5 November 2008

Bed Bug Infestation in Government and Private Buses

We all travel by bus for a long distance journey and all of you might have experienced the bed bug menace. There have been numerous people affected by an infestation of bedbugs while travelling in the private and public buses.

I travel every month through KSRTC Airavata or any private buses like Durgamba, Manjunath, Ideal Travels, VRL Travels, etc. The seats in almost all the buses will be filled with bed bugs. There are people who travel to Tamilnadu, Andra Pradesh, Kerala and other part of India who would have faced the same situation like me with bed bugs. All these buses are not maintained properly. These bed bugs not only troubles you while you are travelling but also come with you as a guest to your room and permanently settle in your room. There are people who have lost their sleep because of these bed bugs. Bed bugs are extremely difficult to get rid of, and left unchecked, can result in considerable time and money needed to protect you against them, not to mention overwhelming feelings of distress. These bugs feed on your blood.

Let's get rid of these bed bugs by signing the petition at:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/BedBug/
Your voices count!

4 November 2008

Blueberry Hills ...ಹರಿ ಪದವು...


Heard of Blueberry Hills…? Earlier, it’s called as Hari Padav. I hail from this place and I’m blessed to hail from this part of Mangalore. Its one of the best places in Mangalore for morning jogs and evening walks. People of all groups come for morning jog and evening walks and relish the calm atmosphere.

Blueberry hills….my childhood memories are still alive…roaming and climbing the hills especially in the evenings, climbing trees :D to get cashews, picking up blueberries from the shrubs, flying kites...this one’s my favourites… evening walks.. playing cricket..volleyball which we didn’t miss any of the Sundays, having Omelette in the petty shops (Goodangadi) which had yummy taste. Life was bubbly and carefree then.

You get an enlivening view from the top of this hill with views of Arabian Sea, Infosys Campus, Mangalore helipad (Maryhill), Shopping Malls, Bungalows, Apartments, City, Krishna Palemar’s Landlinks Township with Cashew Trees, Blueberry Shrubs, Sandal Wood trees (Very few now), trees of different varieties around. It’s a pride that Mangalore’s only Software Technology Parks of India is located here. I used to work here for my former company Diya where my sentiments are emotionally involved.

Blueberry hills…sometimes back was a famous spot for couples. Couples used come for a ride around Blueberry hills and enjoy the sea view and cool breeze. Now, the landscape has got a different shape with the construction of Forensic Laboratory in that location. But still there are people who have their sentiments close to Blueberry hills come and take pleasure of the horizon.

Development is catching up in Mangalore and this development has a huge impact on the scenic beauties. Skyline Builders have touched the Mangalore soil and their first project is underway at Blueberry Hills. I’m pretty sure like any other places, Blueberry hills will also be packed with Apartments and Bungalows in a couple of years. Hope the builders will have mercy on nature and preserve its beauty as it is. My zeal for bucolic life is alive and I want to experience this beauty till the end. Good spirit alone has to save Blueberry hills from the builders who seem to be monsters to Nature. Save Nature and Save Blueberry hills.. Save our childhood memories and let our next generation have the benefit of natural world. :-)

3 November 2008

Hopping on the Running Train...


Would anyone think of visiting Hyderabad during the dog days of summer; moreover your first visit? Yes, I did visit during May along with my 2 friends from Bangalore. We enjoyed our stay in one of our friend’s house at Ramanthapur. Though, the weather was awful.

It was on a Sunday, we had planned to return back to Bangalore. We had been to Ramoji Film City that day and spent our day there. On our way back from film city, we wanted to visit Sanghi temple. It was 5.30 in the evening; still we headed towards Sanghi Nagar. It is a Wonderful temple of Lord Venkateshwara and few other deities. Some scene’s of the movie Bommarillu was shot in this temple.

We had our pradakshina and started from Sanghi at around 6PM. We had to board the train to b’lore at 7.05. It was almost 6.45 when we reached Ramanthapur. We just had time to pick our things and dump into our bags and run to kacheguda station. It was already 6.50 there, aunty was packing food for us, and Kushi (Our friends daughter..she’s such a sweetie pie..u speak to her n u’ll forget all ur worries) wants us to sit with her and play cards for some time. We flattered Kushi and took our bags and jumped into the car which was waiting outside.

Now when we are in the car, we realise and remember that our tickets were in waiting list and they were not confirmed till the previous day. We don’t know the status of our tickets as well. We called one of our friend, she was about to leave somewhere, made her login to Indian Rail website and got the status. Luckily, our tickets were confirmed.

We reached Kacheguda Station, thanks to the driver, we got down the car, without looking back we ran into the station. All 3 of us could see 7.05 in the digital display clock. We panicked when the train had already blown the horn as a signal to depart. We had to pass through the skywalk to board the train. Hugh… We were confused whether to jump the track and catch the train or go through the skywalk and catch the train. We had to take decisions in seconds.. All of us scattered and I just remember myself running to the highest speed I could pushing all the people in the crowd. Finally me and my friend caught the moving train. And my first question to the first person whom I found was “Is this Bangalore Express?”. When he said “Yes”, I relaxed at once, turned back to see, one of my friend to be missing who was having the tickets with her.

I was worried whether to get down or is she in the train? I’m trying her phone and unable to reach her. I immediately got down, ran up the skywalk to find if she’s fallen in the crowd or something like that. There she calls me and says she’s boarded the train and searching us. I ran down and caught back the running train. The train had started moving forward and the last bogie would have passed by me any moment. Uffff… It took 15-20 minutes for us to search our compartment. Ultimately, reached our compartment, we took our seat and took deep breaths. We just wanted to laugh a loud thinking how we got the train. All 3 of us had to calm ourselves and had a great laugh thinking about our plight.

It’s a different experience when you face this situation. You might have heard from friends, stories about missing trains, catching running trains. But its nice to be in that position. But never be late for anything, anywhere. Its good to be present before time than be late and panic. :-)