A Warm Welcome!

My friend John lives 5 miles away from my house. We are close since our childhood. We used to spend more time together, until our school days. As we got settled in our careers, we had less time to spend together. However, we meet each other on every weekend (Sunday evenings), and keep ourselves updated on the current happenings. The meetings would normally last for a couple of hours, at the end, we used to feel that we had spent about a week together.

John is casual and friendly in nature. Just like me, John was also staying with a few of his associates. Every time I visit my friend's place, I receive a warm welcome from his associate(s). His associate(s) used to be bright and smiling, but never to talk to me. They rarely are inside the house. Mostly I've seen them outside the house, leaving us alone. The only exception is that during the rainy seasons, they would be found inside the house, but they left us undisturbed. I know that these associates give better comforts for John, even then he keeps them at check and changes them often.

For every 3 to 6 months, he keeps changing his associates. The associates whom I've seen 6 months ago were no longer seen. John says that it is quite normal and it is required for his better comfort. What comfort? I do not agree with him. I do not have many associates as John, and I never discard them as frequently as John does. Whenever I find that we (self & associate) are not going well, I would reduce the frequencies of our association. And that takes care of it.

Why does John fires his associates quite often? John and myself are almost similar in nature. It is only in the way we treat our associates we differ. I value my friend's opinion, so I do not debate on that. Once I started logically analysing, I found out, only one dissimilarity between us. I live in an apartment which is west facing, where as John's apartment is east facing. Having identified this reason, I thought what John does is right.


PS: Did'nt I say that associates refer to the inner garments?

Auto-Rickshaw - Part 2

In spite of all the issues, which I've mentioned in my previous blog, still autoickshaws are the best medium of transportation in and around the city. It looked strange to me. When thought deeply, could find and appreciate the reasons. For the sake of ease, let me mention 'Auto-Rickshaw' as 'auto' henceforth.

People associated with the autos are a big community. This is one of the key reasons for its existence. There are many people who were involved in auto financing. Since the money involved in buying an auto is comparatively lesser, there are many auto owners. Among them some drive themselves for living and others let it out for rent. There is a huge auto driver community, some places they even get involved in some philanthropic activities. If you visit any place, could see these guys in khakhi uniform as groups. Along with this there are many auto mechanics who take care of the service and maintenance of these auto. So the auto community is very big a network and one of the reason for its sustenance in the market.

Mostly auto drivers are from the local surroundings. That being the case, they know the nook and corner of each and every street. Because of this they can take you through the shortest route to destination in shortest time span. At times when we do not know the exact address, auto drivers are the best persons who could rescue us. During the time of emergency, if the situation is well explained and the auto driver understands the need, he would ensure that we reach the place in time.

Autos are small, sleek and hence nimble. They are three-wheeled vehicle. The single wheel in the front and the hand bear type control for the turn control makes it more nimble and responsive. Because of these arrangements, they have the smallest radius curvature. The clear visibility the auto driver gets from the dashboard, enables them to make the exact cuts / turns. Hence the autos can penetrate into the traffic and reach the destination on time.

Autos are much safer than the two wheel drives and much economical than the four wheel drives. Since they are covered, we can escape from becoming wet during rains. Also to some extent prevents from the dust and pollution. The actual auto fare which we ought to pay the drivers are reasonably good for the time they save for us from these heavy traffic and for the reasonable safety we have while travelling.

We all know that the autos are the fastest vehicles to reach any place in the city during the busy traffic hours. But the reality, this is not always true. Because of the greediness of the auto drivers, the passengers were, taken for a ride by auto drivers. The quality of the service is a function of the quality of the infrastructure and the quality of the people who handle it. Instance where either one of the two (infrastructure or the people) is not up to the mark, then the whole thing sucks. Let's wait for the revolution, which would bring the people involved (auto drivers) to the dawn. Let's keep our fingers crossed!!

Auto-Rickshaw

Lessons are not to be taught, but to be learned. Through the following paragraphs, we would discuss about the lessons, which I had learned from the Auto-Rickshaws. Rickshaw is a small two-wheeled cart, for one or two passengers; pulled by a person. The upgraded versions of the Rickshaw are three-wheeled, named as Auto-Rickshaw, where the manual pulling is automated using mechanical devices. For the sake of ease, let me mention 'Auto-Rickshaw' as 'auto' henceforth.

Travelling by an auto is not all the pleasant, as it has to be. I was told that Chennai auto drivers dissatisfy their customers more than in any other cities of India. This is really pathetic and I feel sorry for that. While travelling by an auto, you would have faced either some of, or all of the situations mentioned below:

1. By the end of the trip you are astonished by the reading value it shows, as costlier (or even more) as your train ticket fare from your native place!!
2. No matter how much more you give, still the auto drivers would ask for more and more
3. For the unknown destinations, you get to travel the longest route

Following are the things, which I normally practice to avoid the above issues.

1. Know about the tariff fixed by the government.
2. Find out the approximate distance to your destination.
3. Based on the above inputs, calculate the approximate fare value.
4. Then talk to the auto driver about the acceptable value and the exact location. If the auto driver agrees then step into the auto. Otherwise, look out for another.

These practices, help in avoiding these issues. Because we agree on a rate with the auto driver, his expectations are set. So there is no question of more money latter. Also to ensure that he get the maximum profit, would then, take you through the shortest distance.

These tips can help you most of the time, but not all the time. It also depends on your need, the time of the need, the number of alternatives available, the time availability factor and at some crisis times. During any of these times, it is unrealistic to go by the above guidelines. For, it is not what we save on the auto trip but on the other important things which are to be accomplished / taken care of.

Working around the problem does not solve an issue by any degree. Whatever we are right now discussing is - Working around the problem. The main issue is related to the ethics and culture of the auto drivers. The system has to refine itself to better standards. For a simple trip, the customers need not do so much of preparations. Though the above may mostly work with people who know the regional language, but for the foreigners (for both outside the state and even worse for the people outside the country), the problem still continues. And it is this change in our society, which I'm awaiting for a longer period. There has to be a way out, I'm still unaware of it. If you know, please do let me know.


exact - mentioning the exact location is important in setting the right expectation. At times, this also becomes the source of an issue.

My First Love

When I close my eyes and say Love, my ears could hear only one name. The name is Rosy. I first met her during my adolescent. She was staying next to our apartments. We used to spend more time together. I loved her so much. And I'm sure it was not infatuation.

Rosy and I use to spend more than two hours everyday, mostly during the evenings. I still have a Teddy which she presented it to me on a Christmas day. Yearly once, we used to spend a day together. I do have a photograph which we took on that day. During vacations, she would be visiting her grand parents, who were staying in their home town. I would be missing her a lot during those vacations.

Rosy was more knowledgeable than me. She used to be punctual about her timings. She was a person of integrity. Totally opposite to my characteristics. Probably those was the reason for me to admire her. She made me to feel my responsibilities. Whatever I'm today is because of Rosy's guidance and inspiration. Once, I even felt that she means more than my parents. Till now, I'm really proud of her relationship.

In fact, initially my mother did not liked our association. She used to advice me to focus on studies than to spend more time on other activities, which myself and Rosy were engaged. Once she understood Rosy's involvement in my well being, she kept quiet. I used to listen whatever Rosy says, because I believed that she would say it for my well being. My mother used to complain about me to her. In front of my mother, Rosy would always defend me. In private, she would advice me in a soft but a firm voice. Rosy was a bridge between my mother's cautious approaches and my young dashing aspirations.

When Rosy told that she would be getting married, I was upset and got worried about my life. Everything looked dark and blank. Eventually she got married and moved out of our town. My studies during that year got affected very badly. My parents knew the reason. Rosy could have waited for some more time, till I fared well. I knew that her family pressure was the reason behind her quick decision. After her marriage, I did not see her for many years.

It was last week, in one of the cinema halls that I saw Rosy with her husband. Before I moved in, she quickly came towards me. She enquired about myself and my family members. Out of joy and happiness, I was in total silence, listening her talking. She said that she is happy about my carrier achievements. She introduced myself to her husband. She told her husband that I helped her a lot when she was a teacher of 7th grade at St. Gabriel's School. I was then the class leader of 7th grade, nominated by Ms. Rosy, my class teacher.

My Dad

My father Mr. P. Durai Babu started his life from a humble beginning. At the age of 16 he started working in a Photo Studio. At work he was comitted and sincere in what ever he did. That gained him good appreciations from his colleagues and his boss.

At the age of 23 years, he married my mother Mrs. C Gajalakshmi, who was working in postal department. Both my dad and mom were comitted to their profession. Both of them worked hard to improve our life standards.

My father was more obsessed about getting a boy. But nature had been cruel. The first 3 child were girl babies. And on top of this, the fourth child, which was a boy baby, died after few weeks of his birth. Both my parents were upset by this. My mother gave up the hope of getting a boy baby. But my father was very stubborn on this.

I was the 5th child (boy) to our parents, when they were in their early thirties. According to one of our regional beliefs, the fifth boy to any parent would be bad for the family but he would excel in his individual life. But my parents did not mind about it.

But the irony was that my father passed away when I was 7 years old, leaving the whole family. Life became more challenging for our family. With a little support from our relatives, my mother worked day and night to take care of us.

Now it is close to 25 years after my fathers death. Five years before, mother has voluntairly retired from her services. We had lots of challenges all throughout. But for the past 10 years we are quiet comfortable and leading a happy life. I could offord a life style for my mother, which nobody else in our family or atleast our neighbours could affort. She is happy and enjoying her post retirement life.

The irony of the whole story is that, my dad, who was instrumental in my being born in this world is no more with us to enjoy the benefits. Oh Dad we miss you a lot... But for you I would'nt been to this great World. and I miss you a lot.. I Love you Appa ...