The Advanced Centre for Technical Development of Punjabi language, Literature and Culture of the Punjabi University, Patiala, has released two utilities, one of which is meant for transliteration from the Gurmukhi script to the Shahmukhi script, while the other is meant for transliteration from Shahmukhi to Gurmukhi.
The latter is still in the beta stage of development, however.
For the uninitiated, the Punjabi language is mostly written in the Gurmukhi script, in the Indian part of Punjab, whereas, the Shahmukhi script is mainly used for that purpose in the Pakistani part of Punjab.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Yet another tag...
I have been tagged yet again. So, let us get down to business, without much ado.
Here we go:
1. Name one person that made you laugh last night?
General Pervez Musharraf. He told me "a joke of the highest order"!
2. What are you doing at 8:00am, generally?
Usually, I am fast asleep, or, at least, that is the way it has been for the past year and a half or so.
3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
I was reading the newspaper, while sipping from a mug of hot milk.
4. What happened to you in 2006?
A lot of things, including unemployment.
5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
The lyrics of a Hindi movie song, while there was no one at home.
6. How many beverages did you have today?
None. I do not consume any beverages, including tea and coffee, on a regular basis and do not consume alchohol at all.
7. What color is your hairbrush?
Black.
8. What was the last thing you paid for?
I paid for petrol, for my motorcycle.
9. Where were you last night?
I was at home.
10. What color is your front door?
White.
(11 is missing from original list)
12. What is the weather like today?
It is bright and sunny.
13. What is the best ice-cream flavour?
Vanilla, with hot chocolate sauce.
14. What excites you?
Different things, at different points of time...
15. Do you want to cut your hair?
No, I am a practising Sikh and intend to remain that way.
16. Are you over the age of 25?
Yes. I am 32, to be precise.
17. Do you talk a lot?
I do, but only with a few people. Most of those who have come across me, know me as an introvert.
18. Do you watch the O.C.?
I have no idea as to what that might be.
19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
Well, not personally...
20. Do you make up your own words?
Not too often...
21. Are you a jealous person?
I used to be.
22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’:
Asma
23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’:
Kunal
24. Who is the first person on your received call list?
My cousin.
25. What does the last text message you received say?
It says something about passing the message on to ten people or being unlucky for a long time to come.
26. Do you chew on your straw?
No, I do not.
27. Do you have curly hair?
No, I do not.
28. Where is the next place you are going to?
I have no idea.
29. Who is the rudest person in your life?
I suppose that would have to be me (and, no, I do not mean to copy the answer of the one who tagged me!).
30. What was the last thing you ate?
Daal (Lentil-soup) and Roti (Chapatti).
31. Will you get married in the future?
I do not know. I have been unmarried so far.
32. Which is the best movie you have seen in the past 2 weeks?
Mission Impossible III
(33. missing too)
34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
It was a few months ago.
35. Are you currently depressed?
No.
36. Did you cry today?
No.
Here we go:
1. Name one person that made you laugh last night?
General Pervez Musharraf. He told me "a joke of the highest order"!
2. What are you doing at 8:00am, generally?
Usually, I am fast asleep, or, at least, that is the way it has been for the past year and a half or so.
3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
I was reading the newspaper, while sipping from a mug of hot milk.
4. What happened to you in 2006?
A lot of things, including unemployment.
5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
The lyrics of a Hindi movie song, while there was no one at home.
6. How many beverages did you have today?
None. I do not consume any beverages, including tea and coffee, on a regular basis and do not consume alchohol at all.
7. What color is your hairbrush?
Black.
8. What was the last thing you paid for?
I paid for petrol, for my motorcycle.
9. Where were you last night?
I was at home.
10. What color is your front door?
White.
(11 is missing from original list)
12. What is the weather like today?
It is bright and sunny.
13. What is the best ice-cream flavour?
Vanilla, with hot chocolate sauce.
14. What excites you?
Different things, at different points of time...
15. Do you want to cut your hair?
No, I am a practising Sikh and intend to remain that way.
16. Are you over the age of 25?
Yes. I am 32, to be precise.
17. Do you talk a lot?
I do, but only with a few people. Most of those who have come across me, know me as an introvert.
18. Do you watch the O.C.?
I have no idea as to what that might be.
19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
Well, not personally...
20. Do you make up your own words?
Not too often...
21. Are you a jealous person?
I used to be.
22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’:
Asma
23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’:
Kunal
24. Who is the first person on your received call list?
My cousin.
25. What does the last text message you received say?
It says something about passing the message on to ten people or being unlucky for a long time to come.
26. Do you chew on your straw?
No, I do not.
27. Do you have curly hair?
No, I do not.
28. Where is the next place you are going to?
I have no idea.
29. Who is the rudest person in your life?
I suppose that would have to be me (and, no, I do not mean to copy the answer of the one who tagged me!).
30. What was the last thing you ate?
Daal (Lentil-soup) and Roti (Chapatti).
31. Will you get married in the future?
I do not know. I have been unmarried so far.
32. Which is the best movie you have seen in the past 2 weeks?
Mission Impossible III
(33. missing too)
34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
It was a few months ago.
35. Are you currently depressed?
No.
36. Did you cry today?
No.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Southwards bound: Goan architecture
I had heard and read that Goa has a number of beautiful churches dating back to the colonial era, when the state and some of its surrounding areas were ruled by the Portuguese. I found this to be true when my family and I took a conducted tour of North Goa. The best in terms of architectural splendour, perhaps, is the Basilica of Bom Jesus or the Chapel of St. Francis Xavier.
However, a fact that I had not known of before and one that I realised almost as soon as the train entered Goan territory was that among the most beautiful specimens of architecture, which is nearly ubiquitous in the state, is the Goan villa. Besides the sloping, khaprail (tiles made of clay) roofs, my attention was caught by the ornate glass doors and windows that had designs that were distinctly European (as can be seen in the photograph posted above, which was taken by my brother) and unlike any I had seen elsewhere in India, even in colonial-era buildings. Apparently, the British style of construction in India was much at variance with that of the Portuguese.
The hotel that we stayed in, was located at Panjim. I was glad to find out that several villas there, each of which must have been more than a hundred years old, were still inhabited by descendants of the original owners. Many of them, however, had carried out renovations that included replacement of the original doors and windows with those of the bland, contemporary type. I do wish that this could have been avoided and the houses maitained in pristine state.
One such structure in Loutolim, however, has been preserved for more than 200 years and is open to visitors, in return for a small fee. The place is owned by the sixth generation of the man who built it. Even as they no longer live there, the place is well-maintained and still has the original furniture and fittings. Without the help of the guide that we hired, it might actually have been difficult to understand the utility of several items in the house.
Additionally, pieces of old construction that attracted my attention in Panjim included quaint benches built into the walls along the boundaries of parks and even on some bridges across little streams flowing through the town, besides pieces of sculpture that appeared to be made of porcelain and were part of the fountains in the parks.
Even as I come to know, every now and then, about politicians selling off pieces of Goan land to land-sharks, I do hope very fervently that the immensely valuable Goan architectural heritage shall continue to be preserved for posterity.
However, a fact that I had not known of before and one that I realised almost as soon as the train entered Goan territory was that among the most beautiful specimens of architecture, which is nearly ubiquitous in the state, is the Goan villa. Besides the sloping, khaprail (tiles made of clay) roofs, my attention was caught by the ornate glass doors and windows that had designs that were distinctly European (as can be seen in the photograph posted above, which was taken by my brother) and unlike any I had seen elsewhere in India, even in colonial-era buildings. Apparently, the British style of construction in India was much at variance with that of the Portuguese.
The hotel that we stayed in, was located at Panjim. I was glad to find out that several villas there, each of which must have been more than a hundred years old, were still inhabited by descendants of the original owners. Many of them, however, had carried out renovations that included replacement of the original doors and windows with those of the bland, contemporary type. I do wish that this could have been avoided and the houses maitained in pristine state.
One such structure in Loutolim, however, has been preserved for more than 200 years and is open to visitors, in return for a small fee. The place is owned by the sixth generation of the man who built it. Even as they no longer live there, the place is well-maintained and still has the original furniture and fittings. Without the help of the guide that we hired, it might actually have been difficult to understand the utility of several items in the house.
Additionally, pieces of old construction that attracted my attention in Panjim included quaint benches built into the walls along the boundaries of parks and even on some bridges across little streams flowing through the town, besides pieces of sculpture that appeared to be made of porcelain and were part of the fountains in the parks.
Even as I come to know, every now and then, about politicians selling off pieces of Goan land to land-sharks, I do hope very fervently that the immensely valuable Goan architectural heritage shall continue to be preserved for posterity.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Quattro
No, this is not about the car.
Actually, I have been tagged again.
So, here goes:
Four jobs I have had in my life -
Actually, I have been tagged again.
So, here goes:
Four jobs I have had in my life -
- Internet Researcher
- Human Resources Executive
- Recruiter
- Research Editor
- Mr. Bean on Pogo
- Click on BBC World
- Top Gear on BBC World
- The Car and Bike Show on NDTV 24x7
- Anand
- Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi
- Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Hardwar
- Chandigarh
- Indore
- National Capital Region of India
- Kathmandu
- Goa
- Ooty
- Mysore
- Anything that my mother cooks
- Anything that my mother cooks
- Anything that my mother cooks
- Anything that my mother cooks
- Gmail.Com
- Google.Com
- Statcounter.Com
- Technorati.Com
- My ancestral village (in district Bathinda, Punjab)
- Goa
- Simla
- Kasauli
Friday, October 12, 2007
A legend is reborn!
The fastest production motorcycle in the world at one point of time, the Hayabusa had since been overtaken by Kawasaki's ZX-14. The 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa appears all set to reclaim that position, with an increase of 41 cubic centimetres in engine capacity and an additional 20 horses, in terms of power. Incidentally, this is the first major revision of the bike, since its launch in 1999.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Calcutta and I
As mentioned in a previous post, I was in Calcutta for a very brief period of time.
The first thing I noticed about the city was that the roads were not too good, at least when compared to those in the other state-capitals that I have been to in India, including New Delhi, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Madras and Goa. Another vital difference that I noticed, as against Delhi's roads, was that there were no stray cattle on the roads of Calcutta, even as there were plenty of stray dogs around.
I found the city to be much more verdant, though, than Delhi, with a lot of plants and shady trees along the roads. It also means that a number of birds live in these trees and, therefore, one has to be careful while passing under the branches. I was at the receiving end of the birds' beneficence on at least two occasions, even as they failed to score direct hits at other times.
As compared to some other places in India that I have been to, like Chennai, for instance, where I did not understand the local language, I had little problem communicating with the local people in Calcutta, as most of them understood either Hindi or English or both.
I did not have the opportunity to sample much of the food available there, except aaloo-paraathhas, which were unlike any that I had tasted before. Not only were these made of maida, instead of the whole wheat-flour paraathhas that I am used to, but also appeared to have been baked instead of being cooked on a tawaa (hot plate).
Having spent the first day, out of the two that I spent in the city, at office, I found some time for sight-seeing on the second.
As I set off, on foot, to find a cyber-cafe, so that I could access my email and get a print-out of the e-ticket for flying back to Delhi, I came across a set of tracks in the middle of the road, on the bare patch of land bifurcating the dual carriageway. Soon, a tram came rumbling across the tracks. It had wooden benches for the passengers and no window panes at all. The driver and conductor wore khaki safari-suits. What I found amusing, however, was that not only did the tram stop at the traffic-signal, when the light turned red, but also when some vehicle or the other made an illegal U-turn across the median, unlike anything else moving on two parallel steel rails that I had seen before!
Later, it was time to experience railborne transport first-hand, as I rode the Calcutta Metro from the Rabindra Sarobar station, near Tollygunj, to the one at Park Street crossing. "Chhoy takaa (six rupees)", said the man behind the counter, when I enquired about the cost of the ticket. That was the only time, as far as I recall, that any one replied in Bengali to a question posed in Hindi, while I was at Calcutta. This could have something to do with the fact that he was a guard employed by a private security firm, acting as a substitute for regular personnel on account of some reason or the other, and may have migrated to the city from one of its surrounding areas. On the whole, however, I found the service to be economical and efficient, with the trains arriving and departing on time. It, indeed, was a pleasure travelling on the underground, rapid mass-transit system!
Then, I walked on to the Indian Museum, located quite close to the Metro station at Park Street. I spent nearly three hours there and would have been glad to spend another three, if I could. The museum is housed in a white, colonial-era building, which is breath-takingly beautiful.
Among the exhibits, those related to natural history were the ones that I found the most interesting. Arguably, the museum has the largest collection of such items in India. The ones related to fauna include fossils, bones and entire skeletons, in addition to dead animals, preserved and mounted for display. The fossils and bones originate from different parts of India, as well as from what is now Pakistan and other parts of the sub-continent that once formed a part of the British empire. What I learnt from looking at these was that animals of yore, obviously, beleived in the slogan, "Live life king-size!". Judging from the enormity of the remains, it was clear that the animals must have been many times larger than their present-day descendants. Afterwards, when I discussed this with my father, he surmised that this must have been because of the easy availability of food and lack of competition for it, during the times that these creatures roamed the earth.
Some of the species, I noticed, have Latin names that have been derived from local nomenclature. For instance, crocodiles found mainly in the Ganges river system and known locally as Gharial, have been collectively named as Gharialis Gangeticus.
I appreciated the gallery with a large number of dead animals, stuffed and mounted by taxidermists, as it provided me with an opportunity to take a close look at several rare and exotic specimens. This might have been difficult to achieve otherwise, even in a zoo. Besides, no living animal had to be confined to an enclosure, in this case.
The collection of antique microscopes on display that were once used by the Geological Survey of India, also interested me quite a bit.
There are, of course, a number of places in the city, incuding the Victoria Memorial, Esplanade and the Howrah Bridge, which are of interest from a tourist's point of view, that I did not have the time to visit. God willing, I shall definitely see all of these, if I happen to be in Calcutta again, at any point of time in the future.
The first thing I noticed about the city was that the roads were not too good, at least when compared to those in the other state-capitals that I have been to in India, including New Delhi, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Madras and Goa. Another vital difference that I noticed, as against Delhi's roads, was that there were no stray cattle on the roads of Calcutta, even as there were plenty of stray dogs around.
I found the city to be much more verdant, though, than Delhi, with a lot of plants and shady trees along the roads. It also means that a number of birds live in these trees and, therefore, one has to be careful while passing under the branches. I was at the receiving end of the birds' beneficence on at least two occasions, even as they failed to score direct hits at other times.
As compared to some other places in India that I have been to, like Chennai, for instance, where I did not understand the local language, I had little problem communicating with the local people in Calcutta, as most of them understood either Hindi or English or both.
I did not have the opportunity to sample much of the food available there, except aaloo-paraathhas, which were unlike any that I had tasted before. Not only were these made of maida, instead of the whole wheat-flour paraathhas that I am used to, but also appeared to have been baked instead of being cooked on a tawaa (hot plate).
Having spent the first day, out of the two that I spent in the city, at office, I found some time for sight-seeing on the second.
As I set off, on foot, to find a cyber-cafe, so that I could access my email and get a print-out of the e-ticket for flying back to Delhi, I came across a set of tracks in the middle of the road, on the bare patch of land bifurcating the dual carriageway. Soon, a tram came rumbling across the tracks. It had wooden benches for the passengers and no window panes at all. The driver and conductor wore khaki safari-suits. What I found amusing, however, was that not only did the tram stop at the traffic-signal, when the light turned red, but also when some vehicle or the other made an illegal U-turn across the median, unlike anything else moving on two parallel steel rails that I had seen before!
Later, it was time to experience railborne transport first-hand, as I rode the Calcutta Metro from the Rabindra Sarobar station, near Tollygunj, to the one at Park Street crossing. "Chhoy takaa (six rupees)", said the man behind the counter, when I enquired about the cost of the ticket. That was the only time, as far as I recall, that any one replied in Bengali to a question posed in Hindi, while I was at Calcutta. This could have something to do with the fact that he was a guard employed by a private security firm, acting as a substitute for regular personnel on account of some reason or the other, and may have migrated to the city from one of its surrounding areas. On the whole, however, I found the service to be economical and efficient, with the trains arriving and departing on time. It, indeed, was a pleasure travelling on the underground, rapid mass-transit system!
Then, I walked on to the Indian Museum, located quite close to the Metro station at Park Street. I spent nearly three hours there and would have been glad to spend another three, if I could. The museum is housed in a white, colonial-era building, which is breath-takingly beautiful.
Among the exhibits, those related to natural history were the ones that I found the most interesting. Arguably, the museum has the largest collection of such items in India. The ones related to fauna include fossils, bones and entire skeletons, in addition to dead animals, preserved and mounted for display. The fossils and bones originate from different parts of India, as well as from what is now Pakistan and other parts of the sub-continent that once formed a part of the British empire. What I learnt from looking at these was that animals of yore, obviously, beleived in the slogan, "Live life king-size!". Judging from the enormity of the remains, it was clear that the animals must have been many times larger than their present-day descendants. Afterwards, when I discussed this with my father, he surmised that this must have been because of the easy availability of food and lack of competition for it, during the times that these creatures roamed the earth.
Some of the species, I noticed, have Latin names that have been derived from local nomenclature. For instance, crocodiles found mainly in the Ganges river system and known locally as Gharial, have been collectively named as Gharialis Gangeticus.
I appreciated the gallery with a large number of dead animals, stuffed and mounted by taxidermists, as it provided me with an opportunity to take a close look at several rare and exotic specimens. This might have been difficult to achieve otherwise, even in a zoo. Besides, no living animal had to be confined to an enclosure, in this case.
The collection of antique microscopes on display that were once used by the Geological Survey of India, also interested me quite a bit.
There are, of course, a number of places in the city, incuding the Victoria Memorial, Esplanade and the Howrah Bridge, which are of interest from a tourist's point of view, that I did not have the time to visit. God willing, I shall definitely see all of these, if I happen to be in Calcutta again, at any point of time in the future.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
A Gift for My Pakistani Friends
For the benefit of those of my readers who live in Pakistan or other countries where certain blogging websites are inaccessible, I have decided to make available, at Wordpress.Com, a duplicate copy of my blog at Blogger.Com. Henceforth, I shall continue to post simultaneously at both web-addresses.
Thanks Asma, for giving me this idea!
Thanks Asma, for giving me this idea!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Of Human Bondage
A little more than two weeks ago, I received a telephone call from a Calcutta-based dot-com company. Apparently, the recruiter had seen my resume online and wanted to discuss a vacant position. A couple of tele-conversations and about as many days later, he seemed to have decided to hire me and sent a job-offer through email, which I accepted as the money being offered was not too bad. Besides, I was rather excited at the prospect of going to work in a city I had never been to before and even purchased some new clothes for myself.
I agreed to join on September 17 and was on a Calcutta-bound flight on the morning of that day. After landing there at about 7:00 a.m., I took a pre-paid taxi to the guest-house, where the company had booked a room for me, the bill for which I was supposed to pay on my own. Perhaps I should have paid closer attention to the fact that the company offered to reimburse the expenses that I would incur on relocation, only 60 days after I joined service.
After dropping my luggage off at the guest-house, I went to the office. The first thing that struck me, upon arriving there, was that the office was located in a residential area and there were not even any signboards, to announce its presence. Once I had gone inside, I was welcomed by one of the ladies I had interacted with earlier, on account of completion of some formalities. She introduced me to another man who was to join the same day, as a graphic designer, and then, to the trainer who was to conduct the induction/orientation programme for the two of us. The trainer told us a little about the company and its business, besides making us aware of the online locations, on the company's intranet, of various policies and procedures. For a while, it actually felt like I was welcome in the organisation.
Soon, however, the atmosphere began to change, at least for me. While going through the company's policies, I came across one, according to which, I was to agree that I would withdraw my resume from any job-sites, where I might have posted it and that I would be liable to be dismissed from the company's employment if my resume was found posted at any such website, at any point of time in the future. There was another, according to which, if I were to quit within the period of probation, I would not be paid at all for the last month that I worked. I found these conditions to be very unfair, if not draconian.
A little later, I was summoned to see the senior recruiter who had hired me. He said that he hoped that whatever I had written in my resume and had told him earlier was true. This was quite surprising for me, as I would have expected him to have confirmed that before offering me a job. Then, he told me that I would soon have to see the 'big boss', who would give me some kind of an assignment.
When I asked him to suggest an alternative for the room at the guest-house, as it was rather too expensive, he said that it would be clear within a few days whether I would have to look for another place to stay at, at all. It, therefore, became clear that the company had given me an offer of employment without having completed the process of selection!
When I met the 'big boss', he told me, at first, to gather as much information as I could about the company, from its website and when I had finished with that, gave me a few requirements to work on. When he asked me how I planned to go about getting the work done, I asked him for access to the resume-databases of any of the job-portals that the company subscribed to (The company had sourced my resume, too, through such a database.). This appeared to have upset him a little, as he said that he wished I could find him resumes of suitable candidates for free, through personal contacts and references. It left me wondering about the reasons for which the company subscribed to the resume databases. In any case, he agreed to let one of his subordinates supply me with the necessary details i.e. the user-names and passwords. He also said that his company wished to employ those who had relevant knowledge of and experience of working on 'open-source technologies' and not 'Microsoft technologies', against the requirements that I was supposed to work on.
By evening, I was able to find five relevant resumes, out of all that I went through. Two of these were against one requirement and the rest against the other. I was asked to print these out and show these to the 'big boss' (He had obviously not heard of the concept of 'paperless office' or, if he had, had no intention to prevent deforestation by using less paper.). He said that he found two of the resumes, one against each requirement, to be good. However, he also declared that I had made a 'serious mistake' by short-listing the other three. The reason, according to him, was that the prospective candidates had worked on 'Microsoft technologies'. The fact that they also had relevant knowledge of and the requisite work-experience on the 'open-source technologies' that he and his company were looking for, did not seem to be of any importance to him. He then proceeded to make several derogatory remarks about my capabilities as a recruiter, even as I tried to explain to him that all five of the resumes belonged to people with relevant knowledge, skills and experience. Finally, when he could not seem to proffer a logical argument, he resorted to the farcical one that he did not wish to employ those who had worked with both kinds of software tools and techniques as he believed that they were 'a confused lot'!
That was the proverbial last straw, as far as I was concerned. It had not only become obvious to me that the company was unsure about whether it wished to employ me for an extended period of time, but I also feared that it might fail to pay the amount of money due to me, if I were to be asked to leave its employment within a few days. So, I decided to cut my losses and run.
As soon as I was out of the office, I telephoned my father to make the situation clear to him and then, my brother, to ask him to book an air-ticket for me, for the next evening, so that I could fly back to Delhi.
My father was waiting to pick me up at the Indira Gandhi Airport when I landed there and we reached home at about 1:30 a.m. on September 19.
I have been trying to think hard since then, but can not seem to recall if I have ever come across any organisation that can be described as an employer worse than the one I have written about here. Evidently, exploitation as a policy of management is still being practised in so-called corporate India.
I agreed to join on September 17 and was on a Calcutta-bound flight on the morning of that day. After landing there at about 7:00 a.m., I took a pre-paid taxi to the guest-house, where the company had booked a room for me, the bill for which I was supposed to pay on my own. Perhaps I should have paid closer attention to the fact that the company offered to reimburse the expenses that I would incur on relocation, only 60 days after I joined service.
After dropping my luggage off at the guest-house, I went to the office. The first thing that struck me, upon arriving there, was that the office was located in a residential area and there were not even any signboards, to announce its presence. Once I had gone inside, I was welcomed by one of the ladies I had interacted with earlier, on account of completion of some formalities. She introduced me to another man who was to join the same day, as a graphic designer, and then, to the trainer who was to conduct the induction/orientation programme for the two of us. The trainer told us a little about the company and its business, besides making us aware of the online locations, on the company's intranet, of various policies and procedures. For a while, it actually felt like I was welcome in the organisation.
Soon, however, the atmosphere began to change, at least for me. While going through the company's policies, I came across one, according to which, I was to agree that I would withdraw my resume from any job-sites, where I might have posted it and that I would be liable to be dismissed from the company's employment if my resume was found posted at any such website, at any point of time in the future. There was another, according to which, if I were to quit within the period of probation, I would not be paid at all for the last month that I worked. I found these conditions to be very unfair, if not draconian.
A little later, I was summoned to see the senior recruiter who had hired me. He said that he hoped that whatever I had written in my resume and had told him earlier was true. This was quite surprising for me, as I would have expected him to have confirmed that before offering me a job. Then, he told me that I would soon have to see the 'big boss', who would give me some kind of an assignment.
When I asked him to suggest an alternative for the room at the guest-house, as it was rather too expensive, he said that it would be clear within a few days whether I would have to look for another place to stay at, at all. It, therefore, became clear that the company had given me an offer of employment without having completed the process of selection!
When I met the 'big boss', he told me, at first, to gather as much information as I could about the company, from its website and when I had finished with that, gave me a few requirements to work on. When he asked me how I planned to go about getting the work done, I asked him for access to the resume-databases of any of the job-portals that the company subscribed to (The company had sourced my resume, too, through such a database.). This appeared to have upset him a little, as he said that he wished I could find him resumes of suitable candidates for free, through personal contacts and references. It left me wondering about the reasons for which the company subscribed to the resume databases. In any case, he agreed to let one of his subordinates supply me with the necessary details i.e. the user-names and passwords. He also said that his company wished to employ those who had relevant knowledge of and experience of working on 'open-source technologies' and not 'Microsoft technologies', against the requirements that I was supposed to work on.
By evening, I was able to find five relevant resumes, out of all that I went through. Two of these were against one requirement and the rest against the other. I was asked to print these out and show these to the 'big boss' (He had obviously not heard of the concept of 'paperless office' or, if he had, had no intention to prevent deforestation by using less paper.). He said that he found two of the resumes, one against each requirement, to be good. However, he also declared that I had made a 'serious mistake' by short-listing the other three. The reason, according to him, was that the prospective candidates had worked on 'Microsoft technologies'. The fact that they also had relevant knowledge of and the requisite work-experience on the 'open-source technologies' that he and his company were looking for, did not seem to be of any importance to him. He then proceeded to make several derogatory remarks about my capabilities as a recruiter, even as I tried to explain to him that all five of the resumes belonged to people with relevant knowledge, skills and experience. Finally, when he could not seem to proffer a logical argument, he resorted to the farcical one that he did not wish to employ those who had worked with both kinds of software tools and techniques as he believed that they were 'a confused lot'!
That was the proverbial last straw, as far as I was concerned. It had not only become obvious to me that the company was unsure about whether it wished to employ me for an extended period of time, but I also feared that it might fail to pay the amount of money due to me, if I were to be asked to leave its employment within a few days. So, I decided to cut my losses and run.
As soon as I was out of the office, I telephoned my father to make the situation clear to him and then, my brother, to ask him to book an air-ticket for me, for the next evening, so that I could fly back to Delhi.
My father was waiting to pick me up at the Indira Gandhi Airport when I landed there and we reached home at about 1:30 a.m. on September 19.
I have been trying to think hard since then, but can not seem to recall if I have ever come across any organisation that can be described as an employer worse than the one I have written about here. Evidently, exploitation as a policy of management is still being practised in so-called corporate India.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Bugatti Veyron at top speed
The Top Gear team at BBC harnesses all 1001 of the horses under a Veyron's hood and takes it up to its maximum speed, on a test track in Germany.
Thank you so much, Atul, for sharing this video with me!
Friday, August 24, 2007
An Acceptance Speech
My blog has received an award and, obviously, I am greatly pleased to accept it.
If there were to be a real awards-function and I were to make an acceptance speech, I suppose it would have gone somewhat like this:
"Well...er...ahem...First of all, I would like to thank the Almighty...Then, I would like to thank my parents and teachers, who helped me learn to read and write the English language...
I would like to thank the so-called leaders of the Hindu and Muslim communities of pre-partition India, who, for the sake of building their personal fiefdoms, helped drive a wedge between the people of these two communities that ultimately led to partition of the country into two inpependent states i.e. India and Pakistan...I would, obviously, also have to thank the gullible people who followed these leaders and hated each other not only as much as their leaders wanted them to, but far beyond that...If they had not killed each other in such large numbers at the time of partition, it would have been so difficult to maintain the bitterness between the two countries for so many years that followed...I would like to thank the politicians on both sides, who realised that they could deflect peoples' attention away from their own failings, by attributing a lot of what was wrong with their respective countries, to 'the foreign hand'...Of course, they were also very ably assisted in their endeavours by the respective intelligence agencies that helped them foment trouble in each others' countries...In fact, such agencies are doing this, very effectively, even today, I believe, be it in Kashmir or in Balochistan...Again, I have to say "Thanks!" to the people on either side who, dutifully, continue to hate those on the other side of the border...I absolutely must thank those who enabled me to visit the Pakistani part of Punjab as a member of a Sikh Jathha, in April 2006, and see for myself how similar the Punjabis there are to my own self and other Punjabis from the Indian part of Punjab...If all these people had not done all that they have done in the past 70-80 years, I might never have started writing a blog at all!
A big "Thank you!" to Blogger.Com for providing me with a blogging-platform...They have not been able to solve the problems I have been having with the recently introduced 'Auto Save' feature and blank rows get inserted automatically between paragraphs, in addition to the one such row that I insert between any two paragraphs...This happens every time I return to work on a half-finished draft blog-post that I had saved (or rather 'Auto Save' had saved for me) the previous time I had signed in...but, anyway...
Last, but not the least, I would like to thank the jury for having found my blog to be worthy of the honour!"
If there were to be a real awards-function and I were to make an acceptance speech, I suppose it would have gone somewhat like this:
"Well...er...ahem...First of all, I would like to thank the Almighty...Then, I would like to thank my parents and teachers, who helped me learn to read and write the English language...
I would like to thank the so-called leaders of the Hindu and Muslim communities of pre-partition India, who, for the sake of building their personal fiefdoms, helped drive a wedge between the people of these two communities that ultimately led to partition of the country into two inpependent states i.e. India and Pakistan...I would, obviously, also have to thank the gullible people who followed these leaders and hated each other not only as much as their leaders wanted them to, but far beyond that...If they had not killed each other in such large numbers at the time of partition, it would have been so difficult to maintain the bitterness between the two countries for so many years that followed...I would like to thank the politicians on both sides, who realised that they could deflect peoples' attention away from their own failings, by attributing a lot of what was wrong with their respective countries, to 'the foreign hand'...Of course, they were also very ably assisted in their endeavours by the respective intelligence agencies that helped them foment trouble in each others' countries...In fact, such agencies are doing this, very effectively, even today, I believe, be it in Kashmir or in Balochistan...Again, I have to say "Thanks!" to the people on either side who, dutifully, continue to hate those on the other side of the border...I absolutely must thank those who enabled me to visit the Pakistani part of Punjab as a member of a Sikh Jathha, in April 2006, and see for myself how similar the Punjabis there are to my own self and other Punjabis from the Indian part of Punjab...If all these people had not done all that they have done in the past 70-80 years, I might never have started writing a blog at all!
A big "Thank you!" to Blogger.Com for providing me with a blogging-platform...They have not been able to solve the problems I have been having with the recently introduced 'Auto Save' feature and blank rows get inserted automatically between paragraphs, in addition to the one such row that I insert between any two paragraphs...This happens every time I return to work on a half-finished draft blog-post that I had saved (or rather 'Auto Save' had saved for me) the previous time I had signed in...but, anyway...
Last, but not the least, I would like to thank the jury for having found my blog to be worthy of the honour!"
Monday, August 13, 2007
Southwards bound: Delhi to Goa
It was the afternoon of the 13th of July and we had to catch a train in a few hours. So, we called for a taxi to drop us at the railway station.
As on most such trips, the luggage appeared to be more than absolutely necessary and my brother and I resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to, well, lug it around throughout the trip. We loaded as much of it as possible into the rear of the hatch-back that was sent for us. I put one of the couple of bags that were left on to my lap and my brother placed the other at his feet, as we set off.
It was a hot and humid day and it did not help at all that the taxi-driver turned out to be friendlier and more talkative than I would have liked him to be. My mother did not seem to mind though and she and my brother chatted with the driver, even as my father and I mostly kept to ourselves throughout the drive that lasted almost an hour.
The 2780 down Goa Express departed on schedule at 1500 hours, from the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station and after securing the luggage under the berths with a couple of iron chains, we settled down for a journey that was expected to last for at least 41 hours.
Besides the batteries of my brother's and my cellphone having run out much before we reached Goa, there were a few more memorable events that occurred on the way.
Near the Raja Ki Mandi station at Agra, we were met by a very repulsive sight. Several men were defecating in the open, near the railway tracks. Now, I had encountered something similar on earlier occasions, while travelling on local trains in the National Capital Region, but what I saw next left me incapable of reacting in any way, for a long time. At the edge of a paved surface along the tracks, squatted a slim, dark, young woman, with her shapely rear-end exposed to public view, as she answered the call of nature. I suppose she represented some perverse form of women's liberation, somewhat similar to the formation of street-gangs by female criminals in the Western countries.
Then, one of the soldiers, all of whom were, apparently, on leave and off to their hometowns, offered to bribe the T. T. E. (Travelling Ticket Examiner) to convert his 'waiting list' ticket into a regular one and to allot him a berth against that. However, since the soldier's ticket had been issued against a 'travel warrant', the T. T. E. was too scared to accept the bribe! So, the soldier could not secure a berth for himself. He tried to spread a sheet on the coach's floor, between my mother's and father's berths, but my mother would not allow him to do that either, since she was afraid that he might cause her to trip and fall, if she were to get up to visit the toilet at night. I think that the soldier should have boarded a general category compartment rather than a reserved one, since that is what all passengers with 'waiting list' tickets are supposed to do, unless their berths are confirmed before boarding the train. Amused as I was at the predicament of the corrupt T. T. E., I felt sad to observe the soldier's dishonesty and also the way Indian Railways treats the men who put their lives on the line for the country's safety and security.
Towards the end of the journey, my parents befriended a gentleman who turned out to be a Kashmiri businessman. He told us that he spends a few months each year at Goa. For the rest of the year, when there are not too many tourists there, he goes back home to Srinagar. He has a shop at Goa that sells Kashmiri carpets and handicraft products. I leave it to the readers to draw their own conclusions about how this reflects upon the situation in Kashmir.
Last, but not the least, some of the scenery that went by the train window was rather nice. The photograph posted above was taken somewhere in Maharashtra, as far as I can remember, and shows a rock formation that might just as well have been shaped by man, as by nature.
As on most such trips, the luggage appeared to be more than absolutely necessary and my brother and I resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to, well, lug it around throughout the trip. We loaded as much of it as possible into the rear of the hatch-back that was sent for us. I put one of the couple of bags that were left on to my lap and my brother placed the other at his feet, as we set off.
It was a hot and humid day and it did not help at all that the taxi-driver turned out to be friendlier and more talkative than I would have liked him to be. My mother did not seem to mind though and she and my brother chatted with the driver, even as my father and I mostly kept to ourselves throughout the drive that lasted almost an hour.
The 2780 down Goa Express departed on schedule at 1500 hours, from the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station and after securing the luggage under the berths with a couple of iron chains, we settled down for a journey that was expected to last for at least 41 hours.
Besides the batteries of my brother's and my cellphone having run out much before we reached Goa, there were a few more memorable events that occurred on the way.
Near the Raja Ki Mandi station at Agra, we were met by a very repulsive sight. Several men were defecating in the open, near the railway tracks. Now, I had encountered something similar on earlier occasions, while travelling on local trains in the National Capital Region, but what I saw next left me incapable of reacting in any way, for a long time. At the edge of a paved surface along the tracks, squatted a slim, dark, young woman, with her shapely rear-end exposed to public view, as she answered the call of nature. I suppose she represented some perverse form of women's liberation, somewhat similar to the formation of street-gangs by female criminals in the Western countries.
Then, one of the soldiers, all of whom were, apparently, on leave and off to their hometowns, offered to bribe the T. T. E. (Travelling Ticket Examiner) to convert his 'waiting list' ticket into a regular one and to allot him a berth against that. However, since the soldier's ticket had been issued against a 'travel warrant', the T. T. E. was too scared to accept the bribe! So, the soldier could not secure a berth for himself. He tried to spread a sheet on the coach's floor, between my mother's and father's berths, but my mother would not allow him to do that either, since she was afraid that he might cause her to trip and fall, if she were to get up to visit the toilet at night. I think that the soldier should have boarded a general category compartment rather than a reserved one, since that is what all passengers with 'waiting list' tickets are supposed to do, unless their berths are confirmed before boarding the train. Amused as I was at the predicament of the corrupt T. T. E., I felt sad to observe the soldier's dishonesty and also the way Indian Railways treats the men who put their lives on the line for the country's safety and security.
Towards the end of the journey, my parents befriended a gentleman who turned out to be a Kashmiri businessman. He told us that he spends a few months each year at Goa. For the rest of the year, when there are not too many tourists there, he goes back home to Srinagar. He has a shop at Goa that sells Kashmiri carpets and handicraft products. I leave it to the readers to draw their own conclusions about how this reflects upon the situation in Kashmir.
Last, but not the least, some of the scenery that went by the train window was rather nice. The photograph posted above was taken somewhere in Maharashtra, as far as I can remember, and shows a rock formation that might just as well have been shaped by man, as by nature.
Monday, August 06, 2007
India's first woman president
Columnist Shobhaa De has written in The Week, about the significance, or, rather, the lack of it, for issues related to women, of Pratibha Patil-Shekhawat taking over as president.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Farewell, People's President!
Eminent jurist Fali S. Nariman pays glowing tributes to Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the president of India from July 25, 2002, to July 25, 2007, in an article in The Indian Express.
I have always known that Dr. Kalam's personal integrity is beyond reproach, but this has been quite a revelation.
He has, arguably, been the best president India has had since Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.
I do wish that he had been elected for a second term in office.
I have always known that Dr. Kalam's personal integrity is beyond reproach, but this has been quite a revelation.
He has, arguably, been the best president India has had since Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.
I do wish that he had been elected for a second term in office.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Human Resources (Mis)Management
The advertisement appeared in the jobs supplement, Power Jobs, of the Hindustan Times. An N.G.O. (non-governmental organisation), which runs an institute for providing vocational training to the youth among the economically weaker sections of society, had advertised a number of job vacancies. Among the positions advertised, was one titled 'Executive - Human Resources'. So, I went along to attend the 'walk-in' interview.
The N.G.O. is backed by and, I believe, receives substantial financial support from a leading India-based pharmaceuticals company that has a presence in over 100 countries and is a front-runner, globally, in the generic pharmaceuticals business, in terms of revenues. The N.G.O. even shares a part of its name with the pharmaceuticals company.
Much of what transpired during the interview was quite interesting. It provided an insight into how the organisation, otherwise involved in philanthropic work, treats its own employees and how much it trusts them.
The following is an extract from the conversation that I had with the interviewer, who was a podgy, dark-complexioned woman, with a pronounced South-Indian accent:-
Interviewer: What is the most important quality that a person working in the field of Human Resources Management should have?
Sidhusaaheb: He or she should be a good listener.
Interviewer: Any other qualities that are important?
Sidhusaaheb: He or she should be able to empathise...
Interviewer: No, those are wrong answers.
Sidhusaaheb: I would say that is your point of view and it is different from mine.
Interviewer: The correct answer is 'confidentiality'. The Human Resources department has all the data about employees' salaries and a lot of problems are caused when employees find out about their colleagues' salaries. So, the HR department has to ensure that the data about salaries remain confidential.
Sidhusaaheb: All the data about salaries are also available with the Accounts department, so how can the HR department keep the information confidential?
Interviewer: No, no...The HR department has to keep the data confidential. So, 'confidentiality' is the most important quality to have, for a Human Resources professional.
Sidhusaaheb: Well, I shall again say that is your point of view and it is different from mine.
Interviewer: Thank you!
I did not bother to take the time to explain to her that if the salary structure of her organisation was fair and based on criteria understood and accepted by all employees, the company would not have had to try and adopt such a cloak-and-dagger approach. Incidentally, in all of the organisations that I have worked with, most employees had a fairly good idea of the salaries associated with various positions, whether or not the information had been shared with them by the 'management'.
Such policies, I believe, are fundamentally in disagreement with the basic concepts of Human Resources Management in the modern world. Over the years that I have spent working, I have realised that those concepts are employed only in the name, in most Indian business organisations, even in this day and age.
Recruitment and Selection are, still, largely based on the personal preferences of those in charge. Decisions to conduct Training programmes are not based on any scientific Training Needs analyses. Money and material rewards are still thought of as the greatest motivators for employees. Performance Appraisals, even though these are ostensibly based on best practices, are rigged so that the results reflect the personal opinions that the bosses have of the employees being appraised. The concept of Self-Directed Work Teams is alien to organisations in this country and what has been very conveniently done is that units formerly known as departments and work-groups are now called teams, with the 'worker' now known as 'team-member' and the 'supervisor' as 'team-leader', without effecting any change in the functioning.
Team-building is limited to periodic trips to scenic locations, with pleasurable activities like rock-climbing, river-rafting, etc., thrown in and is not taken too seriously by any one, since the Appraisal, as well as the Compensation and Reward Management systems, are still based on individual, rather than team-based performance criteria. When I sought to implement a Team Reward System in one of the organisations I worked with, the COO (Chief Operations Officer) rejected the idea saying that he had worked for five companies, earlier, and none employed any such system, when he ran out of logical arguments against it!
In his book titled 'Organizational Behavior: Concepts, Controversies, Applications' (published by Prentice-Hall, Inc.), Stephen P. Robbins writes, "Throughout this book we've argued that national differences-that is, national cultures-must be taken into account if accurate predictions are to be made about organizational behavior in different countries." and "The research indicates that national culture has a greater impact on employees than does their organization's culture.". I could not agree more!
So, is there still hope and will the hypocrisy ever come to an end? I do not have a definite answer.
The N.G.O. is backed by and, I believe, receives substantial financial support from a leading India-based pharmaceuticals company that has a presence in over 100 countries and is a front-runner, globally, in the generic pharmaceuticals business, in terms of revenues. The N.G.O. even shares a part of its name with the pharmaceuticals company.
Much of what transpired during the interview was quite interesting. It provided an insight into how the organisation, otherwise involved in philanthropic work, treats its own employees and how much it trusts them.
The following is an extract from the conversation that I had with the interviewer, who was a podgy, dark-complexioned woman, with a pronounced South-Indian accent:-
Interviewer: What is the most important quality that a person working in the field of Human Resources Management should have?
Sidhusaaheb: He or she should be a good listener.
Interviewer: Any other qualities that are important?
Sidhusaaheb: He or she should be able to empathise...
Interviewer: No, those are wrong answers.
Sidhusaaheb: I would say that is your point of view and it is different from mine.
Interviewer: The correct answer is 'confidentiality'. The Human Resources department has all the data about employees' salaries and a lot of problems are caused when employees find out about their colleagues' salaries. So, the HR department has to ensure that the data about salaries remain confidential.
Sidhusaaheb: All the data about salaries are also available with the Accounts department, so how can the HR department keep the information confidential?
Interviewer: No, no...The HR department has to keep the data confidential. So, 'confidentiality' is the most important quality to have, for a Human Resources professional.
Sidhusaaheb: Well, I shall again say that is your point of view and it is different from mine.
Interviewer: Thank you!
I did not bother to take the time to explain to her that if the salary structure of her organisation was fair and based on criteria understood and accepted by all employees, the company would not have had to try and adopt such a cloak-and-dagger approach. Incidentally, in all of the organisations that I have worked with, most employees had a fairly good idea of the salaries associated with various positions, whether or not the information had been shared with them by the 'management'.
Such policies, I believe, are fundamentally in disagreement with the basic concepts of Human Resources Management in the modern world. Over the years that I have spent working, I have realised that those concepts are employed only in the name, in most Indian business organisations, even in this day and age.
Recruitment and Selection are, still, largely based on the personal preferences of those in charge. Decisions to conduct Training programmes are not based on any scientific Training Needs analyses. Money and material rewards are still thought of as the greatest motivators for employees. Performance Appraisals, even though these are ostensibly based on best practices, are rigged so that the results reflect the personal opinions that the bosses have of the employees being appraised. The concept of Self-Directed Work Teams is alien to organisations in this country and what has been very conveniently done is that units formerly known as departments and work-groups are now called teams, with the 'worker' now known as 'team-member' and the 'supervisor' as 'team-leader', without effecting any change in the functioning.
Team-building is limited to periodic trips to scenic locations, with pleasurable activities like rock-climbing, river-rafting, etc., thrown in and is not taken too seriously by any one, since the Appraisal, as well as the Compensation and Reward Management systems, are still based on individual, rather than team-based performance criteria. When I sought to implement a Team Reward System in one of the organisations I worked with, the COO (Chief Operations Officer) rejected the idea saying that he had worked for five companies, earlier, and none employed any such system, when he ran out of logical arguments against it!
In his book titled 'Organizational Behavior: Concepts, Controversies, Applications' (published by Prentice-Hall, Inc.), Stephen P. Robbins writes, "Throughout this book we've argued that national differences-that is, national cultures-must be taken into account if accurate predictions are to be made about organizational behavior in different countries." and "The research indicates that national culture has a greater impact on employees than does their organization's culture.". I could not agree more!
So, is there still hope and will the hypocrisy ever come to an end? I do not have a definite answer.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
2137 Dn. Punjab Mail
My ancestral village is located in Bathinda district, in Punjab.
One of the most convenient ways to travel there from the place in the National Capital Region, where I presently reside, is to travel on the 2137 down, Punjab Mail, up to Bathinda, from where one can catch a bus to a small town and then another one, on to the village.
The train is supposed to depart from the local railway station at about 7:40 p.m., however, I have never seen it do that since it is almost invariably late. So, obviously, it almost never reaches Bathinda on time either, which is not all that bad actually, because it allows me a few more hours of sleep. Needless to add, it also helps reduce the chances of my having slept past the station.
However, a reserved berth in a second class sleeper compartment does not always ensure uninterrupted sleep.
On a recent trip, I must have curled up a bit while asleep, for when I tried to stretch my legs, my feet met with an obstruction. I woke up to find that a middle-aged man had climbed on to my (upper) berth to occupy the vacant space beyond my feet and was seated there, quite comfortably. My first impulse was to pretend to go back to sleep and push him down to the coach's floor with my feet. I overcame it soon, however, and asked him, very politely, if he could share a berth with someone shorter in height. He was not one to give in easily though and said that there was no point in doing that since he was, in any case, going to get off the train in 'a few minutes', which, it turned out, combined to form more than an hour!
On another such trip, I was woken up in the middle of the night by a loud female voice.
"Nee Parsinni, langhyaa, aithhe taaN lammiyaaN seataaN vehliyaaN hi paiyaaN ne!"
(O Parsinni, come along, a number of long seats (she meant to say berths) are vacant here!)
Along came the T.T.E. (Travelling Ticket Examiner) instead and, after enquiring about the old lady and her companions' travel plan, advised them to move to an unreserved compartment, which they did after a few moments of animated discussion. I slept undisturbed for the rest of the journey.
Besides incidents such as these, what makes the experience of travelling on the Punjab Mail special for me is the beauty of the Bathinda station (which features in the second of the two photographs posted above and where most of the constructions date back to the colonial-era).
The web site of the Indian Railways Fan Club Association, provides the following information about the famous train:
"The Punjab Mail runs between Bombay and Firozpur. This was the GIPR train; there was another train of the same name that ran for a while between Calcutta and Delhi on the East Indian Railway. The Punjab Mail made its debut on 1st June 1912. Like the later Frontier Mail, the Punjab Mail too used to connect with the P&O steamships on fixed mail days and would steam off from the Mole Station; on other days it departed from Bombay's Victoria Terminus.
For a brief period, an extended service called The Punjab Limited operated between Bombay VT and Peshawar, on the GIPR and NWR; this was a rival to the Frontier Mail, but does not seem to have lasted as a service for long. (There is some doubt whether the Punjab Limited was an entirely separate special service or a special extension of the Punjab Mail.) The Punjab Mail was among the fastest trains in pre-Independence India (probably the fastest one at various times). The train had air-cooled cars in 1945.
It was hauled by a variety of locos. XC locos were used after the rake was extended by the addition of third-class cars in the 1930s. In 1929-1930 EA/1 electric locos were used experimentally. The train later ran electric-hauled until Manmad, where a WP took over. From 1968 the train was diesel-hauled until Jhansi and by 1976 or so it became diesel-hauled all the way. A WCAM-1 loco was used a few times in an attempt to provide continuous haulage without locomotive changes, in the 1970s. Since then, and continuing today, it is hauled by a DC locomotive until Igatpuri and an AC locomotive thereafter towards Delhi and Firozpur."
One of the most convenient ways to travel there from the place in the National Capital Region, where I presently reside, is to travel on the 2137 down, Punjab Mail, up to Bathinda, from where one can catch a bus to a small town and then another one, on to the village.
The train is supposed to depart from the local railway station at about 7:40 p.m., however, I have never seen it do that since it is almost invariably late. So, obviously, it almost never reaches Bathinda on time either, which is not all that bad actually, because it allows me a few more hours of sleep. Needless to add, it also helps reduce the chances of my having slept past the station.
However, a reserved berth in a second class sleeper compartment does not always ensure uninterrupted sleep.
On a recent trip, I must have curled up a bit while asleep, for when I tried to stretch my legs, my feet met with an obstruction. I woke up to find that a middle-aged man had climbed on to my (upper) berth to occupy the vacant space beyond my feet and was seated there, quite comfortably. My first impulse was to pretend to go back to sleep and push him down to the coach's floor with my feet. I overcame it soon, however, and asked him, very politely, if he could share a berth with someone shorter in height. He was not one to give in easily though and said that there was no point in doing that since he was, in any case, going to get off the train in 'a few minutes', which, it turned out, combined to form more than an hour!
On another such trip, I was woken up in the middle of the night by a loud female voice.
"Nee Parsinni, langhyaa, aithhe taaN lammiyaaN seataaN vehliyaaN hi paiyaaN ne!"
(O Parsinni, come along, a number of long seats (she meant to say berths) are vacant here!)
Along came the T.T.E. (Travelling Ticket Examiner) instead and, after enquiring about the old lady and her companions' travel plan, advised them to move to an unreserved compartment, which they did after a few moments of animated discussion. I slept undisturbed for the rest of the journey.
Besides incidents such as these, what makes the experience of travelling on the Punjab Mail special for me is the beauty of the Bathinda station (which features in the second of the two photographs posted above and where most of the constructions date back to the colonial-era).
The web site of the Indian Railways Fan Club Association, provides the following information about the famous train:
"The Punjab Mail runs between Bombay and Firozpur. This was the GIPR train; there was another train of the same name that ran for a while between Calcutta and Delhi on the East Indian Railway. The Punjab Mail made its debut on 1st June 1912. Like the later Frontier Mail, the Punjab Mail too used to connect with the P&O steamships on fixed mail days and would steam off from the Mole Station; on other days it departed from Bombay's Victoria Terminus.
For a brief period, an extended service called The Punjab Limited operated between Bombay VT and Peshawar, on the GIPR and NWR; this was a rival to the Frontier Mail, but does not seem to have lasted as a service for long. (There is some doubt whether the Punjab Limited was an entirely separate special service or a special extension of the Punjab Mail.) The Punjab Mail was among the fastest trains in pre-Independence India (probably the fastest one at various times). The train had air-cooled cars in 1945.
It was hauled by a variety of locos. XC locos were used after the rake was extended by the addition of third-class cars in the 1930s. In 1929-1930 EA/1 electric locos were used experimentally. The train later ran electric-hauled until Manmad, where a WP took over. From 1968 the train was diesel-hauled until Jhansi and by 1976 or so it became diesel-hauled all the way. A WCAM-1 loco was used a few times in an attempt to provide continuous haulage without locomotive changes, in the 1970s. Since then, and continuing today, it is hauled by a DC locomotive until Igatpuri and an AC locomotive thereafter towards Delhi and Firozpur."
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
India's inferiority complex
I was thinking of writing on the subject, but veteran journalist Tavleen Singh has already written very incisively about this in her weekly column in The Sunday Express. So, there is no reason for me to try and re-invent the wheel!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
My Mother's Tomato Ketchup Recipe
The inspiration for this blog post came, when my mother had a good look at a certain recipe blog. It made her decide to share her famed (at least in the family) recipe for preparing tomato ketchup, which is as follows, with all netizens.
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
- 5 kg tomatoes
- 750 gm sugar
- 250 gm onions
- 100 gm ginger
- 50 gm garlic
- 1 cup malt vinegar
- 1 tea-spoon sodium benzoate
- 25 gm garam masala (cumin, black pepper, cloves, 1/4 inch of a cinnamon stick, all ground together)
- salt (to taste)
- red chilly powder (to taste)
- Chop the tomatoes, onions, garlic and ginger and steam these in a pressure cooker (Turn the heat down as soon as steam builds up and then, turn it off after another five minutes.).
- Let these cool and then liquefy in a food processor.
- Pass the mixture through a coarse sieve (with large mesh-size), so that the pulp passes through, leaving only the skins behind.
- Add the sugar and heat on a fire, so that the sugar dissolves.
- Put a drop of the liquid on a plate, to check the density. If it runs over, then it needs to be thickened more by heating for a slightly longer period. If it does not, then it is done.
- After achieving the required density, add salt and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Add the garam masala, sodium benzoate and red chilly powder to the malt vinegar. Mix well and add to the main mixture.
- Pour the (still hot) liquid into bottles, but do not close the lids, which is to be done only after the ketchup has cooled to room temperature.
Friday, June 08, 2007
An open letter to Lt. Col. (Retd.) K. S. Bainsla
Sir,
I am a great admirer of the Indian Army and, therefore, its officers and men. This is not in the least because various members of my family have served or are serving this great institution in different capacities. It is more so on account of the fact that the Army has remained largely unaffected by the tools of divisive politics like communalism, casteism, etc., which have been used to polarise society by those who seek to create 'vote-banks', in order to serve their own vested interests.
It is on account of this that your conduct over the past few days seems, at least to me, to have been unbecoming of a former Army officer and a gentleman, as you have led a series of protests (some of which have been violent and resulted in a number of deaths, besides the damage of national property worth crores of rupees) to demand the Scheduled Tribe status for the Gujjar community, to which you also belong.
Reservation, as, I believe, has been amply demonstrated over the past 60 years or so, implies providing admissions into educational institutions or jobs in the government or public sector, on the basis of various criteria like caste, tribe, etc., to those who are otherwise not competent enough to have secured these on their own.
I would like to know if you, sir, would recommend reservation-based recruitments in the army, as well, and also whether any of your two sons who are serving Colonels in the army would be willing to lead such men (recruited on the basis of the reservation policy and not merit) into battle or into an anti-insurgency operation, if required. If the answer is no, then please do explain why you choose to campaign for reservations at all.
With your third son being employed with a reputed telecommunications company and your only daughter being an officer in the Indian Revenue Service, in addition to the fact that you, yourself, rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, after having joined the army as a sepoy, your family epitomises the spirit of merit and excellence and should be a role model for others in your community.
Therefore, I fail to comprehend the reasons for which you wish to breed and perpetuate incompetence amongst your people.
I believe you could do a lot more of good for your community, if you were to help concentrate the energies of your people on the provision of primary and secondary education and basic healthcare, or, rather, the lack of it. I suggest that you make use of tools like the Right to Information Act to find out about the funds allocated for these purposes and perhaps employ means like peaceful protest to ensure that the money reaches where it is meant to and is utilised properly.
I am sure that a man of your resourcefulness could make things start moving on other fronts like micro-finance too, which could help people, especially the poor living in rural areas, to become self-employed and, thus, lead to progress. Plenty of data on the subject are available online.
The formation of charitable trusts or societies for setting up educational institutions and health-care facilities is another idea that should prove very useful for the purpose that you have stated that you seek to achieve i.e. the welfare of your people.
I am sure that you can think of many more such ideas and sincerely hope that you shall start doing so at the earliest possible.
Yours sincerely,
A concerned citizen of India
I am a great admirer of the Indian Army and, therefore, its officers and men. This is not in the least because various members of my family have served or are serving this great institution in different capacities. It is more so on account of the fact that the Army has remained largely unaffected by the tools of divisive politics like communalism, casteism, etc., which have been used to polarise society by those who seek to create 'vote-banks', in order to serve their own vested interests.
It is on account of this that your conduct over the past few days seems, at least to me, to have been unbecoming of a former Army officer and a gentleman, as you have led a series of protests (some of which have been violent and resulted in a number of deaths, besides the damage of national property worth crores of rupees) to demand the Scheduled Tribe status for the Gujjar community, to which you also belong.
Reservation, as, I believe, has been amply demonstrated over the past 60 years or so, implies providing admissions into educational institutions or jobs in the government or public sector, on the basis of various criteria like caste, tribe, etc., to those who are otherwise not competent enough to have secured these on their own.
I would like to know if you, sir, would recommend reservation-based recruitments in the army, as well, and also whether any of your two sons who are serving Colonels in the army would be willing to lead such men (recruited on the basis of the reservation policy and not merit) into battle or into an anti-insurgency operation, if required. If the answer is no, then please do explain why you choose to campaign for reservations at all.
With your third son being employed with a reputed telecommunications company and your only daughter being an officer in the Indian Revenue Service, in addition to the fact that you, yourself, rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, after having joined the army as a sepoy, your family epitomises the spirit of merit and excellence and should be a role model for others in your community.
Therefore, I fail to comprehend the reasons for which you wish to breed and perpetuate incompetence amongst your people.
I believe you could do a lot more of good for your community, if you were to help concentrate the energies of your people on the provision of primary and secondary education and basic healthcare, or, rather, the lack of it. I suggest that you make use of tools like the Right to Information Act to find out about the funds allocated for these purposes and perhaps employ means like peaceful protest to ensure that the money reaches where it is meant to and is utilised properly.
I am sure that a man of your resourcefulness could make things start moving on other fronts like micro-finance too, which could help people, especially the poor living in rural areas, to become self-employed and, thus, lead to progress. Plenty of data on the subject are available online.
The formation of charitable trusts or societies for setting up educational institutions and health-care facilities is another idea that should prove very useful for the purpose that you have stated that you seek to achieve i.e. the welfare of your people.
I am sure that you can think of many more such ideas and sincerely hope that you shall start doing so at the earliest possible.
Yours sincerely,
A concerned citizen of India
Monday, May 28, 2007
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