அமெரிக்காவிலிருந்து திரும்புகிறார்களாம்
நண்பர்கள்
தனிமையை வெல்லுகிறார்களாம்
இந்தியாவில்!
இலக்கியம் இருக்கிறதாம்
வட்டம் உள்ளதாம்
எட்டுமடங்கு சம்பளம் கிடைத்தாலும்
ஏக்கம் இல்லாமல்
இங்கேயே குப்பை கொட்டுவார்களாம்!
பிழைக்க தெரியாதவர்கள்
என்ன சொல்ல!
:-)
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
மின்னுது மின்னல்
மின்னுது மின்னல்
அடித்து தூள்
கிளப்புது கண்ணில்
வருகிறது மயில்
தோகை விரித்தாட
வானம் நகைக்கிறது
மழை வரட்டும் என
தண்ணீர் பஞ்சத்தில்
சொம்பு தூக்காமல்
குடம் எடுக்கணும்
மானிடம் வெல்லும்!
--
அன்புடன்
விஜயஷங்கர்
அடித்து தூள்
கிளப்புது கண்ணில்
வருகிறது மயில்
தோகை விரித்தாட
வானம் நகைக்கிறது
மழை வரட்டும் என
தண்ணீர் பஞ்சத்தில்
சொம்பு தூக்காமல்
குடம் எடுக்கணும்
மானிடம் வெல்லும்!
--
அன்புடன்
விஜயஷங்கர்
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Madikeri, Mangalore, Udupi Visit
I saw a blogger ( Passion for Road Trips ) write about a visit to Madikeri and decided to travel with family there. With kids vacation getting over in 2 weeks, we decided to cover West Karnataka a bit. So a plan was drawn to cover Madikeri, Mangalore, Udupi, Subrahmanya, Dharmasthala, Chikmagalur and Sharavanabelagola! 4 days in all was the allotted time! ( with a day to spare )
Though I booked and stayed at the place Subu stayed... HillTown Hotel ( Very decent hotel with parking, Costing Rs 936 a night for a double bedroom ), there was also another resort another Tamil blogger friend had stayed with his relatives, near Bhagamandala, Madikeri area.... which included food etc at a cost of Rs 1600 per person, per day while the kids stay free. I was hoping for a concession, as it was owned by an ex-colleague of the Tamil blogger friends brother, but didnt want to bother them too much eventually!
So a plan was drawn to hit the road and reach Madikeri by evening.
We started from Bangalore at around 11.45 AM and took the Mysore road, via NICE Road and had lunch near Srirangapatna. ( Macdonalds ). We took the route via Hunsur, Piriyapatna ( expensive coffee at Cafe Coffee day at Rs 57/- each! ), Bylekuppe ( Tibet settlement ), Kushal Nagar and onto Madikeri at around 6 PM, with the necessary pit stops! Road is good upto Kushal Nagar. We could have started and reached early, but the other resort confirmation took us time.... hence the delay. Well we liked the drive into the chilled weather near Madikeri ... lots of road work going on, which slowed a bit in the last stretch.
After checking into the hotel, we left for Raja's Seat - a view point with a park and a toy train. There is a dancing fountain with colours.... though smaller than Brindavan, it was nice for 20 minutes. We also drove in the toy train, for 2 rounds.... There is entrance fee for the park, and also a small charge for the train!
After a cozy dinner at Choice, we crashed into bed, with the chilly weather of 18 degrees.
We woke up in the morning at 6 AM, and by the time we started for Tala Kaveri trip it was 7.30 AM. We stopped near Spice Research institute for Breakfast, though we could have had it at Chettimani! At 8.30 AM we reached Bhagamandala, and went straight to the Triveni Sangamam, were Kaveri, meets two tributaries (names please! ).
After walking in the knee deep water in the center area, with family... left in 15 minutes for the actual birth place of Kaveri... Tala Kaveri. It is a forest controlled area, where cheetahs are expected. Nice winding roads and thrill drive. We had the Kaveri temple darshan and did not climb those 100 steps to the birth place of Kaveri as we thought it was too risky to climb. May be next time we would do it, with more time in hand.
We reached Madikeri by 11 AM and started immediately for Mangalore. It is a 4 hours drive, with a winding down ghats road to Sapaje, with too many potholes, and they are fixing it before monsoon!
We thought of reaching Subramanya, which is 90 kms away from Madikeri, but heard that the temple closes at 1 PM and with the tough roads, it would have been a delay to reach there. And we would have had to wait till 4 PM, and we would have reached Mangalore at 9 PM and would not have covered the beach, temples etc. Fuzzy Logic said, anyway you will end up spending another day....
We had missed seeing Nisargadhama and many other site seeing spots, which we have to cover in the first term vacation of kids!
We had a reservation at Nalapad Residency, Mangalore and drove straight there by 4 PM, after a lunch stop at Ganesh Restaurant at Puttur.
We started for sight seeing at 5 PM, and after the light house visit, nearby and kids playing in the slide and maze for sometime, we left for Panambur beach ( we booked an auto for the rest of the day ) spent sometime there, playing in Arabian Sea water.... and family drove atop a Camel....
We left for Kadiri Hills area and there was no power, so couldnt walk around in the park. So we left for the famous Kerala style temple of Lord Manjunatha, where there is a Ganesha idol, which gives water from tummy - that flows into a pond. Sacred!
We ate at Janata Deluxe ( Neer Dosa and Poori's ) and left for the room. Though we didnt plan much for sight seeing, the next day had a 3 temple visit plan, and a nights stay at Udupi.
We woke up and after breakfast... at 9.30 AM left for Subrahmanya ( to reach in time ). I could have gone to Udupi first, but with a beach and Island trip in mind this route was taken. We took the first route, right after 53 KMs on NH 48, and after 20 KMa, about 28 kms before the temple, the roads were are scrapped ( one blogger had written about it a - as mine blasted roads - but we forgot in the heat of the moment to take the right at 88th KM via Gundia ). It was a tough drive, and with Lord Muruga's help, I could cover those tough 10 kms distance till Kadaba in 45 minutes and made it to the temple at around 12 Noon. We spent about an hour in the temple complex, with lots of crowd on that Amavasya Friday. People do Rahu Kethu Puja there ( 6 AM to 12.30 PM for Kalasarpha Dosha Nivarthi - even Sachin Tendulkar has been there and also many famous personalities ).
We had lunch at New Mysore restaurant and left for Dharmasthala at 2.30 PM. We thought that the temple at Dharmasthala would be open at 4 PM, for darshan and after that we wanted to visit Udupi Krishna Mutt temple before staying at Kidiyoor Lodge near Udupi bus stand ( a very nice hotel ).
I could have also covered Kollur Moogambika temple, if I had gone first to Udupi and then on to Kollur and return back to stay there... and left next day... adding another day!
At Dharmasthala, the darshan for evening was not at 4 PM as informed, at it is at 7 PM only, while people are allowed inside at 6 PM. So we started for Udupi via Karkala, Manipal and went to the Krishna temple ( where there is no need to remove shirts now - for men ) and saw the Rath moved around temple complex and reached hotel at 7 PM. We had nice dinner ( Singapore Fried Rice and Neer Dosa ) before crashing - as they adviced against going to the dark beach!
We woke up in the morning and after a quick breakfast of Idly Vada, Neer Dosa and Poori's... we went to famous Malpe beach. We took at ferry to St Marys Island - a wonderful ride, where you need to set aside total 3 hours for a trip. The Island is so cool! Kids enjoyed it. Worth a visit!
We started back to Bangalore at 1 PM and I took at wrong left turn again, that led me back into Mangalore. It is 10 hours drive and I didnt want to take chances ( tired! ) and I looked at the map and decided to have a break at Chikmagalur ( known place ) before going back to Bangalore.
So I took the Belthangadi - Mudigere - Chikmagalur route. Didnt check with anyone and paid the price of driving in the tough ghats - a life time ride.... too tough and winding roads, with 42 hair pin bends probably? Mad bus drivers, almost hit you instantly! By the time I reached Chikmagalur it was 6 PM - 5 hours for 150 kms total ride from Udupi.... Stayed at Planters Court, an expensive place of stay. I should have taken the Udupi - Agumbe - Sringeri - BaleHonnur - Chikmagalur route for an easy ride. Though it would have taken the same distance, I could have saved 1 hour and the tough drive!
We met my wife's cousin brothers ( also my childhood friends at Kotagiri - while their family was vacationing at Kotagiri ) we had a late dinner at Maurya and slept.
Next day morning we had very good Idly Vada and Masala Dosa at Town Canteen, on Ratnagiri Road, very famous with all the people who are visiting Chikmagalur ( and onwards to Sringeri - only route ). Never miss it!
We started for Bangalore at 11 AM and after reaching Shravanabelagola at 1 PM, after a 100 KMs drive, we decided to climb up with socks on.... 620 steps.... Man, it was a tough excercise for me. Too giddy.... By the time we reached the top it was 30 minutes. Had Lord Mahavira Darshan, 1000 years old monolithic statue.... we had a nice view of surrounding areas from top. I wish they can have a winch ( pulley cart ) done to climb up! We climbed back down and had a late lunch at Hotel Raghu - famished!
Started back at 3.30 PM after some shopping and reached Bangalore at 7 PM - driving 170 KMs on NH 48 - via Kunigal - Magadi Road ( after Johnsons Tiles ) in heavy winds and rains.... Bought some vegetables on route.
After 100+ hours away from home, it was so nice..... to be back.
Though I booked and stayed at the place Subu stayed... HillTown Hotel ( Very decent hotel with parking, Costing Rs 936 a night for a double bedroom ), there was also another resort another Tamil blogger friend had stayed with his relatives, near Bhagamandala, Madikeri area.... which included food etc at a cost of Rs 1600 per person, per day while the kids stay free. I was hoping for a concession, as it was owned by an ex-colleague of the Tamil blogger friends brother, but didnt want to bother them too much eventually!
So a plan was drawn to hit the road and reach Madikeri by evening.
We started from Bangalore at around 11.45 AM and took the Mysore road, via NICE Road and had lunch near Srirangapatna. ( Macdonalds ). We took the route via Hunsur, Piriyapatna ( expensive coffee at Cafe Coffee day at Rs 57/- each! ), Bylekuppe ( Tibet settlement ), Kushal Nagar and onto Madikeri at around 6 PM, with the necessary pit stops! Road is good upto Kushal Nagar. We could have started and reached early, but the other resort confirmation took us time.... hence the delay. Well we liked the drive into the chilled weather near Madikeri ... lots of road work going on, which slowed a bit in the last stretch.
After checking into the hotel, we left for Raja's Seat - a view point with a park and a toy train. There is a dancing fountain with colours.... though smaller than Brindavan, it was nice for 20 minutes. We also drove in the toy train, for 2 rounds.... There is entrance fee for the park, and also a small charge for the train!
After a cozy dinner at Choice, we crashed into bed, with the chilly weather of 18 degrees.
We woke up in the morning at 6 AM, and by the time we started for Tala Kaveri trip it was 7.30 AM. We stopped near Spice Research institute for Breakfast, though we could have had it at Chettimani! At 8.30 AM we reached Bhagamandala, and went straight to the Triveni Sangamam, were Kaveri, meets two tributaries (names please! ).
After walking in the knee deep water in the center area, with family... left in 15 minutes for the actual birth place of Kaveri... Tala Kaveri. It is a forest controlled area, where cheetahs are expected. Nice winding roads and thrill drive. We had the Kaveri temple darshan and did not climb those 100 steps to the birth place of Kaveri as we thought it was too risky to climb. May be next time we would do it, with more time in hand.
We reached Madikeri by 11 AM and started immediately for Mangalore. It is a 4 hours drive, with a winding down ghats road to Sapaje, with too many potholes, and they are fixing it before monsoon!
We thought of reaching Subramanya, which is 90 kms away from Madikeri, but heard that the temple closes at 1 PM and with the tough roads, it would have been a delay to reach there. And we would have had to wait till 4 PM, and we would have reached Mangalore at 9 PM and would not have covered the beach, temples etc. Fuzzy Logic said, anyway you will end up spending another day....
We had missed seeing Nisargadhama and many other site seeing spots, which we have to cover in the first term vacation of kids!
We had a reservation at Nalapad Residency, Mangalore and drove straight there by 4 PM, after a lunch stop at Ganesh Restaurant at Puttur.
We started for sight seeing at 5 PM, and after the light house visit, nearby and kids playing in the slide and maze for sometime, we left for Panambur beach ( we booked an auto for the rest of the day ) spent sometime there, playing in Arabian Sea water.... and family drove atop a Camel....
We left for Kadiri Hills area and there was no power, so couldnt walk around in the park. So we left for the famous Kerala style temple of Lord Manjunatha, where there is a Ganesha idol, which gives water from tummy - that flows into a pond. Sacred!
We ate at Janata Deluxe ( Neer Dosa and Poori's ) and left for the room. Though we didnt plan much for sight seeing, the next day had a 3 temple visit plan, and a nights stay at Udupi.
We woke up and after breakfast... at 9.30 AM left for Subrahmanya ( to reach in time ). I could have gone to Udupi first, but with a beach and Island trip in mind this route was taken. We took the first route, right after 53 KMs on NH 48, and after 20 KMa, about 28 kms before the temple, the roads were are scrapped ( one blogger had written about it a - as mine blasted roads - but we forgot in the heat of the moment to take the right at 88th KM via Gundia ). It was a tough drive, and with Lord Muruga's help, I could cover those tough 10 kms distance till Kadaba in 45 minutes and made it to the temple at around 12 Noon. We spent about an hour in the temple complex, with lots of crowd on that Amavasya Friday. People do Rahu Kethu Puja there ( 6 AM to 12.30 PM for Kalasarpha Dosha Nivarthi - even Sachin Tendulkar has been there and also many famous personalities ).
We had lunch at New Mysore restaurant and left for Dharmasthala at 2.30 PM. We thought that the temple at Dharmasthala would be open at 4 PM, for darshan and after that we wanted to visit Udupi Krishna Mutt temple before staying at Kidiyoor Lodge near Udupi bus stand ( a very nice hotel ).
I could have also covered Kollur Moogambika temple, if I had gone first to Udupi and then on to Kollur and return back to stay there... and left next day... adding another day!
At Dharmasthala, the darshan for evening was not at 4 PM as informed, at it is at 7 PM only, while people are allowed inside at 6 PM. So we started for Udupi via Karkala, Manipal and went to the Krishna temple ( where there is no need to remove shirts now - for men ) and saw the Rath moved around temple complex and reached hotel at 7 PM. We had nice dinner ( Singapore Fried Rice and Neer Dosa ) before crashing - as they adviced against going to the dark beach!
We woke up in the morning and after a quick breakfast of Idly Vada, Neer Dosa and Poori's... we went to famous Malpe beach. We took at ferry to St Marys Island - a wonderful ride, where you need to set aside total 3 hours for a trip. The Island is so cool! Kids enjoyed it. Worth a visit!
We started back to Bangalore at 1 PM and I took at wrong left turn again, that led me back into Mangalore. It is 10 hours drive and I didnt want to take chances ( tired! ) and I looked at the map and decided to have a break at Chikmagalur ( known place ) before going back to Bangalore.
So I took the Belthangadi - Mudigere - Chikmagalur route. Didnt check with anyone and paid the price of driving in the tough ghats - a life time ride.... too tough and winding roads, with 42 hair pin bends probably? Mad bus drivers, almost hit you instantly! By the time I reached Chikmagalur it was 6 PM - 5 hours for 150 kms total ride from Udupi.... Stayed at Planters Court, an expensive place of stay. I should have taken the Udupi - Agumbe - Sringeri - BaleHonnur - Chikmagalur route for an easy ride. Though it would have taken the same distance, I could have saved 1 hour and the tough drive!
We met my wife's cousin brothers ( also my childhood friends at Kotagiri - while their family was vacationing at Kotagiri ) we had a late dinner at Maurya and slept.
Next day morning we had very good Idly Vada and Masala Dosa at Town Canteen, on Ratnagiri Road, very famous with all the people who are visiting Chikmagalur ( and onwards to Sringeri - only route ). Never miss it!
We started for Bangalore at 11 AM and after reaching Shravanabelagola at 1 PM, after a 100 KMs drive, we decided to climb up with socks on.... 620 steps.... Man, it was a tough excercise for me. Too giddy.... By the time we reached the top it was 30 minutes. Had Lord Mahavira Darshan, 1000 years old monolithic statue.... we had a nice view of surrounding areas from top. I wish they can have a winch ( pulley cart ) done to climb up! We climbed back down and had a late lunch at Hotel Raghu - famished!
Started back at 3.30 PM after some shopping and reached Bangalore at 7 PM - driving 170 KMs on NH 48 - via Kunigal - Magadi Road ( after Johnsons Tiles ) in heavy winds and rains.... Bought some vegetables on route.
After 100+ hours away from home, it was so nice..... to be back.
Kotilinga Visit
When mom was here, we decided to go to Kotilingeshwara temple ( near Bangarapet & Kolar ) about 100 kms away from Bangalore. It is a worth day trip!
You have to take the Hoskote, Kolar, Bangarapet route to reach the temple.
We started around 11 AM, ensuring that the traffic is clear! The weather was unusually too hot that day!
I made a mistake while going near Whitefield after crossing Outer ring road and Marathahalli and took the Sarjapura route instead of straight Hoskote route ( which could have been earlier itself saving 1 hour ), and the tough route ( via Tamilnadu - Bagalur twice - where the Jain Farms land is located ) made us to reach the temple too late! Some part of roads are like mine blasted roads, where the border is there. Same as what I saw near Lepakshi ( AP ).
We saw ZP elections in full swing on the way! Biriyani and Liquor on a Saturday!
We had taken packed home lunch and it was 2.30 PM by the time we ate! ( near the temple complex, parking area! ). One fellow told me temple is closed and would open at 4 PM only. It was a lie! Open all the time, till 9 PM.
Lakhs of lingas are there in the temple! It would take 2 hours to walk around. We did a short walk!
There is also a sacred tree in the temple, where one ties a turmeric thread for a wish!
Single laddu of Tirupathi size costs Rs 50/-. While the entrance fee is Rs 5/- per person into the temple, there is good marketing going on.
We decided to drive via the scenic Kuppam route, to Krishnagiri and back to Bangalore. Though it was 140 kms extra, kids enjoyed the ride via 3 states - AP, KA and TN!
Some pictures shared here...
You have to take the Hoskote, Kolar, Bangarapet route to reach the temple.
We started around 11 AM, ensuring that the traffic is clear! The weather was unusually too hot that day!
I made a mistake while going near Whitefield after crossing Outer ring road and Marathahalli and took the Sarjapura route instead of straight Hoskote route ( which could have been earlier itself saving 1 hour ), and the tough route ( via Tamilnadu - Bagalur twice - where the Jain Farms land is located ) made us to reach the temple too late! Some part of roads are like mine blasted roads, where the border is there. Same as what I saw near Lepakshi ( AP ).
We saw ZP elections in full swing on the way! Biriyani and Liquor on a Saturday!
We had taken packed home lunch and it was 2.30 PM by the time we ate! ( near the temple complex, parking area! ). One fellow told me temple is closed and would open at 4 PM only. It was a lie! Open all the time, till 9 PM.
Lakhs of lingas are there in the temple! It would take 2 hours to walk around. We did a short walk!
There is also a sacred tree in the temple, where one ties a turmeric thread for a wish!
Single laddu of Tirupathi size costs Rs 50/-. While the entrance fee is Rs 5/- per person into the temple, there is good marketing going on.
We decided to drive via the scenic Kuppam route, to Krishnagiri and back to Bangalore. Though it was 140 kms extra, kids enjoyed the ride via 3 states - AP, KA and TN!
Some pictures shared here...
Sunday, May 09, 2010
சங்கத் தமிழ் அனைத்தும் தா
உலக தமிழ் மாநாட்டிற்கு வாழ்த்துக்கள்.
இதோ என் கவிதை படைப்பு....
***
மானுடம் வெல்லும்
மொழி ஒற்றுமையால்
குடும்பம் நிகழ்வுகள்
கூடி குலாவும்
மன பரிமாற்றம்
மங்கள நிகழ்ச்சிகள்
தேன்கனிகள் தின்ற ருசி
திகட்டும் நம் மொழி
எட்டு திக்கும் பரவிடும்
இனிய பயணங்கள்
வென்கலமாம் எங்கள் மொழி
கேட்பவருக்கு சிலிர்ப்பூட்டும்!
பேசிடும் வழக்கம்
வேறு என்றாலும்
எழுதிடும் வழக்கம் ஒன்றையா!
கவிதையால் கட்டுரையால்
வலையுலகிலும் குறுஞ்செய்திகளிலும்
கருத்தை பறிமாற
நாடகத்தால் ஓளி ஓலி நிகழ்ச்சிகளால்
நம் மனம் மகிழ்ச்சி பெற
தமிழ் அன்னையே
தினமும் நீ
சங்கத் தமிழ் அனைத்தும் தா!
--
அன்புடன்
விஜயஷங்கர்
பெங்களூரு
இதோ என் கவிதை படைப்பு....
***
மானுடம் வெல்லும்
மொழி ஒற்றுமையால்
குடும்பம் நிகழ்வுகள்
கூடி குலாவும்
மன பரிமாற்றம்
மங்கள நிகழ்ச்சிகள்
தேன்கனிகள் தின்ற ருசி
திகட்டும் நம் மொழி
எட்டு திக்கும் பரவிடும்
இனிய பயணங்கள்
வென்கலமாம் எங்கள் மொழி
கேட்பவருக்கு சிலிர்ப்பூட்டும்!
பேசிடும் வழக்கம்
வேறு என்றாலும்
எழுதிடும் வழக்கம் ஒன்றையா!
கவிதையால் கட்டுரையால்
வலையுலகிலும் குறுஞ்செய்திகளிலும்
கருத்தை பறிமாற
நாடகத்தால் ஓளி ஓலி நிகழ்ச்சிகளால்
நம் மனம் மகிழ்ச்சி பெற
தமிழ் அன்னையே
தினமும் நீ
சங்கத் தமிழ் அனைத்தும் தா!
--
அன்புடன்
விஜயஷங்கர்
பெங்களூரு
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Big Banyan Tree
While Mom is visiting us in Bangalore, we went to see Big Banyan Tree, which is 30 KMs from Bangalore. You have to travel 8 kms from Rajeshwari Dental College, before Bidadi Town.
We had lunch there ( packed from home ). Enough monkeys are there. I am going there after 10 years and I could see a bigger temple in the centre and someone to clean the place and toilets are built.
The water scarcity is making them bring Kaveri water, in cans to supply to people.
We had lunch there ( packed from home ). Enough monkeys are there. I am going there after 10 years and I could see a bigger temple in the centre and someone to clean the place and toilets are built.
The water scarcity is making them bring Kaveri water, in cans to supply to people.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Devarayana Durga, Madhugiri Fort, Lepakshi Trip
With our theme for this year vacation being Hilly area.... ancient monuments... yesterday we decided for a day trip to see Devarayana Durga, Madhugiri Fort and Lepakshi in Andhra.
Devarayana Durga is about 100 kms away Bangalore. We started around 10 AM and took the NICE road to reach Tumkur Road ( toll Rs 83 ) about 35 kms aways from home, from there we drove on NH4 for about 35 Kms to reach Dobbaspeta, 24 kms before Tumkur and took the Uredagiri road, and took a left to Devarayana Durga about 8 kms drive up in the hill, a nice hilly drive. We were there at 12.30 PM.
We first went to Boga Narasimha temple which is down and then climbed up another 3 kms to reach the summit. Very nice and cool place. They collect a parking charge of Rs 15/. There is a walkway to temple. Mud path. Enough monkeys are there, so you have to close the windows of car at all times!
TVS group is maintaining the Yoga Narasimha Swamy temple. Vaishnavaites are managing. They gave Moong Dal rice with coconut, plus Thayir Saadam as Prasadham. They are also providing proper lunch at Dasappa Chathram. Very Simple. Rice Payasam, Rasam and Buttermilk. We started back at 2 PM.
Next stop in our trip was Madhugiri Fort, promoted by Karnataka Tourism corporation which is about 50 Kms from Dev Durga. Road is decent. We were there at the Madhugiri fort at 3 PM. We parked in the entrance and no parking charges inside the court complex. We started the climb, which is about 400 meters high, as the board said. Very tough to climb, and slippery. Weak hearted avoid the climb, but try upto a certain easy point. The Karnataka government (Toursim Department) could try to make the steps better, instead of leaving them as it is. Antiqueness is very risky. At midway, towards the fort, the steps become clean and neat, and easy to climb, though very steep. Enough water needs to be poured into our system. Kids liked it. Lovely to see Goats gracing, on the edge of cliffs! The bad sight was Ganja peddlers and Pig farm in the foot hills.
We reached downhill, got some juice and started around 4.30 PM to our next stop Lepakshi in Andhra Pradesh, 15 kms from Hindupur, which is 45 kms from Madhugiri. I could have driven back to Bangalore, from there which is about 120 kms from Bangalore. So we were adding only 60 Kms to see some ancient temple! The roads near the border are horrible. We drove in the fields, mud and all for few kilometers. ( I should have had a jeep! ) Someone has to do something for that place. Idiotic MPs of the border states dont even bother I think. Someone has to wield the stick to make the PWD guys lay the road.... Otherwise the trees gave shade and weather was lovely. Nice rest stops....
@ Hindupur we missed the Bombay sweets, where my friend (roomie at Hyderabad) used to get sweets from - in the Bus stand area, which was NTR constituency! We clicked the photos at the junction, where there is NTR statue... called NTR junction, leads to many places. I filled petrol, which costs as good at Tamilnadu, Rs 2 cheaper per litre than Karnataka.
We took the road to Lepakshi, 15 kms away, where a 500 years old temple of Veera Bhadraswamy is present. Wonderful architecture and it is not maintained well. The parking charge was Rs 10/- and we parked in front of a coconut vendor house, who forced us to buy 2 coconuts. We clicked the Nandi statue on the way. Even though it is AP, they spoke Kannada.
A friend of my wife called and they chatted in roaming for sometime in the temple when the Arathi was going on. Women!
After having our cuppa Coffee, Thumsup... we started at 5.40 PM and after a smooth 15 Kms drive, touched the NH7 near Puttaparthi main road around 6 PM, second time in 6 days! We reached home at 8.45 PM, after stopping at Devanahalli Airport area to watch 2 flights land in the night at around 7 PM.
Round trip 330 Kms. Worth the day!
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
Devarayana Durga is about 100 kms away Bangalore. We started around 10 AM and took the NICE road to reach Tumkur Road ( toll Rs 83 ) about 35 kms aways from home, from there we drove on NH4 for about 35 Kms to reach Dobbaspeta, 24 kms before Tumkur and took the Uredagiri road, and took a left to Devarayana Durga about 8 kms drive up in the hill, a nice hilly drive. We were there at 12.30 PM.
We first went to Boga Narasimha temple which is down and then climbed up another 3 kms to reach the summit. Very nice and cool place. They collect a parking charge of Rs 15/. There is a walkway to temple. Mud path. Enough monkeys are there, so you have to close the windows of car at all times!
TVS group is maintaining the Yoga Narasimha Swamy temple. Vaishnavaites are managing. They gave Moong Dal rice with coconut, plus Thayir Saadam as Prasadham. They are also providing proper lunch at Dasappa Chathram. Very Simple. Rice Payasam, Rasam and Buttermilk. We started back at 2 PM.
Next stop in our trip was Madhugiri Fort, promoted by Karnataka Tourism corporation which is about 50 Kms from Dev Durga. Road is decent. We were there at the Madhugiri fort at 3 PM. We parked in the entrance and no parking charges inside the court complex. We started the climb, which is about 400 meters high, as the board said. Very tough to climb, and slippery. Weak hearted avoid the climb, but try upto a certain easy point. The Karnataka government (Toursim Department) could try to make the steps better, instead of leaving them as it is. Antiqueness is very risky. At midway, towards the fort, the steps become clean and neat, and easy to climb, though very steep. Enough water needs to be poured into our system. Kids liked it. Lovely to see Goats gracing, on the edge of cliffs! The bad sight was Ganja peddlers and Pig farm in the foot hills.
We reached downhill, got some juice and started around 4.30 PM to our next stop Lepakshi in Andhra Pradesh, 15 kms from Hindupur, which is 45 kms from Madhugiri. I could have driven back to Bangalore, from there which is about 120 kms from Bangalore. So we were adding only 60 Kms to see some ancient temple! The roads near the border are horrible. We drove in the fields, mud and all for few kilometers. ( I should have had a jeep! ) Someone has to do something for that place. Idiotic MPs of the border states dont even bother I think. Someone has to wield the stick to make the PWD guys lay the road.... Otherwise the trees gave shade and weather was lovely. Nice rest stops....
@ Hindupur we missed the Bombay sweets, where my friend (roomie at Hyderabad) used to get sweets from - in the Bus stand area, which was NTR constituency! We clicked the photos at the junction, where there is NTR statue... called NTR junction, leads to many places. I filled petrol, which costs as good at Tamilnadu, Rs 2 cheaper per litre than Karnataka.
We took the road to Lepakshi, 15 kms away, where a 500 years old temple of Veera Bhadraswamy is present. Wonderful architecture and it is not maintained well. The parking charge was Rs 10/- and we parked in front of a coconut vendor house, who forced us to buy 2 coconuts. We clicked the Nandi statue on the way. Even though it is AP, they spoke Kannada.
A friend of my wife called and they chatted in roaming for sometime in the temple when the Arathi was going on. Women!
After having our cuppa Coffee, Thumsup... we started at 5.40 PM and after a smooth 15 Kms drive, touched the NH7 near Puttaparthi main road around 6 PM, second time in 6 days! We reached home at 8.45 PM, after stopping at Devanahalli Airport area to watch 2 flights land in the night at around 7 PM.
Round trip 330 Kms. Worth the day!
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Hogenakkal Trip
Last Sunday we decided to hit the roads to see Hogenakkal in Tamilnadu ( near Karnataka border ) as a day trip. Vacation mode for kids.
It is about 180 kms from Bangalore ( via Hosur -Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Pennagaram ) and a 4 hours drive.
We started at 9.50 AM and reached there at 1.30 PM, right in time for lunch. On the way we stopped in Dharmapuri for getting some Coconut water and Dharbooz. We had packed some fried rice and snacks and were saved! Not many decent hotels are there. We also bought some fish, after checking various places on the road side. 10 rs a piece. But you have to be vary of the oil they use! ( stomach collapsed in the evening ). Even if you buy and give the fish to cook, they charge obscenely it seems! The place near the river bank, where they do pooja's was so dirty. We managed to find a place for eating food under tree shade, with troubles from monkeys, cows and dogs. It is the area, were people offer Karuppu ( Karumam ) for elders passed away. Thithi area. People were cooking and eating near that temple.
We never new it was such a dirty place, commercial minded and very badly managed. I was thinking how Ooty was spoilt like this.
I would never reco this place to anyone, unless they want a drive, and a bit of hill scenary! with villages along the way.
The Pennagaram Panchayat collects Rs 30/- as parking charge about 13 kms before Hogenakkal. Idiots. I hope some TN authorities take care of this. Also at TTDC hotel you can park for Rs 10 and the watchman collects another Rs 10 for tea!
There is another route via Thali, Palakodu and Rayakottai. About 20 kms less, but I am told roads are bad. Some blogger had written about Jigani - Anchetti - Pennagaram route on hills. I would like to try that once....
The falls area is dirty with smell, oil massage washes and there was limited water flow. The bathing area is so crowded with people!
The hanging bridge is a good view point. We did not want to take the coracle, as we were afraid of accidents. We saw one person taken to hospital after drowning.
The heat killed us literally. We were not prepared for that heat! Kids said, that's it - no more visits for this area.
We started back at 4 PM and reached home at 8 PM, with heavy rains on the Krishnagiri Ghats and saw some accidents on the way. Tough to drive after 6 PM. Experience helps.
Morale - get the real tips before you hit the road.
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
It is about 180 kms from Bangalore ( via Hosur -Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Pennagaram ) and a 4 hours drive.
We started at 9.50 AM and reached there at 1.30 PM, right in time for lunch. On the way we stopped in Dharmapuri for getting some Coconut water and Dharbooz. We had packed some fried rice and snacks and were saved! Not many decent hotels are there. We also bought some fish, after checking various places on the road side. 10 rs a piece. But you have to be vary of the oil they use! ( stomach collapsed in the evening ). Even if you buy and give the fish to cook, they charge obscenely it seems! The place near the river bank, where they do pooja's was so dirty. We managed to find a place for eating food under tree shade, with troubles from monkeys, cows and dogs. It is the area, were people offer Karuppu ( Karumam ) for elders passed away. Thithi area. People were cooking and eating near that temple.
We never new it was such a dirty place, commercial minded and very badly managed. I was thinking how Ooty was spoilt like this.
I would never reco this place to anyone, unless they want a drive, and a bit of hill scenary! with villages along the way.
The Pennagaram Panchayat collects Rs 30/- as parking charge about 13 kms before Hogenakkal. Idiots. I hope some TN authorities take care of this. Also at TTDC hotel you can park for Rs 10 and the watchman collects another Rs 10 for tea!
There is another route via Thali, Palakodu and Rayakottai. About 20 kms less, but I am told roads are bad. Some blogger had written about Jigani - Anchetti - Pennagaram route on hills. I would like to try that once....
The falls area is dirty with smell, oil massage washes and there was limited water flow. The bathing area is so crowded with people!
The hanging bridge is a good view point. We did not want to take the coracle, as we were afraid of accidents. We saw one person taken to hospital after drowning.
The heat killed us literally. We were not prepared for that heat! Kids said, that's it - no more visits for this area.
We started back at 4 PM and reached home at 8 PM, with heavy rains on the Krishnagiri Ghats and saw some accidents on the way. Tough to drive after 6 PM. Experience helps.
Morale - get the real tips before you hit the road.
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Puttaparthi Trip
With vacation mode around, and with lots of free time in my hand, what a wonderful way to spend time with family, particularly kids driving around. It is cheap and economical, provided you know your limits on spending on other things.
On Friday April 23rd, 2010 we decided to go out somewhere for a day trip, driving up north from Bangalore.
I was always intrigued by the famous Puttaparthi Sai Baba and the place. We thought of going there, and it fit our bill. My mother had been there recently along with the Seva Dala people for 15 days doing "Seva" taking care of the public / crowd management. Heard good things about that place and hence the interest. The darshan timings of Sai Baba are 9 - 10 AM and 5 to 6 PM. Mostly I was told the evenings are less crowded.
Roughly about 170 kms said maps.google.com, straight up on NH 7, entering into Andhra Pradesh after Chikka Ballapur ( SeddiHalli to be precise, with a toll of Rs 80/- for 24 hours round trip or Rs 55/- for one way. ) It is a 3.5 to 4 hours drive with stops for lunch / snacks.
We started around 11.30 AM, after all the work was done at home for the day. Anyway we planned to have lunch on the way, either in a Dhaba or any road side eatery. Kids were excited and I was worried on the weather. Rain was on the cards.
First thing, I filled up the tank in a nearby place. Heard from blogs about non availability of Petrol bunks ( gas stations ) beyond Devanahalli towards Hyderabad, at regular intervals. Since the highway has been developed around small cities, and with no new gas station allottments, you have to drive into that town to fill gas. So you better fill you car tanks, well in advance, when you see a gas station on the way.
I decided to take the outer ring road, even though it is 10 kms extra to reach Hebbal junction of NH 7 towards Hyderabad. If you drive thru BG Road and go up through Mekhri Circle and RT Nagar, you might end up taking 1.5 hours+ to reach that point and I bet that you legs will start aching by then. We did it in 1 hour 15 mins and cool breeze drive...
It was around 1 PM, when I crossed the Devanahalli BIAL Airport. Congested with left turning traffic. Lorries in the day time? Unheard off. Thats how it is here... 80 kms is the speed limit all along the way. But you can see 4 speed breakers / humps near / after BIAL area ( Turn towards right or you will end up in Doddaballapur, instead of towards Hyderabad as destination. Luckily there is a hand written board that guides you, but you might miss ). For few kilometers, there is single lane road, and mad traffic might head towards you. But stick to your lane! Keep the head lights on! I did not cross 80 Kms speed limit, and your average will stand at 50 KMPH definitely.
We crossed the Nandi Hills area ( 70 kms from Bangalore - turn right few kms after BIAL ) and clicked few pictures in the drive.
Next action point, we were hungry and it was almost 2 PM... we thought about the Ranjitha restaurant near Chikka Ballapur a friend had written about ( but it is on the right side with bar attached! ). We were in no mood for non veg., so decided to eat at Kamat ( Rest area, with BP petrol bunk - on the left ) in Saittu Thinnai ( the resting parapet of Sait ). This place is an hours drive away from BIAL. You can also find many Dhaba's and Omni van vending food stalls along with the grapes from the vineyard ( fresh? may be ) being sold on the sides of the highway NH 7 ( at obscene prices ).
We had plate meal. Rs 55/- each. Got some chilled water in the nearby shop and kids played in the merry go round and swing for sometime, before taking in some ice cream. Beat the heat.
We started off to Puttaparthi at 2.30 PM, and it was only half the way. I was planning to be there by 4.30 PM at the latest. Thanks to the free roads, and well laid roads we reached the Ashram at around 4 PM. You have to take a right turn on to Puttaparthi Main road near Kodur and travel for 31 kms, to take another right turn for 8 kms to reach Sai Prashanthi Nilayam.
Tried to pull over couple of times to call, but signals are weak, as a person had called in after a blue moon, in ages! ( whom I have never met in person being in Bangalore! ).
On the way, we saw the big Sai Baba Hospital ( in light pink colour - compared to the white colour in Whitefield ) and the Airport.
Odometer reading 179.1 kms in 4 hours approx with our scheduled lunch stop and nature call pitstops.
We found it difficult to park. A good samaritan helped us ( A Nadar from Tirunelveli ) in finding a spot in the General Hospital to park among the staff. Thanks to him!
We refreshed a bit, and with security checks in place, we were ushered inside Prasanthi Nilayam by 4.30 PM. No drinking water is alllowed to carry in ( though they serve you ). Deposit all your stuff in cloak room. You have to carry a plastic hand fan, waiting for Sai Baba Darshan. You can deposit your mobile phone in a separate area, for which they give a token. Chappals are to be left near the entrance and it was funny to see some people using lock + chains to store them like the bag locks in railway compartments. It was very hot and I got hurt walking barefoot - burns? washed my legs in a loo @ East Prasanthi Hall and felt OK.
Ladies and gents are frisked separately and the seating in separate in the darshan hall. It's a open Hall with no door, but grills and can accommodate about 10,000 people told a Sai Ram volunteer. You have to deposit your bubblegum, pens, gutka, cigarettes etc before the security check, again.
Then the wait for Sai Baba started. People were in chants.... singing the praise in many different hymns.
At around 5 PM, the Godman in Saffron robe, moved in a wheelchair by his help ( Seva Dala ) appeared. He went around the front row, accepting single roses, hand written requests etc. Few people took his arm and kissed. I could see the white and white foreigners doing the touch feet and greet duty. There was glowing radiance in Sai Baba face, he looked old compared to the young pictures - that I have seen. When he came to the males section, he took out something from his mouth and gave it to one of the devotees. The music and singing hit a crescendo and he went inside some rooms, behind a Ganesha temple ( small puja room ). I was told he gives interviews to many people.
With the 'darshan' mission over ( I didnt stay on for the bhajans for long, and people expected him to re-appear again, for few more minutes ) and went out to get some Vibuthi ( we wanted to reciprocate ). The Radiosai shop sells items below MRP on stocking costs. No taxes! A Rs 14 bottle of Kinley water bottle is sold for Rs 9.90 for example. Also the famous low cost Bakery is a must visit. Rs 4 for popcorn, Re 1 for a masala bread slice ( filling! ), Rs 4 for a puffs / cake piece... Rs 5 for coffee or Tea... Rs 10 for Personal Pan Pizza... we got some real stomach filling stuff... which turned out to be our dinner on the way!
The place is very clean all along. Well maintained. I liked that! Lots of learning to be done, for the Municipal guys.
We hit to road again at 6 PM. Eating the snacks purchased in the Bakery, we started listening to the music and sharing our observations. You can also stay there for a nominal fee or free ( if you book well in advance ). If you are a donor giving in Lakhs, you will get an AC room and special interview with Sai Baba may be. I saw many Telugu Actors, A judge of Karnataka High Court, few AP ministers and one Tamilnadu MP and a person whom I have seen in Bangalore in a shop! All in apt devotion!
We crossed Koduru at around 6.45 PM and after Saittu Thinnai, @ 8 PM we stopped for a 10 minutes break. Had a wonderful "Red" Tea on the road side stall. Really rejuvenated. Kids woke up, who were asleep on the way!
There was high lightning all along the way, and intermittent showers. So I could not drive beyond 80 Kms speed. My wife was scared to see lorries driving with no back red lights or reflectors ( heavy and slow moving too ). Dangerous if you are not careful. The highway patrol should do something about this, if they care for their jobs. They should forcibly stick the plastic reflectors on the backs of such lorries at a cost. will someone listen?
Also near small villages, people are crossing the roads without any care. They have also put up shops, right next to the highway. Unbelievable!
We crossed BIAL at around 8.30 PM and saw many cars merging from Airport. It is a mess out there. 6 lanes would not be enough. I hope someone, one of the twittering ministers, tweets about the pathetic road management in Bangalore, to take care of it with a Joint Parliamentary Probe. Potholes in newly laid highways? You gotta come to Bangalore to see it.
I took the City route - RT Nagar, Mekhri Circle, Sankey Road, MG Road, Lavelle Road, St Marks Road, Residency Road, Brigade Road extn. and on to BG Road ( with a slight in work progress area in Adugodi ) and reached home at 9.45 PM.
Odometer reading 161.4 kms in about 3 hours 45 mins with only one stop of 10 minutes!
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
On Friday April 23rd, 2010 we decided to go out somewhere for a day trip, driving up north from Bangalore.
I was always intrigued by the famous Puttaparthi Sai Baba and the place. We thought of going there, and it fit our bill. My mother had been there recently along with the Seva Dala people for 15 days doing "Seva" taking care of the public / crowd management. Heard good things about that place and hence the interest. The darshan timings of Sai Baba are 9 - 10 AM and 5 to 6 PM. Mostly I was told the evenings are less crowded.
Roughly about 170 kms said maps.google.com, straight up on NH 7, entering into Andhra Pradesh after Chikka Ballapur ( SeddiHalli to be precise, with a toll of Rs 80/- for 24 hours round trip or Rs 55/- for one way. ) It is a 3.5 to 4 hours drive with stops for lunch / snacks.
We started around 11.30 AM, after all the work was done at home for the day. Anyway we planned to have lunch on the way, either in a Dhaba or any road side eatery. Kids were excited and I was worried on the weather. Rain was on the cards.
First thing, I filled up the tank in a nearby place. Heard from blogs about non availability of Petrol bunks ( gas stations ) beyond Devanahalli towards Hyderabad, at regular intervals. Since the highway has been developed around small cities, and with no new gas station allottments, you have to drive into that town to fill gas. So you better fill you car tanks, well in advance, when you see a gas station on the way.
I decided to take the outer ring road, even though it is 10 kms extra to reach Hebbal junction of NH 7 towards Hyderabad. If you drive thru BG Road and go up through Mekhri Circle and RT Nagar, you might end up taking 1.5 hours+ to reach that point and I bet that you legs will start aching by then. We did it in 1 hour 15 mins and cool breeze drive...
It was around 1 PM, when I crossed the Devanahalli BIAL Airport. Congested with left turning traffic. Lorries in the day time? Unheard off. Thats how it is here... 80 kms is the speed limit all along the way. But you can see 4 speed breakers / humps near / after BIAL area ( Turn towards right or you will end up in Doddaballapur, instead of towards Hyderabad as destination. Luckily there is a hand written board that guides you, but you might miss ). For few kilometers, there is single lane road, and mad traffic might head towards you. But stick to your lane! Keep the head lights on! I did not cross 80 Kms speed limit, and your average will stand at 50 KMPH definitely.
We crossed the Nandi Hills area ( 70 kms from Bangalore - turn right few kms after BIAL ) and clicked few pictures in the drive.
Next action point, we were hungry and it was almost 2 PM... we thought about the Ranjitha restaurant near Chikka Ballapur a friend had written about ( but it is on the right side with bar attached! ). We were in no mood for non veg., so decided to eat at Kamat ( Rest area, with BP petrol bunk - on the left ) in Saittu Thinnai ( the resting parapet of Sait ). This place is an hours drive away from BIAL. You can also find many Dhaba's and Omni van vending food stalls along with the grapes from the vineyard ( fresh? may be ) being sold on the sides of the highway NH 7 ( at obscene prices ).
We had plate meal. Rs 55/- each. Got some chilled water in the nearby shop and kids played in the merry go round and swing for sometime, before taking in some ice cream. Beat the heat.
We started off to Puttaparthi at 2.30 PM, and it was only half the way. I was planning to be there by 4.30 PM at the latest. Thanks to the free roads, and well laid roads we reached the Ashram at around 4 PM. You have to take a right turn on to Puttaparthi Main road near Kodur and travel for 31 kms, to take another right turn for 8 kms to reach Sai Prashanthi Nilayam.
Tried to pull over couple of times to call, but signals are weak, as a person had called in after a blue moon, in ages! ( whom I have never met in person being in Bangalore! ).
On the way, we saw the big Sai Baba Hospital ( in light pink colour - compared to the white colour in Whitefield ) and the Airport.
Odometer reading 179.1 kms in 4 hours approx with our scheduled lunch stop and nature call pitstops.
We found it difficult to park. A good samaritan helped us ( A Nadar from Tirunelveli ) in finding a spot in the General Hospital to park among the staff. Thanks to him!
We refreshed a bit, and with security checks in place, we were ushered inside Prasanthi Nilayam by 4.30 PM. No drinking water is alllowed to carry in ( though they serve you ). Deposit all your stuff in cloak room. You have to carry a plastic hand fan, waiting for Sai Baba Darshan. You can deposit your mobile phone in a separate area, for which they give a token. Chappals are to be left near the entrance and it was funny to see some people using lock + chains to store them like the bag locks in railway compartments. It was very hot and I got hurt walking barefoot - burns? washed my legs in a loo @ East Prasanthi Hall and felt OK.
Ladies and gents are frisked separately and the seating in separate in the darshan hall. It's a open Hall with no door, but grills and can accommodate about 10,000 people told a Sai Ram volunteer. You have to deposit your bubblegum, pens, gutka, cigarettes etc before the security check, again.
Then the wait for Sai Baba started. People were in chants.... singing the praise in many different hymns.
At around 5 PM, the Godman in Saffron robe, moved in a wheelchair by his help ( Seva Dala ) appeared. He went around the front row, accepting single roses, hand written requests etc. Few people took his arm and kissed. I could see the white and white foreigners doing the touch feet and greet duty. There was glowing radiance in Sai Baba face, he looked old compared to the young pictures - that I have seen. When he came to the males section, he took out something from his mouth and gave it to one of the devotees. The music and singing hit a crescendo and he went inside some rooms, behind a Ganesha temple ( small puja room ). I was told he gives interviews to many people.
With the 'darshan' mission over ( I didnt stay on for the bhajans for long, and people expected him to re-appear again, for few more minutes ) and went out to get some Vibuthi ( we wanted to reciprocate ). The Radiosai shop sells items below MRP on stocking costs. No taxes! A Rs 14 bottle of Kinley water bottle is sold for Rs 9.90 for example. Also the famous low cost Bakery is a must visit. Rs 4 for popcorn, Re 1 for a masala bread slice ( filling! ), Rs 4 for a puffs / cake piece... Rs 5 for coffee or Tea... Rs 10 for Personal Pan Pizza... we got some real stomach filling stuff... which turned out to be our dinner on the way!
The place is very clean all along. Well maintained. I liked that! Lots of learning to be done, for the Municipal guys.
We hit to road again at 6 PM. Eating the snacks purchased in the Bakery, we started listening to the music and sharing our observations. You can also stay there for a nominal fee or free ( if you book well in advance ). If you are a donor giving in Lakhs, you will get an AC room and special interview with Sai Baba may be. I saw many Telugu Actors, A judge of Karnataka High Court, few AP ministers and one Tamilnadu MP and a person whom I have seen in Bangalore in a shop! All in apt devotion!
We crossed Koduru at around 6.45 PM and after Saittu Thinnai, @ 8 PM we stopped for a 10 minutes break. Had a wonderful "Red" Tea on the road side stall. Really rejuvenated. Kids woke up, who were asleep on the way!
There was high lightning all along the way, and intermittent showers. So I could not drive beyond 80 Kms speed. My wife was scared to see lorries driving with no back red lights or reflectors ( heavy and slow moving too ). Dangerous if you are not careful. The highway patrol should do something about this, if they care for their jobs. They should forcibly stick the plastic reflectors on the backs of such lorries at a cost. will someone listen?
Also near small villages, people are crossing the roads without any care. They have also put up shops, right next to the highway. Unbelievable!
We crossed BIAL at around 8.30 PM and saw many cars merging from Airport. It is a mess out there. 6 lanes would not be enough. I hope someone, one of the twittering ministers, tweets about the pathetic road management in Bangalore, to take care of it with a Joint Parliamentary Probe. Potholes in newly laid highways? You gotta come to Bangalore to see it.
I took the City route - RT Nagar, Mekhri Circle, Sankey Road, MG Road, Lavelle Road, St Marks Road, Residency Road, Brigade Road extn. and on to BG Road ( with a slight in work progress area in Adugodi ) and reached home at 9.45 PM.
Odometer reading 161.4 kms in about 3 hours 45 mins with only one stop of 10 minutes!
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Chikmagalur Trip
We decided to take a trip to Chikmagalur over the last weekend, with kids on vacation mode.
It is about 260 kms away from Bangalore.
On route, we took the Tumkur - Arsikere - Kadur - Chikmagalur route.
We started around 10.45 AM, after the decision was made to travel at 9.30 AM after breakfast. We reached Chikmagalur around 5 PM, with few stops on the way. We had veg lunch, with egg burji at Ananth Dhabha Green Restaurant just after Tiptur. (unusual and may be bcoz there are limited Non veg eaters in that area )
On reaching Chikmagalur, we thought of meeting my wife's cousin family, but they had gone to North India tour. We roamed around the place with weather like Coonoor, and saw the length and breadth of the city! Lots of demolition going on, of the illegal constructions. The Traffic cops are helpful, with too many oneway's, without any boards.
We stayed at Vasavi Vihar, with a decent room. Had dinner served at room. Chicken Tandoori Kebabs and Biriyani.
The next day, we woke up early. I went alone outside at 6.30 AM in search of hot coffee nearby... but no shops around. Room service started at 7 AM only. Had a small walk, with the Police Commissioner who stays near that hotel, and he gave me tips of seeing around that area. Nice of him!
We had breakfast in Food Palace, RG Road, which runs parallel to MG Road.
At around 8.30 AM we started for Muliyanagiri hill trip. It is about 22 kms from Chikmagalur and a scenic drive. There is Muliyana Easwara temple almost of the top. Beyond that point, the peak is at around 3 Kms. But it is not safe to drive beyond the first hairpin bend and after that temple. We stopped after seeing the steep climb and Maruti Omni's running behind, with people stopping them with stones and pushing the car up the hill! There are no railings that might stop the car. I drove back in reverse, with help of my wife outside, for about 100 meters (to reverse) a thrilling drive to return back to the temple area, which I will never forget.
The forest authorities in that area, should do something to build protection on the side, which might make the drivers drive upto the view point ( that too on 1st gear ) and also try to reduce the steep gradient.
We did a small trek from the temple area, up hill probably for about 200 meters... rested for sometime. Kids enjoyed a lot. Very beautiful scenarios - breathtaking ( other than me huffing and puffing pulling my weight up ).
On the return we stopped at a waterfall. Very small. The area is full of coffee estates. Nice aroma of coffee. We got some filter coffee from Jayanti Coffee works.
There are 2 waterfalls Kalhatti and Hebba falls, but we decided to skip as we wanted to see Belur and Halebidu on the return.
We reached the hotel around 11 AM, and checked out starting at 11.45 AM. Belur is about 22 kms away. In hot sun, we had a nice architectural tour for an hour. Then we went on to Halibedu, which is 16 kms away. Spent some time there wondering the architectural Hoysala marvel, and reached Hassan at 2.30 PM. We had veg lunch at Santhosh Cafe on Rt. 48 and topped with some icecream cones. We started driving the remainder of 200 kms at 3.30 PM and reached home, via Nelamangala and NICE road at 7.30 PM.
There is an alternate route itseems, from near Kunigal after Johnson Tile factory, which leads to NICE Road, on Magadi road. It might save 20 kms and some time.
Our return trip had lots of showers and the drive was slow.
Total round trip 600 Kms in 2 days.
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
It is about 260 kms away from Bangalore.
On route, we took the Tumkur - Arsikere - Kadur - Chikmagalur route.
We started around 10.45 AM, after the decision was made to travel at 9.30 AM after breakfast. We reached Chikmagalur around 5 PM, with few stops on the way. We had veg lunch, with egg burji at Ananth Dhabha Green Restaurant just after Tiptur. (unusual and may be bcoz there are limited Non veg eaters in that area )
On reaching Chikmagalur, we thought of meeting my wife's cousin family, but they had gone to North India tour. We roamed around the place with weather like Coonoor, and saw the length and breadth of the city! Lots of demolition going on, of the illegal constructions. The Traffic cops are helpful, with too many oneway's, without any boards.
We stayed at Vasavi Vihar, with a decent room. Had dinner served at room. Chicken Tandoori Kebabs and Biriyani.
The next day, we woke up early. I went alone outside at 6.30 AM in search of hot coffee nearby... but no shops around. Room service started at 7 AM only. Had a small walk, with the Police Commissioner who stays near that hotel, and he gave me tips of seeing around that area. Nice of him!
We had breakfast in Food Palace, RG Road, which runs parallel to MG Road.
At around 8.30 AM we started for Muliyanagiri hill trip. It is about 22 kms from Chikmagalur and a scenic drive. There is Muliyana Easwara temple almost of the top. Beyond that point, the peak is at around 3 Kms. But it is not safe to drive beyond the first hairpin bend and after that temple. We stopped after seeing the steep climb and Maruti Omni's running behind, with people stopping them with stones and pushing the car up the hill! There are no railings that might stop the car. I drove back in reverse, with help of my wife outside, for about 100 meters (to reverse) a thrilling drive to return back to the temple area, which I will never forget.
The forest authorities in that area, should do something to build protection on the side, which might make the drivers drive upto the view point ( that too on 1st gear ) and also try to reduce the steep gradient.
We did a small trek from the temple area, up hill probably for about 200 meters... rested for sometime. Kids enjoyed a lot. Very beautiful scenarios - breathtaking ( other than me huffing and puffing pulling my weight up ).
On the return we stopped at a waterfall. Very small. The area is full of coffee estates. Nice aroma of coffee. We got some filter coffee from Jayanti Coffee works.
There are 2 waterfalls Kalhatti and Hebba falls, but we decided to skip as we wanted to see Belur and Halebidu on the return.
We reached the hotel around 11 AM, and checked out starting at 11.45 AM. Belur is about 22 kms away. In hot sun, we had a nice architectural tour for an hour. Then we went on to Halibedu, which is 16 kms away. Spent some time there wondering the architectural Hoysala marvel, and reached Hassan at 2.30 PM. We had veg lunch at Santhosh Cafe on Rt. 48 and topped with some icecream cones. We started driving the remainder of 200 kms at 3.30 PM and reached home, via Nelamangala and NICE road at 7.30 PM.
There is an alternate route itseems, from near Kunigal after Johnson Tile factory, which leads to NICE Road, on Magadi road. It might save 20 kms and some time.
Our return trip had lots of showers and the drive was slow.
Total round trip 600 Kms in 2 days.
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Bangalore Tweetup Pictures - April 14th, 2010
Yesterday ( April 14th, 2010 ) I managed to drive in the hard rain and tough weather, in the potholed roads of Bangalore - Outer ring road - with lots of construction sites..... It was planned for 7 PM, so started at 6 PM to be in time - the Innovative multiplex @ Marathalli is about 20kms away, but I reached at 7.40 PM and was there till 9 PM.... ( reached home around 9.40 PM, bit late for a call... )
Nothing much was discussed, except the regular intro stuff - how you came into blog and tweets world.
Sridhar ( @orupakkam ) had come from USA, so this meet was held. :-) The other attendees were (tweeters) @Sammy_I @ravisuga @BalaramanL @subatomic @sanbharath @TBCD
Nice coffee was served! Thanks Don. I dont know who it is....
Nothing much was discussed, except the regular intro stuff - how you came into blog and tweets world.
Sridhar ( @orupakkam ) had come from USA, so this meet was held. :-) The other attendees were (tweeters) @Sammy_I @ravisuga @BalaramanL @subatomic @sanbharath @TBCD
Nice coffee was served! Thanks Don. I dont know who it is....
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
சம்மர் வெகேசன்
இப்போதெல்லாம், தினமும் இருக்கும் டைம் எல்லாம் மகனையும், மகளையும் சம்மர் வெகேசன் என்ற வேலை நிறைந்த யுகத்தில் சுழல்கிறேன்.
காலையில் நீச்சலுக்கு அழைத்து செல்ல வேண்டும். பிறகு அவர்கள் ஏதாவது பெயிண்டிங் கலரிங் என்று இருப்பார்கள். மாலை மீண்டும் நீச்சல் அல்லது எங்காவது பார்க் அல்லது சாப்பிங். அடுத்த வருட பாட புத்தகங்கள் இப்போதே கொடுத்து விட்டார்கள். மனைவி முதலில் படித்து, பிறகு சொல்லிக்கொடுக்க வேண்டும். டீச்சர்களை யார் நம்புவது? எல்லா பாடத்திலும் ஏ ப்ளஸ் வாங்க வேண்டுமே. அபார்ட்மெண்டில் குழந்தைகள் மத்தியில் தன்னம்பிக்கை அதிகம் வர, மார்க் முக்கியம்! :-)
எங்க ஜெனரேசன்லே கிரிக்கெட் தான். கிட்டிப்புல், கோலிகுண்டு லெவல் குறைவு ( கான்வென்ட் ஸ்கூல் பசங்களுக்கு! )
காலையில் அவசரமாக இரண்டு இட்லி தின்றும் தின்னாமல், கிரிக்கெட் பேட்டை எடுத்துக்கொண்டு, கார்க் பால் வைத்திருக்கும் கணபதியை பிடிக்க ஓடி...நான்கு மணி நேரம் நஞ்சப்பா கிரவுண்டில் விளையாடிய பிறகு ...
செட்டியார் வீட்டில் தண்ணீர் பந்தலில் வயிறு முட்ட நீர் மோர் குடித்து விட்டு, வீட்டில் வந்து ஒரு கவளம் கூட சாப்பிடாமல் அப்படியே கட்டிலில் விழுந்து விடுகிற சனி....
நாற்பது பேர் படித்த கிளாசில், எனக்கு (முதல்) அடுத்த ரேன்க் என்று சொல்லிகொள்ளும் இருபத்தியாறாவது ரேன்க் ...குமார்... ( வாழ்க்கையிலே இப்போ என்னைவிட அவன் பெரிய ரேன்க் ) ... எங்கம்மா கொடுக்கும் நுரை தளும்பும் காப்பி குடிக்க டைம் செய்து வரும் வரை ... தூக்கம்... சொர்கம்.
நண்பர் கே. ஸ்ரீ சரவணன் பேப்பர் கவர் செய்ய சொல்லிக்கொடுத்தான். நூறு கவருக்கு ஐந்து ருபாய். குமுதம் விகடன் சைஸ். பொறி கல்லை கடைக்கு சப்பளை. பதினோரு வயதில் தங்கைகள் உதவியுடன் ( அம்மா மாவு பசை செய்து கொடுக்க ) ஒரு வாரத்தில் முப்பது ருபாய் ( என் ஒரு மாச ஸ்கூல் பீஸ் ) சாம்பாரிதது இன்றும் நினைவில் நிற்கிறது.
கோவை பாட்டி வீட்டிற்கு ஒரு வாரம் மட்டும் சென்று வந்தோம், திருப்பூரை விட அங்கு சூடு குறைவு. வேறு சொந்தங்கள் வீடு லீவில் இருக்க செல்லும் வழக்கம் எங்க வட்டாரத்தில் இல்லை.
பிறகு வீட்டில் அட்டை பெட்டி செய்தது, பனியன் தொழில் அப்பாவிற்கு உதவி என்று லீவு நாட்கள் சென்றது. ( ஸ்கூல் / காலேஜ் செலவிற்கு சம்பாரித்து விடுவேன் )
ஏழாவது படித்த சமயம் எல்.ஐ.சி. சதீஷ் ( அவன் அப்பா அங்கு மேனேஜர் ) வீட்டில் கம்ப்யுடர் பழகியது, கேம் ஆடியது, மெடிடேசன் பழகியது என கழிந்தது.
எட்டாவது படித்த சமயம் (டாக்டர்) ஈஸ்வரமூர்த்தி வீட்டில் கவிதை எழுத பழகியது ... பார்வை என்ற கையெழுத்து பிரதியில் எழுதியது, தனியாக 'தூறல்' என்ற கையெழுத்து பிரதி நடத்தியது ( இன்றும் என் நண்பர்கள் நினைவில் வைத்திருக்கிறார்கள் ) எல்லாம் சம்மர் வேகசன் டைமில் தான்.
காலையில் நீச்சலுக்கு அழைத்து செல்ல வேண்டும். பிறகு அவர்கள் ஏதாவது பெயிண்டிங் கலரிங் என்று இருப்பார்கள். மாலை மீண்டும் நீச்சல் அல்லது எங்காவது பார்க் அல்லது சாப்பிங். அடுத்த வருட பாட புத்தகங்கள் இப்போதே கொடுத்து விட்டார்கள். மனைவி முதலில் படித்து, பிறகு சொல்லிக்கொடுக்க வேண்டும். டீச்சர்களை யார் நம்புவது? எல்லா பாடத்திலும் ஏ ப்ளஸ் வாங்க வேண்டுமே. அபார்ட்மெண்டில் குழந்தைகள் மத்தியில் தன்னம்பிக்கை அதிகம் வர, மார்க் முக்கியம்! :-)
எங்க ஜெனரேசன்லே கிரிக்கெட் தான். கிட்டிப்புல், கோலிகுண்டு லெவல் குறைவு ( கான்வென்ட் ஸ்கூல் பசங்களுக்கு! )
காலையில் அவசரமாக இரண்டு இட்லி தின்றும் தின்னாமல், கிரிக்கெட் பேட்டை எடுத்துக்கொண்டு, கார்க் பால் வைத்திருக்கும் கணபதியை பிடிக்க ஓடி...நான்கு மணி நேரம் நஞ்சப்பா கிரவுண்டில் விளையாடிய பிறகு ...
செட்டியார் வீட்டில் தண்ணீர் பந்தலில் வயிறு முட்ட நீர் மோர் குடித்து விட்டு, வீட்டில் வந்து ஒரு கவளம் கூட சாப்பிடாமல் அப்படியே கட்டிலில் விழுந்து விடுகிற சனி....
நாற்பது பேர் படித்த கிளாசில், எனக்கு (முதல்) அடுத்த ரேன்க் என்று சொல்லிகொள்ளும் இருபத்தியாறாவது ரேன்க் ...குமார்... ( வாழ்க்கையிலே இப்போ என்னைவிட அவன் பெரிய ரேன்க் ) ... எங்கம்மா கொடுக்கும் நுரை தளும்பும் காப்பி குடிக்க டைம் செய்து வரும் வரை ... தூக்கம்... சொர்கம்.
நண்பர் கே. ஸ்ரீ சரவணன் பேப்பர் கவர் செய்ய சொல்லிக்கொடுத்தான். நூறு கவருக்கு ஐந்து ருபாய். குமுதம் விகடன் சைஸ். பொறி கல்லை கடைக்கு சப்பளை. பதினோரு வயதில் தங்கைகள் உதவியுடன் ( அம்மா மாவு பசை செய்து கொடுக்க ) ஒரு வாரத்தில் முப்பது ருபாய் ( என் ஒரு மாச ஸ்கூல் பீஸ் ) சாம்பாரிதது இன்றும் நினைவில் நிற்கிறது.
கோவை பாட்டி வீட்டிற்கு ஒரு வாரம் மட்டும் சென்று வந்தோம், திருப்பூரை விட அங்கு சூடு குறைவு. வேறு சொந்தங்கள் வீடு லீவில் இருக்க செல்லும் வழக்கம் எங்க வட்டாரத்தில் இல்லை.
பிறகு வீட்டில் அட்டை பெட்டி செய்தது, பனியன் தொழில் அப்பாவிற்கு உதவி என்று லீவு நாட்கள் சென்றது. ( ஸ்கூல் / காலேஜ் செலவிற்கு சம்பாரித்து விடுவேன் )
ஏழாவது படித்த சமயம் எல்.ஐ.சி. சதீஷ் ( அவன் அப்பா அங்கு மேனேஜர் ) வீட்டில் கம்ப்யுடர் பழகியது, கேம் ஆடியது, மெடிடேசன் பழகியது என கழிந்தது.
எட்டாவது படித்த சமயம் (டாக்டர்) ஈஸ்வரமூர்த்தி வீட்டில் கவிதை எழுத பழகியது ... பார்வை என்ற கையெழுத்து பிரதியில் எழுதியது, தனியாக 'தூறல்' என்ற கையெழுத்து பிரதி நடத்தியது ( இன்றும் என் நண்பர்கள் நினைவில் வைத்திருக்கிறார்கள் ) எல்லாம் சம்மர் வேகசன் டைமில் தான்.
Monday, April 05, 2010
BBMP election results
Bangalore election results for the 198 wards are tricking in
As of now BJP won 15 ,Cong 9 and JDS- 1
Leads BJP - 6, COng - 10, JDS - 3, Other 4 out of 23 leads
Looks like a tight race.
Mayor for BJP? 3500 crores annual budget for BBMP
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
As of now BJP won 15 ,Cong 9 and JDS- 1
Leads BJP - 6, COng - 10, JDS - 3, Other 4 out of 23 leads
Looks like a tight race.
Mayor for BJP? 3500 crores annual budget for BBMP
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
BBMP election results
Bangalore election results for the 198 wards are tricking in
As of now BJP won 7 out of 14 declared.
Leads BJP - 18, COng - 14, JDS - 5 out of 37 leads
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
As of now BJP won 7 out of 14 declared.
Leads BJP - 18, COng - 14, JDS - 5 out of 37 leads
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Top habits of Millionaires
1. Millionaires think long-term:
a) Thinking day to day, the way poor people do, is where you will find day laborers and street beggars.
b) Thinking week to week, the way poor people do, is living paycheck to paycheck and barely make ends meet.
c) Thinking month to month, the way middle class people do, is being concerned with monthly liabilities such as mortgage loan, car loan, credit card payment and household expenses.
d) Thinking year to year, the way rich people do, is where people learn about fiscal responsibility, financial literacy and investment.
e) Thinking decade to decade, the way very rich people do, is where you will find business plans that reach far into the future.
2. Patience is a millionaire's asset; impatience is a liability of the middle class:
a) Rich people has the discipline of delayed gratification because they want more freedom in life.
b) Middle-class people want instant gratification because they want more comfort in life.
Millionaires talk about ideas:
a) Rich people talk about great ideas and realizing them. They own car companies, sports teams and vacation spots. They produce movies, television shows and music and earn from them. They choose fortune over fame.
b) Middle-class people talk about things from rich people's ideas and daydream on them. They talk about things like sports cars, soccer teams and holidays. They indulge in movies, television shows and music and spend on them. They are easily impressed by fame.
4. The rich loves to compliment others and gain their help and support; the poor loves to tear down others only to be alienated.
5. People who complain are literally cursing themselves. Always ask yourself what is life trying to teach you when you feel like complaining upon a challenge or hardship.
6. For the comfortable middle-class people, change is feared; for the confident rich people, change is opportunity. Fear blinds you to opportunities; confidence let you discover opportunities.
7. Fear is inevitable. The rich overcomes it with knowledge; the poor submits to it with negligence.
8. If you can live with the worst thing happening from your decision and the most likely thing to happen will lead you to the best thing happening, go for it!
9. We can't please everyone and rejection is imminent; if you failed, you may be rejected but if you succeeded, you may still be rejected.
10. The rich plays to win; the poor plays to not lose only to lose in eventuality.
11. People often wish they would take more risks in life if they could live all over again, meaning that people have more regrets over things they didn't do than the things they did.
12. Knowledge is priceless; negligence is costly:
a) Investment on a $20 book read may well worth a $20 000 idea and a $1 000 seminar attended may well worth a $1 million business plan.
b) Being penny-wise and pound-foolish by saving a $50 banknote for shopping instead of buying a good book may cost a loss of an undiscovered $50 000 idea. Worst off, craving for free advices may cost even greater loss when one listens to the opinion of another who thinks he knows something even when he has no real life experience.
13. The rich work for profits instead of wages; the poor trades their time for wages.
14. Happy millionaires are generous because they believe they will receive more in return.
15. Millionaires develop multiple income source by passive income from business that requires little personal management. They build teams of great people that complement one another, not compete with one another, to run their business, believing that those people will do even better than them.
16. Learn to increase your net worth the way rich people do, not learning to increase your paycheck only to be taxed more.
17. Rich people increase their investment and assets when their income increases; poor people increase their spending and liabilities as their income increases.
18. The rich makes money, spends money, then pay taxes; the poor makes money, pay their tax and left with little to spend.
Monday, March 29, 2010
நல்ல செறிவான கவிதைகள்!
நல்ல செறிவான கவிதைகள்!
Paraphrasing WriterPayon.
***
(௧)
குழந்தைகள் செய்வது
குறும்பு
கண்டுக்காதீர்கள்
என்கிறார்கள் பெரியவர்கள்
(௨)
அன்பே நீ
தாம்பரத்தில் வேலை செய்கிறாய்
சிதம்பரத்தில் இருக்கிறேன் நான்
இல்லறம் நடத்துவது எப்படி?
(௩)
கவிதையெல்லாம்
உரைநடை போல இருந்தால்
பக்கத்து நாட்டுக்காரனுக்கு என்ன
பக்கத்து வீட்டுக்காரனுக்கே கோபம்!
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
Paraphrasing WriterPayon.
***
(௧)
குழந்தைகள் செய்வது
குறும்பு
கண்டுக்காதீர்கள்
என்கிறார்கள் பெரியவர்கள்
(௨)
அன்பே நீ
தாம்பரத்தில் வேலை செய்கிறாய்
சிதம்பரத்தில் இருக்கிறேன் நான்
இல்லறம் நடத்துவது எப்படி?
(௩)
கவிதையெல்லாம்
உரைநடை போல இருந்தால்
பக்கத்து நாட்டுக்காரனுக்கு என்ன
பக்கத்து வீட்டுக்காரனுக்கே கோபம்!
--
Regards
Vijayashankar
The Deming System of Profound Knowledge
The Deming System of Profound Knowledge
"The prevailing style of management must undergo transformation. A system cannot understand itself. The transformation requires a view from outside. The aim of this chapter is to provide an outside view—a lens—that I call a system of profound knowledge. It provides a map of theory by which to understand the organizations that we work in."The first step is transformation of the individual. This transformation is discontinuous. It comes from understanding of the system of profound knowledge. The individual, transformed, will perceive new meaning to his life, to events, to numbers, to interactions between people.
"Once the individual understands the system of profound knowledge, he will apply its principles in every kind of relationship with other people. He will have a basis for judgment of his own decisions and for transformation of the organizations that he belongs to. The individual, once transformed, will:
- Set an example;
- Be a good listener, but will not compromise;
- Continually teach other people; and
- Help people to pull away from their current practices and beliefs and move into the new philosophy without a feeling of guilt about the past."
- Appreciation of a system: understanding the overall processes involving suppliers, producers, and customers (or recipients) of goods and services (explained below);
- Knowledge of variation: the range and causes of variation in quality, and use of statistical sampling in measurements;
- Theory of knowledge: the concepts explaining knowledge and the limits of what can be known (see also: epistemology);
- Knowledge of psychology: concepts of human nature.
"The various segments of the system of profound knowledge proposed here cannot be separated. They interact with each other. Thus, knowledge of psychology is incomplete without knowledge of variation.
"A manager of people needs to understand that all people are different. This is not ranking people. He needs to understand that the performance of anyone is governed largely by the system that he works in, the responsibility of management. A psychologist that possesses even a crude understanding of variation as will be learned in the experiment with the Red Beads (Ch. 7) could no longer participate in refinement of a plan for ranking people."[21]
The Appreciation of a system involves understanding how interactions (i.e., feedback) between the elements of a system can result in internal restrictions that force the system to behave as a single organism that automatically seeks a steady state. It is this steady state that determines the output of the system rather than the individual elements. Thus it is the structure of the organization rather than the employees, alone, which holds the key to improving the quality of output.
The Knowledge of variation involves understanding that everything measured consists of both "normal" variation due to the flexibility of the system and of "special causes" that create defects. Quality involves recognizing the difference to eliminate "special causes" while controlling normal variation. Deming taught that making changes in response to "normal" variation would only make the system perform worse. Understanding variation includes the mathematical certainty that variation will normally occur within six standard deviations of the mean.
The System of Profound Knowledge is the basis for application of Deming's famous 14 Points for Management, described below.
Key principles
Deming offered fourteen key principles for management for transforming business effectiveness. The points were first presented in his book Out of the Crisis. (p. 23-24)[22]- Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and stay in business, and to provide jobs.
- Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
- Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for massive inspection by building quality into the product in the first place.
- End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move towards a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
- Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.
- Institute training on the job.
- Institute leadership (see Point 12 and Ch. 8 of "Out of the Crisis"). The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets to do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers.
- Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company. (See Ch. 3 of "Out of the Crisis")
- Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in use that may be encountered with the product or service.
- Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.
- a. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute leadership.
b. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers, numerical goals. Substitute leadership. - a. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.
b. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia," abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objective (See Ch. 3 of "Out of the Crisis"). - Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.
- Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's job.
Seven Deadly Diseases
The "Seven Deadly Diseases" include- Lack of constancy of purpose
- Emphasis on short-term profits
- Evaluation by performance, merit rating, or annual review of performance
- Mobility of management
- Running a company on visible figures alone
- Excessive medical costs
- Excessive costs of warranty, fueled by lawyers who work for contingency fees
- Neglecting long-range planning
- Relying on technology to solve problems
- Seeking examples to follow rather than developing solutions
- Excuses, such as "Our problems are different"
- Obsolescence in school that management skill can be taught in classes[24]
- Reliance on quality control department rather than management, supervisors, managers of purchasing, and production workers
- Placing blames on workforces who only responsible for 15% of mistake where the system desired by management is responsible for 85% of the unintended consequences
- Relying on quality inspection rather than improve product quality
Quotations and concepts
In his later years, Dr. Deming taught many concepts, which he emphasized by key sayings or quotations that he repeated. A number of these quotes have been recorded.[26] Some of the concepts might seem to be oxymorons or contradictory to each other; however, the student is given each concept to ponder its meaning in the whole system, over time.- "There is no substitute for knowledge." This statement emphasizes the need to know more, about everything in the system. It is considered as a contrast to the old statement, "There is no substitute for hard work" by Thomas Alva Edison (1847–1931). Instead, a small amount of knowledge could save many hours of hard work.
- "The most important things cannot be measured." The issues that are most important, long term, cannot be measured in advance. However, they might be among the factors that an organization is measuring, just not understood as most important at the time.
- "The most important things are unknown or unknowable." The factors that have the greatest impact, long term, can be quite surprising. Analogous to an earthquake that disrupts service, other "earth-shattering" events that most affect an organization will be unknown or unknowable, in advance. Other examples of important things would be: a drastic change in technology, or new investment capital.
- "Experience by itself teaches nothing."[26] This statement emphasizes the need to interpret and apply information against a theory or framework of concepts that is the basis for knowledge about a system. It is considered as a contrast to the old statement, "Experience is the best teacher" (Dr. Deming disagreed with that). To Dr. Deming, knowledge is best taught by a master who explains the overall system through which experience is judged; experience, without understanding the underlying system, is just raw data that can be misinterpreted against a flawed theory of reality. Deming's view of experience is related to Shewhart's concept, "Data has no meaning apart from its context" (see Walter A. Shewhart, "Later Work").
- "By what method?... Only the method counts."[26] When information is obtained, or data is measured, the method, or process used to gather information, greatly affects the results. For example, the "Hawthorne effect" showed that people just asking frequently for opinions seemed to affect the resulting outcome, since some people felt better just being asked for their opinion. Dr. Deming warned that basing judgments on customer complaints alone ignored the general population of other opinions, which should be judged together, such as in a statistical sample of the whole, not just isolated complaints: survey the entire group about their likes and dislikes. The extreme complaints might not represent the attitudes of the whole group. Similarly, measuring or counting data depends on the instrument or method used.
- "You can expect what you inspect." Dr. Deming emphasized the importance of measuring and testing to predict typical results. If a phase consists of inputs + process + outputs, all 3 are inspected to some extent. Problems with inputs are a major source of trouble, but the process using those inputs can also have problems. By inspecting the inputs and the process more, the outputs can be better predicted, and inspected less. Rather than use mass inspection of every output product, the output can be statistically sampled in a cause-effect relationship through the process.
- "Special Causes and Common Causes": Dr. Deming considered anomalies in quality to be variations outside the control limits of a process. Such variations could be attributed to one-time events called "special causes" or to repeated events called "common causes" that hinder quality.
- Acceptable Defects: Rather than waste efforts on zero-defect goals, Dr. Deming stressed the importance of establishing a level of variation, or anomalies, acceptable to the recipient (or customer) in the next phase of a process. Often, some defects are quite acceptable, and efforts to remove all defects would be an excessive waste of time and money.
- The Deming Cycle (or Shewhart Cycle): As a repetitive process to determine the next action, the Deming Cycle describes a simple method to test information before making a major decision. The 4 steps in the Deming Cycle are: Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), also known as Plan-Do-Study-Act or PDSA. Dr. Deming called the cycle the Shewhart Cycle, after Walter A. Shewhart. The cycle can be used in various ways, such as running an experiment: PLAN (design) the experiment; DO the experiment by performing the steps; CHECK the results by testing information; and ACT on the decisions based on those results.
- Semi-Automated, not Fully Automated: Dr. Deming lamented the problem of automation gone awry ("robots painting robots"): instead, he advocated human-assisted semi-automation, which allows people to change the semi-automated or computer-assisted processes, based on new knowledge. Compare to Japanese term 'jidoka' (which can be loosely translated as "automation with a human touch").
- "The problem is at the top; management is the problem." [21] Dr. Deming emphasized that the top-level management had to change to produce significant differences, in a long-term, continuous manner. As a consultant, Deming would offer advice to top-level managers, if asked repeatedly, in a continuous manner.
- "What is a system? A system is a network of interdependent components that work together to try to accomplish the aim of the system. A system must have an aim. Without an aim, there is no system. The aim of the system must be clear to everyone in the system. The aim must include plans for the future. The aim is a value judgment. (We are of course talking here about a man-made system.)" [21]
- "A system must be managed. It will not manage itself. Left to themselves in the Western world, components become selfish, competitive. We can not afford the destructive effect of competition." [21]
- "To successfully respond to the myriad of changes that shake the world, transformation into a new style of management is required. The route to take is what I call profound knowledge—knowledge for leadership of transformation." [21]
- "The worker is not the problem. The problem is at the top! Management!" [27] Management's job. It is management's job to direct the efforts of all components toward the aim of the system. The first step is clarification: everyone in the organization must understand the aim of the system, and how to direct his efforts toward it. Everyone must understand the damage and loss to the whole organization from a team that seeks to become a selfish, independent, profit centre." [21]
- "They realized that the gains that you get by statistical methods are gains that you get without new machinery, without new people. Anybody can produce quality if he lowers his production rate. That is not what I am talking about. Statistical thinking and statistical methods are to Japanese production workers, foremen, and all the way through the company, a second language. In statistical control, you have a reproducible product hour after hour, day after day. And see how comforting that is to management, they now know what they can produce, they know what their costs are going to be." [28]
- "I think that people here expect miracles. American management thinks that they can just copy from Japan—but they don't know what to copy!" [28]
- "What is the variation trying to tell us about a process, about the people in the process?" [21] Dr. Shewhart created the basis for the control chart and the concept of a state of statistical control by carefully designed experiments. While Dr. Shewhart drew from pure mathematical statistical theories, he understood that data from physical processes never produce a "normal distribution curve" (a Gaussian distribution, also commonly referred to as a "bell curve"). He discovered that observed variation in manufacturing data did not always behave the same way as data in nature (Brownian motion of particles). Dr. Shewhart concluded that while every process displays variation, some processes display controlled variation that is natural to the process, while others display uncontrolled variation that is not present in the process causal system at all times.[29] Dr. Deming renamed these distinctions "common cause" for chance causes and "special cause" for assignable causes. He did this so the focus would be placed on those responsible for doing something about the variation, rather than the source of the variation. It is top management's responsibility to address "common cause" variation, and therefore it is management's responsibility to make improvements to the whole system. Because "special cause" variation is assignable, workers, supervisors or middle managers that have direct knowledge of the assignable cause best address this type of specific intervention.[8]
- (Deming on Quality Circles) "That's all window dressing. That's not fundamental. That's not getting at change and the transformation that must take place. Sure we have to solve problems. Certainly stamp out the fire. Stamp out the fire and get nowhere. Stamp out the fires puts us back to where we were in the first place. Taking action on the basis of results without theory of knowledge, without theory of variation, without knowledge about a system. Anything goes wrong, do something about it, overreacting; acting without knowledge, the effect is to make things worse. With the best of intentions and best efforts, managing by results is, in effect, exactly the same, as Dr. Myron Tribus put it, while driving your automobile, keeping your eye on the rear view mirror, what would happen? And that's what management by results is, keeping your eye on results." [2]
- "Knowledge is theory. We should be thankful if action of management is based on theory. Knowledge has temporal spread. Information is not knowledge. The world is drowning in information but is slow in acquisition of knowledge. There is no substitute for knowledge." [21] This statement emphasizes the need for theory of knowledge (see: epistemology, Shewhart cycle, C. I. Lewis).
- "The most important figures that one needs for management are unknown or unknowable (Lloyd S. Nelson, director of statistical methods for the Nashua corporation), but successful management must nevertheless take account of them." [22] Deming realized that many important things that must be managed couldn't be measured. Both points are important. One, not everything of importance to management can be measured. And two, you must still manage those important things. Spend $20,000 training 10 people in a special skill. What's the benefit? "You'll never know," answered Deming. "You'll never be able to measure it. Why did you do it? Because you believed it would pay off. Theory." Dr. Deming is often incorrectly quoted as saying, "You can't manage what you can't measure." In fact, he stated that one of the seven deadly diseases of management is running a company on visible figures alone.
- "By what method?" [26] When information is obtained, or data is measured, the method, or process used to gather information, affects the results. Dr. Deming warned that basing judgments on customer complaints alone ignored the general population of other opinions, which should be judged together, such as in a statistical sample of the whole (Sampling (statistics)). Changing the method changes the results. Aim and method are essential. An aim without a method is useless. A method without an aim is dangerous. It leads to action without direction and without constancy of purpose. Deming used an illustration of washing a table to teach a lesson about the relationship between purpose and method. If you tell someone to wash a table, but not the reason for washing it, they cannot do the job properly (will the table be used for chopping food or potting plants?). That does not mean just giving the explanation without an operational definition. The information about why the table needs to be washed, and what is to be done with it, makes it possible to do the job intelligently.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)