My croak list

You've heard of the bucket list. Now, here's my variation of the same thing. The 'Croak List', namely, a list of places to visit before.....you know, I pass beyond the veil, hand in my dinner pail, etc.

So, in no particular order of priority, here's my croak list.

• Jordan
• Jerusalem
• Egypt
• Peru - Machu Picchu
• Brazil / Argentina - Iguazu Falls
• Angkor Wat
• Scotland
• Greece
• Italy
• China - Great Wall
• Yorkshire Dales

OK, now, we've got that out of the way. If I can find the time and money to check all the places off the list shown above, then I have a nice-to-have croak list to work on. Here it is.

• New Zealand
• Austria
• Kenya
• Zambia / Zimbabwe - Victoria Falls
• Kauai Island in Hawaii
• Java / Sumatra
• Switzerland
• Islands of Hebrides

Frustrations in Indian traffic

Whee, my second post of the day! Somebody STOP me....


Anyway, have you noticed a common and extremely irritating habit among drivers in India? When you've stopped at a signal (traffic light) and there's a long-ish wait, after a little time, these 2-wheeler and auto drivers slowly start creeping up on the right side of the road (against oncoming traffic) and try to squeeze in ahead of you when the lights turn green. Sometimes, I've seen this being done by cars, too, and more rarely by insanely stupid bus drivers.


Here's the two consequences of this incredibly stupid, asinine and selfish action by these drivers. First, they end up blocking oncoming traffic and earn their wrath and curses. Second, they cut in front of other drivers who have been waiting patiently in their lanes when the light turns green. Now, I am wondering what's going through these people's heads. Do they think that they are more important people? Do they think that their time is more valuable than everybody else's? How can they look themselves in the mirror (the car's rear view mirror, that is) when they do this? Even without these kinds of shenanigans, traffic is a nightmare in Bangalore due to the sheer volume of vehicles and the unpreparedness of the infrastructure; these driving habits only serve to exacerbate the situation, in my opinion.


And, almost nobody shows any degree of courtesy while driving. When I come out of the office parking lot in the evening, there's usually bumper-to-bumper traffic backed up about half a kilometer on either side. I wait patiently for 10 minutes but nobody lets me merge on to the road. If there happens to be a slightly big gap between one vehicle and the next and I try to squeeze in, the second vehicle honks loudly and accelerates in a threatening way, so that I have to back off and continue to wait. It's only when a vehicle in the left lane tries to turn into my office parking lot and ends up blocking traffic behind him that I get an opportunity to get on to the road.


Final topic. Roundabouts in India. Almost daily, I get stuck in the roundabouts (circles) where there's a deadlock created when vehicles from all roads leading up to the intersection come to the circle because there's no policeman monitoring the situation. Again, nobody wants to think a bit and understand the obvious benefit in waiting for a couple of minutes to allow the traffic around the circle to clear before approaching it.

Overtaking in Indian traffic

I've noticed one really annoying and scary thing in Indian traffic. It's got to do with the way drivers of 2-wheelers overtake other larger (usually) vehicles. They overtake the car or truck/lorry/bus and then immediately cut in front of it, completely ignoring the fact that the other vehicle is also moving at a fair rate of knots. This forces the "overtakee" to slow down abruptly to avoid hitting the 2-wheeler that just overtook him/her. I'm curious to know whether this is caused by a) complacence of the driver of the 2-wheeler b) complete ignorance of basic traffic rules/etiquette or c) complete callousness of the possible consequences.

Foreigners in India, watch out!

Yesterday, I had gone to the FRRO to extend Ashwin's residency permit. There was an African national who had come to Bangalore to study in a "college" called Bangalore City Institute (I think). He was extremely angry and frustrated. Apparently, since he came to India, no classes have been conducted; there seems to be a paucity of teachers; the principal keeps asking for more money, citing different reasons. To top it all, it appears that the principal has the audacity to act very high-handed and aggressive. This African guy wants to seek redressal, but doesn't know where to go. He has already tried to request the police to intervene with no results. So, he had come that day to talk to the FRRO to see if they could help in any way.

As I stood in line, I witnessed the verbal exchange between one of the officials in the FRRO and the African and it was really appalling. The official was completely uncaring; he didn't bother to properly listen to the complaint; he kept brushing him off, saying that the police are the only people who can assist in the matter. I'm not saying that he was wrong, but he could at least have helped him contact a police station and set up some kind of arrangement, so that the FRRO and the cops could work together to assist the African. Instead, the African ended up leaving the FRRO even more frustrated and angry. Mind you, he spoke English extremely well and he was quite a well-read person. He showed his degree certificates which showed that he had some qualifications in IT/Software/Computers. In addition, the file / folder he was carrying contained documents that were very neatly organized (including some BESCOM bills, I may add!), which again is a sign of a well-read and systematic person.

All in all, the experience reiterated the lack of a proper structure for foreigners in this country. There appears to be no framework or support structure that is easily understandable or widely published that will help foreigners in times of need. Rules are made in a very arbitrary manner and left open to interpretation and enforcing by individual officers. For example, one official told us that we need two copies of all documents for submission; another told us that one copy is enough; a different official told us that we should attach a copy of our PAN cards; but they finally accepted the docket without the PAN cards.

So, that's my India grouse for the day! Still many more to come....

Resolved once again to resume blogging regularly. So, what have I been upto since 12/21/2006?

Visited UK on a business visit in Nov 2007.

Visited Ann Arbor, MI on a business visit in Jan 2008.

Visited north India with cousins in April 2008.

Joined an year-long certificate course in Executive Management from IIM-Kozhikode.

Quit Sterling Commerce on 12/16/2008. Took a break to concentrate on the course.

Got an offer from Altisource Portfolio Solutions (then Ocwen) in March 2009.

Joined Altisource on 03/24/2009 as Director of Software Development.

Bought a second-hand, automatic transmission Honda City in Feb 2009.

Visited Orange County resort in May 2009.

Went to Paris & London for a vacation in September 2009.

Drove to Kozhikode for my eMEP graduation ceremony in Feb 2010.

Drove to Wayanad in May 2010.

Drove to Kukke Subramanya in June 2010.