BPL and Rahul Gandhi

I have a theory. The series of faux pas and corrections from the UPA government are all part of master plan to paint Rahul Gandhi as the saviour of aam admi. Take the recent furore over the Rs 32/- number from the planning commision for BPL cap. How else would you explain a govt. already suffering from bad PR fail to act until Rahul Gandhi joins the issue?

Rahul Gandhi forces rethink on Rs 32 poverty line

Miss my camera #1

While I was returning home last Friday, a neighbours kid ran down the street to welcome her mother. The kid was an year or two old, not yet fluid in walking. She was walking as fast as she could, scaring me a little that she would stumble. She didn't care. She had a happy expression on her face, very infectious. Her eyes were only on her mother and her hands spread wide for a hug. It was beautiful. One of those moments you would want to capture and store forever. I really missed my camera at that moment. May be its better as a memory. You need a really good photographer to capture the joy on the kids face at that moment.

Bus Shadow regions

Bus shadow regions: describes arterial roads that are not served by public transport

e.g. HAL airport to Old Madras Road in Bangalore.

I coined this word out of sheer frustration. I live on the HAL Airport road which is fairly well serviced by BMTC. My office is on the way to Old Madras road. Everyday there are a large number of folks who travel from the airport road to Old Madras road via Suranjan Das Road. However BMTC does not serve this route. Share autos make a killing and office goers crowd the street with their cars usually with single occupancy. God I hope BMTC adds buses on this route.

I am sometimes frustrated by Bangalore's public transport system. The whole system seems to be based on buses plying long routes with interconnects few and far between. As long you are travelling on one of these routes, you can find a bus in 15-20 mins. However if you need to travel two routes to get to your destination, you are in for trouble. The interconnects are more distant than the destination or you need to walk a fair distance get from a stop on one route to another.

Sometimes I dream for a hubs and spokes public transport system in Bangalore. Minibuses could run to/from any area to the nearest hub and the large buses could ferry folks between hubs. Add a multi-storey parking or a cycle rental at each hub and BMTC could have a significant revenue stream. I can keep on dreaming I guess.

Saints by association

I visited a temple on a recent auspicious day and I realized a couple of things. I know only one Sloka(Suklambaradharam) by heart and everytime I recite it I hear it in Ghantasala's voice in my head. Similar is the case with Venkateswara Suprabhatam. The hymn sounds odd in voice other than M. S. Subbalakshmi. Anytime I hear one of these two prayers, the name of the singer pops into my head. I assume there would be many other south indians who associate these two songs with the God and the singer simultaneously. Does that make the two singers Saints like Annamayya in their own right?