Silicon city to Magnetic fields- Part 2

…. Continued from Part 1

So yeah, the bike is fixed. I am fresh. I remove and keep my sweatshirt in my bag in a way that I can pull it out without having to open the bag. It’s already about 12:30 by now. I set out to cover as much distance as possible by dusk. Well I took Nashik-Shirdi road because that was the shortest distance. Oh boy, shortest distance turned out to be a nightmare. The road is okay for maybe about an hour from Pune; there on, it is more of a fucking off-roading course. The road is literally non-existent for a hundred kilometres atleast, riddled with huge potholes and roadhumps where it is not necessary. One fucking hell of a road! Pretty fortunate not to have crashed on this section because of the unmarked roadhumps. Even in broad daylight, I couldn’t go past 40kmph without risking a fall or ruining my bike. The road pretty much stays the same till Malegaon.

The stretch at Sangamner

I leave Dhule just before darkness prevails. It becomes a very monotonous situation from here. Almost zero traffic after dark and no street lights or illumination for the highway. It is just me, riding alone in the dark, among occasional trucks. I have to ride through Khargath Sendhwa. The Road seemed twisty turvy with occasional potholes and what looked like debris on the sides. I passed a R15 couple here in this section. Without much thought, I continue my journey in the darkness. I did stop once, near what I can explain as a petrol pump- pretty much away from me. Just when I’m stretching my ass off, the R15 guys show up right next to me. They stopped to enquire about my destination and why I’m riding alone. I initially thought I’m about to get mugged, but these guys actually advised me to stop for the night as the journey on this road, at this hour was not safe. And they ride off.. Of that was so not expected, from a stranger..!

Above: Tollgate at Kalghat; Below: Tollgate at Dhule

Well now, I also ride out almost as soon as they left. I next stopped at Khargate tollgate. Here, I had to listen to three people advising me to stop and take the night off because it is not safe to ride alone on this road. Oh okay, now I’m kinda curious and cautious about riding anymore. So, I ride a little further from the tollgate till I find a brightly lit place which had boarding and lodging. I decide to finally take off for the night and catch a shut eye for the ride next day. It’s about 9.00p.m. now. And I take a room that is pretty huge for a single guy like me. All I had to do was to uncloth myself. That was it, I set an alarm for 5.00 in the morning because I can’t wake up any sooner. That’s all I remember. One super deep sleep I was in, as soon as I hit the bed. So peaceful sleep I got, like proper deep sleep…

The alarm went off on time, only to be snoozed till 7.00a.m. because I’m lazy to ride out in the cold. So I finally get off the bed, take bath etc. and ready by 8.00.a.m. I have 2 cups of tea and vacate the place. Remember, I’m still a 1000kms away from my destination.

Photo stop near Gujri

By 8:15 I’m already on road riding out, not till I spot a board indicating a town called Gujri. Oh well Gujri, what better name to have a picture taken with. Just a brief picture stop. Okay.. that’s the last stop major picture stop of the day. The whole day went riding pretty much non-stop, except for the fuel stops. So yeah, I rode and rode the whole day because this was my last day to reach in time. I pass through Dhar, Ratlam, Mandsaur, Neemuch City and Chittorgarh. This Chittorgarh happens to have a massive fort. But for me today, no time. So onward… The whole road has been good wide road, so no tension. But now new tension, I can rain see clouds in the far distance. So I take a brief pitstop to cover my bag and continue.

Nothing much worth mentioning along the route there onwards. However, it’s become pretty late by now. Almost past lunchtime. I ride till I reach Kishangarh. Oh, this place is like Jigani neighbourhood of Bangalore. Only Marbles in this city. This city is filled with marble sellers. Italian, Indian, whatever marble you want you will get it here. A Marble market city. So by the time I leave this city, it is already 5.00.p.m. I drape my blanket and get prepared for the “Thand”. The next city is Kunchaman city. This city seemed a little dirty with slush almost everywhere. Then I realise that it had rained here. It’s kinda wet and cold. So take the road to Jhunjunu via Sikar. This road is good but single lane, no street lights. Almost reached Sikar, when I’m having a tough time riding the bike. Because it suddenly became unbearably cold and was completely covered in fog. Even the other vehicles seem to be driving super slow.
I almost fell off once because of a mound in the middle of the road. I almost immediately stopped, to take stock of the situation. The road was wet because it had rained. Not only had it rained, but it was a hailstorm and the temperature had dipped to near zero. The mounds on the road were mounds of hail stones and I had almost fallen off because of them. Shit crazy it was. Who expects rain in the middle of a desert region? Yeah, so I pass through that area and reach Sikar. Then reach Jhunjunu and finally take the deviation towards Alsisar. This fucking maps can take through some crazy routes if you are not careful enough..!

Hailstones at Sikar

However, it took through some road and put me back on the right road in a while. Yeah peace. . It is 11:30pm and I’ve reached my destination. “Alsisar Mahal“. And I’m all set for the festival. It is cold and I am tired. I had been waiting to just get a place to sleep.

And so yeah, I reached a music festival in just around 50+ hours from Bangalore. To the ‘Magnetic fields ‘ music festival from the ‘Silicon City’ Bengaluru in 50hours..!

To be continued….. Part 3

(Are you enjoying reading this piece this far? If yes, Please subscribe or hit the Follow button to read my stories from the road. If no, please leave your comments below and tell me how and where I can improve upon)

Regards, Lahar.

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I hate to grow up..!!

Recently, I had been to my hometown on a weekend.. The few hours I spent with my little cousin made me all nostalgic about the good old childhood days I spent there.. He took me to the front yard of the house and placed his pets in a line.. “On your mark.. get set… Peeeee” went his whistle.. It was a race organised by him for 3 tortoises & a cane turtle that he found in the paddy field.. Just as the race began, the turtle turned backwards and began to run(or walk rather).. I saw my little brother panic.. It was very funny and I found it very cute at the same time..

The Tortoise & the turtle race

There are some small things about life that you miss a lot when you grow up.. The little innocence of being a child, those priceless toys- sand castles, straw tents, slushy puddles, paper boats, pull carts of dried coconut tree branches.. We ran naked around the house and the estates- We NEVER knew what SHY meant..

Children enjoying their shower in a small stream amid the greens of our estate

And then, when we grew up a little more, we did it for competitions- To see whose paper kites flew higher and stayed longer in the sky.. Whose wooden top spun longer, Which catapult shot the farthest, Who had the most number of marbles.. Who caught most number of dragonflies in the empty horlicks bottle.. Who lit the room brightest with their collection of glow-worms.. And further, I remember- stealing an empty glass jar and a cotton towel every weekend with my older cousin- All just for the sheer sake of fishing in the stream nearby.. And, we’d be the proud fishermen of the collection in my grani’s lotus pond..

Internet photo- Fishing in a stream

And then.. Our capital increased… Our toys also got more sophisticated.. We started boasting of our collection of tazos, TV-video games, hot-wheels cars..

My little cousin’s collection of cars

We would wait for guests, uncles, aunties to come home.. Cuz they would buy Cadbury gems for us.. Parle poppins, Blue n yellow wrappered Aasay toffees.. We did not expect any expensive chocolate bars..

Ofcourse I witnessed the era of Beyblades & Pokemons too.. But, I considered myself a little more grown up by that time..

Soon I started to earn enough to suffice the crunch for that ONE most expensive toy that would COMPLETE my collection of toys.. But, it is too late now for I have over grown the age of collecting toy cars.. Now people respect me only if I have the REAL ones.. and that too the MOST expensive ones.. Chocolates should be imported and a little bit of rum/vodka in it would spike it up.. Tents mean only those paid camping in expensive holiday resorts.. Now, I frequently fly in aeroplanes.. Spin at the casino.. Even to get into a slush pool.. I’d pay a fat deal at an exotic spa…

SHIT MAN..!!! How I wish… that innocence was not gone.. How I wish.. I had NEVER grown up…

The inevitable change – Job rotation

<16-July-13>

Having completed 2 years of work- I can say I have put in my best to handle work in 2 areas(filling in for another member). As explained in my earlier post: The car hospital job, I have loved my job as a neurologist, dermatologist and as a general physician. Even though the hospital wasn’t a great place for the doctors- the nature of work was a great pushing force to wake up every morning and board the bus to office..

In what seems very unusual compared to other employers, this place does not believe in letting a person to settle in one area, specialise and build a comfort zone.. When they find someone picking up things soon, they bring in a change with something called as job rotation. In the last 1 year, I have been considered for this change thrice:

Option 1: Customer Relations: This is an extension of the ward boy job

Once the check-up, surgeries and trans-plantations are done, it is the time to handle the patients’ reactions. The Out-patient Dept.(OPD) or the CR does that. You don’t need to be a doctor or a technical guy to do that.. Situation 1: A few come back complaining that they lost their bananas in the car during service- You only have to promise to give them a replacement to close the call. Situation 2: Some hear kala-kala noise while some hear laka-laka noise. Some find durr-durr sound while few others find tur-tur sound (read the sounds as you want to) All are referred to from the engine. All you have to do is record the voice of customer(VOC), find the root cause and convince them. Such occurences are not isolated and have to be dealt on a daily/hourly basis. This post for a quality person at the CR was later withdrawn due to managerial issues.

Option 2: Quality Planning

Considered to be one of the powerful departments in the company- I was on the TPL(Top Priority List) for the barter of candidates for an intra-division rotation. But, it was a definite NO from my side for the job which is definitely non-technical.. Great tools like setting the company road-map, hoshins, quality rules sounds alluring but it is definitely NOT my thing and I was enjoying my surgical job more.. Finally, after a week long drama and refusals to give away candidates like me 😉 – another guy was pulled in for the role 🙂

Option 3: Claims reduction- THE destination

I really have no idea why this one had to come to me.. Numbers and I don’t share a comfortable relationship.. Moreover, there is no clarity on the roles and responsibility of the PIC here.. But, there are reasons galore which has finally led me to accept this new intra-department rotation. So now- cutting down on medicines, not giving free replacement for broken parts, heavy diagnosis charges for scans, X-rays etc. all to reduce warranty and increase profitability is going to be my work..

I would like to move forward taking the positive things of this change.. Setting new targets, standardising rules and paving a new way itself is going to be a challenge I am going to set for myself.. Taking it by my stride- It is going to be a good learning opportunity and a great way to prove myself and make all those people envious of the same job that was rejected by them….

P.S.: All paretos/graphs do not hold any references to real values.

Thank you Secret Santa :)

<26-Dec-2012>

In a bid to wake up the dead souls of a boring office- Someone rightly came up with the idea of celebrating Christmas week.. And one of the events was to play ‘Secret Santa’. We all picked up our chits a week in advance and were thinking what to gift the person whose choices we barely know.

Finally the day was here –
I walk into my office in the morning and when I reached my table: I had the biggest surprise that I could least expect from any colleague in office 🙂
Well- It was a gift from my Secret Santa 🙂 Right next to my desktop laid an aquarium with 2 pairs of swimmers inside. A stick-post on the glass read: “Dear Hitha, your new friends :)” and another note read their names: “2 yellow Gouramis & 2 Blue Gouramis”

My Christmas gift

I was like >>> Wowwww…. It’s such a lovely gift for Christmas..!!
The thought that struck me first was “How could someone in this office ever have the patience to carry an aquarium with water and fishes from home? That too by (company) bus traveling about 50kms??
My Santa is a real patient one :)” Hmm.. But I took a wild guess and I was right the first time itself 😀
The reason he gave me for choosing this gift was: ” Your grumpy boss sits to your left side; So these fishes on your right side would take away all the negative energy that flows across :D”
Anyway… Thank you for such a thoughtful gift dear Santa- You made my day.. and Everyday 🙂

So now, the 4 new inclusions to our work force have not only become my responsibility but also my obsessions.. Every morning and evening I feed them the granules and make sure that I get a glimpse of what they are upto in between my hectic schedule.. Having no net access in office has led me to sitting for hours infront of my PC at home google-ing for facts about these new pets.
It did not take me too long to figure out that I have 1 male and 3 females in my tank- The man is too horny and kept chasing the hottest chick for over 2 days; In a bid to survive the hyperactivity caused due to gush of the hormones in the male; the 2 blue females have lost half of their tail each.

Though these kids are from the same species, this threat to the females had caused me immense worry. So, my homework was to google further to understand the behaviour of these fishes. I realised that these fishes need hiding places-usually plants, clay pots & other aquarium accessories which would help them to camouflage. Then, it was shopping time for accessories for my little friends.

Next, morning I arranged these plants in the tank. Also, It was time for me to name these fishies. Since, they were 4 new manpower (fishpower rather) to our team, we named them according to the area what each engineer handles.(I prefer using the 1st letter of their names owing to company policies of information security- E, B, C & T) It took sometime for them to get used to the new things in their surroundings; but soon it was followed by a lot of peace in the tank. E & B (2 blue females) found comfort and security amidst the ferns. However, C (yellow female) chose to attract the yellow male(T) by chasing him. However, T seemed uninterested in her, and grew equally restless while he was unable to find B. This continued for the day..

My gouramis in their new surrounding

However, next morning was worse, T had chosen to chase C with no other choice as E & B were still hiding. On some aquarium hobbyists’ online discussion forum, I found the solution. I had to finally separate the male from the tank. But, I rather took a chance and added some more plants in the tank. But, the risk was worth it- There is utmost peace in the tank now with all the girls hiding safe in their confines 🙂

Watching and studying the behaviour of these kids is such a relief I tell you… truly..!! It literally boosts up my mood every time while I am pissed off at work.
I thank you Santa- For such a thoughtful gift that keeps me alive every morning  🙂

My First Job at the Car Hospital

If you are new on my website, WELCOME! If you have been following me for sometime, you may be already aware that I graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and soon after graduation, I was recruited by one of the LARGEST automobile manufacturers in the world! It is every mechanical engineer’s dream to be able to pursue a job in the same field that we studied. I was lucky to have JUST that.. My first job gave me an opportunity to work closely with cars with a sort of freedom that I had seen only in documentaries or on episodes of Top-Gear on BBC.

But, Since there are SO many things I involved in my roles and responsbilities in this position, that I often find it difficult to explain it in a ‘ley man’s’ language. The simplest I can call myself is a ‘Car Doctor’. In this post, I would like to share what I do (apart from writing travel articles) on a daily basis, in my first job at the car hospital.

<14-Sept-11> I’m on the mezanine floor….

A cap whose colour is forgotten behind the thick layer of oil & grease, a pair of knitted white gloves which now look like dark leather ones with the dirt, black heavy leather shoes with metal cover for the toes, newly introduced punk looking helmets which make me look like a cyclist, arm covers, wrist guards, goggles- the deep sea diving types…. These are my safety gears at work… and I’m all set for some action..!!!

I’m told that there’s some problem with the shoulder joints(the front door hinges) and he needs a physio- so I ripped both the hands(the front doors) apart.. His eyes (headlamps) were flickering.. And I checked for some electric signals that the brain sent across.. The MIL(Malfunction Indication Lamp) was glowing.. So I removed the eyes out of the skull. Even then, the MIL was on. Now, it was time to pull out the nose and dig deep into the nostrils (the hood and everything under). Then, the spine (the steering column) came out. It was then time to shave the head off (the dashboard/ Instrument panel covers) and I directly pulled out all the nerves (wiring harness) that I could catch in a grab. The signals continued… I removed the medulla (immobilizer ECU), cerebrum (theft warning ECU), cerebellum (injector drivers) and the current flow still continued.. I have removed out every possible source of these signals and now I know the source is “the Master Control- The engine ECU”. It is in my hand right now. Yes, the blinking has stopped!

My job doesn’t end there. In fact, it starts only now.. So, there I am.. Investigating which Neuron (circuit on the PCB) lead to this current outburst.. I broke open a few capacitors and relays. The resistors were already ripped apart.. and finally found the culprit… Unbelievable but true- a tiny ant had pee-d on one of the soldered circuits which lead to corrosion which in turn caused the malfunction of the brain. Hmm…

But my work continues… I will now send the part to the supplier(literally..!!) and follow up with him to identify the root cause and take countermeasure on priority..!!!

OKAY…!!! So, I’m Dr.Neurologist cum dermatologist here… I work with the brain(ECU) and nerves(all electrical and body parts)

But there is a cardiologist too.. My colleague-friend: He treats all heart related ailments (Engines).

And there’s an orthopaedician too- he treats the limbs (the chassis, suspension systems etc.)

We are the soldiers guarding the Siachen border- We have complete freedom to rip a person apart- part by part and win accolades for it.. Destruction gives us all a complete sense of accomplishment.

We are rarely idle. But, when we think we are, we put back everything and go for a long drive.

And then, we are back for yet another postmortem..!!

One of my patients- during the regular check up on the test track

Ofcourse, I have MUCH better pictures of my patients going through even worse treatments.. But, I had to rely on this internet photo for confidential policies 🙂

Picture courtesy: Google images

Click here to read about out my next job assignments.

1. The inevitable change- Job rotation
2. Monsoon- Showers of hope

Click here for other daily inspirations from work:

1. Things I Learnt, the Toyota way
2. My breakfast platter- Baat-O-Bath
3. India Unlock 1.0- Going back to school