Chachu's Column #43: Chachu in Poland

[Again wishing all readers a very happy new year.]

Eager to go

At airport terminal

While I had been to Poland for short stints twice earlier, this was the first time while I was there right in the midst of peak winter season for a slightly longer stay. When I was a child, my only knowledge about this country of Poland was its capital Warsaw that we used to mug up with many other country-capitals of the world. Now many years later, I was in a city of Poland – Wroclaw – a name that I had never heard till my first visit. 

Poland and its European context

Poland had a chequered history with interspersed periods of freedom and foreign rule. Till 1918, there was no independent Polish state. The Second Polish Republic was established and existed from 1918 to 1939. However, the second world war in 1939 destroyed this Polish republic when axis power Germany and ally Russia joined hands to attack Poland from west and east respectively thereby splitting Poland. When German ambition soared and through Operation Barbarossa they attacked the mighty Russia, a full blown World War II ensued. After protracted period of war which Germany eventually lost, Russia took control over Poland and made it a satellite state (i.e. a country that is formally independent, but under heavy political and economic influence or control by another country). This situation lasted till 1989 after which it made a peaceful transition from a communist state to the capitalist system and parliamentary democracy.

Completely submerged cars

Caught in a blizzard

 So, here I was in Wroclaw, a city of a thriving and growing nation. On my arrival, temperatures were bearably cold but as my stay progressed, temperatures kept falling down. In its peak, it fell to a mind boggling -20 degree Celsius. Such low temperatures meant that even fully covered body could not handle the chilling cold. Taking out the gloves for any reason meant a sharp chilling pain in the hands. Such low temperatures meant we had to scurry for cover. This was my first stint in a city full of snow. Till now, I had seen pictures of Shimla being covered in snow. But here it was snow all around. Still, my inners, gloves and my faithful jacket were enough to protect me from such low temperatures. Multiple sweaters or jackets were never called for. Still, for nose and mouth there was still lot of problem. And more often than not, we had a running nose… 

The very low temperatures never dampened the spirit on the street. Be it day or night, -20 degress or 0 degrees, the city center was filled with students of the Wroclaw University. As there was this university right in the middle of city center and hostels and pubs all around, there was lot of youth and energy. To top it, we had a large shopping area, where vehicular entry was prohibited. So there was plenty of space to walk around.

Snow covered city and the cameraman on the prowl

Managing cities in winters required lot of efforts from the city administration. In the mornings after the snow fall, the roads were all covered with snow. And big machines used to keep running around guzzling snow and moving them aside. Even for pedestrians and cycle lanes, there were small machines that used to clear the snow. On odd days when the machines were late, we used to walk on snow to catch our bus. It was not uncommon to see the cars taking lot of time to get started. It was like the old days in our country where there was a “choke” button in ambassador cars that had to pulled to enhance fuel supply and to make the cars start. In extreme cases, I even saw people pushing cars to get it started. Poland being a developing country, there were cars smaller than Maruti 800 to gas guzzling SUVs – all forms of car were visible. The saving grace was that there were no two or three-wheelers slowing the traffic movement.

My building backyard

Since underground parking was probably very costly (more so when average size of 2 bedroom apartment was merely 600 sqft), most of the cars used to get parked out in the open. The night long snow meant that the first task in the morning was to clear the solid layer of snow stuck on the windshields. People were seen wielding plastic shovels to clear the snow from their cars. It was not uncommon to see cars disappearing under a thick blanket of snow.

Our office was four bus stops away. And the bus stop was just few minute walk away. But on very cold days, those few minutes were also very difficult. The saving grace was that the shopping mart was just 5 minutes walk from my house.

My cozy apartment

My first use of bus was mired with problems. Firstly, I was not sure if it went to my house or not. I tried to ask but no one answered – language was a big problem. Then came the more difficult part – I wanted to buy a ticket but there was no conductor. I took out lot to change from my pocket and showed to a lady. The lady kept on murmuring in local language but there was no help. Then she took out tickets from her purse and game me one. I paid her for the tickets. Then a boy on the next seat told that the ticket was for a child and that I had to buy two such tickets. I brought another one from the lady. The boy then told that you can buy ticket on bus but you need credit card. There was no conductor on bus and it was totally up to us to buy tickets and get it verified. The next morning, I was able to buy tickets from my credit card. And then in evening, I found the machine that dispensed the tickets. For the remaining part of my stay, there was no problem except on my last day. When I was returning from a mall, a man was frantically kicking the ticket vending machine. I thought his money had got stuck so he was angry. I pushed him and put a five zloty coin for a two zloty ticket. I suffered the same fate and I did not get the money or tickets. I also thought of kicking the machine!!

University in full glory

Graffiti on walls was not uncommon 

With age catching up and my paunch increasing exponentially, I started going to gym there. But on the very first day, I faced a major problem. The gym opened at 8.00am – the time for me to go to office – but I went there at 5.00am. The security guard tried explaining to me that gym was closed and that it would open later. But I did not understand. Then he wrote 8 – 22 on paper. I understood that the gym would open late. But I kept on asking for the keys and finally after being fed up, I made the entry in the register and went inside. The next day, same problem was repeated. But this time, the good guard was replaced by a bad guard Buntaji. He refused to allow me inside. I tried telling him that this problem was solved already but could not explain that I had already gone once earlier. So there was me and the guard trying to outdo each other. But then lightening struck and I showed him the register and old entry where I had entered at 5.00am. Seeing the entry, he could not do anything. He said 10 minutes. I said yes, 10 minutes running.. And the keys were with me again. Now the register is there and no one can stopped me third time. I went to gym at various times and always found the guard to be awake. Not like many many years ago when my father fell after climbing the main gate of our house - the guard at that time was peacefully sleeping. Here, the guards don’t sleep at night – at least the ones I saw – even though they are all alone in freezing temperatures. 

The lock bridge

Coming back to city, very few knew English to language remained a persistent problem. It was common to bring home water from a superstore only to find it was soda water (with gas). After staying in various alien countries including china and japan, I had realized that using the mouth was a waste of energy. So I always used signs to communicate. For haggling and bargaining, calculator came in handy. People were generally friendly and it was not uncommon to see coffee gossip sessions.

One of the many architectural landmarks

With freezing cold, there was not too much of sightseeing on offer. Yet, its architectural splendor and churches were a sight to behold. And then there were number of shopping malls and a lean season that matched my stay out there. So all weekends were spent bargain hunting for the best and cheapest stuff out there – so plenty of clothes, jackets, purses/wallets, shoes and chocolates were purchased. And even after coming back to India, the demand for more goodies never stopped coming. May be for another trip to country.

Chachu at a shopping mall

Shopping center

Churches ...

Many miniature statues that were seen on streets of Poland

Another miniature...

A landmark on a busy city crossing

And more

Churches et al.

On a bylane, in the background were spires destroyed during world war.

Chachu,
27^th March, 2012

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Edited Comments on Chachu's Column Chachu's Column #42: Of Lavasa and Future Cities

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1. How are you doing? We went to Lavasa few weeks back for 2 days. We went there just for holidaying. I think bunglows there are 2nd houses of riches in mumbai or may be delhi. (Courtesy name withheld)

Web Resources

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Poland

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barbarossa

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wroclaw

[4] http://wikitravel.org/en/Wroclaw

Previous Chachu's Columns

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Comments/feedback

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Chachu's Column #37: Of God's own country

Chachu's Column #37: Of God's own country
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Family congregations offer excellent opportunity to shed the monotony and go places. When one such opportunity placed itself before me, I plunged without much ado. But before that, the planning had to be taken care of. And even before that, the venue had to be decided. The choices were aplenty. But the budget was thin. And when you consider that the toddlers do not get any grace from the aviation industry, unlike our good old railways where they can be squeezed here and there, the matters only become worse.

Living in the country’s capital also posed its unique challenges. You could go up and immediately end up on some hill station. In the last few years, various venues had already been lapped up. Shimla and Chail for one (see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chachus_pen/message/10). Then there was a visit to Nainital and Kasauni last year where the 16 hour return journey nearly broke the back of my NRI relative; not to mention the number of stoppages for nausea et. al. Another visit to Mount Abu too was rather unceremonious not because what it offered but because of plethora of minor issues. Ergo, hills were totally out of the question.

Going west meant good old pink city Jaipur and its siblings like Udaipur and Jodhpur and the royal hotels that graced them. Jaipur had been visited, while others with their sky rocketing room rentals did not offer much chance. Eastern India, including places like Sikkim and Darjeeling, were also hill stations and not under consideration.




That only left South India. Here too, there were considerable options. One could explore the solitude of the islands in the Andaman; or could go to the beautiful Lakhsadweep. And then obviously there was the God’s own country – Kerala. After much deliberation, “Kerala” was chosen. Now, Kerala is squeezed between Lakhsadweep Sea and Indian ocean in the west, and the Western Ghats in the East. Oceans also seep inside the state at various points thus forming the famous backwaters. Thus, for tourists, it offers plenty of options. There are sea beaches, the most famous being the Kovalam. On the west there are many hill stations - Munnar and Thekkady being the important ones. Then there are backwaters, including Alleppey, the Venice of the East. Now, choosing venues for our trip had the concomitant predicament. Many tourists prefer hopping from one venue to other, each morning being one of packing bags, stuffing the shaving kit, loading the goods in the minivan and hurrying the lethargic populace into action. It was as though the objective of travel was marking the venues into the list of traversed cities - much akin to traveling 13 European Cities in 16 days. I abhorred this concept because for me, travel was for leisure where the foremost priority was relaxation, living life at one’s own pace, not having to bother about professional duties. For the spouse, being relieved of house hold duties was the greatest benefit. Thus, the itinerary was deliberately kept light and the travel and hotel hopping kept bare minimum. With travel industry booming in the country, the travel agents offered pretty competitive rates. And then an excellent air travel offer meant that return fare for Cochin ex Delhi was brought for less than eight thousand rupees. And only few years back, if my memory serves me right, one way ticket to Trivandrum was nearly fourteen thousand rupees.

The entry port for our trip was Cochin (or Kochi as it is popularly known) where the relatively new Cochin International airport greeted us. The airport though small had a pleasing architecture and was pretty neat and clean. A minivan greeted us outside. Unfortunately, the van did not have a boot space or a carrier. Thus, the tons of luggage were stuffed below and above the passenger seats. And the empty ones were occupied by the passengers. Our hotel was about an hour away from the airport. The drive gave us the first glimpse of Kerala – God’s own country. The state seemed sparsely populated, with lakes and lush green trees dotting the journey. Roads though narrow were well maintained. Immediately, prospects of accruing financial benefiting by investing in real estate opportunity started conjuring up.

Our hotel (www.milmermaid.com/) too was built on the bank of a small river. The river surface was green with weeds and lotus leaves hiding the water. And just at the edge of the river was a small swimming pool. Thus, while swimming one felt as though one was being carried along with the river water. The hotel rooms were simple and decently built. The one night stay in Cochin meant that the bags had to be packed the next day itself.

Having had our breakfast early, we left for sight seeing. As a tourist destination, Kochi did not offer much (http://www.cochin.org/tourism.htm). In fact, for most of the people visiting Kerala, it was the easiest entry point where a night was spent at a decent hotel, a cab hired and the kerala journey continued. Nonetheless, we took our time to visit some important spots. One of the places we visited was the Jewish Synagogue and Jew Town, Mattancherry. The maiden visit to the synagogue meant that the difference between a church and a synagogue was slightly clearer. There, we also saw a shop that had a fifty-feet boat, traversing the entire length of the shop. While tourists stormed to take its pictures, the proprietor allowed only one photo per family. While many complained, I thought it was his right to protect his IPR – after all it was his boat.

The next stop in Cochin sight seeing was the Fort Cochin and its famous Chinese fishing nets. The idea behind the extravagant nets was to suspend a large fishing net through a massive structure of bamboo poles. The structure was lowered through ropes by a group of fishermen. After a while or so, it was pulled up again. While the whole effort was quite painstaking, the rewards were not commensurate as only the very tiny fishes were caught in the net. Moreover, as the nets by different groups were placed every forty meters or so, there was lot of competition to capture the fishes. We drank fruit juices and enjoyed the fun.

The last stop in the sight seeing affair was the Hill Palace at Tripunithura. The one time palace was now converted into a museum that purportedly displayed a fine collection of articles showing the wealth and splendour of the Rajas of Kochi. It was a pity that when we reached there at around 1.00pm, we found museum closed in the most bureaucratic manner for an hour of lunch. One wonders when huge amount of money is spent in Incredible India! Campaign (http://www.incredibleindia.org/), one only needs to look inside at the problem of tourists to know where the fault lines lie. We waited patiently for forty minutes and when the patience ran out, we left the palace without seeing the museum (probably never ever to return!).

After sight seeing in Cochin, we proceeded towards Thekkady. The journey to Thekkady was rather long one spanning nearly six hours. The journey towards western Kerala was through small hills having rubber, coffee and other plantations adorning the roadside. When we had nearly reached the hotel, our van stopped abruptly. I enquired about the reason and was told that the road ahead was not good. The van then took a U-turn and went ahead in the reverse gear. It was quite evident that the two feet high road that was being build through large rocks and boulders led our country to pre-historic ages where may be elephants dragged rocks for building roads. No construction machinery was visible and only sweaty men with spade and shovel were in sight. When we got down and entered our hotel, we were in another India (http://www.nivalink.com/silvercrest/index.html). The contrast between public works and private aggression could not have been more stark.

As a tourist destination, the most famous spot in Thekkady was the Periyar lake (see photo) that went through the Periyar wild life sanctuary. A two hour boat journey early next morning promised a lot, but the wild life was no where to be seen. Still the lake seemed to be among the largest in India and its peace and tranquility was almost unrivalled. The boat journey tickets had a tag of a hundred rupees but we were told that the queues would make it impossible for us to buy the tickets early morning. Promptly a service charge of 25% per ticket was paid to an Agent. However, much to our dismay, the ticket counters before our journey wore a deserted look. Long live the Indian “Agent” System!

Apart from the fine resorts and an extremely beautiful lake, Thekkady also had some other specialities. First of all, it had wide variety of tea, cardamom, rubber and coffee plantations. Other important event for many was the elephant visit. From an asking price of Rs 350/- per head, we managed to get two adults and two children for merely 250/- in all. The ride on an elephant that meandered dangerously on the slippery soil of a hilly plantation was good fun. Then there were numerous shops offering exquisite collections of herbs and spices. Most of these were costly by Indian standards and fit only for the foreign tourists with dollar earnings.
Thekkady, and many other towns of Kerala, was also noted for its famous ayurvedic massage. Every third shop offered this massage and it was difficult to judge which one was the best. Thus, one who offered cheapest price was chosen. The experience was invigorating and the steam bath in a make-shift wooden cupboard with our skull jutting out was thrill. Then there were live shows of classical Indian dances which again hardly any Indian was interested and was largely aimed at the foreigners. Another specialty was the show of Kalari Fight (a traditional technique of martial arts with specialized weapons and fire).


After spending a couple of days Thekkady, we proceeded for our final desitnation Alleppey. We had heard that the place was reachable only through a boat. I could only imagine how the place would be like? Surrounded by waters at all sides? Our van driver took us to a jetty. The jetty offered us a first hand look of Alleppe and the reason why it was said to be the “Venice of the East”. Alleppey was a town connected through an elaborate network of canals. In the remote parts, one could find large tracts of land with an isolated hut situated on the banks of the canal. And there were large tracts of water where the ocean had jutted inside the mainland.


The resort chosen was to be our highlight of the Kerala trip (http://www.lakepalaceresort.com/). And much to our delight, the place was among the best resorts that I had visited. The resort was situated on the serene banks of the Vembanadu Lake and was reachable only by the complimentary boat service provided by the resort. The resort was a rectangular tract where the lake flanked the boundary. Inside the resort there was another lake that covered bulk of the resort. And right in the center of the lake was a beautiful swimming poll (see photo). Apart from the pool, the resort other facilities like health center and an ayurvedic center. Every evening, the resort also offered a complimentary cruise ride in the back waters of Alleppey. The cruise took us deep into the hearts of Kerala where there was only palm trees and water to be seen. Most of the time was spent loitering in the resort. Close to the resort was the Allapuzha beach. Beach was rather deserted yet cleaner than some of the popular tourists beaches like Marina or Juhu.

Our last day in Kerala was planned for a 4-bedroom houseboat. Stay at the houseboat was considered almost mandatory for those visiting Alleppey. In particular, the newly wed honeymooners found it very attractive proposition for seeking solitude. The houseboat though expensive, was a big disappointment. The furnishings were poor and room quite small. It seemed as if the two bedroom houseboat was squeezed to accommodate four rooms. The meals too were of limited quantity and were not sufficient for all. A DVD player was provided but no DVD. Luckily, we stopped in the middle of a lake where the sole shop offered chips, ice-creams and DVDs. We brought some DVD only to find the player not working. However, the laptop came to our rescue.

The houseboat took us to similar places where the boat cruise earlier had taken. Only that the rooms were tiny. And then there was the diesel generator to handle. The rooms closer to the genset had to brave noise, smell and the chill of the AC. Those away escaped the noise, smell and unfortunately the AC (because of common AC vent). After a rather unceremonious last day at the houseboat where very poor feedback was given which in turn led to the assistants refusing to help with our luggage, we returned to warmth of our house (or the cold of Delhi winters)!

Chachu 13/01/2008

Web Resources
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http://www.incredibleindia.org/ (Govt. of India website to promote tourism)
http://www.milmermaid.com
http://www.cochin.org/tourism.htm
http://www.nivalink.com/silvercrest/index.html
http://www.lakepalaceresort.com/

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Chachu's Column #36: Making India a Tourist Destination

It is a well-accepted fact that one of biggest avenues to generate employment is Tourism. Worldwide, the tourism industry generates revenue of about $620 billion. Out of this, India's share is a paltry $5 billion or about 0.8% (2004 figures). In terms of numbers, out of worldwide tourists of about 760 million, India receives merely 3.4 million tourists. While larger countries like US of A (with 46 million tourist / $75 billion revenues) and the dirt-cheap China (with 42 million tourist / $26 billion revenues) benefit a lot through tourism, it is Europe's showpiece France that takes away the honours with the highest tourist inflow. It has a staggering 75 million tourists, which is nearly equal to its local population. In contrast, an International visitor to India has a 1000 Indian to greet him. While these figures cut a sorry figure, it also shows the tremendous potential that India holds for the tourism business. How then can we make India a tourist destination?

As in all spheres, 80% of the changes can be done by 20% effort, while remaining 20% may require a gargantuan effort. So let us look at the former only. The first step, and this may be the most difficult step, is to create an 'Impression'. What do I feel of say 'Singapore'? A neat and clean place. What about Malaysia? Its 'Truly Asia' campaign and its Petronas towers. Each country brings its showpiece, be it Great Pyramids or the Great Wall of China. What about India? What do others think about it? I don't know. But I don't have any great regard for this country. 'Shabby' and all-pervasive 'Shabbiness' - This is how I can summarize its public life. In films, they say that India is a land of snake charmers and bullock carts. Is it true? I don't know. But leading CEO's from Cisco, Siemens, and Virgin among many others frequent India seeking business opportunities. Poverty and underdevelopment is a truth, but it spells opportunity for many. Different people have different impressions about India, and let us leave it like that.

The next important item is 'Information'. For a change, India's official tourism website (incredibleindia.org) hosts in multiple languages including French, Spanish and Deutsch. Everyone wants to feel connected and this is a welcome change. But this is not enough. Every state has its own naming convention for websites. I tried searching for Taj Mahal and I could not get an authentic and genuine website. In contrast, search for Windsor Castle gave me a very good result. The bottom line is that in the myriad websites floated by travel agencies, the official state websites get lost. So the proposal is to have the main Indian website connect all the State tourism websites which have a uniform nomenclature. The website development could even be outsourced to third-party developers (e.g. Travel magazines) who could be paid on number of hits.

Information alone however has limited use. The next logical step is 'Booking'. Here, tourist would want online booking, e-auctions and attractive deals/discounts. While the trend towards this has started, poor Internet penetration and PC-usage is a major stumbling block. So, the next proposal is to rate all hotels and make it mandatory for all star-rated hotels and leading government hotels to compulsorily offer Internet-based booking. Talking about Internet bookings, not only lodging but travel also needs to be considered. A good development in this regard is the Internet-based air tickets. Leading private sector airlines Jet Airways and low-cost airlines Air Deccan now offer e-tickets through credit cards / online bank transfers. However, aviation capacity is limited and a very big chunk of travel in India takes place through rail or road. For railways too, IRCTC has started offering ticket booking facility through Internet. The growth has been good and even e-ticket concept for railways coming up. Bus travel is a complete laggard in this regard.

With good or bad impressions, normal or e-tickets, tourist have come. Now what are the challenges? Needless to say, the very first step, 'Air Travel', has now become the most harrowing one. Decrepit airports, arrogant custom officials and unscrupulous taxi drivers don't make life easy. The privatisation of Bangalore and Hyderabad airports has picked up, but Greenfield development of the major airports at Delhi and Mumbai may take ages. While leading airport developers of the world have shown interest, the snails pace and bureaucracy is not making life easy. Airport development should now be an item of highest priority. The government makes the right noises. But what materializes is totally different.

Like airports, the state of 'Public Transport' is no better. For most tourists, this is non-existent as basic necessities like AC is absent. The condition of roads and indiscipline traffic movement makes many wonder how the system works. While metro appears in pockets (that too only in Delhi and Kolkata), the only available option is private taxi. A comprehensive transportation policy that focuses on efficient, cheap and comfortable public travel, use of cleaner fuels like CNG and providing pedestrian-only zones is the need of the hour.

Among this mess, the 'Hotels' fare better. This is with the assumptions that the visitors can afford 5-star accommodation. A new trend now has been towards smaller hotels that do away with paraphernalia and grandeur of the bigger hotels, yet serve almost all the needs of the tourists. This trend will serve well, more so for the domestic traveller.

Another major sore point that is conspicuous by its absence is 'Night-life'. With no Casinos, the gambling instincts are put in tight leash. For the basic instincts too, there is nothing legal to boast and one has to play in the hands of pimps. It is common sense that restrictions only fuel desire without any commensurate benefits. In contrast, a free society seeks its own equilibrium.

While the above points relate to the general makeup of a country, what are the specific areas of growth for tourism? Few areas emerge clearly: Natural beauty, Religious tourism, Historical places, Adventure tourism and Medical tourism.

Given the vast expanse of India, from Kanyakumari to Himalayas, India's Natural Beauty is immense. However, one small visit to Shimla can corroborate how uncontrolled exploitation of nature causes intolerable damage. In the Hills, the main challenges include inadequate water supply, poor waste management, proliferating use of polythene bags and plastic bottles, narrow roads and lack of parking facilities. The holy place of Badrinath is a classic case where the residents do not have house to live as all houses are converted into dinghy hotels. The solution lies in controlled use of land where availability of hotel rooms limits the number of visitors preventing the choking of the infrastructure. If one moves to the Reserve Forests, an even bigger threat is there in the form of poaching. It is rumoured that all tigers of the Sariska tiger reserve have been shot. The situation in other tiger reserves may not be any better. While working groups are pressed to stem the rot, the threat is assuming menacing proportions. Down south, the beaches offer a potential. Among various options, the state of Goa remains a very popular spot, particularly so for the foreigners. The key to success lies in the relatively neat and clean state, easy-going people, nice accommodations, adequate water sports facilities, and even casinos. The state seems very unlike the India.

Apart from nature, Religious Tourism too offers tremendous scope. However, most of these places are in hills (like the 4 Dhams of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Jamnotri) or are small towns like Hardwar or Vrindavan, none of which are designed to carry the flux of visitors that come there. Smaller the place, worse is the accommodation. Limited availability of land makes development nearly impossible. The least that can be done is to terminate the cars at some distant location and offer ferry services so that the main centre is not clogged and people put greater use of their legs by walking.

Historical places, including the best-selling Taj Mahal, offer limitless opportunity. However, Agra, which earns lot of money through the Moghul monument, has very bad roads. A major development was planned for Taj Mahal, but it turned out to be a major scam and many leading politicians and bureaucrat went in the dock. Vested interests always cause harm than do any good.

A rather under-exploited field is Adventure Tourism. The potential for trekking, rock climbing, car rallying river rafting, ice skiing, paragliding and canoeing among others is there. But the biggest stumbling blocks here include lack of marketing and poor connectivity to the place under consideration. The solution here could like in hosting an array of big ticket events offering grand prizes. The prizes could even be sponsored by tourism budget. Not only would it create excitement, it would also cause awareness.

A recent development is Medical Tourism. Leading hospitals are doing it all along and offer cheaper medical treatments including Surgery, Bone Marrow Transplant, Cardiac Care and Dialysis and Kidney Transplant among others. The high cost differential makes the travel cost insignificant. Along with hospitals, what is also needed is service apartments that allow family members to living along with patients.

This column only touches a few things. The goldmine is there. It only needs to be tapped, properly and carefully.

Chachu 1/12/2005
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Web Resources
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http://www.incredibleindia.org/ (Govt. of India website to promote tourism)
http://www.incredibleindia.org/tourism2004.pdf (tourism statistics)
http://www.windsor.gov.uk/
http://www.ameinfo.com/39109.html

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Chachu's Column #32: Terry, the UK's taxi driver

It could have easily happened today. But timely application of brakes averted the mishap. The motorcycle driver in front of me was not so lucky. A sharp turn by the bus in the front, that too without any indicator, meant the overtaking motorcycle rammed straight into the bus. However, he too was actually lucky. The speed was low and he escaped, probably with some bruises to the bike. He looked at the bus driver with a smirk. And then it was business as usual - for me and for the motorbike rider. But the taxi driver Terry did not drive like this. Nor did Mike or Gordon. They all belonged to 'Station Taxis', a company that ferried us to office when we were in UK.

It has been more than a month since I am back in India after three months stay at UK. During the last days there, the urge to go back to India and to be with my near and dear ones was phenomenal. Surviving on a meal that was rice and dal, two times a day, seven times a week was not easy. That too for a person who ate rice rarely. But as the saying goes, 'Majboori ka naam Mahatma Gandhi'. Situations make people do the unexpected. I was not an exception. I counted every day like a person marooned on a lonely island. And when finally I returned back, there was no joy. The abysmal facilities at the airport - the undisciplined traffic - the massive encroachments of public places - and many other things contributed to the lack of excitement after my return.

Going back to stay at UK, though food was an issue, I was better off on other fronts. Language was not a problem and this made my life quite simple. The difference between stays at US/UK as compared to stay at Japan was quite palpable. Further, being close to London offered me the chance to travel Southern England. Obviously, Terry was not there with me. I used trains. And he used his cars.

Even though he was a taxi driver, Terry was not a poor man. In fact, it was his earnest desire to escape the clutches of poverty, especially when he was in the twilight years of his life. Quite often, he repeated a quote, 'Nothing can bind a man, not even prison bars, than old age and poverty.' He said he kept this quote in his wallet. One day, while driving, he said he wanted to show this to me. And he brought out his wallet and started churning out things from it. That too while driving. And when the purse was near empty, he showed me a paper and the quote on it.

Terry was indeed well to do. He had three cars, two for himself and one for his wife. He did not like cheap shoes. The best and the cheapest he could find was worth Rs 8500/-. I thought it was quite expensive. I too was looking for a shoe anything below Rs 500/-. But I could not find any decent pair cheaper than Rs 5000/- that too after 20% discount. Terry thought that the life of good English shoes was worth the money. Occasionally, he used to take his wife to Bournemouth, where he had his house. He believed in having a nice outing occasionally.

Once, my friend and I too went to Bournemouth. It was a vast span of beautiful sea beach. I kept walking in search of the hidden treasure, occasionally taking breaks. Once when we sat on a chair, a person came and asked for the tickets for the armchair. We did not have any and had to buy tickets worth Rs 160/- each. I told my friend that I had seen a board where it said that chairs were for rent. My friend was not amused. He blamed me for the unnecessary expense. Anyways, coming to the point, I walked for four hours and then realized that I had to go back the same distance. And thus, I returned back. In the glitter of sun, sand and skin, I did not even take a dip at the beach.

Apart from Bournemouth, I also went to see to the majestic Windor Castle, the second official residence of the Queen after Birmingham Palace of London. Then there was Oxford, the city of colleges with its architectural splendour. London was a must-see. One of Nokia's colleagues also took us to Winchester (a small town with beautiful churches), Portsmouth (a sea beach, with its Shipyard), Wales and its capital Cardiff) and Bath (where there were remains of Roman Empire). While the details may be ignored, certain lessons seem very obvious. First of all, tourism has become a major source of revenue worldwide. Thus, tourists are treated courteously and steps are taken to ensure that they return satisfied. Value-added services like walky-talky type mobile guide, that too in multiple languages, bring the tourists closer to the tourist spot. India's tourist potential is huge; but drastic changes are not expected by a nation whose citizens are in a state of perpetual slumber. Small signs are visible at select tourist spots, but my heart laments when I see one step forward but two back. Let us keep this tourism out for a separate column.

At 66, Terry was semi-retired but still did cab duties for us. Born just before the World War 2, he had seen the German raids of London. He had heard the air raid warnings. And the death and destruction that brought with it. He even gave me a book on World War. It had a rich collection of newspaper photographs of the world war. I saw the photos and returned the book. By the end of my stay, we two had grown so close that he presented me a book on British empire; and that was mine to keep, much to the chagrin of my colleagues.

I asked Terry what made England so powerful. He generally referred England as United Kingdom (which comprises of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). He opined that from the childhood, the supremacy of their race was ingrained in their psyche. You may view it as contemptuous arrogance, of the same type as those that wrote 'Dogs and Indians not allowed'. However, times had changed and the Britishers had mellowed down. Most of them were polite and sophisticated. But the massive immigrant population of Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshis had created a sense of insecurity. Thus, on a few occasions, my colleagues faced the wrath of such slighted Britishers and heard them say, 'You bloody Asians'. It was a topic of debated between political parties as to whether immigrants should be allowed or not and whether outsourcing was good for their health. Talking about outsourcing, I recall an interesting incident related to my Internet connection. Being what I am, I brought a 2-month free Internet connection. Just before the expiry, I called the helpdesk and requested them to cancel my account so that I could escape without paying a penny. When I explained that I was going to India (read Delhi), the highly accented call center executive said she too was from New Delhi (probably sitting in some Gurgaon office).

Our life in UK was highly compartmentalized. There was this office hours. And then one hour each-way in the Taxi, talking to Terry. Tennis in the evenings, that too after 6pm because it was free then. The sun set at almost 10 in the night and there was lot of excitement on the streets. Since we were there in the summer months, there was a lot of activity to be seen. We were placed right in the city center, and could observe people from our balconies. Most of the shops closed at 5.30pm and it was very difficult to shop since we returned by that time from office. Thus, Saturdays was reserved for shopping or sightseeing. For others, the weekends were a time for partying at the bar. Long queues could be seen in front of the bars. Most of them were choc-o-block. We used to see them partying but maintained a distance and avoid entering into any bar. By Sunday, the fact dawned upon them that Monday was coming and there was hardly anyone on street on Sunday.

For us, almost all nights were reserved for television. It was customary for Terry to ask what I was watching on TV. The quality of programming on some of channels was quite good. Lot of documentaries, especially on history, was worth watching. Thus, one day there was a program on the battle of Gibraltar and the role of the ship Lord Nelson. Or another day, there was a program as to how one-third of the populace died in fifteenth century during the period of Black Death. After interacting with me, Terry started taking special interest in India and Indian people. He thought we had been very good brand ambassadors of the country. He also wanted our country to be rich so that there could be a positive effect on the entire globe (including the UK). Thus, he urged Indians to stop hoarding their gold and spend in the malls instead. He also wondered whether some day Britishers would come to India for jobs just as Indians and Pakistanis go their for all kinds of menial jobs like that of drivers, sweepers and barbers among others.

At the end of our stay there, we paid Terry and Mike Rs 4000/- each as tip for the entire stay. Later on, they told us that the whole money had been divided equally, including the telephone attendant who noted our taxi request. The unity and camaraderie displayed by them was commendable. Just before our return, he was to undergo a minor operation. Wishing him luck and a healthy life.

Chachu 27/11/2004
-------------

Web Resources
-------------
[1] http://www.visitbath.co.uk (website on Bath)
[2] http://www.bournemouth.co.uk (website on Bournemouth)
[3] http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page557.asp (website on Windsor Castle)
[4] http://www.visitportsmouth.co.uk (website on Portsmouth)
[5] http://www.tourism.wales.gov.uk (website on Wales)
[6] http://www.winchester.gov.uk/tourism/index.shtml (website on Winchester)
[7] http://www.touroxfordms.com (website on Oxford)
[8] http://www.visitlondon.com (website on London)

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Chachu's Column #31: Bye Bye USA

The day of reckoning finally arrived - most
unexpectedly - and in a jiffy. Sometime back too it
was suppose to happen. But it did not happen then. And
when I least expected it to, it greeted me with open
arms. Just like life you may say.

Being a software engineer for over six years, it was
imperative that I had a US visit on my passport. And
being in UK for official work made my task all that
easier. Since my work at office was fast moving
towards completion, getting a couple of days of leave
was not an issue. To top it was the generous gesture
of US embassy by granting me a 10-year B1/B2 visa
sometime back. Thus, when my sister residing in US
asked me to board the next available flight, it was an
offer that I could not refuse. Tickets were brought
over the Internet, invites received and travel
insurance taken. All within 12 hours. And within
another 12 hours, I was on a British Airways flight to
Philadelphia.

Whether you love it or hate it, US is a country that
is always in the limelight. In the cold war era, a
bi-polarized world offered us the opportunity to look
elsewhere. But with the disintegration of Russia,
there was only one superpower and that was US of A.
Television and Internet revealed some interesting
facts about US. It was about three times the size of
India but had only one-third of the people. Its GDP
was phenomenal 10 trillion dollars and here too,
India's GDP was about one-third of it. Interestingly,
the good progress made by India in last decade or so
meant that India's GDP stood fourth in ranking after
US, China and Japan. Countries that followed India in
GDP were Germany, France, UK, Italy Brazil and Russia.
US military spending stood at 370billion dollar,
twenty times that of India. Its cellular density was
about 150 million (or 50% of the population) as
against 25 million (or 2.5%) for India.

Leaving the statistical numbers aside, my maiden US
visit saw me getting off at Philadelphia airport. And
after a brief rest at my sister's house, we all were
in Atlantic City. My brother too was there after his
onsite work in US had ended and so it was a family get
together of sorts, that too in US.

Now, Las Vegas had captured my imagination for quite
some time now, with umpteen programs highlighting the
good, the bad and the ugly side of Vegas. And I had
also heard that Atlantic City was the Vegas was the
east. Thus, without much ado, we picked our cars and
were in the city at Trump TAJ Mahal Casino Resort.
Unprecedented in craftsmanship and opulence, the Trump
TAJ Mahal was an awe-inspiring architectural
masterpiece filled with the finest carpets,
chandeliers and works of art in the tradition of the
world's most grand and enchanting palaces. The cost of
one of the rooms (Alexander the Great Suite) was just
ten thousand dollars a day!

Our miniscule gambling budget of $20/- did not bother
the finances of the resort much. There, we looked for
the cheapest slot machines and found 5cent machines
with great difficulty. But most of them were lousy and
we moved to 25 cent ones. These machines drank our
money without even belching. Then we thought of trying
our hands at roulette, but the minimum bet of $15
meant that we were misfits there. More slot machines
were found and the budget exhausted. Luckily enough,
Draupadi was not called in the scheme of things.
Outside the casino, there was a pier that was kind of
mini-amusement center. Most of the rides were for the
kids, which my sister's four year son lapped up
greedily. The only ride challenging enough was the
rocket where two persons (sitting on a seat) were
propelled 200feet high (roughly 20 floors high) at
very high speed. From there, it dropped freely and it
seemed you had lived your life. Everything was
controlled through tall towers and elastic rope. Since
I was alone from my group, no one else agreed to join
me. Then one of the staff members seated next me and
coaxed me into leaving my hands from the grip. For
him, leaving the hands was like nirvana or flying in
space. For me, it was ... The live shots on the ground
through on board cameras was an object of laughter for
my family.

Later, we also took a helicopter for a short 3 minute
ride over the beauty of AC (as Atlantic city is
popularly called). It was enjoyable. After that, there
were circus shows in which a rider seated on a
motorbike went from one building to another over a
thin steel wire. It soon became evident that the bike
was special so as to not to fall from the wire. It
also carried a trapeze artist; the rider and the
artist showed many a stunts. That was that. The first
day at the US of A ended and we were back at home late
in the night.

The next day we left for New York. Before heading for
New York, we went to New Jersey where my sister used
to live till some time back. New Jersey is notorious
for its Indian majority and Indian like features. True
to word, we found it rather dirty like India and
people did not obey much rules, etc. We had golgappa
and chat in New Jersey. Being in UK for two months, my
taste buds were starving for some Indian delicacies.
And I ate everything on offer. (This was a different
issue that the very next day, my sister brought three
big packs of pani puri of which I alone ate one and a
half of them; my sis was amazed with my appetite).

From NJ, we went to New York. The key attractions
there were Statue of Liberty, Intrepid Museum, Madam
Tussauds Museum, Empire State Building and Times
Square to name a few. We spent the entire day roaming
around. First we went to Intrepid Museum where we saw
the aircraft carrier Intrepid. Having a history that
dates to second world war, it was a majestic ship.
However, a freak power cut prevented us from getting
inside. They refuse to issue tickets as their
computers were not operational. What an excuse. We
took some pictures from outside. A Concorde and a
submarine was also on display there.

Thereafter, we saw the very famous Madam Tussauds Wax
museum. This museum housed statues of famous people
including Amitabh Bachhan, Gandhi and many other
famous personalities. Even before we entered my sister
queried a gentleman who later turned out to be a wax
statue. Little did we know that once inside and even
after, others too would have chance to laugh at us.

Inside the museum, some of the statues were ordinary
while some others were truly difficult to distinguish.
At one place, a girl was taking photo of 5 men. My
brother and I tried to figure who was the real guy
among 5 men. Then it turned that all 5 of them were of
wax. We then turned our attention to the girl taking
photo. The girl too was of wax. After that, everyone
seemed to be a statue. A lady we saw seemed wax statue
and I told my brother that she too was a statue and we
could ignore her. Immediately, the lady turned around.
Even one day after the visit, we could not be clear
who was made of wax and who was real. We had plenty of
photos at the wax museum. Outside the museum, the
pavements were crowded with hawkers selling their
stuff. The crowd, dirt and filth was not different
from some of the urban squalor visible in India.

From there, we went to the downtown where a number of
sky scrapers graced the skyline of New York. We went
to Empire State building but long queues prevented us
from seeing the observatory at the top. The sheer drop
of building was amazing. One could bent his neck
without even reaching the top of many buildings. The
buildings symbolized the heights of human engineering.
And the dug up Ground Zero the cataclysm of human
mind's degeneration. We had a chance to see Ground
Zero, the remnants of World Trade Center (WTC). There
are plans to make worlds tallest building there,
cocking a snook at those who dared to blow it into
pieces.

From the southern tip of New York the distant Statue
of Liberty was visible. We did not bother to take a
ferry or go near it. It was a long day and getting
late. That was it for day two.

Day 3 saw us in a shopping mall. While most stuff were
quite costly, we headed for a clearance area. A dress
there was marked 80$ and then subsequently cut twice
showing a tag of 18$. It's eventual cost was just 8
dollars and I did not think twice before buying it.
That was it for shopping.

While going to the Mall, a school bus was dropping
kids on the opposite lane. Still, a STOP light flashed
and traffic was at a complete halt till the kids
disembarked at their own leisure. It was nice to see
kids given special attention while road safety was
concerned. Even on most highways, one or two lanes
were kept unused. They were useful for emergency
parking or for reaching emergency help very quickly.
Highways at India do not have parking lanes, leave
alone spare lanes for emergency help. May be we will
have it some day.

In the afternoon, we went to Longwood Gardens.
Longwood Gardens was created by industrialist Pierre
S. du Pont (and is sometimes referred to as the DuPont
Gardens) and offers 1,050 acres (425 hectares) of
gardens, woodlands, and meadows; spectacular
fountains; extensive educational programs including
horticultural career training and internships. In one
of the guided tours there, we were told that even
though the entry fee was $15, the average cost of a
visit was $45 and that the difference was a subsidy
that was funded by the trustees. The garden was indeed
beautiful and was similar to the Vrindavan gardens
near Mysore. We spent about three hours there, seeing
fountain shows, greenhouse plants (having hi-tech
scientific controls with triple redundancy) and many
other things. The place was a display garden where
everything was controlled, including when the flowers
bloomed and when they grew and to what height. The
schedule co-incided with major programs and special
events. See [6].

From the gardens we went to Marsh creek, a haven for
picnic goers and those interested in boating. While
coming back home, we stopped at an Indian store for
some Indian goodies. The only thing that I selected
had already crossed its expiry date. The shopkeeper
feigned innocence at the dates.

While in US, I was surprised to see the extent of
obesity. Very soon I came to know that US of A was
officially the most overweight country in the world
with almost half the country overweight. Diabetes
increased by 33 percent among American adults during
the 1990s, reflecting a surge in obesity during the
same period. The reasons ranged from poor diet on one
hand, to the attempts on making life easier and less
taxing for people on the other. The convenience had
now taken dangerous forms as people had stopped doing
physical exercise. The obesity could be further
attributed to the junk food companies whose cheap and
mass consumption products had spread all over the
country. No wonder an obese man had filed a lawsuit
and sued McDonalds for making him what he was. I was
not obese and I did not care.

The fourth and final day was spent lazily strolling
around and making CDs for the hundreds of photos
taken. As time ticked, I was soon on my return flight
to UK. My trip was quite clost to 9-11 and there were
major security checks at the airport. It took quite a
long time to get the security clearance. Finally, when
I sat in the plane, I waved my hands and mumbled, "Bye
Bye USA". Over for now - but only to come back again.
Love it or hate it, you could not ignore US of A.

Chachu 17/9/2004

Web Resources
-------------
[1]http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
(CIA's excellent information source on countries
across the world)
[2] http://www.trumptaj.com/ (Hotel cum casino at Atlantic City)
[3]http://www.wisegeek.com/what-countries-have-the-highest-gdp.htm
[4] http://www.nyctourist.com (New York Tourist nformation)
[5] http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/
[6] http://www.longwoodgardens.org/
[7] http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/wtc/
(Happenings at WTC including plans for new development)

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Chachu's Column #23: Made in Japan

(continued from CC#22..)

"What do I have to do here?" I would ask my Japanese client.
"What can you do here?" would be the terse reply.

These two questions would set the tone for the rest of my month long stay in Japan. Even after my return, when my colleagues asked the purpose of my trip, I would not be able to give them a reasonable answer. While the ambiguities over the purpose of my trip continued, the stay provided ample opportunity to have a first hand look of Japan.

The weekdays were hectic, with very little spare time to do or see anything else. The only amusement I got was my regular visits to Sega amusement centre. The centre had many coin-operated machines in which you had to move a level horizontally and vertically; the goal was to catch a soft toy in the lever using two motions of the lever. For each game, one had to put 200Yen (80Rs). I thought the game was very costly given the low probabilities of winning. I won once and put an end to such amusements. Still, not to deprive myself of these pleasures, I went there almost every second day and cheered the potential winners who tried their luck with the machine. Some of them disliked my presence in close proximity, while others cheered my cheering. Anyways, I maintained a distance so as to avoid affronting someone's privacy. Apart from game centers, there was the popular pachinko centres. These were a type of casinos, where people smoked and played like maniacs. I too made many rounds to various pachinko centers around my hotel. Despite numerous attempts, I could not understand the objective of the game. Once, I brought coins worth 500Yen (200Rs), but soon found them worthless. When I went to return the gaming coins for money, I was flatly refused. I was told that gambling was illegal in Japan and there was no way the gaming coins could be exchanged into hard cash. Some research into the subject provided interesting facts. Almost thirty million Japanese played Pachinko. Though gambling was illegal, there were means to get the loot converted into hard cash. An average pachinko centre had about 100 to 200 gaming machines. At any given time, almost seventy percent of the machines were occupied with people having tons of loot near their seat.

The first weekend saw me in Akihabara, the Electronics capital of Japan (and probably the world). My company colleagues visiting Japan felt it customary to stuff themselves with the electronic goodies offered by the country. The longer the stay, the better the stuff. A week's stay at Japan allowed one to buy a simple camera. Extend it to one month and you could pocket a digital camera. Three months stay allowed you to buy a Sony handicam. The 'Made in Japan' tag was much sought after. Japan epitomized quality and the tag 'Made in Japan' a guarantee that the stuff could be taken without much deliberation. However, much to our surprise, the Japanese superstores were flooded with goods from Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea and Taiwan. The 'Made in Japan' tag was hard to find. We later came to know the reasons. Japanese items were too costly for the ordinary Japanese. Thus, while countries like US of A savoured Japanese delicacies, we had to be content with products of Southeast Asian countries. I too brought a digital camera. Immediately, the analog camera was relegated to some remote corner of the suitcase and was not used since then. Apart from cameras and handicams, the battery-sized MP3 players were also very popular. The Japanese were seen sporting the designer headphones in the local trains.
The other end of the wire attached to the miniature MP3 player was buried deep inside the pocket. Walkmans were getting obsolete very quickly.

The second weekend saw me in Tokyo Disneyland. By train, Disneyland was an hour away from our hotel. The mass rapid transport system offered by Japanese Railway (JR) was easily one of the best in the world. The clocks could be set by using the arrival time of the trains. The frequency of trains varied from every two minutes to every twenty minutes (depending upon the hour of the day, the passenger load and direction of travel). We too used the trains to commute to our client's office. Our journey was always against the flow. In the morning, when everyone headed for Tokyo, we went in the opposite direction. Similarly, at night, when the tired souls returned to the suburbs, we moved towards Tokyo in near empty trains. The local trains, which we used, moved at speeds of 140kmph (the speed of the fastest train of India - Rajdhani). The express trains moved at twice the speeds. It was a phenomenal sight to see the express trains whiz past us while we stood on the railway platforms. The railway stations too were no less than a tourist spot.

Almost every big station had shopping malls and food courts associated with them. Multi-level railway lines were quite common, with up to 3 levels of train running one over other. All the important places were well connected by the JR network. A first time visitor was always awe struck by the efficiency with which the system worked. While I was in Japan, there was a major train accident in India. After the accident, when a senior executive of Indian Railways was quizzed about the frequent rail accidents in India, he said that Indian railways was the best in the world; just that the gigantic size made it vulnerable to occasional accidents. (Once during a rail journey when I asked my client whether there were rail accidents in Japan, he said they do occur but they were rare. I wonder what is rare? Once in six months or a year or a decade or more?)

Returning to Disneyland resort, a visit to Japan was deemed incomplete without going to the Disneyland. I added to this maxim - 'the upbringing of kids was incomplete without regular visits to Disneyland'. The resort was right next to a railway station so reaching there was not a problem. The first reaction at the sight the Disneyland resort was that of wonderment. Once inside, there was no end to fun and enjoyment. It was a weekend and it seemed the whole Japan had poured on to the resort. (While it seemed that more than a lakh person had come there, some research pointed out that the resort had 18million visitors annually. This translated into 3.5lakh persons every week or about fifty thousand daily). Even though we reached there at around nine, we knew that we would not be able to see the whole resort. The resort was divided into many areas, each catering to a particular theme, like timberland and cartoonland for example. Entry fee was about 2000 rupees and all rides inside the resort were free. Just that one did not have enough time to take all the rides. Each ride had a long queue, which was followed diligently. Despite the queues, no one bothered to jump queues or take shortcuts. Apart from the rides, long queues could be seen at every stall, be it for popcorn or for ice cream. (This aspect was
visible throughout the stay in Japan. Only once did I see two brawny men violating the queue and buying some goods. The man in front of queue was ill equipped to tackle this situation. He kept quiet. On my return, when I was in a queue for buying a ticket for a movie, I saw a parallel queue formed. I asked the last person to stand in queue; the man obliged. Then, two more
people joined the queue. When I persuaded them to form a queue, they refused. Note that this was the most happening mall to grace the land of Gurgaon. But malls did not teach civic sense, nor did money. When the line moved and I raised my voice again, the offenders were chided by the cinema staff. They then agreed to follow the queue but refused to move; they said they would wait there till their turn came. When my turn came and I purchased the ticket, they said that I was a DON. I did not reply.)

Five of us had gone to the Disneyland and since four of them had a camera, about a quarter of our time went in taking photographs. Those who had digital cameras did not bother to reload the reels. Only battery required attention. The whole day went like that - taking rides, seeing a 3D movie, standing in long queues, eating French fries and drinking coca-cola. In the afternoon at around three o'clock, there was day parade, which was quite similar to the one we have in Delhi on Republic day. From two o'clock, people spread their mats on grounds and took prime positions to watch the parade. Many of them were seen fixing their tripods to shoot photographs and movies. Since we were not the early bird, we did not get the worm. The rear
position implied that many photos got disrupted by the flowing hairs and hands of people. Nonetheless, we managed a few good photos (see web links for URL of photo uploaded on the net).

In this night too, there was a cracker show followed by a night parade. The parade saw men and chariots, decorated with lights, waltzing across the narrow course of the resort. Apart from cameras and handicam, the mobile cameras were also in vogue. (It was said that mobile cameras had provided impetus to a stagnating cellular industry. About half of the 120 million Japanese had a cell phone. Almost all phones had a coloured screen with facility to send and receive emails. The I-mode service, provide by leading operator NTT Docomo had the lion's share of the subscriber base. The third generation mobile phones too had made an entry in Japan. In fact, Japan was the first country to launch third generation mobile services.) At about ten in the night, we left Disneyland, tired and exhausted, but fully entertained.

The third weekend saw me in Odaiba, an island resort located in heart of Tokyo. The place offered huge shopping malls, a science museum, an artificial beach and plenty of food. An automatic, overhead train took us to Odaiba. There, we did some shopping, went to a museum and ate burgers and French-fries.

As time and money ran out, I decided not to go anywhere in the last weekend. Though there were temptations like Mt. Fuji, Sea paradise resort and a place that had replicas of Seven Wonders of the World, I left them for another visit to the Oriental
superpower. Luckily, the last weekend saw a major festival in our suburb. The street in front of the hotel was transformed into a mela, lined by stalls on both sides. The stalls offered noodles, see food, fruits and a host of other delicacies. There were amusements for kids who could pay a small amount to catch few fishes to keep them as pets. Then there was a parade, dance programs and groups that played excellent percussion instruments. Our hotel owner offered to be our guide. She took us to various programs, which we thoroughly enjoyed. In the festival, I desperately longed for papri-chat and gol-gappas but none could be found. I had to be content with noodles and pine-apple.

As time for my return drew nearer, I become quite excited. On the very last day of my stay, when a farewell party for my return was scheduled, the system our company delivered to our client stopped working. I could identify the location of the problem but could not solve it. The client's client was take our system back to Europe and it became very critical for the system to be up and running. Even after two hours of brainstorming did not solve the problem. Then I suggested the system be uninstalled and re-installed. The idea bore fruit and the system came up. Soon after, another problem came, which too was solved only minutes before we were to leave for our party. Sanity had been regained and we went for my farewell party.

In the party, the client wore a different demeanour. We exchanged lot of pleasantries. When the party was over and I thanked them, they said, "Come back again!"

Chachu (7/9/2003)

Through Chachu's Eyes
---------------------
** 1 ** One day I saw a truck stuck at a bend on the round. It took the loaded truck around 30hours to get it out. For no fault of his, the driver had to waste precious time and money to take the truck out. In fact, a newly built colony in Bahadurgarh has many such collapsed roads where any car or truck can get stuck very easily. I wonder what if the truck owner,
or a representative of the truck union sues the municipal corporation of Bahadurgarh.

** 2 ** Talking more about roads, the star penalty corner expert of India, Jugraj Singh, met with a very serious accident. It was said that an auto rickshaw coming from the wrong side was the cause. A small error and a colossal loss. When will things change? When will there be sanity on roads?

** 3 ** More on Japan: One morning I went to hotel's bathroom, only to find the bulb not working. I did not lodge a complaint but hoped that the bulb would be replaced. At night, when I returned from office, the bulb was replaced!

Web Resources
-------------
http://www.jinjapan.org/ (Japan Information Network)
http://www.tokyoessentials.com (Tokyo Information Guide)

Pictures from Japan
-------------------
http://skasera.tripod.com/images/japan/pic1.jpg
http://skasera.tripod.com/images/japan/pic2.jpg
http://skasera.tripod.com/images/japan/pic3.jpg
... (and so on till ... 24th image)
http://skasera.tripod.com/images/japan/pic24.jpg

Guest Articles (Interesting Reading)
-----------------------------------
http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/jul/25guest.htm (Upgrading 'Made in India')

List Managment
--------------
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Chachu's Column #22: Chachu in Japan

It was almost like a curse in my life. The refrains were endless - 'Five years and not even one?' It was not that I did not want to. Just that one thing or the other held up the inevitable. So when I finally got the news, I knew the event could not be delayed any further, whatever be the impediments.

It all began when I reached office on a Monday morning - the mind still wandering in the weekend's festivities. Lethargically reading my emails, I came across an email from our client "Dear Sumit-san, Find attached invitation letter for your visa..." My heart skipped a beat. There was no prior information - no prelude. Just pack your bags and head for Japan - that too in 6 days time.

But one had to have a passport for going abroad. Although I had one, there was a small issue. The passport number punched on the passport was different from the one written on the front page. I was in a state of flux. Which number was the correct passport number? I didn't know. Would they allow me to use that passport? I didn't know. What to do? I didn't know. I sought help and was promptly asked to go to the Regional Passport Office (RPO), New Delhi.

The Tuesday morning saw me braving one of the most horrible traffic Jams to reach passport office. Once there, I found people screaming and shouting and hollering all around. Where to go? I didn't know. Even the Inquiry counter had a long queue. Scanning the office for some help, I found an empty counter dedicated for Haryana region. Since I resided in Haryana, I attacked the counter. I was directed to go
to first floor. On the first floor, I handed my passport to the person concerned - a gentleman sitting in an AC room. The man talked to me reasonably and my complaint was noted. I was asked to collect my passport from counter number 5 in the evening between 4.30 and 5.00. I left the room but then I realized I had not got any receipt. What if they gave my passport to someone else? My maiden foreign trip, that too after five years of wait, would have died a premature death. I went to the gentleman's room again. The man allayed my fears and said that the photo on the passport would be good enough. 'Could someone else collect on my behalf?' I asked. The answer was in the negative.

The afternoon saw me at the RPO office again at 4.28pm. The office was closed and there was a big crowd outside. As soon as the clock struck 4.30pm, the gate opened and the gathered mass rushed inside. In the melee, I too dashed inside. Once there, I did not know where to go. There were three counters numbered 3to5. Which one was number 5? No one could tell. Every one standing there seemed equally confused.

While we waited and the revered RPO employees had their cup of team, the people in the queue started narrating their stories. One of the ladies was called at 12.00 noon. She came only to find the office closed. The poor lady waited for over four hours in the sun. Another person waiting for his passport was asked to fill a new application form only to find the passport delivered the very next day. There were many stories floating around. Around 5pm, the RPO gods gave their worshippers a glimpse and started doling out passports. The man had a list of letters along with the corrected passport. For every person standing in the queue the bunch of letters had to be scanned again and again. When my turn came, I said that my passport was at the end. He saw the last letter but it was not mine. I was reprimanded, "Either you see or let me do my business." I kept quiet, but thought "Oh! powerful lord, the holder of my passport, my gateway to foreign land, be gentle on a poor soul and be kind enough to give him his passport." The almighty then found my passport lying just above the last one and gave it to me. I clasped it tightly, lest it fall along with my trip.

The next few days went in filling various forms for visa, foreign exchange and insurance, and then getting the Visa. Everything went as per plan and I left India on Sunday, 29th June. The eight-and-a-half hour JAL flight saw me in Japan on Monday morning. During the course of journey, I lost three-and-a-half hours. For once, I wonder what if every country adopted the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Then, the trouble of changing time and having to manage multiple clocks could be obviated. As a software engineer how this could be technically managed. For the western countries, it would have meant jumping ahead in time, implying paying interest for the time that had actually not transpired. Gauging the complexity of the idea, I dropped it.

At the airport, the SARS scare had not yet subsided. I was asked to fill a SARS questionnaire and was made to pass through a device that monitored by body temperature. The SARS matter settled, a long queue greeted me at the immigration counter. About 150 people in the queue implied at least two hours of
wait. But the first glimpse of the dexterity of Japanese people was displayed when the queue got cleared in no time.

We then brought tickets for a Limousine bus for our hotel, which was to leave the airport in two hours time. When about half an hour remained, I asked the lady concerned when the bus arrived and whether I could sit earlier. In the part-English, part-Japanese conversation that I had, I was informed that the bus would come and leave at 11.05am sharp. Two minutes before scheduled time the bus came. By that time, a gentleman had arranged our baggage. When the bus arrived, he put the baggage in the bus and checked our tickets. All settled, the six odd people left for Kashiwa - a suburb of Tokyo - and our destination.

The bus was air-conditioned and quite comfortable (as I later found out that all buses and cars and trains in Japan are). During the whole two-hour journey, the driver honked only once, that too when a scooterist came too close to the bus. Otherwise, the traffic was very well managed, and there was no need of any horns. The disappointing aspect of the journey was large number of traffic signals and frequent stoppages. The roads too were very narrow, generally one lane for each way. However, they were well marked - with zebra crossings - and traffic signals for the pedestrians too.

For any repair carried at a site, a signboard stating 'Men at Work' was placed 100meters before the site. A similar sign was placed 50m before. The repair site was either properly cordoned off or well-dressed police officers managed smooth flow of traffic.

The end of our journey saw us at out destined hotel - a place where some of my colleagues were already staying. However, all this happened with a minor glitch. The hotel was half a kilometer away from the bus terminal. Since I had lot of baggage, I needed a taxi. But none could be seen. After ten minutes of painful walk, when I saw a taxi stop and asked the first taxi to go, the person refused to go. The next one in the queue followed suit and the third one asked me to talk to the two taxis in front. Without any option, I walked to the hotel, sweating and panting.

The hotel room was small- about 9feet by 6feet - with a small, attached bath. The room had a TV, a fridge and a VCR (I later learnt that Japanese either used DVD or Video Cassettes, but no VCDs). When I had kept my bag and was wondering about my lunch, a colleague of mine called me and said my client was on the phone in his room. I had just landed in Japan, but the professional commitments had already began... (to be continued..)

Chachu (24/7/2003)

Through Chachu's Eyes
---------------------
** 1 ** While seeing off a relative at the New Delhi railway station, I saw that two watches at two ends of the platform showed two different times - about twenty minutes apart. Since the train in which my relative was travelling left right on time, I wondered what if someone did not have a watch (as many in India do not have) and checked the time using the clock that was lagging behind. The person would have surely missed his train.

** 2 ** Talking more about trains, I wonder why they dont make any announcement about the arrival of
stations or departures for the benefit of those travelling and those who have come to see people off.

** 3 ** Yet more on trains, I saw a gentleman standing outside the train. His friend, who had come to drop him, urged him to sit inside. But the man refused to go, saying that he was an expert in getting up on moving trains. The man then boasted how his father used to get down at stations and catch a short nap
when the train used to stop at a station for twenty minutes or so. And when the sleeping father was called by desperate wife and children, the man used to shut them by asking them to mind their own business. His son boarded the train only when it had started moving. In the process, the family tradition was kept intact, albeit in a mild form.

Web Resources
-------------
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?colID=13&articleID=000007F0-6DBD-1ED9-8E1C809EC588EF21 (the story of bottled water in US)
http://www.littlemag.com (online version of "TheLittle Magazine")

Guest Articles (Interesting Reading)
-----------------------------------
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=92161
("In search of excellence in India")

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jul/22diary.htm ("Soldier's God" contributed by Ashish Monga)

List Managment
--------------
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