My reading journey - I

It was the summers of 2004, I was in Bangalore for my summer internship. It was then, I had a pleasure of meeting with one of batch-mate from college, who would become my room-mate later in Bangalore and one of the best friends IIT has given me. He was a voracious reader. Reading was his passion and he could go on talking about the books, authors and the philosophies inside the books. I was kind of fascinated by his views, since I never read much beyond the curriculum books, newspapers and online movie reviews. This guy inspired me so much that I thought of trying my hands on reading.

I started with Chetan Bhagat's Five Point Someone - a masterpiece and bestseller, an obvious choice for the beginners - especially the college-students who can easily relate to the plot. I liked the book and I found a new passion in reading. Whatever time I could find after office, a significant of it went into going through the adventures of Ryan and two of his friends.

The next was Love Story by Eric Segal. A thin book, but really lovely one. Then came Alchemist, which was a welcome change from the regular fiction. Though I found it a little repetitive and hence boring at times, and it tested the patience of mine, still a beginner. But at the end, I realized why it was the favorite of so many people. A recommended book for everyone.

The next was obvious. Sidney Sheldon is one author, whose books are recommended for beginners. They are relatively easy in terms of language, are full of drama and have engaging plots. Some people term this genre of literature as cheap, but I totally disagree with them. His books helped me in building my appetite and improve my reading ability. I remember finishing The Stars Shine Down in 48 hours, which included a train journey from Delhi to Bangalore. I was satisfied and proud of my reading capability.

I was back to Bangalore for my first job and met the same old friend, now my roommate. This time, he persuaded me to rise beyond Sidney Sheldon and try a 'better' author. So it was Jeffrey Archer now. And I started Kane & Abel. What a lovely book! So engaging and thrilling was the experience of reading it that I used to read till 2 am, on a weekday!! I liked this book so much that I tried another one of the same author - Not A Penny Less, Not A Penny More. And this was even more fun.

to be continued ...
(My reading list is shared here)

Triple Banana

Yellaki is the type of banana found in abundance in South India. Sometimes I have seen that there will be a pair of banana joined together, called double banana. Amusingly, as per my erstwhile Mallu roommate from college days, it is an old saying in Malayalam that if a lady eats this double banana, she will have twins :)

Strangely, today while shopping for groceries and vegetables, I found a set of three bananas joint together - a triple banana. I was wondering, if someone is looking for Triplets, I might have something useful. LOL .. :)

Meryl Streep

There are some things which get better with age – cheese, wine and …. Meryl Streep. The 62 year old veteran, who has been nominated for the prestigious Academic Award 16 times with two wins, seems to be getting more and more beautiful and talented with her age. I remember a joke from the last Oscar ceremony – they said that there should be a cap on the maximum number of times someone gets nominated. Well, last week I just happened to watch two of her recent movies – It’s Complicated and Julie & Julia.

It’s complicated is a simple romantic comedy. All three of the main characters – Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin play their part beautifully. But it is obviously the leady who takes away all the attention. Streep acts so naturally that I wonder if she would have given any retakes.

Julie and Julia, on the other hand, is totally different. Here Meryl Streep is not her, she is the true Julia Child – an American chef who is known for her books on French cooking. Be it the way Streep dresses, walks, smiles or nods her head or with the passion she cooks. I don’t think, anyone else could have fit in Julia Child’s shoes, so effortlessly. The other lead, Amy Adams, acts beautifully and deserves accolades. But once again, Meryl Streep overshadows her co-actor. So, at the end all you remember is Streep’s pearl necklace and her saying ‘Bon Appétit’. 

Bisibele Bath

I have written 7 entries in my blog till date. And probably these are the number of times, I have changed the title of my blog. I cannot help it. Because, every time I write a new post, it does not somehow match with the title. So, this time I thought I will make it something which is a mixture of everything.

What better than ‘Bisibele Bath’ : a South Indian dish with lots of vegetables, dal, rice and spices. It pretty much covers every ingredient that a South Indian dish may have. I don’t know if the recipe is also fixed, because any place where I eat Bisibele Bath, it tastes differently.

So, let it be this. Now, no matter what I right, it will not be irrelevant to the blog title. The other option was – “potpourri”, it is not as spicy and tasty as Bisibele Bath is.  

Are you also frustrated with Bangalore's Auto-Rickshaw Drivers?

Many of us have some time or the other got frustrated with the auto-rickshaw's in Bangalore. And possibly did not do anything other than cursing the driver or sharing the experience at lunch-table and feeling bad about it. But probably, something better could be done or can be done. Below is a piece of information copied from an email forward chain. Looks very useful to me. Please go through it. So, next time you face a similar problem, you will have something more than just complaining verbally. :)


You are in a hurry to catch the train. You pack all your stuff and frantically run out in the hope of catching an auto. You come out and see 5 autos standing at the corner. You thank God and ask them - "Majestic chaloge kya??” The Answer is "Rs 200 hoga!!”. "Kya?? It just cost Rs 100 till Majestic". "Bahut rush hai sir!!". You move on to the next auto, to try your luck and surprisingly, you have the same conversation "Bahut rush hai sir!!". Finally you give up and bargain the price to Rs 170 and hope you don't miss your train.
Sounds more than familiar?? In my years of existence in Bengaluru, these experiences have been really instrumental in teaching me great virtues - Patience and Tolerance. But at what price??? exorbitant rates, extremely rude behavior and what not ......


After years of feeling used, I set out to find the answer for this misery. Was there no government system that could bring these auto guys to justice? As a citizen, how can I express my concern? This search took me to the Koramangala RTO office (BDA complex) and to my surprise i found that there did exist a government system which I believe  99.99% of Bengaluru is unaware of !!


The System:


Note the vehicle number (KA-XX-YY-ZZZZ) and email the details to transcom@kar.nic.in. Based on the prefix XX (for example KA-01), complaint will be sent to one of the ten RTO offices in Bangalore and adjacent taluk areas. Alternatively, one can also call these offices at the number given below based on the vehicle number prefix and directly lodge a complaint.
Vehicle Prefix (KA-XX) Bangalore location Phone number
- KA-01 Koramangala 080-25533525
- KA-02 Rajajinagar 080-23324104
- KA-03 Indiranagar 080-25254310
- KA-04 Yeshwantpur 080-23376039
- KA-05 Jayanagar 080-26630989
- KA-41 Gyanabharthi 080-28602833
- KA-50 Yelahanka 080-28561366
- KA-51 Electronic City 080-25735522
- KA-52 NeelaMangala 08234-285598
- KA-53 KR Puram 080-25617951


Once the complaint is received at the corresponding office, a notice is issued to the address of the vehicle’s registered owner, requiring him/her to turn up at the RTO office within 7 working days. Every RTO has  out 10 IMV’s (Inspector of Motor Vehicles) who seize the vehicles which don’t report to the RTO. The penalty levied from the auto-waalas is Rs.100 under section 200. But more than the penalty, it is the inconvenience caused to these auto fellows that will play a part in bringing them on track.
The various offences among others for which one can lodge a complaint:
- Refusal to come to destination (Any destination!!!)
- Demanding excess fare
- Using rough language
- Cheat the public, for e.g. taking longer routes.
- Faulty Meter


There is also a *Helpline Number - 080-22353785* available Monday to Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm on which one can call to lodge complaints. I was shocked when I found that the Koramangala RTO office received only 5 complaints a month. With over 1,00,000 autos plying on Bangalore roads, shouldn’t it be like 5 complaints a minute?
What’s wrong with the system?
- Lack of Awareness among the Bangalore citizens
- The system is inefficient in data gathering- emails or phone calls cannot be stored and processed properly, leading to ineffective use of these complaint data.
- Converting these complaints into notices issued to vehicle owners is still a manual process
- Limited government officials to handle

(Many many thanks to the original person who collected all the information and shared his experience)

Antardwand

Abduction of grooms in rural Bihar is a serious issue. I do not recollect if there have been many movies targeting the issue. The best thing about Antardwand is that it has its heart in place. The characters are so real that even you feel the shivering when the horrifying acts are taking place over there. The Bihari accent comes natural to the actor's, specially the characters of Janaki and Veer's parents.

Simple and straight yet powerful, thats the way Sushil Rajpal likes to tell the story in his directorial debut. Most actors excel in their roles, with obviously a special mention to the protagonist Raghuveer played effortlessly by Raj Singh Chaudhury.

I would recommend Antardwand to anyone who admires serious drama and wants to rise one level above from the so called 'midless comedies' but crappy, useless stuff such as Houseful, Khatta Meetha etc. (Rating 3.5/5)

Knight & Day

It had been a long time since I went for a nice good movie (and I definitely don't want to include Ratnam's Raavan in this list :D ) ....

Was getting bored at home over the weekend .. and finally got a few friends ready to go for the recent mindless comic action flick by James Mangold .. Knight and day.

We went for it obviously because of Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise. And what I found out was, our choice of movie was not bad at all. Though the 50 something Cruise and almost 40 Diaz have come together after a long time .. but the erstwhile real life couple has not lost the charm. What a sizzling chemistry !! And the film, despite loopholes in the script and half-baked side characters, works only because of these two veterans.

Go and watch if you want to have serious time-pass ! :-)