Unlock Bangalore

This was an initiative by the Times group in Bangalore to ease the traffic congestion by asking people to identify the problems and then propose solutions for the same. Being a contributor to the problem, I wanted to come up with some solution to this problem. The solution that I have in my mind may be a very crazy but has the potential to really unlock.

Before running into the solution, let's see what are all the problems that I face and create in the road. Because most of the times "We are part of the traffic Jam".
Most important points that were brought out were,
(i) Poor roads, bad foresight and lack of planning
(ii) Rash driving.
(iii) No adherence to traffic rules

These three factors are the major cause of all traffic jams. The roads and infrastructure are poor, no doubt about that. But we only tend to make the situation worse by not following the rules(By "We" I point to the Bangalore people who have that sucking attitude when it comes to driving--includes me too).

• How many of us are willing to stop at the red signal when there is no cop to govern the signal?
• How many of us are deliberately keep away from the pavements? Luckily four wheelers are more concerened about the cost of repairing else nothing will stop them from getting on to the pavement.
  
• How many of us honk just for the sake of it? even though all our brains know that honking is not going to clear road blocks?

Sometimes I realize that I use the "F" word more often than I use the brakes while driving. There is no respect for the fellow driver. My work timings is flexible and yet I tend to behave arrogant while driving and try to reach the destination asap. Everytime I decide not to jump signal, there are a** holes< > behind me honking with all their might. Many times I derive great pleasure irritating others in traffic. I guess this is very common and I get back the same treatment on road.

Everyone knows why this is happening and why it won't stop happening. There aren't strick rules in place. You can get away killing a person on road by paying Rs.50000 fine(provided you are not drunk). If you are drunk then you will have to shell out more to the police and lawyers to get away. If you don't believe this, go to any RTO(not sure if Inflation has increased the fine), else search for the case where Salman Khan ran over ppl sleeping on the pavement with his Land cruiser and got away with it. It's a pity that he got away killing people but served jail term for killing chinkara..

These rules easily make people careless, every day we read so many news about people getting killed on roads because of careless/reckless driving(even happened to one of our college mate in the college). Is all the adventure on road really worth it? Everyone emulates a schumi on road, but how many know the amount of safety precautions he takes before taking the steering wheel in his hand? Even after knowing all this, we
don't stop overspeeding,
don't stop changing lanes,
don't wear helmets fearing it may spoil our hairstyle..
What good is a hairstyle to a cadaver??

The change had to come from within, which I don't see happening anytime sooner. People talk at lengths about how good the traffic is in foreign countries, wtf!!! they have stricker punishing system in place. They track your ass wherever you go, all their police vehicles can match some GP2 race cars. So it's fear of punishment that ensures orderliness and not that people are morally good. I may sound like a person who have lost all hope, but this post is not to infect your minds with the -ve thoughts rather to enlighten with some idea which may trigger some spark. Atleast if this makes one person stop at the red signal once today, I would be the happiest person and will even add this achievement to this year's appraisal report.. :D


I am also not hoping the infrastructure in terms of roads to improve. Only possibility is to demolish the houses on either side, since that is not happening, no widening of roads is possible :).. Flyovers do improve the situation a bit, but by the time the construction is complete, the traffic grows and then the situation is as good as earlier(see Chennai). Same is the case with metro rail. They start building with a capacity X and by the time the construction is complete, the capacity increases to 3-4X. Also the construction process is the most tedious that involves land clearance, shifting of people to another place, traffic chaos caused in the construction site(MG road in Bangalore)

So the solution has to very radical, I don't say my solution is "the" solution, but the idea must be something like this.
(i) Which does not impede the normal day to day routine.
(ii) Ability to withstand the load for 10-20 years.
(iii) Encourage people to take it up instead of personal transport.
(I am not willing to go in a bus given a bike, the transport system should be able to change this mentality. I am saying we bring in cheerleaders into the bus :), but that should be really attractive alternative for people)
(iv) More scalability.
(v) More importantly must be completed in a very small time.

Now the intersting part, what is that I am boasting about? My idea, My Idea??
It's a three legged(tripedal) transport system that
1) has a solar panel on the top which takes all energy from Sun - eco friendly
2) In the existing road dividers and platforms, we lay small grooves to which this can hold and walk without affecting the normal traffic.
3) Driven by a computer with preset driving instrcutions.
4) More like the creature that destroys building and people in War of the Worlds.. :) Only it's used for constructive process now :)

To be contd....
Next Week on journeytotheinevitable...

Q: This is the most stupid idea I have ever heard..
Esh: No great invention/idea had received support, even Gregor Mendel's work was recogonised and appreciated only after his death

Q : What if the robot falls on the traffic?
Esh: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Q : What about the stops? how will the passengers get down from it? Should they be trained in sky diving?
Esh :

Q: What if there is a computer malfunction?
Esh: It will be bug free, I will write the code for it... ROFL

Q: What is the cost? when can we break-even? can it be extended to private customers?
Esh: what!! are u doing a MBA or what? no comments :P

If I have missed out any comments, you are welcome to add them in my comments section.

More detailed working model in the next blog with pcitures and more.. Stay tuned

2/3 Devil

Once again a long gap between the post. Well I have to blame my employer for keeping me busy not with work but in finding alternative ways to download stuff from the net. My internet usage in the company(15GB in feb) though little low according to me, has made my employer change the rules in the organization. No more bulk piracy downloads from rapidshare/megaupload allowed, anyone found violating will immediately be terminated without any warning.... lol

People in my organization have started to delete the songs, movies they had downloaded and also started uninstalling games. I am not sure if I was one of the reasons for the sudden change in the policy. Whatever be it, I am proud to have made a policy change in the company which is working for the greater good of the company ;)

Well sometimes, to achieve the greater good, you are forced to take the dubious path, but at least I am happy that I was able to contribute to that good cause. I forgot to mention, I have increased my downloads these days, thanks to many ppl staying away from the downloads, I get more bandwidth... :) Greater good for me... Let's keep this hush hush.. :D

The main intent of writing this blog was different, ok how do I start it?
What do you think about the number 4??
-- the only number that is preceded by 2 consecutive prime nos
-- smallest non-prime even number
Reader: (hey esh!! have u gone nuts?? come to the bloody topic)

How many of you believe in lucky numbers and stuff?? I was a strong believer, I am a strong believer and I will be in future too.. Only difference is my perspective on the issue had changes over the years. I refresh you with my history and then you will feel the strong presence of the lucky number through my life.
I was born on 13th, considered unlucky by most english people, luckily I am nowhere close to english and there cannot be a luckier number than 13 for me. I also have a roomie who will agree to this statement more than me.. ;)

The first 4 years(0-4) I spent in Madurai,
then came the first shift
The next 4 years (5-8) I studied in a school in Rajapalayam(TN)(UKG - 3rd) -- again 4 years
Then again a shift,
Joined 4th in a school in Coimbatore studied there until 8th(multiple of 4)
another shift
9th - 12th in another school in coimbatore, (BVB) --- again 4 years
another shift of place
Engg @ CEG,AU -- 4 years again
another shift
@Bangalore currently for the past 17months..
If you had noticed, the number of schools that i had studied in so far is also 4. :O

I have been noticing this pattern for quite a long time, in the initial stages I thought this was all fate, yeah it was fate that was responsible for the school changes since the transfers were more driven by my Dad's banking transfer policy.But the same cannot be attributed to the last 2 shifts, which were voluntary choices made in sane conditions by me.

There was a period when,
I thought everything was driven by numbers esp this 4..
I thought all exams that I take up on 4th will bring me gr8 success
I used to pray for an easy exam and more marks from God
I would be delighted to get a hall ticket/roll no whose single digit sum is 4
I would carry 4 new shuttles to practice always(this no one knows until now) :)
I used the same fountain pen and digital watch from class 9 exam to class 12.. Still have both of them.. :)

This is just a small part of superstitious belief that I had. I am not revealing anymore :P. But the point is I realized that all people(including me) used/use the tool of superstition to just shy away from accountability. Fate is a very good scapegoat. You can very easily blame your failures on fate without any remorse. So if an exam did not go as expected, I used to blame it on the profs, lecturers(how convenient) and attribute luck as the sole reason behind a person who scored the maximum marks(how mean).

Also with an animosity that has been developed over an entire semester :), teachers easily become scapegoat for a poor performance of a student. I am not in support of any teachers, I do agree that there were a lot of dumb asses(I don't believe that ass and a** makes a f***ing difference lol). May be the teachers were responsible, but I feel that they are not the reasons.
Also ppl reading, by teachers I allude to the crappy lot. There were also many admirable prof's/lecturers in my college. This is my view and the other 100+ ppl who studied with me may wish to differ. I respect all of their views(Implies: I expect u all to respect mine ). Just kidding, really I don't expect anything, this was yet another typing exercise for me... :P

All I wanted to convey is surrendering to fate makes one weak inside. I really love this conversation from the Matrix Movie,
Morpheus: Do you believe in Fate
Neo: No!
Morpheus: Why not??
Neo: I don't believe in fate because I don't like the idea that I am not in control of my life...

That is exactly what I wanted to convey through this blog. Though there may be really some things that may be out of our hand, don't accept that. Don't let the fear of failure stop you from trying. A horoscope is just a piece of paper interpreted by a human, not a God. A prediction from a horoscope if it's good, then use it as a confidence booster? if it's bad, then WYAO to prove that astrologer is a liar. We all have to remember that all these things were invented by man, so they will be as good as the products that we develop, there will be definitely bugs in it. It cannot be fool proof. If you ask me if I am so strong inside, to be honest I would say I am not.. But I would like to add that, with every passing second,minute and hour, I am getting more and more stronger inside.

I guess that was very serious, yeah whatever.. Now comes the reason for the title. Like the last blog this is also very very interesting one. :)
I noticed this very recently,
my birth date is
esh_devil: Oh No!! don't reveal ur age...(pls ignore my alter ego)
esh: no no.. it's for the greater good.. lol

13 - 04 - 85
I am doing a single digit sum,
4 - 4 - 4 :O
444
Everyone knows that 666 is associated with devil, I am not sure if they will have one such story for 444 after some year..
But anyhow with the data in hand, all I would like to say is I am as good as 444*(666/666) = 2/3*(666) = 2/3 Devil.. :)
(Quant gods, pls don't say this equation is invalid)
For further proof, this was how i look in the mirror ;)
[A small treat for April 1 ;) ]

The End

P.S. As usual comments are treaured. But now I have also added the Shout Box(SB), so u can shout whatever you want for having patiently gone through my entire post. Once again thanks for the time and the support.. It really keeps a usually lazy guy active occasionally...