, त्रुटिया हो तो कृपया माफ़ कीजियेगा.

Some photos of JNV Udupi * हिंदी लिपि लिखी गयी हैं गूगल भाषांतरी के सौजन्य से * JNV Udupi * JNV Pandhana websites