Prelude : If you have the time, the patience and the ability to coerce and bribe people efficiently, you can save money by going directly to the passport office and interacting with the peon there. It seems that with good interaction skills, the passport can be had in a weeks time with a bribe of only 1000.
Preparation : If you lack the time, then, be prepared to spend around 4K. The list of documents required would be your
=> ID proof - pan card, Driving licence.
=> Residence proof - electricity bill, voter id card.
=> Age proof - school leaving certificate.
=> References - people who could vouch for you - someone who stays close by.
Step 1 : Look out for ads in newspapers for people who make passports. You can also ask people who hang around ATMs (offereing credit cards or policies). They generally work in association with the passport offices to "easily" get your form filled and application passed. When you are filling the application, remember to write your name and sign. Give all documents - they should not need the original documents (because they have some setup with the passport office). And pay them their "form submission fee" - which is passport fee + agent fee = around 2K. You can bargain. There are also agencies who specialize in making of passport and pan-card.
Step 2 : Followup with the "agent" to get the receipt of submission of application for passport. The actual process of creation of passport starts only after the application is submitted. If your agent has good connections and has greased the palms nicely with the money you have given, then you would get the receipt very fast.
Step 3 : Once the application receipt is in your hand - have another list of documents ready and wait -
=> ID proof
=> Residence proof - which shows residence at the location for more than a year.
=> Age proof
=> Residence proof of past addresses - at least two location where you have stayed earlier.
Step 4 : In 7-15 days time you would get an official from Intelligence department who would come to your house for verification. He would ask for all sorts of documents and keep you running around the house. The point he basically wants to make is that unless you grease his palms, he wont sign and forward the documents further. If you can show him all the documents he asks for, you will have an edge over him and may be able to bargain with him for the bribe money. Ofcourse he would start the bargain at 1K, but if your negotiation skills are good, you can bring him down to 500. Another point he will make is the police department (to whom he will be forwarding your app) can be bargained with - but do not trust him. The less you pay in the process of making him happy - the better.
Step 5 : Again wait for the police official who will come in a week's time. He will carry a file with him with maybe around 100 applications. He will start asking questions about where you have stayed earlier and the time of your stay. If you happen to carry residence proof of past addresses - you can have an edge over him. Else you have to just play along. If he threatens you that your past locations cannot be verified, dont worry - he is just trying to make you nervous - so he could extract more money in the bribe. Ask him gently about "how much would be needed to get the verification done ?" and he might ask for 1000 - again. If you try to bargain - he would say that he could make your application go around police stations for six months and your case will be lost. Dont worry - just bargain gently. If you tell him that the previous intelligence guy asked for the same amount - he would say that the guy had only a single sign to do - and he is supposed to get 3-4 signatures to do. Just play along and if possible, bring him down to 500. Pay him and wait.
Step 6 : Keep on checking the status of your passport online at http://passport.gov.in/. You will get a notification that your passport is on way. Keep a tab on the local post office and your snail-mail box.
Step 7 : A guy from the post may come to deliver the passport - within 15-20 days time. He would ask for "chai-pani". Dont offer him tea. Simply hand him 20-50 rs and get your passport.
The point to note here is that at every stage a hand has to be greased. Even if the details given by you are wrong, you would still get your passport if the hands are greased properly. Only the amount of grease will vary. With the 6th pay commission in force now - you might have hoped that the officials would be less greedy. But it has only lead to increase in the greed of the government officials and now they charge more for than before.
Showing posts with label india. Show all posts
Showing posts with label india. Show all posts
Friday, January 29, 2010
Friday, March 13, 2009
Jaipur - the pink city
Why is jaipur known as the pink city - cause all houses there are colored pink. I had the opportunity of visiting jaipur this on 7th & 8th of this month (March 2009). We started early from New Delhi (Indirapuram to be specific) - around 6 am. We had thought that we will start at 5 but we got delayed. If we had started earlier, we might have got lesser traffic and lesser trucks.
The NH8 passing through gurgaon is great. It is a very smooth road and very wide. You can easily drive at 150 kmph. The only problem is that there are two-wheelers (which are not allowed - but in india who cares). And they drive at the middle of the highway at 40kmph. So, you got to be careful of them.
We had breakfast at The jungle Babble at Dharuhera. The breakfast was terrible. It used to be a nice resturant earlier, but now it seems that it has lost its charm. There are around 4 toll gates between delhi and jaipur and tons of slow moving trucks. Lots of impatient people driving their wagonrs at 120 kmph.
We reached jaipur at 12 pm. The jaipur city is a very small and crowded city. Very confusing - if you are there for the first time. You will find it very difficult to drive if you have a long car. Majority of the people are in rickshaws and in cycles. And the city was hot.
It took us an hour to find our hotel Umaid Bhawan- which we had reserved from yatra.com. It is a very small and nice hotel. We found it to be worth our money. The food was costly - as we had expected. But the rooms were very nice. It is worth a visit - for low budget accommodation. It is in a residential colony and is very quiet.
It is advisable to get a taxi/cab for moving around jaipur. If you drive your own car, you are bound to get lost and fined by the cops who are always on the lookout for non-local people for their "under table" income. But again dont get a cab from the hotel. Do some research and have some contact of cab drivers before going to jaipur. A cab from the hotel would cost you twice the original rate. We did the mistake of getting a cab from the hotel itself and we got an ambassador - whose top speed was 40 kmph. We drove in style.
The best shopping place in jaipur is near the hawa mahal. But that market is very costly. If you cross the crossroad near to the hawa mahal and go to markets behind the front shops, you would land in the whole sale market of cloth and other stuff. Get your stuff from there. It is cheap and nice.
The only things of historical importance/worship places worth looking in jaipur is "birla temple", "hawa mahal", "jal mahal" and "amber fort". Amber fort is huge. If you cannot climb to the top of the fort, you can take your car up to a parking place behind the fort and enter the fort from there. You can also hire an elephant to take you up. But it is better to go by foot and enjoy the view. There are lots of restoration work going on in amber fort. But the fort is huge and really worth looking. Dont forget the visit the underground surang near the exit from the fort.
Another place worth visiting is the "chowki dhani". You might have heard a lot about it. Jaipur without chowki dhani is half the trip. Well, chwoki dhani is around 20 kms from the main city - it is outside the main city. Better take a cab, because parking is a major problem. It is a type of village mela in the night with beautiful lighting and lots of village stuff like elephant ride, boat ride, camel ride, astrology, magicians, dances, puppet shows etc etc. The entry fee is 300/- per person which includes the diner. There are lots of stalls for eating chat/gol-gappa and they charge 10-20 rs. Rides also charge the same. There are some huts where you can sit and feel the atmosphere of a village hut. Enjoy the food cooked on the fire inside the hut - village style.
Diner is all veg but there are two options. Either you sit down on the ground and have it village style. Or you sit on a chair and have it. It is better if you go for the later option. Sitting down on the ground is something that we indians used to do long time ago. If you are not in the habit of sitting on the floor for long duration, you might find it tiring and uncomfortable. You might not be able to enjoy their food if you sit down. Better sit on table-chair system and enjoy the food.
Chowki dhani is also a resort and offers stay. But it is preferable that you do not stay there cause, then, going and coming from city would be a pain. And secondly their service is not that of a 5 star (though they claim that they are a 5 star).
While returning you should be leaving jaipur by 12 pm. That ways you would avoid the evening rush and traffic jams. We got stuck in a traffic jam near behror and it cost us an hour to get out of it. Better leave at 12 and have lunch on the way and reach delhi by 5 or 6 pm.
The NH8 passing through gurgaon is great. It is a very smooth road and very wide. You can easily drive at 150 kmph. The only problem is that there are two-wheelers (which are not allowed - but in india who cares). And they drive at the middle of the highway at 40kmph. So, you got to be careful of them.
We had breakfast at The jungle Babble at Dharuhera. The breakfast was terrible. It used to be a nice resturant earlier, but now it seems that it has lost its charm. There are around 4 toll gates between delhi and jaipur and tons of slow moving trucks. Lots of impatient people driving their wagonrs at 120 kmph.
We reached jaipur at 12 pm. The jaipur city is a very small and crowded city. Very confusing - if you are there for the first time. You will find it very difficult to drive if you have a long car. Majority of the people are in rickshaws and in cycles. And the city was hot.
It took us an hour to find our hotel Umaid Bhawan- which we had reserved from yatra.com. It is a very small and nice hotel. We found it to be worth our money. The food was costly - as we had expected. But the rooms were very nice. It is worth a visit - for low budget accommodation. It is in a residential colony and is very quiet.
It is advisable to get a taxi/cab for moving around jaipur. If you drive your own car, you are bound to get lost and fined by the cops who are always on the lookout for non-local people for their "under table" income. But again dont get a cab from the hotel. Do some research and have some contact of cab drivers before going to jaipur. A cab from the hotel would cost you twice the original rate. We did the mistake of getting a cab from the hotel itself and we got an ambassador - whose top speed was 40 kmph. We drove in style.
The best shopping place in jaipur is near the hawa mahal. But that market is very costly. If you cross the crossroad near to the hawa mahal and go to markets behind the front shops, you would land in the whole sale market of cloth and other stuff. Get your stuff from there. It is cheap and nice.
The only things of historical importance/worship places worth looking in jaipur is "birla temple", "hawa mahal", "jal mahal" and "amber fort". Amber fort is huge. If you cannot climb to the top of the fort, you can take your car up to a parking place behind the fort and enter the fort from there. You can also hire an elephant to take you up. But it is better to go by foot and enjoy the view. There are lots of restoration work going on in amber fort. But the fort is huge and really worth looking. Dont forget the visit the underground surang near the exit from the fort.
Another place worth visiting is the "chowki dhani". You might have heard a lot about it. Jaipur without chowki dhani is half the trip. Well, chwoki dhani is around 20 kms from the main city - it is outside the main city. Better take a cab, because parking is a major problem. It is a type of village mela in the night with beautiful lighting and lots of village stuff like elephant ride, boat ride, camel ride, astrology, magicians, dances, puppet shows etc etc. The entry fee is 300/- per person which includes the diner. There are lots of stalls for eating chat/gol-gappa and they charge 10-20 rs. Rides also charge the same. There are some huts where you can sit and feel the atmosphere of a village hut. Enjoy the food cooked on the fire inside the hut - village style.
Diner is all veg but there are two options. Either you sit down on the ground and have it village style. Or you sit on a chair and have it. It is better if you go for the later option. Sitting down on the ground is something that we indians used to do long time ago. If you are not in the habit of sitting on the floor for long duration, you might find it tiring and uncomfortable. You might not be able to enjoy their food if you sit down. Better sit on table-chair system and enjoy the food.
Chowki dhani is also a resort and offers stay. But it is preferable that you do not stay there cause, then, going and coming from city would be a pain. And secondly their service is not that of a 5 star (though they claim that they are a 5 star).
While returning you should be leaving jaipur by 12 pm. That ways you would avoid the evening rush and traffic jams. We got stuck in a traffic jam near behror and it cost us an hour to get out of it. Better leave at 12 and have lunch on the way and reach delhi by 5 or 6 pm.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Comparing delhi to baroda
As soon as you step down from the train in vadodara, you find that the station is comparatively neat and clean. And there are lesser people on the station.
Step out from the station and you find an auto charging you only 25/- rs to take you home. Well, you think, in delhi, the autowala wont even look at me if i say 25/- rs to him.
The distance from station to home is almost traffic free - even during the peak hours. In fact, no one has heard of even a 10 minute traffic jam. There are no traffic jams. Wow you say. You roam around and you find that reaching any place in baroda is not a big job. Nothing is too far off. If you travel for an hour you can cover almost the whole of baroda. You save all the travel time. Going to nearby grocery store is 5 min job. Going to the nearby mall is 10 min job and going to the nearby movie hall is 15 min job and going to the nearby maruti service station is a 2 minute job. Your gym is nearby. And you also have a big swimming pool 5 minutes away. Much cleaner than those in delhi.
So what you would say. Delhi has big malls and reliance fresh, pvr. What? Havnt you heard about the pvr and inox in baroda. Or adlabs. They are all here. There are huge shopping malls here too. And you have the street market too which is damn cheap. In fact you would be shocked to see that the shopping malls in baroda provide such discounts that the price comes down to that of the street markets of delhi. Cool and most of the products are branded.
So, you save on your travelling time. The people are friendly - cause they have time. You get up at 8:30 and leave for office at 9:30 And you are in office by 9:45. There is no rush. For the price of a 2 bed room flat in remote location in delhi, you would get a 4 bedroom tennament with private lawn and parking in the best locality in baroda.
You leave office at 6:15 and are home by max 6:30. You have time to talk to your friends and relatives. You make social visits. If you fill up 1000/- worth of petrol in your car and use your car daily, your petrol would last for the whole of the month. Wow - great savings on petrol. There is traffic police in almost all the places. And if you talk to them, you would find that they are friendlier and a lot less corrupt. They would give you a receipt for a fine you pay. And they do not demand a bribe.
Then why am i in delhi? Cause i get paid well there. Well, maybe i could move to baroda if i get paid half of what i am getting paid in delhi.
Step out from the station and you find an auto charging you only 25/- rs to take you home. Well, you think, in delhi, the autowala wont even look at me if i say 25/- rs to him.
The distance from station to home is almost traffic free - even during the peak hours. In fact, no one has heard of even a 10 minute traffic jam. There are no traffic jams. Wow you say. You roam around and you find that reaching any place in baroda is not a big job. Nothing is too far off. If you travel for an hour you can cover almost the whole of baroda. You save all the travel time. Going to nearby grocery store is 5 min job. Going to the nearby mall is 10 min job and going to the nearby movie hall is 15 min job and going to the nearby maruti service station is a 2 minute job. Your gym is nearby. And you also have a big swimming pool 5 minutes away. Much cleaner than those in delhi.
So what you would say. Delhi has big malls and reliance fresh, pvr. What? Havnt you heard about the pvr and inox in baroda. Or adlabs. They are all here. There are huge shopping malls here too. And you have the street market too which is damn cheap. In fact you would be shocked to see that the shopping malls in baroda provide such discounts that the price comes down to that of the street markets of delhi. Cool and most of the products are branded.
So, you save on your travelling time. The people are friendly - cause they have time. You get up at 8:30 and leave for office at 9:30 And you are in office by 9:45. There is no rush. For the price of a 2 bed room flat in remote location in delhi, you would get a 4 bedroom tennament with private lawn and parking in the best locality in baroda.
You leave office at 6:15 and are home by max 6:30. You have time to talk to your friends and relatives. You make social visits. If you fill up 1000/- worth of petrol in your car and use your car daily, your petrol would last for the whole of the month. Wow - great savings on petrol. There is traffic police in almost all the places. And if you talk to them, you would find that they are friendlier and a lot less corrupt. They would give you a receipt for a fine you pay. And they do not demand a bribe.
Then why am i in delhi? Cause i get paid well there. Well, maybe i could move to baroda if i get paid half of what i am getting paid in delhi.
Indian railways improved??
Well, today i am going to baroda. The train is at 7:30. I called for a cab. The distance from home to station is around 20-30 min.
The trick here is how do you decide at what time you should call the cab so that the cab drops you at the station on the right time - neither too late nor too early. So, what you do is take a buffer of 30 minutes for boarding the train and give the cab a buffer of 30 minutes. So in my case, i took the target to reach station at 07:00 (30 min buffer at my side). And called the cab at 06:00. Bingo, so now as per IST(Indian Stretchable Timings), the cab would turn up at 06:30 and drop you at station at 07:00. The problem here is that the cab does not give a damn whether you catch the train or not. So at 05:55, buzzed the cab driver and ask him when he is going to arrive. Basically, you are acting as a wake-up call for the cab driver. He is not supposed to catch the train, you are, so it is your responsibility to wake him up and remind him of his duties and ensure that he arrives on time to pick you up. Just hope that the cab driver is not some person who does 2-3 snoozes to his alarm before waking up. So buzzed him again in 10 min to ensure that he is up and in his cab and driving. Also it is necessary to control your anger in such situations, else you may burst everything up.
So the cab comes at 06:35. The driver is aware that he is late, and since you have told him that you need to be at station at 07:00 to catch the train at 07:10 (just make up some time and have at least 15 min buffer), he will surely break all speed limits to achieve his aim of dropping you at station at the right time. So strap your seat belts and put your life in the driver's hands and wait. I think, more accidents & traffic jams happen due to the fact that people dont take into account the time that would be required in travel. For them, if they are late in getting up, they would try to make up for the lost time during driving. So over speeding and driving in the wrong lanes - results in either accidents or traffic jams.
Well, so i am again at the famous Indian Railways Station. Its crowded with autos. My cab is stuck behind the autos and unable to move ahead. Why is there so much jam here? Oh, people have parked their cars on both sides of the road leaving only a small path for a single car to move ahead. And the autos are trying to move back looking at the jam ahead. So traffic is crawling and there is a jam.
To talk about jams, i remember a jam where i was at the heart of the jam. I was stuck in the jam for around 1 hour. It happened just near a crossroad with bright red lights and the traffic police trying to control the traffic. Cars on either side of the red light covered both the to and fro lanes. Cars which were going to come towards us had no where to go cause the way was jammed up with cars moving in the other direction. And we had no where to go cause the road ahead was blocked with cars facing me. And to add to it, the bus drivers and cab drivers try to squeeze out of whatever place is available. Making the jam more jammed.
Sorry, i wandered. well, so i am at the station finally, totally crowded. No place to move. Its dirty as always. The enquiry counter has a huge queue. If i get in the queue, i will surely miss my train - by the time my turn comes. Why do they have a single enquiry counter and a very arrogant person at the other side. Maybe that is the bussiness model to reduce requests - poor UI. The only good thing is that this time the train is on time (i am lucky).
So after being on the station for 10 minutes, the train is here. All the doors are locked. People are standing and waiting so that someone opens the doors. Some guy with no uniform opens the doors and people start rushing inside. Again there is a jam, if you stand aside and give way to someone, you will have to stand aside till the complete batch of people have crossed. Cause no one is going to give way to you.
The caterer comes for orders of breakfast. Options - the same as always - omlette or cutlate. I dont think, indian railways has chefs. I order an omlette. The order is delivered after an hour and the omlette tastes burned.
Yes, there has been some improvement, check out the new power-plugs at all places in the train. Cool... So now i can plug in my lappy and maybe do some productive work or play some games.
So this time, we saw some movies and i sat on my lappy throughout the train. Though there was a problem with the electricity. As soon as i put my lappy on charge, the mouse used to move around automatically. But anyways, linux and windowmaker are good. You dont need mouse to move, everything is possible using the keyboard.
And yes another improvement in the indian railways, the variety of junk food. Last time when i was travelling they were selling burgers and pizzas. I did not dare to try one. And everytime they sell samosas and everytime i try these samosas. I dont remember them being good even a single time. I dont know why i try them, when i am aware that they would be terrible. And the ketchup they give with the samosas are so thin that it seems they have converted a single bottle of ketchup into atleast 15 bottles and added sugar to it. This time they were selling chinese noodles. It was ok - just too much oily. I did not dare to try the onion pakodas or potato vadas.
Now i am waiting. The train is supposed to reach vadodara at 22:00. I hope it is on time, though the train has been making a lot of unscheduled stops.
We are on time. In-fact 5 minutes before time... That is an achievement...
The trick here is how do you decide at what time you should call the cab so that the cab drops you at the station on the right time - neither too late nor too early. So, what you do is take a buffer of 30 minutes for boarding the train and give the cab a buffer of 30 minutes. So in my case, i took the target to reach station at 07:00 (30 min buffer at my side). And called the cab at 06:00. Bingo, so now as per IST(Indian Stretchable Timings), the cab would turn up at 06:30 and drop you at station at 07:00. The problem here is that the cab does not give a damn whether you catch the train or not. So at 05:55, buzzed the cab driver and ask him when he is going to arrive. Basically, you are acting as a wake-up call for the cab driver. He is not supposed to catch the train, you are, so it is your responsibility to wake him up and remind him of his duties and ensure that he arrives on time to pick you up. Just hope that the cab driver is not some person who does 2-3 snoozes to his alarm before waking up. So buzzed him again in 10 min to ensure that he is up and in his cab and driving. Also it is necessary to control your anger in such situations, else you may burst everything up.
So the cab comes at 06:35. The driver is aware that he is late, and since you have told him that you need to be at station at 07:00 to catch the train at 07:10 (just make up some time and have at least 15 min buffer), he will surely break all speed limits to achieve his aim of dropping you at station at the right time. So strap your seat belts and put your life in the driver's hands and wait. I think, more accidents & traffic jams happen due to the fact that people dont take into account the time that would be required in travel. For them, if they are late in getting up, they would try to make up for the lost time during driving. So over speeding and driving in the wrong lanes - results in either accidents or traffic jams.
Well, so i am again at the famous Indian Railways Station. Its crowded with autos. My cab is stuck behind the autos and unable to move ahead. Why is there so much jam here? Oh, people have parked their cars on both sides of the road leaving only a small path for a single car to move ahead. And the autos are trying to move back looking at the jam ahead. So traffic is crawling and there is a jam.
To talk about jams, i remember a jam where i was at the heart of the jam. I was stuck in the jam for around 1 hour. It happened just near a crossroad with bright red lights and the traffic police trying to control the traffic. Cars on either side of the red light covered both the to and fro lanes. Cars which were going to come towards us had no where to go cause the way was jammed up with cars moving in the other direction. And we had no where to go cause the road ahead was blocked with cars facing me. And to add to it, the bus drivers and cab drivers try to squeeze out of whatever place is available. Making the jam more jammed.
Sorry, i wandered. well, so i am at the station finally, totally crowded. No place to move. Its dirty as always. The enquiry counter has a huge queue. If i get in the queue, i will surely miss my train - by the time my turn comes. Why do they have a single enquiry counter and a very arrogant person at the other side. Maybe that is the bussiness model to reduce requests - poor UI. The only good thing is that this time the train is on time (i am lucky).
So after being on the station for 10 minutes, the train is here. All the doors are locked. People are standing and waiting so that someone opens the doors. Some guy with no uniform opens the doors and people start rushing inside. Again there is a jam, if you stand aside and give way to someone, you will have to stand aside till the complete batch of people have crossed. Cause no one is going to give way to you.
The caterer comes for orders of breakfast. Options - the same as always - omlette or cutlate. I dont think, indian railways has chefs. I order an omlette. The order is delivered after an hour and the omlette tastes burned.
Yes, there has been some improvement, check out the new power-plugs at all places in the train. Cool... So now i can plug in my lappy and maybe do some productive work or play some games.
So this time, we saw some movies and i sat on my lappy throughout the train. Though there was a problem with the electricity. As soon as i put my lappy on charge, the mouse used to move around automatically. But anyways, linux and windowmaker are good. You dont need mouse to move, everything is possible using the keyboard.
And yes another improvement in the indian railways, the variety of junk food. Last time when i was travelling they were selling burgers and pizzas. I did not dare to try one. And everytime they sell samosas and everytime i try these samosas. I dont remember them being good even a single time. I dont know why i try them, when i am aware that they would be terrible. And the ketchup they give with the samosas are so thin that it seems they have converted a single bottle of ketchup into atleast 15 bottles and added sugar to it. This time they were selling chinese noodles. It was ok - just too much oily. I did not dare to try the onion pakodas or potato vadas.
Now i am waiting. The train is supposed to reach vadodara at 22:00. I hope it is on time, though the train has been making a lot of unscheduled stops.
We are on time. In-fact 5 minutes before time... That is an achievement...
Monday, January 14, 2008
Auli
Another dream comes true...
I dreamed that one day i would wake up and open the window and see the whole world covered in snow. And lo, it just came true...
Yes, i am talking about auli.
Auli is around 500-550 kms from New delhi. The way is from delhi to rishikesh via NH58, and from there to rudraprayag and to joshimath and from there to Auli. The way from delhi to rishikesh is around 200 kms and is plains - and the way ahead of rishikesh is all mountains.
We were 5 people in an innova and the driver was good at driving in hills. so we took around 12-14 hours for the drive. We started around 10 in the night on friday after diner. Actually we wanted to start early around 6, but we got the information that at 8 pm, the road ahead of rishikesh is closed and it is opened at around 5 am. Since the way from here to rishikesh is around 5-6 hours, we decided to start late and reach the road block at rishikesh at around 4 am. We had a halt at devprayag, half way from delhi to joshimath. But it was not required. Well, joshimath is a good place - small town with beautiful rivers flowing. It is the point of origin of The Ganga. Two rivers alaknanda and bhagirathi meet there and The Ganga is born. A very small town in the valley.
From devprayag around 2 hrs ahead is shrinagar a beautiful valley between all the hills. And before shrinagar is a very nice hotel to stay in - riverside. It is around 1 km from devprayag. We spent some time over there and moved ahead. By 7 in the evening, we reached joshimath the road from rudraprayag to joshimath is very bad - terrible seems a better word.
We spent the night in joshimath. And next morning we went to auli via cable car. The first cable car goes as early as 9:30 am. And if you miss it, you will have to wait untill there are atleast 15 person to travel in the cable car. Well, we missed the cable car and had to wait. You could hire gum boots from the same place at 50Rs/day.
The ride in the cable car was terrible. It was very crowded. I had the notion that since the requirement is minimum 15 people, it would be big, but it is a tiny place and if you have luggage - be prepared for some shoving and scolding. The cable car charges 400/- per person for to and fro. You can also take the road and it would be a better option if it is not snowing.
If you are travelling in cable-car, you would need to get down at tower no 8. And from there, you can either trek down or catch the chair car to gmvnl guest house. There are only 2 places to stay in auli, the gmvnl and the clifftop hotel. Clifftop is costly and the service is not that great. gmvnl is very good. Cheap and affordable. A ride in chair car is 200/- per person to and fro.
Clifftop hotel is very near to the tower no 8 of cable car. GMVNL has ski courses which is a 7 day course. And people from over the world come over here to learn to ski. Food was great. Avoid non-veg. They take too much time to cook non-veg and it is not that great - just ok. We used to be terribly hungry - maybe due to the cold and we used to eat a lot.
The cottages at gmvnl are either huts of deluxe cottages. Huts are very small and do not have central heating. Whereas the deluxe cottages are too good with central heating and all.
The good thing that happened is that it was snowing heavily when we reached Auli. For the first time in my life we saw snow.
All we did over there was play in the snow. It became terribly cold in the night. Even after central heating it was 7-8 degrees inside the room. Outside the temperature must have been -5 degrees or so.
Next morning was bright and clear. We enjoyed the sun and the snow and the clear skies. The people over there would try to make you ski - telling you that it is easy and you would learn in an hour. But dont fall for that. They would charge 200-300 rs/day for the ski and equipment. And you would say - thats great for 300 i can ski for the whole day.
But it is not possible to learn to ski in just 2-3 hours. You would need atleast 2 day practice to start skiing. And the ski equipment is very heavy. You would get tired in 1 hour max.
Return was ok. We felt we should have stayed for a day more. The driver drove at 60-70 kmph on the mountains and we were back in delhi at 2:30 in the morning.
Check out the pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/jayant7k/AuliJan08
I dreamed that one day i would wake up and open the window and see the whole world covered in snow. And lo, it just came true...
Yes, i am talking about auli.
Auli is around 500-550 kms from New delhi. The way is from delhi to rishikesh via NH58, and from there to rudraprayag and to joshimath and from there to Auli. The way from delhi to rishikesh is around 200 kms and is plains - and the way ahead of rishikesh is all mountains.
We were 5 people in an innova and the driver was good at driving in hills. so we took around 12-14 hours for the drive. We started around 10 in the night on friday after diner. Actually we wanted to start early around 6, but we got the information that at 8 pm, the road ahead of rishikesh is closed and it is opened at around 5 am. Since the way from here to rishikesh is around 5-6 hours, we decided to start late and reach the road block at rishikesh at around 4 am. We had a halt at devprayag, half way from delhi to joshimath. But it was not required. Well, joshimath is a good place - small town with beautiful rivers flowing. It is the point of origin of The Ganga. Two rivers alaknanda and bhagirathi meet there and The Ganga is born. A very small town in the valley.
From devprayag around 2 hrs ahead is shrinagar a beautiful valley between all the hills. And before shrinagar is a very nice hotel to stay in - riverside. It is around 1 km from devprayag. We spent some time over there and moved ahead. By 7 in the evening, we reached joshimath the road from rudraprayag to joshimath is very bad - terrible seems a better word.
We spent the night in joshimath. And next morning we went to auli via cable car. The first cable car goes as early as 9:30 am. And if you miss it, you will have to wait untill there are atleast 15 person to travel in the cable car. Well, we missed the cable car and had to wait. You could hire gum boots from the same place at 50Rs/day.
The ride in the cable car was terrible. It was very crowded. I had the notion that since the requirement is minimum 15 people, it would be big, but it is a tiny place and if you have luggage - be prepared for some shoving and scolding. The cable car charges 400/- per person for to and fro. You can also take the road and it would be a better option if it is not snowing.
If you are travelling in cable-car, you would need to get down at tower no 8. And from there, you can either trek down or catch the chair car to gmvnl guest house. There are only 2 places to stay in auli, the gmvnl and the clifftop hotel. Clifftop is costly and the service is not that great. gmvnl is very good. Cheap and affordable. A ride in chair car is 200/- per person to and fro.
Clifftop hotel is very near to the tower no 8 of cable car. GMVNL has ski courses which is a 7 day course. And people from over the world come over here to learn to ski. Food was great. Avoid non-veg. They take too much time to cook non-veg and it is not that great - just ok. We used to be terribly hungry - maybe due to the cold and we used to eat a lot.
The cottages at gmvnl are either huts of deluxe cottages. Huts are very small and do not have central heating. Whereas the deluxe cottages are too good with central heating and all.
The good thing that happened is that it was snowing heavily when we reached Auli. For the first time in my life we saw snow.
All we did over there was play in the snow. It became terribly cold in the night. Even after central heating it was 7-8 degrees inside the room. Outside the temperature must have been -5 degrees or so.
Next morning was bright and clear. We enjoyed the sun and the snow and the clear skies. The people over there would try to make you ski - telling you that it is easy and you would learn in an hour. But dont fall for that. They would charge 200-300 rs/day for the ski and equipment. And you would say - thats great for 300 i can ski for the whole day.
But it is not possible to learn to ski in just 2-3 hours. You would need atleast 2 day practice to start skiing. And the ski equipment is very heavy. You would get tired in 1 hour max.
Return was ok. We felt we should have stayed for a day more. The driver drove at 60-70 kmph on the mountains and we were back in delhi at 2:30 in the morning.
Check out the pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/jayant7k/AuliJan08
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
How stock markets work!!!
It was autumn, and the Red Indians on the remote reservation asked their New
Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was a Red Indian
chief in a modern society, he couldn't tell what the weather was going to
be. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he replied to his Tribe that the
winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village
should collect wood to be prepared. But also being a practical leader, after
several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National
Weather Service and asked 'Is the coming winter going to be cold?' 'It looks
like this winter is Going to be quite cold indeed,' the meteorologist at the
weather service Responded.
So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more
Wood. A week later, he called the National Weather Service again. 'Is it
going to be a very cold winter?' 'Yes,' the man at National Weather Service
again replied, 'it's definitely going to be a very cold winter.'
The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every
scrap of wood they could find. Two weeks later, he called the National
Weather Service again. 'Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to
be very cold?' 'Absolutely,' The Man replied. 'It's going to be one of the
coldest winters ever.'
'How can you be so sure?' the Chief asked. The weatherman replied, 'The Red
Indians are collecting wood like Crazy.'
This is how stock markets work!!!
Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was a Red Indian
chief in a modern society, he couldn't tell what the weather was going to
be. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he replied to his Tribe that the
winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village
should collect wood to be prepared. But also being a practical leader, after
several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National
Weather Service and asked 'Is the coming winter going to be cold?' 'It looks
like this winter is Going to be quite cold indeed,' the meteorologist at the
weather service Responded.
So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more
Wood. A week later, he called the National Weather Service again. 'Is it
going to be a very cold winter?' 'Yes,' the man at National Weather Service
again replied, 'it's definitely going to be a very cold winter.'
The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every
scrap of wood they could find. Two weeks later, he called the National
Weather Service again. 'Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to
be very cold?' 'Absolutely,' The Man replied. 'It's going to be one of the
coldest winters ever.'
'How can you be so sure?' the Chief asked. The weatherman replied, 'The Red
Indians are collecting wood like Crazy.'
This is how stock markets work!!!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
independence day
Today is 15th august, india's independence day. But are we really independent. Lets check our independence level.
1. Can you move about anywhere you want from 14th night till 15th night, and celebrate our independence day. That, i think, might not be possible. From 14th itself, the capital of the nation - Delhi is on high alert. People moving in and out from the city are closely monitored. That's the story given by any personnel. But i have been out once on the morning of independence day, and i have experienced the "independence". Well, it happened that i was on my bike and it was around 11 am. I thought i would catch the early morning show of some movie (i dont remember the name) and thought of watching it at some place inside delhi. So i took my bike and when i was crossing the border, the thulla was there and he flagged me down and asked for my papers. Ofcourse i did not have all the papers. But i told him that i am a working software professional and other stuff and showed him my DL (identity proof). But he was adamant and determined to proove that i was a terrorist and had stolen "the bike" to do some notorious activities. What the hell... Anyways, it was easy to figure out that he was terribly in need of money and a 100 rs note proved to him that i was a good citizen.
In the mean time, 3 to 4 cars crossed the border - i remember one with black glasses as well. And none were stopped. There might have been some "terrorists" in there too. Don't i make some sense. So actually, if anyone wants to do anything it is easy to do so. I mean if someone plans a bomb to be exploded on 15th - i dont think the corrupt police officials of the capital of india would be able to stop him. They are just here to curb the independence of the general public on the independence day.
2. And secondly, you receive numerous smses from your family and friends wishing you "Happy independence day" and another sms from the cell operators (IDEA, HUTCH, AIRTEL), that special rates of smses are NOT applicable today. Why? Cause it is independence day and they have got to make some money today. The message i got today was a palindrome in itself. "This is to notify that special call rates and sms rates for different schemes would not be applicable for today. Happy independence day". Isnt it a nice way to say "Happy independence day". You cant help it. After all there is no control over it.
3. India is a country where everybody looks after himself only. There is no control by the government. Recently there had been some reports of high levels of pesticides and harmful chemicals in agro products imported from india by singapore(i think). The government over there at least takes care of its citizens. This is not the case in india. All the government is interested in is taking its taxes and the politicians are interested in filling their pockets. What happened to the chole king - Ashok malhotra. Suddenly he has almost disappeared from all news channels and news papers. He has moved from the first page to some unknown page in a small invisible column which has to be searched to be read. Ofcourse he will get away. He has all the money that he has accumulated over such a small period of time. He could have been the richest man on this planet - if he was not caught. But now - who ever opens his mouth to speak against him would get a mouthful of money - so that he may never need to speak again.
4. And then there is reliance digital at the Shipra MALL - who were offering pamplets with a tricolored pen. Celebrating independence day and inviting more customers.
That's india...
1. Can you move about anywhere you want from 14th night till 15th night, and celebrate our independence day. That, i think, might not be possible. From 14th itself, the capital of the nation - Delhi is on high alert. People moving in and out from the city are closely monitored. That's the story given by any personnel. But i have been out once on the morning of independence day, and i have experienced the "independence". Well, it happened that i was on my bike and it was around 11 am. I thought i would catch the early morning show of some movie (i dont remember the name) and thought of watching it at some place inside delhi. So i took my bike and when i was crossing the border, the thulla was there and he flagged me down and asked for my papers. Ofcourse i did not have all the papers. But i told him that i am a working software professional and other stuff and showed him my DL (identity proof). But he was adamant and determined to proove that i was a terrorist and had stolen "the bike" to do some notorious activities. What the hell... Anyways, it was easy to figure out that he was terribly in need of money and a 100 rs note proved to him that i was a good citizen.
In the mean time, 3 to 4 cars crossed the border - i remember one with black glasses as well. And none were stopped. There might have been some "terrorists" in there too. Don't i make some sense. So actually, if anyone wants to do anything it is easy to do so. I mean if someone plans a bomb to be exploded on 15th - i dont think the corrupt police officials of the capital of india would be able to stop him. They are just here to curb the independence of the general public on the independence day.
2. And secondly, you receive numerous smses from your family and friends wishing you "Happy independence day" and another sms from the cell operators (IDEA, HUTCH, AIRTEL), that special rates of smses are NOT applicable today. Why? Cause it is independence day and they have got to make some money today. The message i got today was a palindrome in itself. "This is to notify that special call rates and sms rates for different schemes would not be applicable for today. Happy independence day". Isnt it a nice way to say "Happy independence day". You cant help it. After all there is no control over it.
3. India is a country where everybody looks after himself only. There is no control by the government. Recently there had been some reports of high levels of pesticides and harmful chemicals in agro products imported from india by singapore(i think). The government over there at least takes care of its citizens. This is not the case in india. All the government is interested in is taking its taxes and the politicians are interested in filling their pockets. What happened to the chole king - Ashok malhotra. Suddenly he has almost disappeared from all news channels and news papers. He has moved from the first page to some unknown page in a small invisible column which has to be searched to be read. Ofcourse he will get away. He has all the money that he has accumulated over such a small period of time. He could have been the richest man on this planet - if he was not caught. But now - who ever opens his mouth to speak against him would get a mouthful of money - so that he may never need to speak again.
4. And then there is reliance digital at the Shipra MALL - who were offering pamplets with a tricolored pen. Celebrating independence day and inviting more customers.
That's india...
Saturday, March 31, 2007
corruption - part dwitia
It has been a long time since i have written anything - either technical or on any other topic. Hmm... Well, i was busy getting married....
I have just joined my office - a week back and am getting in the flow of going to work.
Had been on honeymoon and have been travelling. Have seen the different ways corruption works in india. Each and every incident involving corruption by government officials is worth noting. But right now i will list down some incidents that happened with me.
Incident #1
I am coming from sector 18 towards sector 16 in noida. I am on a red light and i dont see a "thulla" (in india all police officials are called thulla. They are always ready to take money from you and fill their own pockets) around. Well anyways, i still decide to wait till the light turns green. There is an auto coming from the left and he is also waiting for his signal to turn green. Still, every minute the auto moves 1 meter ahead. My red-light turns green and by that time, the auto is almost in the middle of the road - and there is still no thulla around. No one paying attention to him. So i start moving and am almost half way to the across when the auto decides to move still ahead and comes right in front of me. I stop and before i can turn and head across the crossing, my signal turns red.
The autowala gives me a frown and blows his horn. And from no-where a thulla jumps out and signals me to stop. Well, i shud have sped off. But, my mistake, i decide to stop and make him understand the situation. I am in hurry. I dont keep more than 400 in my pocket. The thulla asks me for my papers. I tell him that i dont have any. And that i live nearby - just across the road (I told him the truth). He tells me that red light jumping is 1000 Rs fine. And then sits behind me and asks me to ride to the nearby police station. And one most important point - he is not a traffic police. So i tell him that i am not driving to the police station. I dont have 1000 Rs fine and try to make him understand the situation. But he refuses to listen and tells me that he can let me go with around 400/- cash to him. I shut off my bike. Took the keys out. Hand it over to him and tell him to take my bike to the police station and i will collect it from there after paying the fine. The thulla just looks at me and lowers his offer to let me go to 300 Rs.
I argue with him - give him all the lies i can make up. Make him understand that i am a poor student and that i dont have enough money in my pocket. Eat his head for around 1 hour. The thulla is fed up and starts calling a crand to take by bike. I asked him "why dont you take it yourself?" And he tells me that he does not know how to drive a bullet. Shame on him. Finally people start gathering and looking at us. He starts shouting at them. I argue with him openly and tell him that 50 Rs is enough. He is still adamant and we finally settle for 100 Rs. I hand him my hard earned 100 Rs for something i have not done and he goes away happy.
Incident #2
This is a really nice one. We (me and my roomie deepak) used to live in noida sector 12 and we used to go to vasundra enclave for our diner. There is a small resturant over there which serves good food at low prices. And the best part of the resturant was that they did not levy sales tax of 12.whatever percent.
So one night after having a lavish diner, we were riding back on deepak's scooty. Both of us wearing helmet - cause there are thullas always ready at the border to extort money from you. Still, when we were crossing the border, a junior thulla stopped us. And asked us for the papers. Hmm and my romie depak had forgotten his wallet home. So he checked everywhere and finally told that he has forgotten his wallet home and he would need to go back home which was nearby - around 5 minutes from there to get his wallet and papers. This was reported to the senior thulla and he came and told us that if we dont have the papers, then we should pay the fine.
I thought that i would ask the question - fine for what. Well, but i didnt. It is better not to provoke a thulla. I told deepak - you wait here and i will get your papers from home. So i took a rickshaw and moved off towards home to get the papers. I had just reached home, when i got a call from deepak that the thulla has let him go and he is riding back home. And then he told me what happened.
The senior thulla told the junior thulla "dekh kar roko. Jinke pas paisa nahi hai unko rok kar kya faida". [look at the person before you ask him to stop. There is no point in stopping someone if he does not have any money]. Deepak was simply shood away - since he did not have any money on him.
Incident #3
This one is a very recent one - happened in gurgao while I had been to gurgaon to pick up my wife.
I started early from my office so i could reach her office on time. And when i reached there - there was a huge traffic jam outside her office. Inspite of that there were cars parked outside her office on one side of the road and there was a thulla looking around. It didnt seem wrong to me to stop on the side of the road and wait for her to come down. Stopping for 5-10 minutes should not be an issue. If the thulla thinks it is an issue, he can tell me and I can simply drive off.
So i have parked and put on my blinkers and am waiting when this thulla comes and knocks on the window. My mistake, i should have simply drove off. I open up the window and the thulla asks me for the papers. I tell him that i will move on if there is a problem. But he is adamant on getting the papers and wants to pose a fine of 400. Finally after some argument, he takes off my car keys.
I go to him with my papers and explain him that if he takes the papers then i will have to drive back from noida to here to collect my papers. So take the money now and let me off. And the thulla simply says that if you give the money now, it will go into my pocket. I tell him - then i could be led off at a much lower amount. He asks 300. I empty my pockets and give him all 10s and 20s - totalling around 100. The thulla says that there is an ATM in the nearby building, get the money from there. So i go and get 300 for him and hand it over to him and get my papers and drive off.
There are so many incidents with me - all almost similar. Maybe i get trapped cause i stop when the thullas ask me to stop.
I have heard incidents from my friends where one guy said that he told that he wont give the money now and would go to court. And he was disappointed cause there is no one to listen in court. All they assume is that we are murderers or maybe somewhat similar and we should pay double or tripple the amount fined on us. So it is better to not to go to court.
One really nice incident happened with one of my friend. He was caught jumping a red light and he paid the fine. He says that he emptied his heart out. Gave all the bad words he had ever came across to all the thullas there. Called them the worst things he could call. And then paid his fine and drove off. And he was happy. He says that it was worth paying the fine. Letting go of this frustration and driving off.
The best thing about corruption is that the corrupt officials wont be paying any tax on their "under-table" income. Maybe government should put tax on all such incomes. Or maybe make money paid as corruption - exempt from tax. If i would have earned 100 Rs, i would have paid 30 Rs as tax and would have got to keep only 70 Rs with me. The under priviledged common man.
Now the government is increasing the fines for all the penalties that tend to happen. Indirectly raising the cut for all the thullas. I could now-a-days see the thullas drooling at the sight of people driving. And their drool increases with increase in the number of vehicles and the raise in penalties.
The problem is not with the corrupt police officials, but with the management/the government. They have created situations so that corruption prevails. There is no proper management of traffic signal timings. The thullas are underpaid - i think so. And the thulla will always catch you if you start crossing the traffic signal at green and arrive at the other end when the signal is red. And this usually happens cause the time for yellow light is so low that there is almost no yellow light. And the red light does not work for cycle or rickshaw. So cycle or rickshaw can jump as many red lights as possible and create as much confusion as possible on the road.
After all, this is INDIA...
I have just joined my office - a week back and am getting in the flow of going to work.
Had been on honeymoon and have been travelling. Have seen the different ways corruption works in india. Each and every incident involving corruption by government officials is worth noting. But right now i will list down some incidents that happened with me.
Incident #1
I am coming from sector 18 towards sector 16 in noida. I am on a red light and i dont see a "thulla" (in india all police officials are called thulla. They are always ready to take money from you and fill their own pockets) around. Well anyways, i still decide to wait till the light turns green. There is an auto coming from the left and he is also waiting for his signal to turn green. Still, every minute the auto moves 1 meter ahead. My red-light turns green and by that time, the auto is almost in the middle of the road - and there is still no thulla around. No one paying attention to him. So i start moving and am almost half way to the across when the auto decides to move still ahead and comes right in front of me. I stop and before i can turn and head across the crossing, my signal turns red.
The autowala gives me a frown and blows his horn. And from no-where a thulla jumps out and signals me to stop. Well, i shud have sped off. But, my mistake, i decide to stop and make him understand the situation. I am in hurry. I dont keep more than 400 in my pocket. The thulla asks me for my papers. I tell him that i dont have any. And that i live nearby - just across the road (I told him the truth). He tells me that red light jumping is 1000 Rs fine. And then sits behind me and asks me to ride to the nearby police station. And one most important point - he is not a traffic police. So i tell him that i am not driving to the police station. I dont have 1000 Rs fine and try to make him understand the situation. But he refuses to listen and tells me that he can let me go with around 400/- cash to him. I shut off my bike. Took the keys out. Hand it over to him and tell him to take my bike to the police station and i will collect it from there after paying the fine. The thulla just looks at me and lowers his offer to let me go to 300 Rs.
I argue with him - give him all the lies i can make up. Make him understand that i am a poor student and that i dont have enough money in my pocket. Eat his head for around 1 hour. The thulla is fed up and starts calling a crand to take by bike. I asked him "why dont you take it yourself?" And he tells me that he does not know how to drive a bullet. Shame on him. Finally people start gathering and looking at us. He starts shouting at them. I argue with him openly and tell him that 50 Rs is enough. He is still adamant and we finally settle for 100 Rs. I hand him my hard earned 100 Rs for something i have not done and he goes away happy.
Incident #2
This is a really nice one. We (me and my roomie deepak) used to live in noida sector 12 and we used to go to vasundra enclave for our diner. There is a small resturant over there which serves good food at low prices. And the best part of the resturant was that they did not levy sales tax of 12.whatever percent.
So one night after having a lavish diner, we were riding back on deepak's scooty. Both of us wearing helmet - cause there are thullas always ready at the border to extort money from you. Still, when we were crossing the border, a junior thulla stopped us. And asked us for the papers. Hmm and my romie depak had forgotten his wallet home. So he checked everywhere and finally told that he has forgotten his wallet home and he would need to go back home which was nearby - around 5 minutes from there to get his wallet and papers. This was reported to the senior thulla and he came and told us that if we dont have the papers, then we should pay the fine.
I thought that i would ask the question - fine for what. Well, but i didnt. It is better not to provoke a thulla. I told deepak - you wait here and i will get your papers from home. So i took a rickshaw and moved off towards home to get the papers. I had just reached home, when i got a call from deepak that the thulla has let him go and he is riding back home. And then he told me what happened.
The senior thulla told the junior thulla "dekh kar roko. Jinke pas paisa nahi hai unko rok kar kya faida". [look at the person before you ask him to stop. There is no point in stopping someone if he does not have any money]. Deepak was simply shood away - since he did not have any money on him.
Incident #3
This one is a very recent one - happened in gurgao while I had been to gurgaon to pick up my wife.
I started early from my office so i could reach her office on time. And when i reached there - there was a huge traffic jam outside her office. Inspite of that there were cars parked outside her office on one side of the road and there was a thulla looking around. It didnt seem wrong to me to stop on the side of the road and wait for her to come down. Stopping for 5-10 minutes should not be an issue. If the thulla thinks it is an issue, he can tell me and I can simply drive off.
So i have parked and put on my blinkers and am waiting when this thulla comes and knocks on the window. My mistake, i should have simply drove off. I open up the window and the thulla asks me for the papers. I tell him that i will move on if there is a problem. But he is adamant on getting the papers and wants to pose a fine of 400. Finally after some argument, he takes off my car keys.
I go to him with my papers and explain him that if he takes the papers then i will have to drive back from noida to here to collect my papers. So take the money now and let me off. And the thulla simply says that if you give the money now, it will go into my pocket. I tell him - then i could be led off at a much lower amount. He asks 300. I empty my pockets and give him all 10s and 20s - totalling around 100. The thulla says that there is an ATM in the nearby building, get the money from there. So i go and get 300 for him and hand it over to him and get my papers and drive off.
There are so many incidents with me - all almost similar. Maybe i get trapped cause i stop when the thullas ask me to stop.
I have heard incidents from my friends where one guy said that he told that he wont give the money now and would go to court. And he was disappointed cause there is no one to listen in court. All they assume is that we are murderers or maybe somewhat similar and we should pay double or tripple the amount fined on us. So it is better to not to go to court.
One really nice incident happened with one of my friend. He was caught jumping a red light and he paid the fine. He says that he emptied his heart out. Gave all the bad words he had ever came across to all the thullas there. Called them the worst things he could call. And then paid his fine and drove off. And he was happy. He says that it was worth paying the fine. Letting go of this frustration and driving off.
The best thing about corruption is that the corrupt officials wont be paying any tax on their "under-table" income. Maybe government should put tax on all such incomes. Or maybe make money paid as corruption - exempt from tax. If i would have earned 100 Rs, i would have paid 30 Rs as tax and would have got to keep only 70 Rs with me. The under priviledged common man.
Now the government is increasing the fines for all the penalties that tend to happen. Indirectly raising the cut for all the thullas. I could now-a-days see the thullas drooling at the sight of people driving. And their drool increases with increase in the number of vehicles and the raise in penalties.
The problem is not with the corrupt police officials, but with the management/the government. They have created situations so that corruption prevails. There is no proper management of traffic signal timings. The thullas are underpaid - i think so. And the thulla will always catch you if you start crossing the traffic signal at green and arrive at the other end when the signal is red. And this usually happens cause the time for yellow light is so low that there is almost no yellow light. And the red light does not work for cycle or rickshaw. So cycle or rickshaw can jump as many red lights as possible and create as much confusion as possible on the road.
After all, this is INDIA...
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Freedom Of Blogging
Censorship, or limiting access to certain specific data is a big drawback for democracy. It limits freedom of speech, thought, expression, the basic fundas of democracy.
We say india is a democratic country. Why? There is censorship in almost all movies, in addition to rating given by the censor board.
Well forget that. But why is my blog not opening up since yesterday. I had to do some blogging but since my blog was not opening up, i thought, it might be down. But that is not the case...
Take a look at the traceroute below (for techies):
C:\Documents and Settings\Admin>tracert jayant7k.blogspot.com
Tracing route to blogspot.blogger.com [66.102.15.101]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 314 ms 298 ms 300 ms 97.239.1.15
2 298 ms 320 ms 299 ms 97.239.2.1
3 297 ms 320 ms 499 ms 202.138.101.57
4 517 ms 540 ms 519 ms 220.224.184.178
5 517 ms 540 ms 519 ms 62.216.145.221
6 557 ms 539 ms 559 ms eqixva-google-gige.google.com [206.223.115.21]
7 638 ms 639 ms 640 ms 216.239.47.120
8 539 ms 539 ms 540 ms 72.14.238.235
9 718 ms 740 ms 719 ms 66.249.94.233
10 717 ms 720 ms 719 ms 66.249.95.246
11 717 ms 719 ms 719 ms 216.239.46.44
12 637 ms 619 ms 619 ms 72.14.236.9
13 617 ms 639 ms 620 ms 72.14.233.121
14 639 ms 619 ms 659 ms 216.239.49.78
15 * * * Request timed out.
16 * * * Request timed out.
17 * * * Request timed out.
18 * * * Request timed out.
19 * * * Request timed out.
20 * * * Request timed out.
21 * * * Request timed out.
22 * * * Request timed out.
23 * * * Request timed out.
24 * * * Request timed out.
25 * * * Request timed out.
26 * * * Request timed out.
27 * * * Request timed out.
28 * * * Request timed out.
29 * * * Request timed out.
30 * * * Request timed out.
Trace complete.
After 14 hops, suddenly the request for data times out.
Well take a look at this... http://www.withinandwithout.com/?p=854. The GREAT indian government has decided to do censorship on internet also. Blocking freedom of blogging. This is very bad. The government says that terrorists are using blogs to communicate. Well agreed. But then there is google earth.
If you dont have any idea about what it is, you can do a search on google and download and take a look at it. Using google earth, you can zoom in on any place around the world be it "the white house" or "The parliament". You will be having the map of that place in front of you, no matter where you are.
If you have good internet connectivity on moon, maybe you can plan a terrorist mission from there using google earth. What will the government do then, decide to ban "google earth". Say that from now onwards, there would be no maps made for delhi.
It was just an example, of what technology can provide. Using it depends on who uses it. Just like an atom bomb. It can be used both for construction and destruction. Dynamites and explosives can be used for breaking rocks and making roads or for killing innocent people. With advanced technology, nothing would be impossible.
What i would say is that instead of blocking access to data, the government should focus on strengthening its own infrastructure. Look at the amount of corruption that is there in india. The cost of a traffic cop in DELHI/NCR is only around 100/- for whatever was done or not done. The feeling of doing something good for the nation has to be there, not only in the traffic cops but in the ministers and all IAS/IPS officers.
People in india want to become MPS, IAS, IPS because there is lots of under table money in these lines.
Sometimes, i just try to imagine how can this country run? But it is still running. Though a single earthquake, single famine or a single terrorist attack can bring it to a standstill any day.
Well, for example, we had a heavy downpour in delhi today, and believe me, more than half of delhi was immobile due to it. Why cant the government do something about it?
Well, anyways lets hope this does not go on for long and we can access our precious blogs soon.
To bypass the block, you can use www.pkblogs.com. And read whatever blogs that were blocked. The news is that blogspot, Typepad and geocities have been affected due to the ban. You can post blogs but cannot view your blog.
And almost all ISPs have dirtied their hands in this game. Have a look at http://censorship.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_ISPs_that_seem_to_have_blocked_blogger
Keep blogging........
Let the world know where we stand......
We say india is a democratic country. Why? There is censorship in almost all movies, in addition to rating given by the censor board.
Well forget that. But why is my blog not opening up since yesterday. I had to do some blogging but since my blog was not opening up, i thought, it might be down. But that is not the case...
Take a look at the traceroute below (for techies):
C:\Documents and Settings\Admin>tracert jayant7k.blogspot.com
Tracing route to blogspot.blogger.com [66.102.15.101]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 314 ms 298 ms 300 ms 97.239.1.15
2 298 ms 320 ms 299 ms 97.239.2.1
3 297 ms 320 ms 499 ms 202.138.101.57
4 517 ms 540 ms 519 ms 220.224.184.178
5 517 ms 540 ms 519 ms 62.216.145.221
6 557 ms 539 ms 559 ms eqixva-google-gige.google.com [206.223.115.21]
7 638 ms 639 ms 640 ms 216.239.47.120
8 539 ms 539 ms 540 ms 72.14.238.235
9 718 ms 740 ms 719 ms 66.249.94.233
10 717 ms 720 ms 719 ms 66.249.95.246
11 717 ms 719 ms 719 ms 216.239.46.44
12 637 ms 619 ms 619 ms 72.14.236.9
13 617 ms 639 ms 620 ms 72.14.233.121
14 639 ms 619 ms 659 ms 216.239.49.78
15 * * * Request timed out.
16 * * * Request timed out.
17 * * * Request timed out.
18 * * * Request timed out.
19 * * * Request timed out.
20 * * * Request timed out.
21 * * * Request timed out.
22 * * * Request timed out.
23 * * * Request timed out.
24 * * * Request timed out.
25 * * * Request timed out.
26 * * * Request timed out.
27 * * * Request timed out.
28 * * * Request timed out.
29 * * * Request timed out.
30 * * * Request timed out.
Trace complete.
After 14 hops, suddenly the request for data times out.
Well take a look at this... http://www.withinandwithout.com/?p=854. The GREAT indian government has decided to do censorship on internet also. Blocking freedom of blogging. This is very bad. The government says that terrorists are using blogs to communicate. Well agreed. But then there is google earth.
If you dont have any idea about what it is, you can do a search on google and download and take a look at it. Using google earth, you can zoom in on any place around the world be it "the white house" or "The parliament". You will be having the map of that place in front of you, no matter where you are.
If you have good internet connectivity on moon, maybe you can plan a terrorist mission from there using google earth. What will the government do then, decide to ban "google earth". Say that from now onwards, there would be no maps made for delhi.
It was just an example, of what technology can provide. Using it depends on who uses it. Just like an atom bomb. It can be used both for construction and destruction. Dynamites and explosives can be used for breaking rocks and making roads or for killing innocent people. With advanced technology, nothing would be impossible.
What i would say is that instead of blocking access to data, the government should focus on strengthening its own infrastructure. Look at the amount of corruption that is there in india. The cost of a traffic cop in DELHI/NCR is only around 100/- for whatever was done or not done. The feeling of doing something good for the nation has to be there, not only in the traffic cops but in the ministers and all IAS/IPS officers.
People in india want to become MPS, IAS, IPS because there is lots of under table money in these lines.
Sometimes, i just try to imagine how can this country run? But it is still running. Though a single earthquake, single famine or a single terrorist attack can bring it to a standstill any day.
Well, for example, we had a heavy downpour in delhi today, and believe me, more than half of delhi was immobile due to it. Why cant the government do something about it?
Well, anyways lets hope this does not go on for long and we can access our precious blogs soon.
To bypass the block, you can use www.pkblogs.com. And read whatever blogs that were blocked. The news is that blogspot, Typepad and geocities have been affected due to the ban. You can post blogs but cannot view your blog.
And almost all ISPs have dirtied their hands in this game. Have a look at http://censorship.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_ISPs_that_seem_to_have_blocked_blogger
Keep blogging........
Let the world know where we stand......
Thursday, June 22, 2006
How much tax do I pay?
Lets start from the ground up. I would create a hypothetical situation and try to figure out the amount of tax i pay per month. Well suppose i have a taxable salary of 10,000 per month and since i am a well paid indian, i would come in the 30% tax bracket.
So i would pay up 3,000/- as tax per month. Next, except home cooked food, everything else is taxed at 12.25%. Which means that if i spend around 100/- on say having my diner outside, i would be paying 12.25/- as tax. On an average, i end up spending 100/- every day on one thing or the other. That makes up for 3000/- per month and 3000*12.25 = 367.5/- as tax.
Moreover, in India, petrol is priced at 50/- per litre out of which 25/- is tax+duty. So if i spend around 1000/- on petrol, i would be purchasing only 500/- worth of petrol and paying 500/- worth of tax. Lucky for me, my office is close to my home, so i end up spending not more than 1000/- on petrol. Some people from my office end up spending something around 5000/- to 6000/- on petrol. its called luxury.
Atleast one movie a week makes sense to me. Currently all movies in noida - Delhi/NCR is priced at 125/- out of which 30% is entertainment tax which comes to about 29/-. So if i am watching 4 movies in a week, i would end up paying around 120/- as entertainment tax. Plus on purchase of any commodity, i am supposed to be paying 4% VAT. Well, i suppose, i must be getting around 1000/- worth of FMCG stuff and as a result pay around 40/- as tax.
To sum it all up, out of 10,000 i would be paying 3000+370+500+120+40=4030 as tax. I pay 40% of my salary as TAX. So, in a year, if i get a salary of 3 Lakhs, i would end up paying 1.2 Lakhs to the government as tax. Do i get the comparable returns is a big question, the answer of which is "not available" as of now.
So i would pay up 3,000/- as tax per month. Next, except home cooked food, everything else is taxed at 12.25%. Which means that if i spend around 100/- on say having my diner outside, i would be paying 12.25/- as tax. On an average, i end up spending 100/- every day on one thing or the other. That makes up for 3000/- per month and 3000*12.25 = 367.5/- as tax.
Moreover, in India, petrol is priced at 50/- per litre out of which 25/- is tax+duty. So if i spend around 1000/- on petrol, i would be purchasing only 500/- worth of petrol and paying 500/- worth of tax. Lucky for me, my office is close to my home, so i end up spending not more than 1000/- on petrol. Some people from my office end up spending something around 5000/- to 6000/- on petrol. its called luxury.
Atleast one movie a week makes sense to me. Currently all movies in noida - Delhi/NCR is priced at 125/- out of which 30% is entertainment tax which comes to about 29/-. So if i am watching 4 movies in a week, i would end up paying around 120/- as entertainment tax. Plus on purchase of any commodity, i am supposed to be paying 4% VAT. Well, i suppose, i must be getting around 1000/- worth of FMCG stuff and as a result pay around 40/- as tax.
To sum it all up, out of 10,000 i would be paying 3000+370+500+120+40=4030 as tax. I pay 40% of my salary as TAX. So, in a year, if i get a salary of 3 Lakhs, i would end up paying 1.2 Lakhs to the government as tax. Do i get the comparable returns is a big question, the answer of which is "not available" as of now.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
India and corrupion
I have been thinking for some time now about writing this blog. A view into the corruption in india. Everybody knows that there is corruption in india and to a major extent. It is something like built into the system. Where-ever you have to interact with government employees to get your work done you have to fill up some unwanted pockets, if you ever want your work done. Forget service, you dont even get anything near that from these people.
Where do i start from is what i am not clear about. Lets start from the top. It is seen in news papers, well to be clear... keeps on coming on and off. Some MP or people in high position in the government caught taking bribes. It is general knowledge that these things come out because certain people in media have not been bribed to keep it down. These news generally disappear from the papers once all connection people have been bribed properly.... thats india darling. Here people dont joing government organizations to serve the country, they join to launder money into their own pockets. God only knows how this country runs and develops with such high levels of corruption.
Well my introduction with corruption happened when i was in college and my folks tried to get me a passport. For verification i had to go to the local police station and present myself. My dad who accompanied me to the police station, gave me a 20 and a 50 telling me to show the 20 first and then give the 50, if the policeman is not convinced by the 20. Well the inspector asked me lots of stupid questions and finally told me directly "Do you think you can get your passport without paying anything over here". I showed him a 20. And he said "u will be going out of india, earning lots of money. Give us some more." Well anyways, he was satisfied by a 50.
Since i have been in delhi and driving, i have got a few surprises over here as well. Firstly the "system" states that you cannot purchase a vehicle unless you have a residence proof. Who gives residence/rent proofs to tenants in delhi. If these proofs are given, corresponding taxes will have to be given. So well, i never had a residence proof. Still i managed to purchase 2 bikes. "Thanks to the system".
Another thing that i came across in delhi is the fact that it is really easy to bribe a traffic cop. They stand at red lights and catch u for almost anything small. Or you may not be carrying all the papers. All you have to do is plead a little and then offer him 50 rs. Only once i had to offer 100 rs. The mentality seems like -> I am down on money today, lets stand on a red light and get some money... Well they also balance their earnings nicely, so you may find 3-5 out of the 50 they have caught being given a ticket and then these people might have to go to the nearby police station to get their licence back which the policemen took.
The common man generally interacts with this type of corruption.
Corruption at high levels was brought into view in "Rang de basanti" in a very nice way. The point is that we will have to change the system, somehow. Where and how to start is the biggest question. We will have to think about this country. Lots of educated and sophesticated people are moving out of this country due to this only.
Lets see what happens. Where we go from here...
Where do i start from is what i am not clear about. Lets start from the top. It is seen in news papers, well to be clear... keeps on coming on and off. Some MP or people in high position in the government caught taking bribes. It is general knowledge that these things come out because certain people in media have not been bribed to keep it down. These news generally disappear from the papers once all connection people have been bribed properly.... thats india darling. Here people dont joing government organizations to serve the country, they join to launder money into their own pockets. God only knows how this country runs and develops with such high levels of corruption.
Well my introduction with corruption happened when i was in college and my folks tried to get me a passport. For verification i had to go to the local police station and present myself. My dad who accompanied me to the police station, gave me a 20 and a 50 telling me to show the 20 first and then give the 50, if the policeman is not convinced by the 20. Well the inspector asked me lots of stupid questions and finally told me directly "Do you think you can get your passport without paying anything over here". I showed him a 20. And he said "u will be going out of india, earning lots of money. Give us some more." Well anyways, he was satisfied by a 50.
Since i have been in delhi and driving, i have got a few surprises over here as well. Firstly the "system" states that you cannot purchase a vehicle unless you have a residence proof. Who gives residence/rent proofs to tenants in delhi. If these proofs are given, corresponding taxes will have to be given. So well, i never had a residence proof. Still i managed to purchase 2 bikes. "Thanks to the system".
Another thing that i came across in delhi is the fact that it is really easy to bribe a traffic cop. They stand at red lights and catch u for almost anything small. Or you may not be carrying all the papers. All you have to do is plead a little and then offer him 50 rs. Only once i had to offer 100 rs. The mentality seems like -> I am down on money today, lets stand on a red light and get some money... Well they also balance their earnings nicely, so you may find 3-5 out of the 50 they have caught being given a ticket and then these people might have to go to the nearby police station to get their licence back which the policemen took.
The common man generally interacts with this type of corruption.
Corruption at high levels was brought into view in "Rang de basanti" in a very nice way. The point is that we will have to change the system, somehow. Where and how to start is the biggest question. We will have to think about this country. Lots of educated and sophesticated people are moving out of this country due to this only.
Lets see what happens. Where we go from here...
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