Plight on Wheels

By Desaraju Surya
The APSRTC proudly calls it "Flight on Wheels" but the frustrated passengers have started dubbing it "Plight on Wheels."
The most sought-after Garuda (Volvo) bus services of RTC are increasingly testing the patience of passengers as they are seldom operated on time. While "traffic problem" is the simple excuse that RTC authorities cite for the schedules going awry, there are many other factors that are compounding the problem.
In the first place, the buses never come to the platform in time. The drivers are forced to perform multiple roles like ticket-issuing, ticket checking and verification of statistical record. A lot of time is lost in the process delaying the service by a minimum of half an hour.
The bus doesn't leave the bus station as per schedule even if a single passenger fails to make it on time, forcing rest of the passengers to suffer. "This is a bus, not a train. So, we can't miss even a single passenger even if it causes inconvenience to 44 others," an RTC official argued.
When Volvo buses were introduced, only drivers specially trained by the bus manufacturer used to operate the services. With the increase in number of services, even untrained drivers are being deployed for duty, which is also adding to inefficiency in operations.
Recently, the RTC introduced on-line ticket reservation system, which ended up in utter chaos throwing the services haywire. Almost every night service on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada sector got delayed by 60 to 90 minutes as three sets of statistical records had to be verified. "Same seats in the same bus were allotted to different passengers on many occasions. The hapless driver had to sort out the problem by running around officers in the bus stand, delaying the scheduled service by more than an hour," Venkata Raman, a regular traveller on the route pointed out. The troubles would not end at Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station as passengers face similar agony even at enroute points like Dilsuknagar, L B Nagar and Vanasthalipuram.
Raghavendra Chandrasekhar, a software professional and frequent traveller to Bengaluru, lamented that the service to Bengaluru never arrived or departed on time. "It was always an agonising wait for the bus at the Volvo lounge. Every trip ended at least one and a half hour behind schedule," he pointed out.
RTC regional manager (Ranga Reddy) Nagaraja Rao attributed the frequent delay in operations to traffic problems. "In 90 per cent of the cases nothing but traffic jams have affected our schedules while in only about 10 per cent of cases there have been staff-related problems," he pointed out. Given the traffic snarls at various points in the city, a Volvo service from Kukatpally was taking about two hours to reach Imlibun bus station. "This alone is eating up travel time and often resulting in inordinate delay in schedules," Nagaraja Rao said.

Humility and Civility

US President George W. Bush bends down to pick up the cap of a Marine honour guard which had blown off as the President had been about to board Marine One at the Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on May 11.
Bush and his family were returning to Washington, DC after attending the wedding of his daughter Jenna at his Crawford, Texas ranch.

The world might say hundred things -- almost everything negative -- about President Bush. But there's something that this particular picture tells -- one thing called "HUMILITY." Indian political leaders have a definite lesson to learn from this. Our netas are so worse that except their clothes they carry nothing on their person. Even a neta's handkerchief is carried by his aide or a security guard. All that displays nothing but sheer arrogance on part of our netas.
Bush's was a great gesture -- undoubtedly. And it speaks of his civility, notwithstanding his position. Indian netas would do better by learning a lesson from such instances.

My daddy was great

HOW A SON or DAUGHTER THINKS OF HIS/HER FATHER AT DIFFERENT AGES:

At 4 Years : My daddy is great. At 6 Years : My daddy knows everybody. At 10 Years: My daddy is good but is short tempered and knows little less than my friend's Daddy. At 12 Years : My daddy was very nice to me when I was young. At 14 Years : My daddy is getting fastidious. At 16 Years : My daddy is not in line with the current times. Frankly he does not know anything. At 18 Years : My daddy is becoming increasingly cranky. At 20 Years : Oh! It's becoming difficult to tolerate daddy. Wonder how Mother puts up with him. At 25 Years : Daddy is objecting to everything. Don't know when he will understand the world. At 30 Years : It's becoming difficult to manage my son. I was so scared of my father when I was young. At 40 Years : Daddy brought me up with so much discipline. I wonder how he managed to handle the younger generation. At 45 Years : I am baffled as to how my daddy brought us up. At 50 Years : My daddy faced so many hardships to bring us up. (We were four brothers and sisters). I am unable to manage a single son. At 55 Years : My daddy was so far sighted and planned so many things for us. Even at this old age, he is able to control things. He is one of his kind and unique. At 60 Years : My daddy was great.

Thus, it took 56 years to complete the cycle and come back to the 1st stage!
So.................................Realise it in time.

Living of Taiosim

When people see beauty, they think, "that's beautiful". Thinking of something as beautiful makes you think other things are ugly. Calling something "good" forces you to call some other things "evil." The ideas "difficult" and "easy" support each other. "Long" and "short" define each other. "High" creates "low" "Tone" creates "noise" "Before" creates "after" "Have" creates "don't have." This is why the Sage acts without effort and teaches without words. New things are created and the Sage just accepts them. Things fade away and the Sage accepts that too. A Sage can have things without feeling they "own" them. The Sage does things without putting an emotional stake into the outcome. The task is accomplished, but the Sage doesn't seek credit or take pride in the accomplishment. Because the Sage is not attached to the accomplishment, the accomplishment lasts forever.

----- // //-----

When you praise worthy people, you make other people envious and quarrelsome. When you value rare things highly, you turn honest people into thieves. If you show people exciting things, you will make them covetous and greedy. The Wise rules by keeping the peoples' hearts empty (of desire) and their bellies full. Making their bones strong and their ambitions weak. Since the people are free of avarice and desire, even the most cunning grifter has no opportunity to corrupt them. By using the "act without action" principle, everything just falls into place.

----- // //-----

Intelligent people know others. Enlightened people know themselves. You can conquer others with power, but it takes true strength to conquer yourself. Ambitious people force their will on others, but content people are already wealthy. Prudent people will abide. People unconquered by the idea of death will live long. People who live according to their means last long.

(Courtesy: Mohana Vilashiny).

LOVE & MARRIAGE

One day, Plato asked his teacher, "What is love? How can I find it?"
His teacher answered, "There is a vast wheat field in front.. Walk forward without turning back, and pick only one stalk. If you find the most magnificent stalk, then you have found love."
Plato walked forward, and before long, he returned with empty hands, having picked nothing.
His teacher asked, "Why did you not pick any stalk?" Plato answered, "Because I could only pick once, and yet I could not turn back. I did find the most magnificent stalk, but did not know if there were any better ones ahead, so I did not pick it. As I walked further, the stalks that I saw were not as good as the earlier one. So, I did not pick any in the end."
His teacher then said, "And that is LOVE."

On another day, Plato asked his teacher, "What is marriage? How can I find it?"
His teacher answered, "There is a thriving forest in front. Walk forward without turning back, and chop down only one tree. If you find the tallest tree, then you have found marriage."
Plato walked forward, and before long, he returned with a tree. The tree was not bad, and it was not tall either. It was only an ordinary tree, not the best but just a good tree.
His teacher asked, "Why did you chop down such an ordinary tree?" Plato answered, "Because of my previous experience. I had walked through the field, but returned with empty hands. This time, I saw this tree, and I felt that it was the first good tree that I saw, so I chopped it down and brought it back. I did not want to miss the opportunity."
His teacher then said, "And that is MARRIAGE. You see son...Love is the most beautiful thing to happen to a person. It's an opportunity but you don't realize its worth when you have it but only when it's gone like the field of stalks. Marriage, like the tree you chopped, is a compromise; you pick the first best thing you see and learn to live a happy life with it."
(Courtesy: Suresh Kumar Surendran Nair, from God's Own Country).

A box full of kisses

The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold-wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy." The man was embarrassed by his earlier over-reaction, but his anger flared again when he found the box empty. He yelled at her, stating, "Don't you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside?" The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, "Oh, Daddy, it's not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They're all for you, Daddy." The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and begged for her forgiveness. Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child. It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there. "In a very real sense, each one of us, as humanbeings, have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses... from our children, family members, friends, and God. There is simply no other possession, anyone could hold, more precious than this!"

Whatever your cross, Whatever your pain, There will always be Sunshine after the rain
Love Always,
SUN-GOD
(This too was one of those wonderful emails that I got from my dear Darling).

LIFE COACHES

This beautiful piece was sent to me by my dear online friend Mohana Vilashiny, whom I affectionately call Darling. I was reviewing my old emails when I found this. I immediately emailed it to many of my other friends and now I thought of posting it on my blog. This is really good and hope everyone enjoys this.
Love, SUN-GOD.
=====================================================================The Paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower view points. We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one-night stands, over-weight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.
Remember: spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there Again. Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out non-essential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him/her.
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is a devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Freefall!

By Desaraju Surya

Hyderabad: It's a strange paradox. Prices of essential commodities have been skyrocketing but rates of mobile handsets are falling. They will become even cheaper in the coming days as the retail Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) handset market is going to be stirred with the entry of telecom major Reliance Communications (RCom), a Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company. RCom, which is already into the Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) handset business, is set to make a foray into GSM handset retailing as well in a month. Apart from the petty vendors, major business houses like Essar Group, RPG and Subhiksha are currently in the GSM handset retail business through a chain of stores, mostly confined to major towns and cities. Their size is also very small and hasn't helped in market consolidation. Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Fresh stores too have been selling mobile handsets but on a smaller scale. Major mobile manufacturers like Nokia, LG, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson have also opened exclusive outlets but only in select towns and cities. Reliance, however, will have its footprint virtually everywhere, thanks to its existing network of stores and that gives it an edge over the others in the business. Market sources also feel that Reliance's entry could lead to consolidation of the handset business and make it more organised. Market sources said RCom has already signed agreements with major handset vendors, including LG, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Spice, Fly Mobile andHTC while it may also enter into an agreement with Nokia, which is the leader in mobile handset market in the country now. "With the kind of discounts that Reliance can offer, thanks to its bulk orders with handset manufacturers, customers will get to benefit a great deal. At the sametime, the smaller players, particularly those unorganised, will be badly hit," a Nokia Priority dealer pointed out. Market sources recall that it was RCom that virtually changed the mobile business by offering handsets for as low as Rs 500 in its initial years and even now the cheapest handset (CDMA) is being offered for just Rs 777. Information gathered from the Cellular Operators Association of India points out that the mobile handset market might cross 100 million this year against the last year’s estimated size of 70-75 million units. However, the handset replacement rate has fallen from six months to eight months. Already, the mobile handset market is in disarray what with margins becoming wafer thin. "Even on a high-end model, the profit margin is a mere Rs 100 because of the intense competition. Besides, with the launch of new models virtually everyday, prices are falling significantly," G Ramakrishna, a leading mobile dealer, said. In the past 15 days, prices have fallen by Rs 50 to Rs 200 per handset and with about 40 new models expected to be launched into the market in a few months, rates are set to drop further.

BUBBLE BURST!

By Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government which reaped a rich harvest by selling land in and around Hyderabad, riding on the artifical boom in real-estate market, is now hit by the ebb. While the real-estate market in general is witnessing a slowdown due to lack of buyers, big-time realtors who purchased large extent of government land at fancy rates are showing no interest to pick up more land being offered by the government agencies. This is upsetting the government's plans of propping up much-needed revenues for infrastructure projects. The government is apparently losing its own game, thanks to the prevailing downward trend in the real-estate market. The Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government unabashedly pursued real-estate business through its agencies like Hyderabad Urban Development Authority, Andhra Pradesh Housing Board and AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation and pushed the realty market in many a case contributing to the abnormal and even ridiculous spurt in land values in the last four years. In a way, the hike in values appeared to be in sync with the actual market scenario but, as widely feared, the market has gradually hit the slump. Both the Huda and the APHB -- the biggest sellers of land in recent times and, of course, the beneficiaries of the boom -- vouch that the slowdown in the real-estate market across the country is leaving its impact on Hyderabad as well. These two agencies of the state government that earned hefty profits by disposing of large extent of land in and around Hyderabad, mostly for housing projects, for exorbitant sums are now finding it difficult to sell even prime land. After the miserable Empire experience, the Huda in fact cut down the upset price by Rs 2 crore per acre but still found no takers and was left searching for other options like joint development ventures. Similarly, the APHB could not find takers for its Bay Ridge block in Raidurg. Major real-estate firms, particularly those from north India that made a beeline for Hyderabad and jacked up land prices, are now apparently backing off. Realtors are citing many reasons for this: the international scenario, the fallout of dollar crash, volatility in the stock market and a liquidity crunch. Another important reason is the big real-estate companies that put in huge money on land here are now tied up with project development works. The companies will now have to complete these projects, make money and put it back in fresh ventures. "This is a cycle. Unless we complete the projects, at least in phases, we can't obviously invest afresh," a major realtor pointed out. "The slowdown is not restricted just to Hyderabad but other parts of the country as well. This could be a temporary phenomenon," joint managing director of Omaxe Limited Sunil Goel observed. Omaxe was one company that purchased a 25-acre block in the Huda's Empire venture a few months ago. The major real-estate companies that generated billions of rupees from the stock market are now feeling the pinch with fluctuating fortunes at the bourses. This is also impeding investments on land, market sources say. The market forces, however, aren't willing to say the situation has worsened and will lead to a crash in prices. "Land is a constant, so is demand. Though not a fall, the rates may stabilise at best for a while," a top official of APHB observed. His observation leaves the impression that the government agencies haven't lost hope on the market as yet. The next round of land auction may well prove a point.