The ghastly superbike bike accident in Hyderabad yesterday which left a teenager dead and another one in hospital in critical condition. When I look back at the incident there are several things I find which are nagging and not exactly at the right place, some thing which should have been foreseen which would have reduced criticality of Azahar’s son’s condition and the other kid might have survived.
First thing i see is what the guys were wearing while taking a ride on the expressway, as I noticed they were dressed in ordinary shoes, jeans, T-shirts and for protection a helmet, now that’s wholly insufficient, any superbike aficionado would know that fireproof leather overalls, biking shoes, gloves and the best quality Arai or X-lite helmet are an absolute must while riding high capacity bikes and trying to break the sound barrier.
Any superbike poster in India or across the world always shows the rider in this right riding gear, in fact the Suzuki motorcycle homepage on web shows a rider on GSX-R 1000 wearing an Arai helmet and Alpinestar bike overalls with armor protection for chest and spine. Imagine if the kids were using the right set of protection, the outcome could have been little comforting.
Today’s teenagers, especially the ultra rich ones, know how to drive a monster bike but don’t think about the safety measures to be followed for responsible and safe driving. The protective gear costs just a fraction of the cost of the superbike and I am sure who ever can afford a thirteen lakh bike can spend a couple more on an Alpinestar full body suit, shoes, gloves and helmet.
The motorcycle manufacturing companies and dealers should promote the protective accessories at the same time they are trying to sell expensive bikes in fact their should be a customer education seminars at bike showrooms informing ways of handling big bikes, safe driving and protection required.
The other thing worth mentioning is that the outer ring road work is not yet complete even two years after inauguration, there is missing divider at some places, sign boards are not proper and missing at many places, there is no arrangement of lights and of course there is not patrolling for errant two wheelers or stray cattle.
The authorities should take a note of this, this accident could have been completely avoided if the bike riders were denied entry on a four wheel exclusive road.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
AP Police Bomb Squad Demonstration
Yesterday in our office Andhra Pradesh Police conducted a demo of Bomb Disposal, the personal from the local Bomb Disposal Unit gave a fetching display of how bombs are increasingly becoming a weapon of choice for the terrorists all over the world. They showed us the materials which are used and the devices which are used to hide and detonate them. The spell binding display of bomb detection and diffusing them left all of us in awe.
The presentation started off with a video clip from a latest Hollywood Oscar award winning movie ‘Hurt Locker’, it showed how the US army soldiers diffuse a bomb in war torn Iraq and how they fight the insurgency, later the guys showed us the live video of how the AP Police bomb disposal squad diffused the bomb at location of Mecca Masjid blast site, really tricky situation but ultimately the detonator was disconnected from the explosive and every one on the spot was relieved.
The contrasting thing between the incident in Iraq and the one in Hyderabad Mecca Masjid was that the US army soldiers had full body armor, a robotic drone to carry the bomb, the latest equipment to handle such situations while here in Hyderabad, AP police people did not had a single protective gear at hand, not even safety glasses, if something had gone wrong that day, another casualty would have occurred in the line of duty, I guess the life’s a lot worth if one is a US citizen.
Nevertheless, we watched the video with bated breath, the two bomb disposal people found out the crucial wire to cut and then went ahead to dismantle the bomb, people rejoiced and praised them, another feather in AP police cap and a request to the concerned to equip city police better, even the police personal have the right to feel safe while at work.
The presentation started off with a video clip from a latest Hollywood Oscar award winning movie ‘Hurt Locker’, it showed how the US army soldiers diffuse a bomb in war torn Iraq and how they fight the insurgency, later the guys showed us the live video of how the AP Police bomb disposal squad diffused the bomb at location of Mecca Masjid blast site, really tricky situation but ultimately the detonator was disconnected from the explosive and every one on the spot was relieved.
The contrasting thing between the incident in Iraq and the one in Hyderabad Mecca Masjid was that the US army soldiers had full body armor, a robotic drone to carry the bomb, the latest equipment to handle such situations while here in Hyderabad, AP police people did not had a single protective gear at hand, not even safety glasses, if something had gone wrong that day, another casualty would have occurred in the line of duty, I guess the life’s a lot worth if one is a US citizen.
Nevertheless, we watched the video with bated breath, the two bomb disposal people found out the crucial wire to cut and then went ahead to dismantle the bomb, people rejoiced and praised them, another feather in AP police cap and a request to the concerned to equip city police better, even the police personal have the right to feel safe while at work.
Monday, September 13, 2010
10 Years of Good Life
I woke up this morning, did my usual chores, dropped my wife at her training institute, came back home, all this before 7:00 AM in the morning so one can guess what my condition could be, all running around on reduced dose of sleep. Anyway that is not the point here, the important thing here is that suddenly in the middle of my morning tea and newspaper, I realized its my service anniversary and that too the one with double digits, yeah you guessed it right it’s the completion of 10th year of service in Mahindra Satyam, the erstwhile Satyam Computers.
It all started when I was doing my Masters in Roorkee University; I was only about 2 months out of my graduation from REC Kurukshetra when I received a letter from Satyam HR asking to appear for the interview in Satyam Chennai office, without even thinking as to how to prepare for the interview or how far exactly Chennai is from Delhi, I boarded the TN Express on a waitlisted ticket. It seems my luck had turned around after i had sent my resume to Satyam HR, I got a free seat within an hour. After the initial rush of activity, facts dawned upon me that I don’t know anyone in Chennai and have no place to stay also, a kind soul directed me to Triplicane and in fact took me to the place and helped me secure a room too. Another day of roaming around in the big city without a purpose and next day I suddenly found myself with a proper job with an even proper pay package as per the standards of that time.
I went back to University after getting great many compliments from my family and had to run around for full ten days to resign from the university, yes you got it right, one dosn't go out of the Roorkee University, you have to officially resign. Most important aspect of getting first job at Satyam was that during the interview breaks, I met a bunch of people on the terrace of Satyam Chennai Mount Road office and started friendship of a lifetime, very intelligent and helping, great people to be with. Initial few years went by in a jiffy, their was never a dull moment as we were all a happy group of friends always laughing and doing the usual funny things which friends do.
To conclude it, this journey of ten years has been a great experience for me and apart from providing me the much needed stability in life it has brought me in contact of numerous colleagues who are friends for life. Yours Truly,
Rajeev Siddharth
It all started when I was doing my Masters in Roorkee University; I was only about 2 months out of my graduation from REC Kurukshetra when I received a letter from Satyam HR asking to appear for the interview in Satyam Chennai office, without even thinking as to how to prepare for the interview or how far exactly Chennai is from Delhi, I boarded the TN Express on a waitlisted ticket. It seems my luck had turned around after i had sent my resume to Satyam HR, I got a free seat within an hour. After the initial rush of activity, facts dawned upon me that I don’t know anyone in Chennai and have no place to stay also, a kind soul directed me to Triplicane and in fact took me to the place and helped me secure a room too. Another day of roaming around in the big city without a purpose and next day I suddenly found myself with a proper job with an even proper pay package as per the standards of that time.
I went back to University after getting great many compliments from my family and had to run around for full ten days to resign from the university, yes you got it right, one dosn't go out of the Roorkee University, you have to officially resign. Most important aspect of getting first job at Satyam was that during the interview breaks, I met a bunch of people on the terrace of Satyam Chennai Mount Road office and started friendship of a lifetime, very intelligent and helping, great people to be with. Initial few years went by in a jiffy, their was never a dull moment as we were all a happy group of friends always laughing and doing the usual funny things which friends do.
To conclude it, this journey of ten years has been a great experience for me and apart from providing me the much needed stability in life it has brought me in contact of numerous colleagues who are friends for life. Yours Truly,
Rajeev Siddharth
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Swiss Team
The past two months have been a roller coaster ride for Satyam employees; the company has undergone so much change in the past two months that its been seen in an all together different light by both its employees and outsiders alike. This New Year bought strange tidings to the corporate world, mountains have moved in a short duration of a month and the employee moral took a beating for good. Now, slowly, things are moving towards normalcy and as we see today things are back to the good old days, it’s almost as if nothing happened some days back. Satyam as a company has come back from its most trying times and is again visible on the Global front.
Amidst all the media glare and worlds attention, their was one thing which the camera did not see and that was the internal strife which the employees were undergoing, there were some initial rumors about large scale employee shift but in due course of time, every thing was proved false. The Media also did not see the dedication with which our people have worked especially in VisionPlus projects, all the Press will never see the unflinching loyalty and solidarity which the teams have shown. Their were minimal resignations in Satyam of note after these events and the general air on floors has been of confidence and faith in that hope that things will be good again.
VisionPLUS Swiss Production Support Team’s efforts during these tough times needs a special mention, when the worst happened in the month January, they were coolly working at their location both at Onsite and at Offshore, the MasterCard SAFE Product Development, and Testing was in fact being carried out at the same time when the news channels were airing the news of the events of seventh. In Satyam the Swiss VisionPLUS team's focus never shifted even for a moment right from the beginning till the last minute fix by Omish and Anant. Now that the product is finally live and has already started showing good results in January, the client is most delighted with the efforts, to quote the customer directly, ‘After all these weeks we finally can benefit the successful final product'. The SAFE process is now easy, quick and correct’. Their was ample support from the customer also during these days, their never was even a mention of changing options other than Satyam, in fact the Swiss clients came forward in our support and ensured that key Satyam resources are not taken over by others in fray, their timely advise and support in our institution was just the medicine the doctor suggested. The number of words may not count much but it truly reflects the confidence which the clients have in Satyam and its people extraordinaire.
Amidst all the media glare and worlds attention, their was one thing which the camera did not see and that was the internal strife which the employees were undergoing, there were some initial rumors about large scale employee shift but in due course of time, every thing was proved false. The Media also did not see the dedication with which our people have worked especially in VisionPlus projects, all the Press will never see the unflinching loyalty and solidarity which the teams have shown. Their were minimal resignations in Satyam of note after these events and the general air on floors has been of confidence and faith in that hope that things will be good again.
VisionPLUS Swiss Production Support Team’s efforts during these tough times needs a special mention, when the worst happened in the month January, they were coolly working at their location both at Onsite and at Offshore, the MasterCard SAFE Product Development, and Testing was in fact being carried out at the same time when the news channels were airing the news of the events of seventh. In Satyam the Swiss VisionPLUS team's focus never shifted even for a moment right from the beginning till the last minute fix by Omish and Anant. Now that the product is finally live and has already started showing good results in January, the client is most delighted with the efforts, to quote the customer directly, ‘After all these weeks we finally can benefit the successful final product'. The SAFE process is now easy, quick and correct’. Their was ample support from the customer also during these days, their never was even a mention of changing options other than Satyam, in fact the Swiss clients came forward in our support and ensured that key Satyam resources are not taken over by others in fray, their timely advise and support in our institution was just the medicine the doctor suggested. The number of words may not count much but it truly reflects the confidence which the clients have in Satyam and its people extraordinaire.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Need for Little Speed
The City of Nizams is well known for lot of its qualities and characters, be it the Chicken Biryani or the Ramoji Film City, all of them is truly world class. A person coming to Hyderabad for the first time will not feel out of town at any point of time, the hospitality and the cuisine is always an affair extraordinaire.
Hyderabad, the big city has one of the largest IT Infrastructures in India. Several multinational companies have chosen Hyderabad over many other hip cities, the little laid back life suites one and all equally, be it a high flyer from Bombay or a simpleton from a village, this Deccan outpost preserves one and all. Amidst all the praises heaped and piled upon, lot of times one misses a detail which every one feels in everyday life but forgets during the busy days and nights and that is the Quality of the roads in Apna Hyderabad.
Believe it or not, the best IT city has some of the worst roads, take stroll down the way from Cyber Towers to Satyam Infocity office and you will find numerous cracks and holes on the way, some of them of such huge proportions that if you land your car or bike in one of them, you will get a bone jarring shock. My every day commute on this road is a daily exercise in precision guiding of my car around these cracks and potholes, like a veteran tank crew, I twist and turn the steering wheel as if I am passing a ‘mine field’ until I am clear of these craters, needless to say it gives me lot of heartburn and leaves me with stiff shoulders. This stretch is not the only one which gives you third degree treatment, most of the other roads in the Hitech City are like this, a surprise waits for you every hundred meters or so, one minute, the road is excellent, and then suddenly you are flying in the air.
There is urgent need for the government to act on this; the roads not only require being built but repaired and maintained as well. The current situation leads to accidents lot of time, if one is not careful while driving these roads, you end up shocked and scorched. The bad condition of roads leads to slow moving traffic their by delaying appointments. There is an urgent Need for little Speed.
Hyderabad, the big city has one of the largest IT Infrastructures in India. Several multinational companies have chosen Hyderabad over many other hip cities, the little laid back life suites one and all equally, be it a high flyer from Bombay or a simpleton from a village, this Deccan outpost preserves one and all. Amidst all the praises heaped and piled upon, lot of times one misses a detail which every one feels in everyday life but forgets during the busy days and nights and that is the Quality of the roads in Apna Hyderabad.
Believe it or not, the best IT city has some of the worst roads, take stroll down the way from Cyber Towers to Satyam Infocity office and you will find numerous cracks and holes on the way, some of them of such huge proportions that if you land your car or bike in one of them, you will get a bone jarring shock. My every day commute on this road is a daily exercise in precision guiding of my car around these cracks and potholes, like a veteran tank crew, I twist and turn the steering wheel as if I am passing a ‘mine field’ until I am clear of these craters, needless to say it gives me lot of heartburn and leaves me with stiff shoulders. This stretch is not the only one which gives you third degree treatment, most of the other roads in the Hitech City are like this, a surprise waits for you every hundred meters or so, one minute, the road is excellent, and then suddenly you are flying in the air.
There is urgent need for the government to act on this; the roads not only require being built but repaired and maintained as well. The current situation leads to accidents lot of time, if one is not careful while driving these roads, you end up shocked and scorched. The bad condition of roads leads to slow moving traffic their by delaying appointments. There is an urgent Need for little Speed.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
New Age Attitude
This is something from my Google pages, something long forgotten but alwayse true 'neverthe less'. All the views expressed in this post are mine and mine alone, any resemblance to persons living or deceased is purely accidental. I have tried to make this as politically correct as I can.
The Choisest ones:
o Disdain for superiors, looking at them as if they are the UN-enlightened ones.
o Watch Hindi movies as rarely as possible.
o Rock is the only form of music; others are pebble in a drum.
o Try to speak English with an UN-English accent, try Russian or Spanish accents, they sound great.
o Non drinkers are aliens who landed on earth from a galaxy far far away.
o 'He', should have taken the blue pill.
o Never get awed by a celebrity, act as if you don't know him or her, yawn after seeing them.
o Become a feminist, even God was.
o Love is the only addiction, others are hobbies.
o Vegetarians are usually sad people.
o We are elementals, we calculate.
o We never loose a chance to have fun.
o Metallica is not the name of a Bolt Cutter, its the lord unto itself.
o Never care for what they say, never care for what they know.
o Sandman is not a building material supplier.
o Feel and convey that you are omnipotent and omnipresent.
o Follow the policy of Mouthshut.com.
o Never fool around in the office.
o Last but not the least, Chup_Chap@kamkaro.com.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
I Raced the Lamborghini
There are probably only a couple of Lambo’s in our good ol Hyderabad, a Black one which started making its presence felt about a 6 months ago on the roads and the yellow one which made its debut on the KBR park road last week. I had the chance to race with the new shiny yellow one that day and believe it or not it gave me the same thrills which probably Narayan Karthikeyan would have got when he raced ‘The Michal Schumacher’.
For the un-informed, I don’t drive one of the new fads V6 racers which blaze the trail on ‘apna’ Hyderabadi streets these days, I drive my humble Suzuki 800 cc, a 10 year old model which definitely looks non-descript. Before anyone starts having second thoughts, it’s also called ‘Maruti 800’, but to tell you the truth, I am very fond of it, well who will not, because its my first car and every one worth their salt will tell it nothing short than a Ferrari. I call it ‘The Aeroplane’ out of sheer love for the classic.
The story goes that, I was driving back home with my wife after a late dinner at ‘Cocos’ an open air restaurant near the KBR park, when every one heard a deep roaring noise emanating from an enormous automobile engine, the behemoth was behind me when I heard the sound, I caught a glimpse of it when it overtook my humble ‘Gaadi’. All of a sudden, the yellow super-car overtook and left everyone dazzled by its sheer speed. All things said and done, I just moved on and was minding my own business when I saw it again near the ‘Jubilee Check post’, by that time there was lot of traffic ahead of the Lambo.
Something strange occurred to me and suddenly their and then, I decided to race the Lambo, my better half sitting next to me would have read my mind and immediately gave me the restraining order to perish the thought.
Boy o’ Boy, I ignored her glares and started chasing the yellow monster, there was lot of traffic on the road and the big one had problems negotiating the autowalahs and the white Indica pro drivers of corporate offices. The twists and turns baffled the Lambo pilot and he had to go cautiously by the road, on the other hand, I am an adept of this road, I know each and every corner and pothole of this road so was able to overtake the Lambo not one, not two but three times in a row, every time I over took I was shouting ‘yeoooooooo…..yeooooooo….yeooooo’. I would have done it for the fourth time had my wife not stopped me from doing so by a terse command of order.
The next stop was Madhapur police station circle, knowing the obvious risk I did not try to race it there, the moments the lights went green, the Lamborghini accelerated and went out of sight by the time I shifted to second gear.
Learning’s from this episode:
Know your territory like the back of your hand; one can achieve extraordinary things by good knowledge. Analyze the risks involved, listen to your better senses and most important of all, know when to STOP!
For the un-informed, I don’t drive one of the new fads V6 racers which blaze the trail on ‘apna’ Hyderabadi streets these days, I drive my humble Suzuki 800 cc, a 10 year old model which definitely looks non-descript. Before anyone starts having second thoughts, it’s also called ‘Maruti 800’, but to tell you the truth, I am very fond of it, well who will not, because its my first car and every one worth their salt will tell it nothing short than a Ferrari. I call it ‘The Aeroplane’ out of sheer love for the classic.
The story goes that, I was driving back home with my wife after a late dinner at ‘Cocos’ an open air restaurant near the KBR park, when every one heard a deep roaring noise emanating from an enormous automobile engine, the behemoth was behind me when I heard the sound, I caught a glimpse of it when it overtook my humble ‘Gaadi’. All of a sudden, the yellow super-car overtook and left everyone dazzled by its sheer speed. All things said and done, I just moved on and was minding my own business when I saw it again near the ‘Jubilee Check post’, by that time there was lot of traffic ahead of the Lambo.
Something strange occurred to me and suddenly their and then, I decided to race the Lambo, my better half sitting next to me would have read my mind and immediately gave me the restraining order to perish the thought.
Boy o’ Boy, I ignored her glares and started chasing the yellow monster, there was lot of traffic on the road and the big one had problems negotiating the autowalahs and the white Indica pro drivers of corporate offices. The twists and turns baffled the Lambo pilot and he had to go cautiously by the road, on the other hand, I am an adept of this road, I know each and every corner and pothole of this road so was able to overtake the Lambo not one, not two but three times in a row, every time I over took I was shouting ‘yeoooooooo…..yeooooooo….yeooooo’. I would have done it for the fourth time had my wife not stopped me from doing so by a terse command of order.
The next stop was Madhapur police station circle, knowing the obvious risk I did not try to race it there, the moments the lights went green, the Lamborghini accelerated and went out of sight by the time I shifted to second gear.
Learning’s from this episode:
Know your territory like the back of your hand; one can achieve extraordinary things by good knowledge. Analyze the risks involved, listen to your better senses and most important of all, know when to STOP!
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