Anonymous known faces, lifes like that!!!

I have now moved to Bangalore from Chennai But I still use the stress free bus services to commute to work.
This is an account of a marvelous experience which all of us feel.
I travel from Old Airport Road to Hosur Road in Bangalore in a particular Volvo bus 505A series. This is the only bus which directly connects the south east to the south west.
Each morning I reach the stop exactly at 7.35. Usually I am the first followed by many anonymously known faces who wait for the same series. We dont even know the other's name but still feel a sort of comfort when we meet each other.
The same bus of course, the same driver/conductor who dont even check our passes, the same people, the same seats and a glance to greet each other. The greet varies from a hundredth of a smile to a cordial good morning but we are definitely happy to meet each other.
Back in the office, there are almost 150 consultants on the same floor as I am. Except for associates from my immediate cubicle, I dont know anyone and now I feel strange about it.
Its all about how the mind is fresh, observant and human when it is relaxed. Its this unknown force in the morning which gives me quite a thrill in anticipation of yet another journey and a sense of work and urgency as soon as i enter the office premises.
I was talking about this to my friends and they have similar experiences. Of course all of us do.
I am not getting a proper end to this tale.
Maybe I will continue after your comments :))))

One of a kind experience

14 April 2010 Chennai

That day was a special experience - I can say that because i was traveling in a bus in Chennai in middle of noon.

But there were things which made it special-a unique experience for me at least.

I had to go to the annual medical check-up. as it was a holiday, my wife accompanied me and after the tests we thought of going to 'Sky mall' on P.H. road from Adyar.
We both have become accustomed to Chennai bus nowadays and it seemed the most economical, eco-friendly and no-stress option.

We took the 47 series from Adyar depot bus stop. Immediately after boarding the bus, which was practically empty, I put my hands in the wallet to find that I only had one 500 rupee note. Nothing else.
Nandini already gave me a look of ridicule - which said, (yes I should have expected only this from you, if I expected anything better, I were a fool) sort of a look.

I very politely asked the conductor to stop the bus and explained him my situation. And the miracle happened. The conductor very meticulously started counting all his lose currency. After 3-4 minutes he came with a whole lot of change, a big bundle of tens, twenties, coins, fifties. He grinned as he said, saar-anda 500 kudanga(give me that 500).
I was stunned as he actually had nothing left with him. The usual conductor purse which keeps jingling was vaccum empty. I offered him that I will get down but he said he will get change from the next ticket checker(appointed at a few important stops) which he did a little later from Anna University stop.

He would not accept a tip, he wouldnt even tell me his name. He was just happy that he did his job in such a way that one of his customer was happy.
Frankly my experience in Chennai bus has been quite satisfactory, but of course all the route conductors are sensitive about currency change. This was a first for me.

Shahi Pulav - Recipe

- Put ghee and 2 tbsp butter in a kadhai and add garlic
- Add elaichi + cinnamon + lavang
- Add soaked rice , water(for cooking as per cooking rice), 1/2 cup milk, salt and allow it to boil

- Put ghee in a separate pan. Add beans, carrots, peas, cauliflower. Mix and saute. Add 2 tbsp of cream to this.

- Add the saute vegetables to the boling rice and let it cook for 5 minutes.

- After the rice is cooked, decorate with kaju, kismis, badam and paneer.



Shahi pulav has to be shahi ;))

cheers

SANJU

Handwa - Recipe

Rice - 1 Cup
Tuvar Dal - 1/2 cup
Chana Dal - 1/4 cup

(Soak the mixture overnight)

- Now put (ginger chilly) paste, turmeric powder, pinch of hing(asafoetida) and jaggery with the soaked ingredients.

- Mix thoroughly, tadka with rai, add til

- Cut either methi bhaji or lauki nicely(grating is better) and mis it to the above mixture. You can also grate some onion to the mixture for better taste.

- Take a non-stick pan and apply oil evenly on the entire surface. Add the batter and keep the flame on sim mode for a while. The edges will start getting crispy. Try to turn the batter.
Add some more oil as in dosai and keep it for cooking. Do cover the non-stick pan with a lid.

- The complete outer layer should become dark brown.

Thats it - enjoy with curd and lemon pickle

Yercaud - Get there, stay there

Hi folks,
This time around, I thought of contributing some useful information as usually whenever I share something its either bull**** or as such unnecessary :)))

Its always troublesome in getting the right information when you are ready or about to ready to travel to new place for the first time.

I had similar incidences, and keep happening.

I wanted to go on a weekend holiday very near to Chennai. I did not want to waste a lot of time in traveling as time was very precious for both of us(my wife and myself), we both are working.

We already visited Pondicherry, Mahabalipuram, Kancheepuram, etc. I had remembered seeing some hill station called Yercaud in google. I searched again and got some useful info. But I am not writing my experience here, am giving you a tip or two on Yercaud and how to get there.

1. Yercaud is a nice hill station in Salem district of Tamil Nadu.
2. You can either take a train from Chennai to Salem(around 5 hours) or Chennai to Erode(around 6 hours)
3. Erode is a little farther so I suggest you take a train to Salem.
4. From Salem railway station Yercaud is just 35 kms. You can google for taxi operators and take a pick up from Salem station itself. It should be somewhere around Rs.1200/- per day. Worth it.
5. Alternatively there are quite a few buses plying from Salem bus station which is 10 minutes from the railway station.

Yercaud does not have very fancy resorts and it is not a typical tourist place. If you can afford luxury, try to book yourslef in Hotel Grand Palace or GRT nature trails. Its heavy on purse but the location is stupendous.

Otherwise directly book at Hotel Shevoroys, which is very decent and the oldest 'good' hotel in Yercaud.

Its necessary to have advance booking so that you are not stranded as there are quite a few guys from Salem who just come over on weekends..

But in any case, its a beautiful place. Dont expect anything but natural beauty. there are hardly any sites to see. Theres a good enough botanical garden, other than that nothing.

Its ideal for families and groups as you can pack up some lunch and enjoy small outings.

You will find restaurants attached to big hotels. the food is average. Shevoroy again is the best as its priced moderately too.

I went a couple of times, once in monsoon and the other time during winter. So I cannot comment on the climate during summer. But winters and monsoons whould be chilly by Indian standard. Night was around 12-14 and day time was around 18-20 degrees C.

This place is called the poor man's Ooty for right reasons. Its not so commercialized either. But again, as warned earlier, dont expect big things, theres nothing in Yercaud except nature.

By the way, do try the freshly made bakery products from inside Shevoroy hotel's bakery. This is in the Hotel management college campus inside the hotel.

Cheers

Sanju

Consumer Plight - Sometimes Annoyed

I have had different experiences in the field of Consumer Marketing in India. From communicating absolutely ridiculous promises(of course the false ones) to feeling satisfied in buying and using a product - you name it.
Usually, for a populous country we do really good in maintaining the expectations of the consumers. But definitely there are so many places where we simply lag behind. In an attempt to blog continuously, I'll try to share my experiences.

New Car Selection:
I have a world record of 'starting from a scratch' as far as my career is concerned. In trying to find the right 'field' for myself, I have tried totally new jobs at least 6 times and I am just 32. I am sure I can receive some honour from the President for my achievements in this field by the time I retire. In one of such attempts when I started(again) on a new job, I had to buy a car to commute to the office. Which car - of course the cheapest. Which brand - to hell with brands - I wanted the cheapest car in the market.

So I started on a nomadic journey of visiting car showrooms in Chennai, India. I would take the liberty of mentioning car brands and names here. First I went to Tata and Fiat Motors dealer 'Concorde Motors'. There were so many people outside the showroom itself, I thought some film shooting was going on. On entering the showroom with an effort, I was immediately attended to by one of the salesmen(alarmingly good). But as soon as I asked him to show their most economical model(cheap does sound cheap-so economical is the polished version), there was a frown on his face - his expressions shouted - heres another freak on a holiday mission who thought going to car showroom was much better and cheaper than going to a beach or a mall. He didnt even bother to give that artificial smile and in a way that was good. Instead of heading for some cars which were on display, he just took out a price list and handed over to me. I tried to ask some technical questions. Let me tell you, I didnt want to know about the innovative engineering details, just simple knowledge on bhp, mileage, etc. He could'nt answer nine out of ten. I didnt even bother to find another salesman as this man wore a batch of 'star salesman' on his shirt.

I thought of moving to the next stop. I went to ABT motors(Guindy) which is a Maruti showroom. I have had 4 cars in the past, all Maruti-Suzuki models. I have had no complains with the car and a reasonably good customer service. Obviously, my anticipations were high on entering the showroom after a disastrous start earlier. Well almost. Even before entering the premises, my taxi was HALTED by the watchman and almost thrown out. No no - no reason whatsoever. People who came to the showroom to inquire obviously didnt have any car to commute(according to ABT) so even if they have an empty parking to accommodate a 100 cars we had to park outside on the main road and invite the tow trucks!! I motivated myself by thinking about Maruti and entered the showroom eventually. There were a thousand salesmen each looking at one another. The finally some good hearted gentleman took pity on me and came forward. Well, due to the bad response earlier, i started differently. I am looking for something in EFC(Entry Family Car) segment. Somehow, I was amazed to see the exactly same expression on the salesman's face as in the case of Tata Motors. I wanted to shout to the world - I really want to buy a car folks. This man simply pointed out to a car in the corner and said - that is the cheapest car(for a cheap person like you). I managed to check the interiors myself and thought of inquiring for another model. The salesman was now extremely busy in talking to his friend about evening get-together. I decided not to disturb him but at least meet the manager. There was no receptionist but I went to the reception table and waited for a while before a really sad girl walked and asked ' whats your problem sir' and not ' how can i help you sir'. I just wanted to meet the manager, I said. After asking some questions to me she finally called someone who in turn caught hold of a person who was extremely busy running here and there. The manager did apologize but really didnt seem to have any interest in my buying a car.

Further, I went to Hyundai Motors and GM Motors showroom. To my pleasant surprise, I had excellent reception on both occasions. Hyundai was better than GM. I saw the 'here again is a cheap guy on holiday' expression in the case of GM. Infact I even overhear one of the fellow salesman commenting, I'll give you five thousand if this guy buys. :(((((( But the salesman who attended me was much better.

Buying a car in India has got much easier. But still a car costs a lot in accordance to the salary we get. Small car, Sedan or whatever it is, we have to spend through our nose to be able to own one. Its really frustrating when there is such bias when we are buying a small car. Its even more frustrating to guarantee the salesman to promise - I will buy from you - in order to get more information on the product.