Pune railway parcel office

Finally got my bike down to Pune , parceling it from Hubli was a breeze and picking it from Pune went well , paid a fine of 500 bucks, apparently one has to pick the bike in 6 hours on the time of arrival . Problem is no one picked the calls I made to the parcel office and I was under the impression that I had to pick the bike in 6 working days not aware that it was 6 working hours!!

The nightmare at the station happened when at the same time I had to parcel a colleagues bike to Patna in Bihar. Firstly Pune station is very small for such a big city and there is absolutely no Railway police anywhere. When I rode the bike to the station and spent a good time looking for the parcel office.




The 1st guy I asked, hoped onto the bike and said I know people there I’ll come with you. One thing I wanted to avoid here were the touts or agents. I asked the guy to get off the bike, I told him I can do it on my own , just tell me where the parcel office is? He walked away without answering , I rode further into station and ask the rickshaw driver for the information. he says that one can push the bike onto the platform itself . Apparently one can push a bike directly on to the platform meant for the passenger. Actually there is a separate entrance but not many in the station know where it is. Luckily I saw a guy with the red mazdoor union book in his chest pocket and I ask him for confirmation he too tells me to push the bike and asks a porter near by to take me there. The porter lead me to an agent.Whom I wanted to avoid them like a plague , I know they get the work done, But I knew the process and had done the same before. The agent (Sachin) who I start to hate instantly.

Agent : Gaadi parcel karma hai ? ( you want to parcel a bike?)
Me : Han , Patna koh (yes , to Patna)
Agent :2 hazar lagenge ( it will cost you 2000 bucks )
Me: Kya 2 hazar , Nahin kud karlunga (what 2000 , I’ll manage on my own )
Agent : karlo (do it)

I approach the porter who packs the , he says 300 bucks I tried to bargain with him a little and he just walked away. I waited there for some time , not realizing that the the porter doesn't pack unless the agent asks them to. I approach the porter again and agreed to pay the 300 bucks asked by him and he started to pack. Now the agent approached me.

Agent : Gaadi parcel karne ke liye NOC mangta hai ( you need a NOC ( No objection certificate )
Me: Aisa kuch nahin hai ( I don’t think so )
Agent : Dekho 2 hazar barabar hai , hum kho police kho bhi dena padtha hai ( Look 2000 is the right price , we need to pay the police too)
Me: Agar register karwa raha hun tho hi NOC chahiye (If i am getting the bike registered there then I’ll need the NOC
Agent: Police se puch lo (ask the police )

Big mistake, when the police interfere it means only thing. palm greasing.

Agent to police: Iss ka noc nahin hai , gaadi Patna parcel karna hai ( This bike dose not have a NOC , has to be parcelled to Patna
Police : Noc dikao (Show me the NOC )
Me: Gaadi parcel karne kho Noc nahin chahiye (You need NOC to Parcel the bike)
Police: (taking out some documents typed in marathi ) yeh deko NOC (Look at this NOC)
Me : Gaadi patna mein register krna hai toh NOC lagega ( If I need to get the Bike registered in Patna I need the NOC
Police : Gaadi bahar lejanekoh NOC lagta , Kaise malum gaadi chori ka nahin hai ( You need a NOC to Parcel the bike , How would we know it’s not stolen )
Me: Roz hazaron gaadi highway pe bahar jaati hai , uska kya ( Thousands of vehicle leave the state every day on the highways, what about them ?)
Police 2 : App shaant ho jao ( Calm down )

I walk away. I had given up by now , If I could not do it today I would have to wait till my next weekly off. I approach the agent again and agree to pay the damn 2000 bucks and get the bike parceled.



Looking back, the problem here :

The offices are not clearly marked , we don’t know who to approach. We roam around and ask people where is the office , who should we approach. This is were the agents score , we have no clue on how to go about it and end up lost.
The nexus between the officials and the agents. These people want the system not to change. Everyone is happy here , only we suffer.
Inability of people like me to do anything about it and people who just pay and get the work done. This one of the biggest problem , if the agent has to deal with people who protest day in and day out , I don’t think he would prefer doing this job.
Lack of time. I have seen people who refuse to pay the agents and get the work done on their own. One needs to have a lot of time on your hand for such an approach.

EDIT: I had again gone back to the station to parcel by bike back to Hubli, this time I was short on time, I found another Agent, whose name too is Sachin and happens to be cousin of the other agent. I found him to be good to deal with. TO parcel the bike he needs the a copy of the RC, NOC and insurance , I had only the RC. For a  price he will do everything from filling the form , getting the back packed and loading , charges vary , I bargained from 2000 to 1500 for the processing , paid 300 extra for packaging. 

Railway transport fee -620
Agent chagred -880 (including the bribe to the police which is around 300 rs)
Packing the bike -300 


As promised my bike was in Hubli the very next day.Pune railway parcel agents numbers-
His Number Sachin- 08087469112
Krisha -09881190547

Books for Automotive Performance enthusiasts

Motorcycle Handling and Chassis Design





The motorcycle is a complex system that has long defied full analysis. For a very long time, motorcycle handing was hardly even considered a subject. Engines, whose performance could be measured in "objective" terms, therefore received the lion's share of development. Engine development moved rapidly ahead of chassis, suspension, and tires, creating a succession of design crises that required new thought for their solution. Examples might be Rex McCandless's twin-loop swingarm chassis of 1950, Tony Mills's wide, belted Dunlop Daytona tire of 1974, and the present-day elaborations of Antonio Cobas's large-section aluminium twin-beam chassis of the early 1980s. In each case, motorcycle performance had ceased to advance because of
specific problems that could not be solved by traditional means.
The book “Mototorcycle Chassis Design” was first published in 1984 and was subsequently reprinted several times without under-going change. Although out of print for over 12 years or so, I know from personal inquiries that there is still considerable demand for a book on this subject. A new book was obviously well overdue, although much of the original material is as current today as it always has been. After all, the laws of Newtonian Physics tend to be stable over time.
Contents
1 Function and history
2 Tyres
3 Geometric considerations
4 Balance and steering
5 Aerodynamics
6 Suspension principles
7 Front suspension
7 Front suspension
9 Squat and dive
10 Structural considerations
11 Engine Mounting
12 Braking
13 Materials and properties
14 Stability & control
15 Performance measurement
16 Practical frame building
17 Case study
18 Future developments

Two stroke tuner handbook by Gordon Jennings






One of the most famous books on 2 stroke tuning. Detailing for any one interested in increasing the performance of their machines. A bible for building a High speed and high power 2 stroke machines.
With chapters giving insights on the following topics
contents
Fundamentals
1.predicting power
piston speed
piston acceleration
2.Crank Train
3.Cylinder heads
4.Expansion chambers
5.Port timing
6.Crank case pumping
7.Cylinder scavenging
8.Carburetion
9.Ignition

Performance tuning by A Grahmbell



Bell covers all areas of engine operation, from air and fuel, through carburation, ignition, cylinders, camshafts and valves, exhaust systems and drive trains, to cooling and lubrication. Filled with new material on electronic fuel injection and computerised engine management systems. Every aspect of an engines operation is explained and analyzed.


This torrent includes both the books of the renowned author.




Undoubtedly, the virtue which has most contributed to the widespread use and varied application of the two-stroke engine is its mechanical simplicity. Tuning expert A. Graham Bell takes readers through the various modifications that can be made to a two-stroke and its components in order to derive maximum usable power and mechanical reliability. Both the latest advances in two-stroke tuning and old standbys are covered for all areas of operation, from ignition, carburetion, cylinders, and valves through exhaust systems and dyno tuning. Updates to this expanded edition include new photography, line diagrams and explanatory charts.

Job Scam Emails Tracing

I have been getting emails from Skoda motors , Tata Motors and many other such companies requesting to attend interviews and initially I felt the mails were from the mentioned companies , but realized later the mails were a scam.The sender ID was skodaauto@companyhrd.com , which should have been the other way around something like companyhrd@skodaauto.com . I was wondering who are these guys, the mails themselves contain very little information about the sender or about the company, most of the mails did not have any contact details other then the email from which it was sent.

Thought I'll do a little a little bit of snooping around.But the sender email address is not from a domain related by the company. A quick Google on the email threw up results on Consumer Complaints websites.

Wanted to dig a little deeper and did a trace of the email.Many do not know that every email can be traced back to the place and IP address it was sent from.

Here is how you do it .Click on the " Show original" tab of the email.

If you are using Gmail , on the right hand side of the mail beside the "show details" tab , click on the arrow mark and then click on "show original ". Google up some email tracing sites and the paste the original content.I use IP Trace .The results show the location of the sender. Though a few smart scamers use a proxy server.
Here is what the trace threw up

My sender Information

IP address: 220.226.195.104

IP address country: India

IP address state: Maharashtra

IP address city: Mumbai

IP address latitude: 18.9750

IP address longitude: 72.8258

ISP of this IP: RELIANCE COMMUNICATIONS

Organization: RELIANCE COMMUNICATIONS

Local Time of this IP country: 2010-12-06 14:12

A whois search of the IP results show that the ID is registered to Rediffmail Pro , a personalised email ID service.

If you respond to the email the next step would be to ask you to send a bit of money for the travel for the interview which will be reimbursed once you come for the interview.

An example of a mail I had received

"You have to deposit the (Cash) as an initial amount in favor of Company HRD.Department. for Rs. 6, 500/- through any [STATE BANK OF INDIA]Branch from your Home City to Company Senior HRD. Account NO 20037082325 - ACCOUNT NAME SIRO.WILLY
This is refundable interview security. Your offer letter with Air tickets
will be send to your Home Address by courier after receiving the
confirmation of interview security deposited in STATE BANK OF INDIA ."

Many of us don't bother reporting it as spam and others end up getting duped.

Edit:Adding "Info.team@marutisuzuki.com" to the list of scams. Got an email from them

Dagdusheth Ganpati and Pune Public Transport

Of the few major cities I've been in India, Delhi , Bangalore and now Pune , Pune it seems to have the worst public transport. The other day I was visiting the city's famous Dagadusheth Halwai Ganapati Temple . The bus took 1 hour to arrive at the bus stand and did not even stop , only one guy managed to jump on to it , my attempt was blocked by a rickshaw that was trying to pick up frustrated commuters.



Then I walked back to the main Bus stand in the hopes of getting a ride, asked for assistance to the bus driver who said something in Marathi. After asking a few more people finally found the platform where I had to wait another hour. When the bus finally arrived there was a sizable crowd gathered to board it. once the bus stopped there was a mad clamor to get on to it ,the guy before me was carrying a drum , who almost crushed my fingers against the bus railing.There are no queues here every man for himself and ladies too who jostle with the men to get on. Those who can't get it hang on to dear life on to the railing near the doors.

The bus took its own sweet time and almost everyone in the bus had a go at stepping on my foot trying to get ahead. Finally the bus arrived and the temple was not too far from where I had to get down , found the temple and the Ganesh Idol there is one of the best I've ever seen , its magnificent, adorned in gold and other jewels.



Photography is not allowed inside the temple, atleast that what the signs say.




Not a much known fact is the idol was sculpted by Nagappa Shilpi from Dharwad Karnataka after the 1st idol started to appear a bit tattered. Not much info is available about the sculptor though. He hailed from Dharwad was told to me by my dad.

The bus back to home was equally tiring waiting of an hour and then the arrival of a crowed bus. This time it was me who was hanging on to my dear life at the door of the bus.



Then was pushed inside the bus , by other commuter who also wanted to get in at the next stop.Its not cheap either , If I had my bike it would have been cheaper . It's time to get my bike down here But it was all worth it , Wanted to visit the temple and really happy I did.

Dagdushet Images belong to Bavesh, a big thanks to him,for letting me use.Dagdushet Images copyright held by Bhavesh

Soldier for a day

One of my regrets has been not seriously considering joining the armed forces. Wanted to go for it after my +2’s but my score made sure I’d never make it in, after my BE, it was too late.

A few days ago I got a little feel of how a soldier feels in a firefight. On our team outing we had competed against each other in a Paintball match. The group was split into a team of 7 each. The gear consisted of a Paintball gun also called a marker of Tippmann make , a mask and a body armor .

The 1st match we got drubbed badly, I was the team lead and a made a mess of it, were knocked out in the 1st round. But the second round was where the money was, 10 paint balls for each member. We played well and we won the final match.



From a management perspective it’s one of the best games to gauge the personality traits of a person, how daring he is , how he behaves when under stress and when rapid decisions are needed to be taken.

The Professional Ear Cleaners

Having jumped on to the IT bandwagon, much to the delight of my mum. I had to relocate to Pune.

I have been walking to office since my pick up drop facility is yet to start . I enjoy walking to the office , I find it more interesting , but Pune is getting hotter and I usually arrive at the office looking a mess.

The route I take goes through an area called mandi , which is a vegetable market.
Recently I saw a guy squatted on the ground pulling on to the ear of another guy squatted next to him Probing his ear, with what looked like a metal rod ear bud. I realized that he was a professional ear cleaner. I had never seen one and I thought in this age of Johnson and Johnson , it would be a lost profession or to be seen only in villages and village fairs. Their wares included a box strung with a leather strap containing assortment of oils and sticks which looks like ear bud. Most of them were young and left me wondering what got them into this profession. A quick search on the internet, found that these guys are not as uncommon as I thought. And were once as common as a barber.



I’d like to talk to them but my grasp of Marathi is wanting. Next time I visit the area I’ll be sure to get some pics and try to have a small chit chat.

Image Credit:Lonely planet

Motorcycle ride to Dudhsagar

Since he day I had seen the pics of the magnificent waterfalls, I had been wanting to visit the place. A holiday and a quick plan set us up.

My cousin had been there and the road taken by them was Hubli-Kittur-Bidi-Ramnagar-Anmod-Molem. I did not know any other road so we decided on the same.

At 7 in the morning I left for the waterfalls along with a friend of mine .taking the NH4 towards Belgaum. Kittur is about 45 Kms from Hubli.. Just before Kittur bus stand is a road which connects to Kittur. Kittur had a fort ,so we decided to check the place out. Kittur fort which is in total ruins ,once ruled by Kittur Rani Chenamma . There is not much to see here , there is also a museum but was closed. Can be skipped unless you have time ,since the place is only a Km away.

From Kittur asked for the road to Bidi ,once you have taken the diversion to Kittur , from the circle keep going straight till you reach a road on your left , take this road, Bidi is about 15 Kms from here. The road is really bad ,luckily not very heavy traffic, but the road has potholes a feet deep at places .Traffic consists of a few trucks and Force Trax taxi and few 2 wheelers.

From Bidi we headed towards Ramnagar , on the way to Ramnagar on your left is a petrol bunk fill up here there is no bunk till Ramnagar .The petrol bunk dude is a very nice guy , more about him later.

The road from Bidi to Ramnagar is good with recently repaired tarmac. The distance between the two is about 30 Kms. From Ramnagar we headed towards Anmod. The road between Ramnagar and Anmod passes through jungles and the road here is good and good speed can be maintained. From Anmod to Molem is the ghat section infested by mining trucks. This road if it can be called a road , is one of the worst I have ridden on ,the dust here is incredible , one can hardly see the road ,every time a tipper goes, the dust density increases. My helmet visor was not cleaned properly and riding without the visor was hellish , my eyes started to water because of the dust ,had a very hard time trying to see the road and the watering eyes made it only worse with dust mixing in . The vehicles which ply on this road are all mining trucks, most of them tippers ,driven at very high speeds, over taking is very difficult and risky with very little reaction time and no space to move to avoid the on coming trucks . Most of the roads ,especially in the bends were bad ,any spill in here ,risks being run over. So after a lot of asking for direction right from Kittur we finally reach Molem and from here we proceeded to Colem.

Once we arrived at the turn to Dudhsagar in Colem we saw a bunch of guys sitting on motorbikes , these guys charge 400Rs per person for the drop to Dudhsagar falls on their bikes and anybody with there own bike is not helped or given any direction to reach the spot .I asked them for direction and all they said was your bike won’t go , you need a guide to show the place. Last part is true.

As we moved forward ,we came across manned level crossing. Which is most likely will be closed all the time ,leaned the bike under the gates and pushed it across As soon as we crossed the railway tracks, we found 3 roads ,one tar on the right, one mud road in front and a mud road going up to my left. After asking the gateman at the railway crossing for direction we took the left mud road . Riding a little ahead we reached an unused railway track. We rode on the track itself for a distance till it lead next to a track which was in use.

We got off the track and started riding on the trail next to the track in use. I did not know how long I had to ride or where I had to take a diversion , I kept on riding blind to the fact that ,when I reached the 49/500 or so signboard I had keep riding till I reach 46/000 and 45/900. I would find a milestone that has 51 on one side and 50 on the other and get down the trail . I stopped for a while hoping to ask some body for directions ,then I saw couple of guys riding towards me , seeing them gave me the confidence that I was on the right track or rather next to the right track ,I rode on . A little while later I stopped for the guys behind me to catch up. They never did .I turned back in search of them and they where nowhere to be seen, then I came across a small trail leading under a bridge. It looked unrideable but I walked down the trail looking for tyre marks and found a few and then got my bike down the trail and under the bridge beneath the railway track .I rode down right into a stream flowing below the bridge, continued following the trail , a few meters later I found a check post .

I brought tickets for the bike 40 Rs ,20 Rs for JJ and 5 Rs for me , 5 for me because students get a discount and I showed him my 3 year old expired student Id card. From the check post it was another 5 to 6 Kms . I was doing good speed here in the jungle and the inevitable happened. I rode right into a sludge pit ,which looked like a road , the pit was about 6 inches deep and about 5 feet wide the bike skidded and me and JJ both fell with the bike on top of us, we both started to laugh .Luckily no damage to us or the bike.

. After a river crossing on the bike ,we met up with the motorbike taxi guys I had initially met at the entrance. Started to chat with them and I tagged along with them for rest of the ride. Parked the bikes much before the spot ,as a log had fallen off on the trail. After parking the bikes all of us JJ ,me ,the taxi guys and their pillion started to walk to the falls about half a kilometer trek with river crossing waist deep water .

And finally we reached Dudhsagar. It’s a sight to behold it’s really beautiful and words won’t do justice to its beauty. We were not able to spend much time at the falls , since I did not want to ride the Molem- Ramnagar stretch at night ,we left early at about 2pm . Rode a bit fast since it looked it was about to rain and reached Bidi at 7.15 and stopped for petrol and started to move towards Kittur at 7.30. Was cursing the road all the way till Kittur and a smiled when I saw the milestone 2 Kms to Kittur. I get a call on mobile “sir you have left your bag at our petrol station. Calmly , resigned to fate I turn back and ride back to pick the bag . Saying my thanks to the petrol pump dude. I ride back to Hubli . Reaching home at 10.

This ride has been one if the best rides I have had yet, it was amazing, the ride is what mattered more and the water falls is the icing on the cake and cherry too.

I would recommend everyone to make this journey ,preferably by bike. This November , Jeep taxis will be introduced to the falls and the road will be different . But will not be much fun.

This ride has been one of my best ride yet. The Jeep ride which will start in November will move people ,but the two wheeler ride will move your SOUL .

Wear proper protection when riding the road we took , crash here can be fatal.