Sleeper buses

Travelling by bus has come a long long way. Gone are the days when the luxuriest bus was a Thiruvalluvar from the TN state. While the local city commute has been made incredibly commuter friendly by the introduction of B7R in all the 3 southern big cities, the long distance travel by bus continued to remain painful. Then came the Volvos adapted for comfortable semi-sleeper travel (remember the KSRTC’s airaavath service between Bangalore and Madras?) it was still no match for even a peaceful sleeper class travel in the local train notwithstanding the cockroaches, rats, and other rodents that we frequently encounter in the sleeper class coaches. So, I always chose the 2^nd AC train travel for long distance commutes.

The Indian Railways’s 2^nd class AC travel is superior and strikes a pretty good compromise between 3^rd AC and 1^st AC in terms of cost and comfort. The 2^nd class AC offers curtains, removes the clumsy middle-tier, provides bulbs for individual berths for night-time reading, has a longer side-berth, and better AC efficiency by virtue of accommodating fewer passengers. But, this is only on paper. More than 75% of the times I took the 2^nd AC coach, the AC was never set at the right temperature – there will always be an odd old couple who’d want the AC turned off or want the temperature increased significantly. And the reading bulbs will most likely be fused out not to mention the stinking toilets. And most importantly, despite the coach you take, even the superfast trains have an average speed of 55 kmph! A typical travel from Hyderabad to Madras (or approximately 670 kilometres) will be anywhere between 13 ½ hours and 20 hours depending on your luck.

In come the sleeper buses. The Volvo semi-sleeper buses, I must admit, are not quite comfortable. With no support to hold my foot firmly, I tend to slide down and down until I wake up and adjust myself. This is hugely uncomfortable. The sleeper buses, on the other hand, allow you to sleep in your natural position (See the pictures – this one was from kesineni travels plying between Hyderabad and Madras). The average cost of travel between the 2 cities is in the ballpart of Rs. 1000/- and has great goodies – A personal 240v AC charging station, personal portable monitor for the movies, and an ear plug for each berth! And a helpful staff who would generally be willing to play the movie you request. This is cheaper than the 2^nd AC train ticket, berths nearly as comfortable, reaches the destination faster, leaves a little late in the evening so you can wrap your work day as usual, and has a zillion dropping points (not so many in Madras, though).

The catch? There’s no toilet, which will be a huge turn-off for the passengers of the fairer sex. We men have no problems in shamelessly peeing on the roadside (blame the government for not building public toilets on the GQ).

Guten Abend!

Though Dhoni might not admit it...

... it is fatigue that is making the Indian players to throw a lack lustre performance in World T20. Fatigue doesn’t mean that the players are physically tired; it just means that the players are mentally tired of playing more games and winning. The boys badly need a break and some time off cricket as much as the cricket viewing public in India do.

 

Anyway, the intention of this post, despite the title, was not to discuss India’s lack lustre performance but to guess who’ll make it to the finals.

 

South Africa vs Pakistan:

Probably, the flawless team in world cricket. Everyone does everything! What a team it is. India capitulated to some strong short-pitch deliveries from Sidebottom the other day. That was understandable. It was Lord’s and the short balls were from genuine pace bowlers. But, the way India surrendered meekly to South African spin bowling was horrible! Or, maybe, it’s just that SA’s battery of spin bowling right read and exploited the conditions. Now, SA has great pace attack, great spin attack to dismantle even the team that’s touted to have the best players of spin, has by far the best fielding side, and probably the best batsmen. And then, they also carry the ‘chokers’ tag.

 

Pakistan is so wonderfully fickle, which makes them the most interesting side to watch in the competition. They have individual brilliances but rarely come together as a unit. But then, they don’t need to and the format of the competition doesn’t demand it either. A couple of brilliant performances from match-winners like Gul, Afridi, and Misba-ul-haq will turn the tide completely! Tonight’s going to be a Sivaraathri!

 

West Indies vs Sri Lanka:

Yes,  Chris, teams fear you but not long ago they (English media) rubbished you as well. West Indies is the 2^nd most fickle side in the competition and it’s wonderful that they along with Pakistan are in the semis. On their day, Windies can beat any team in the world just by individual brilliances. But, they also present a story of woeful capitulation just like India when you least expect it. Watch out for Gayle, Fletcher, Bravo, and Edwards – the 4 match winners.

 

Sri Lanka have been the most clinical side next to South Africa. While SA is aided by team discipline, Sri Lanka is helped by excellence in individual departments. Jayasuriya and Dilshan can toast the opposition from both sides of the wicket. When either of them fall early, there is always the dependable duo of Sangakkara and Jaywardane. And you have match-winning bowlers in Murali and Mendis. And, people still find it difficult to clear Malinga’s battery of Yorkers.

 

Finally...

While everyone would bet their money on a SA vs SL final, I’d put mine on Pak vs SL. Pakistan has nothing to lose while SA will be under pressure to shed the chokers’ tag. Windies have already lost against SL (albeit in a high-scoring match, where there was little to choose between the two teams) and may come back stronger having read Mendis to some extent. But, along with Murali’s round-the-wicket stranglers and Malinga’s Yorkers, Sri Lankan batsmen can pull the match in their favour.

 

Methinks, 1996 will be repeated!

Warning: Names are funny!

This post is a warning to all those would-be Tamilian mothers and fathers. The issue is serious and after 15 or so years, if you don't pay heed to what I'm going to say, you'll look seriously funny.

Think of the names given to the kids today. The North Indian influence is so much so that the names like Ramakrishnans, Narayanans, Prabhakarans, and Sampaths have given way to names like Rahul, Rohit, Amit, Abhishek, Arun, etc. There is a serious repercussion to this because, we Tamilians, generally don't have last names or sur names. Our father's name is the surname in our passports. Think what will happen if a Rahul grows to 25 and fathers a son named Rohit (the fad for these names don't seem to die in the near future). What will be the name of the kid in his school or in the passport? "Rohit Rahul".

The kid will definitely attract strange looks and may be further questioning from North Indians who may ask the kid for his full name again. His passport might be denied citing that full name was not given! Now that some of us put father's name first and our name next, like "N Prabhakar" or "Narayanan Prabhakar", his friends might be confused as to which one was his first name. And instead of calling him, they could well be calling his father!

There are 2 ways to stop this problem, which is set to create a widespread discontentment.

1) Use traditional names for your kids
I don't agree that these are sanskrit names and should be embraced by one and all. No, these are not. These don't follow the rules of samskrutham. If I've to add, these names are 'urdu'ised sanskrit names! If you really wanted a sanskrit name, you wouldn't name your kid as Abhishek. Instead you would name him 'Abhishekam'! Does that sound good? I know it doesn't! But Abhishekam in Sanskrit is neutral gender. So, we can call him "Abhishekaha" to make it masculine and even more funnier! Now, take your pick.

2) If you insist that you'll only give such fancy names, insist that his full name wouldn't expand (that his surname will be only one character!)

My first video on the roads of Hyderabad

Here's the link to it:


I know its amateurish but still...

Train travel

It was a smashing train journey this time from Hyderabad to Madras on the Hyderabad Express. Much of this happened during the sleeper class journey from Hyderabad. And before I get into the travails, it’ll be a crime if I don’t mention IRCTC, which has made most of my journeys happy and sound. The online booking is a fantastic boon for lazy bums like me who considers even visiting a website by typing the URL and logging in is a waste of time! But yes, I take the pain to do that because that’s the only pain in the whole process of booking tickets. I always print the e-tickets because I don’t have to worry about losing the tickets as I can print them again whenever I need. The only concern I have with IRCTC is that it’ll book the tickets even if I don’t get my preferred berth, which nowadays is usually side lower.

Alright, let’s come back to my journey. The start of the journey itself was fantastic because as soon as the train started moving from the Secunderabad station, one middle-aged thin dude started pulling the chain to stop the train. When we co-passengers asked him why he was doing that, he replied saying, “inkaa maavaaru kondharu raalEdhandi.” (Meaning someone else is yet to join him – in Telugu). Whew, this was the first time I’m seeing someone pull the chain. The thought of pulling a railway chain is orgasmic! It gives immense power – that of being able to stop a mass of moving metal that weighs more than a few hundred tones. The poor hapless soul was not able to pull it completely, I reckon. I wanted to help him but was scared of the “up to 6 months imprisonment for pulling the chain without proper reason” thing. The trained seemed to slow down for a while but started picking up the pace soon after. And the man was not to be found after that!

After a little while two guys on their way to Guntur got into my compartment/aisle. They had already watched the movie Shivaji in Telugu. The conversation between them and the TTE (Train Ticket Examiner) soon turned to Shivaji. The TTE was apparently pissed off with Rajini’s remarks on the current political system in Andhra Pradesh and how he wanted to change it. He was apparently annoyed that Rajinikanth said those things when a powerful hero like Pavan Kalyan didn’t say like that! What, Pavan kalyan is a mass hero? That should be news to me (He happens to be the younger brother of Chiranjeevi and his looks/personality are, well, yuck). But I kept mum and just kept smiling at the developments!J Soon, one of the two guys going to Guntur told the TTE that I’m a Chennai-gaadu and that the TTE should be a bit careful about throwing tantrums on Rajinikanth. TTE turned to me and immediately changed his locus standi. He acknowledged Rajini is a good actor and that 2 songs – godaavari teeram and sunlight – are really good! Well, so far so good. The TTE again started accusing Rajini’s colour and compared it with the co-starrer, Shriya. Well, the whole world knows about Rajini’s colour, which is one of his attractions. I told them that I’m visiting Madras to watch the movie in Tamil. They were a bit shocked and the TTE moved away for a long while! J Whoa, good fun. (It’s an entirely different story that I still didn’t manage to get tickets to watch the movie of my lifetime – which could change if Rajinikanth acts in one more movie).

The train approached Nalgonda and an old man in his late 50s got in to the train. It turned out that he had booked his tickets from Hyderabad but got in only at Nalgonda about 70-80 kilometres away. When the TTE enquired, he replied saying that he missed his train and that he drove down to Nalgonda in a car and boarded the train; and he sported a winning smile while saying that. This is crazy, at best!

It was raining buckets the whole journey back to Madras. I was pleasantly surprised when I found that stepping into Madras is not really such a bad experience (which is usually the case due to the horrible weather). Singaarach Chennai was great – the phrase really fit the city this time!

And now, I’m leaving back for Hyderabad in a 2^nd AC coach. Though the linen, pillows, AC, etc make my journey comfortable, I miss the sheer variety of people and the stinking toilets. The toilets are so clean in this coach integrated with First Class, I don’t feel like I’m travelling in a train in India.