Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Satara Solo Ride - 2010

Date: 17th December to 19th December 2010
Route: Thane-Mahad-Poladpur-Mahabaleshwar-Bamnoli-Kaas-Satara-Sajjangad-Thoseghar-Sajjangad-Satara-Pune-Thane
Distance: 650-700kms

The annual vacation was about to end and frustration was building up. The vacation was spent in family affairs and had not been able to ride out. Usual partners in ride were unavailable, so it was a kind of unplanned solo ride to Satara.

I had been to Satara 10 years ago. My friend's village is situated at the base of Sajjangad fort and we had spent two weeks there. Unfortunately we both didn't know how to ride so we couldn't travel around. We spent our time walking up on Sajjangad top, socialising with relatives and discussing nerdy things. His cousin was kind and adventurous enough to take both of us pillion and visit Kaas lake. That was the only traveling we did around Satara.

Oh and the only technological advancement we had with us was a loaned Pentax SLR!

Satara is reachable via NH4 and NH17. Riding to-fro via same route gets boring so as usual I decided to include both roads in the plan. NH17 and NH4 are two different routes - NH4 is still undivided tar road and IMO more fun to ride. NH4 on the other hand, is concrete now after pune and bliss for those who wish to ride on full throttle. Tends to get boring after a while but.

I decided to explore Mahabaleshwar-Bamnoli-Kaas-Satara route. The route is available on maps but not much information was available.

From Mahabaleshwar you need to ride towards Tapola. There is an indian oil pump and snacks joint next to it after approx 20 kms on this road. Try the misal pav here, Its awesome! 4-5 kms after that you will hit small tar-road diversion for Bamnoli (hotel sagar would be on right). This diversion is not marked. Take left here. Bamnoli is appox 30 kms from here.

IMG_5085There is one T junction on the way near a bridge. A rusty signboard indicates Bamnoli. Take right here. You dont have to enter Bamnoli. Continue on the road and you will reach satara tunnel via kaas plateau. It`s another 30kms so total 60 odd km from the Tapola-Bamnoli diversion.
IMG_5089
Road between Bamnoli and satara is being patched/reworked. There are no pumps on the way but you can get petrol from local shops for a premium price. No major shops/dhabas on the way. And the road is non-existant for about 5 kms. Absolutely no signboards between Tapola-Bamnoli point and nokia gps shows only road (as part of jaoli taluka). Good curves along the road but unusable due to patchwork and gravel. The road is scenic though. Runs on the periphery of Tapola lake for most of the time.

Destination arrived by evening. Things have changed much there in last 10 years. Most notable change was that the kids have grown up :)

In the morning I went on the hill for usual morning photoshoot.
IMG_5092IMG_5105IMG_5109IMG_5112IMG_5139

Next day went to visit Thoseghar Windmill plateau and Sajjangad top. I had planned to leave Satara by evening but got delayed by 3 hours! Had to ride at night between Satara and Pune. Thanks to HID, the night ride was swift.
IMG_5151IMG_5153IMG_5161

thoseghar1
sajjangad2
thoseghar2

Slept at Pune at night and Sunday morning was a quick ride back home.

Monday, November 01, 2010

मुख्यमंत्र्यांचा राजिनामा रद्द :)

आत्ताच आलेल्या बातमीनुसार,
मुख्यमंत्र्यांनी "आदर्श" सोसायटीचे नाव "राजीव गांधी को. औ. हा. सोसायटी" असे बदलण्याचा प्रस्ताव दिल्याने त्यांचा राजिनामा हायकमांडने रद्द केला आहे.

टीप: वरील बातमी खरी मानण्याची चूक करू नका. पण नेहमीप्रमाणे त्याना क्लीनचीट मिळाल्यास आश्चर्यपण वाटून घेउ नका. बराच बोभाटा झालाय त्यामुळे क्लीनचीट उघडपणे देणे कदाचित शक्य नाही होणार. मग राजिनामा घेउन सोडले जाईल.

एका राजिनाम्यामुळे तसा फारसा फरक पडणार नाही. पैसा खाण्याचा वेग जरा मंदावतो इतकच. सत्ता मिळाली की प्रत्येक जण आपल्या भविष्याची सोय करुन ठेवतो. त्यात असं एखादं प्रकरण फुटलं की चौकशी तितक्यापुरतीच राहते. प्रकरण मिटलं की बाकीची सोय कामी येते. एकदा खाल्लेले पैसे कोणीच परत मागत नाही. मग एखादा राजिनामा म्हणजे किस झाडकी पत्ती.

वास्तविक पाहता, आदर्श सारखी प्रकरणे म्हणजे टिमवर्कचं आदर्श उदाहरण आहे. इतकी मोठी इमारत फक्त नेमक्या ४ मंत्र्यानी बांधली नाही. यात आख्खी यंत्रणा नि:संशय राबते.

लवासादेखील असाच आहे. राण्यांनी तो धरून लावला खरा पण ज्याप्रकारे त्यानी नंतर घुमजाव केलं त्यात काय घडलं असावं हे सांगण्याची गरज उरत नाही. राष्ट्रवादीवाले एरवी चिखलफ़ेक करतात पण या घोटाळ्यात तेपण कुठेतरी अडकले आहेत. त्यामुळे ते फक्त सावध विधान करत आहेत. . ज्याची नावं उघड बाहेर नाहीत ते आपण कसे या घोटाळ्यात नाही याची दवंडी पिटत आहेत. नैतिकतेच्या निकषावर, सरकारचे समर्थन करुन तेपण या घोटाळ्याचे साथीदार ठरतात. अन्यथा सद्य परिस्थितीत हे सरकार पाडणे काही मोठी गोष्ट नव्हती
असा प्रत्येक घोटाळा म्हणजे एक "Organised Crime" म्हणून सोडवायला हवा. पण सगळ्यांचे हात दगडाखाली असताना दगड हलवणार कोण? याच जागी जर एखादा गुंड असता (निवडून न आलेला) किंवा नकोसा झालेला बिल्डर असता तर त्यावर मोक्का कदाचित लागला असता. मोक्कासारखा कायदेशीर मार्ग भ्रष्ट राजकारण्यांसाठी लावता न येण्याची तरतूद घटनेत आहे की काय हा संशयच येतो अशावेळेस. त्यात भर म्हणून आपली कायदा(अ)व्यवस्था जलद न्यायनिवाड्यासाठी प्रसिद्ध आहे. तिची भिती राहिली कुठे राजकारण्यांना?

वरवर दिल्लीत जी काही हालचाल चालू आहे ती असेल, आता हे पाप कसं निस्तरायचंआणि बळीचा बकरा कोणाला करायचा याचा शोध चालू आहे. तो संपला की कळेलच...सध्यातरी निशाणा मुख्यमंत्र्यांवर आहे.

बघुया कसं दडपलं जातं हे सगळं...

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Discrimination at Indian luxury Hotels

Had been to a luxury hotel to meet a friend. I was initially suprised since I was allowed to park inside their compound. While leaving, I rode up through the porch and two guards instantly came forward to stop me.

Guard - "Stop, Exit is that way"
Me - "Yes, I know, but I have to pick up somone from the porch!"
Guard - "Bikes allow (sic) nahi hai sir. (Bikes are not allowed)"
Me - "Why, I am not going to live there forever, will just pick up and go."
Guard - "But sir..."

I did not stop to argue further with the guards and went ahead through the porch.

All cars were allowed, no matter how cheap or underpowered they were. I wonder if he would have stopped a foreginer, or a guy on a superbike in same place.

What kind of discrimination is this? This is plain stupidity or just another example of socio-economical beliefs engraved in Indian minds. Or is this reflection of moronic understandings of people who made these rules?

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Handsoff!

They recently installed this Shoe polisher machine in the office washroom. And instantly people were seen using those and at times queing up.
I wondered how they realised that they need polish after this machine was installed. Or perhaps it was just the novelty factor :)

PS: I admit that I couldn't control temptation and I tried it out too ;)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

"सिंहासन"च्या निमित्ताने भूतकाळात डोकावताना...

नुकतच कुणीतरी सुचवलं की "सिंहासन" बघ. जुना आणि मस्त पिक्चर आहे म्हणून. आता तो कुठून मिळवायचा हा प्रश्न गूगलबाबांनी चुटकीसरशी सोडवला. TPB वर एकजण चक्क seed करत होतं. वेळ न दवडता download केला. १९८० म्हणजे माझं जन्मवर्ष. त्यावेळचं आता काही फारसं आठवत नाही त्यामुळे त्यावेळचा चित्रपट बघायची उत्सुकता खुप होती. त्यात राजकारण म्हणजे अजुनच.

चित्रपट उत्तमच, "जाने भी दो यारो" च्या पठडीतला. अनेक दिग्गजांनी भरलेला. राजकारणाचं अप्रतिम चित्रण आणि सुरेख संवाद. राजकारण फारसं बदललेलं नाही (अफरातफरीचे आकडे सोडले तर). चित्रपट जसाच्या तसा आज पुन्हा आणता येउ शकतो.

पण त्या काळचं एक प्रतिबिंब किंवा documentary evidance म्हणून पाहिला तर जुन्या गोष्टी बघायला मिळतात. त्यापैकी काही खाली देत आहे...

गांधीटोपी आणि शबनम घेऊन फिरणारी लोकं

लोलकाची घडयाळं आणि त्यातल्या काचेवर नक्षीकाम,
सलूनमधली पाण्याची फवारा करण्याची बाटली (तिच्या नळीला असलेल्या गोफात बोट घालून पाणी फवारले जायचे)

जुने काळे फोन. प्रत्येक मुख्य पात्र एकदा तरी फोनवर बोलतान दिसतं यात. (आजोबा त्यावेळच्या BSNL मध्ये कामाला होते आणि आमच्याच इमारतीत त्यांचं ऑफीस त्यामुळे असे फोन म्हणजे आमची खेळणी होती!)

खिळे लावून छापलेले पेपर. शब्दांमधली जुळणीची फट सहज दिसते

टेबलावर ठेवलेली मोठी काच, त्याखाली कागद, टेबलावर फायली आणि काचेचे पेपरवेट्स

भिंतीवरून केलेली लाकडी पट्टीवरची वायरींग आणि पंख्यासाठीचे मोठे रेग्युलेटर्स

अल्युमिनीयमचे भांड्यांचे स्टॅंड्स आणि डालड्याचे "रीयुजेबल" डब्बे. डालडा संपला की त्याची जागा डाळी घ्यायच्या.

नक्की कळत नाहीये, पण मला वाटतं हा वरळी सी फेस आणि मागे सी रॉक हॉटेल दिसतंय

विधान भवन, इंडियन एक्स्प्रेस टॉवर

पुठ्ठ्याचे कॅलेंडर, त्यांच्या खाली प्रत्येक तारखेचा एक कागद. तारीख सहसा मराठी, इंग्रजी आणि गुजरातीत, तिथीविशेषासकट. दिवस उलटला की आदल्या दिवसाचा कागद फाडायचा. पुठ्ठ्यावर एखादा देवाचा,मुलाचा किंवा मस्त बाईचा फोटो!




न ओळखता येणारे मुंबईचे रस्ते






ए-एम ट्रांझिस्टर्स/रेडियो/टेप रेकॉर्डर

बेल-बॉटम पॅंट्स, मोठ्या छापाचे कपडे, लांब कल्ले आणि "हॅंडलबार मिशा"
फियाट

मॅटॅडोर वॅन

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Commonwealth Fail! - खेल खतम, पैसा हजम?

Commonwealth Games मधली भारताची पदक-कमाई पाहता कलमाडी कंपनी सहज सुटेल असंच वाटतय.

पाहुण्यासमोर लाज जाऊ नये असं मानून काम करणारी बरीच लोकं अजून आहेत आपल्याकडे.अश्या लोकांनीच बहुधा ओढून ताणून कशीबशी तयारी पूर्ण केली. सगळंच तयार आहे आणि आलबेल आहे अशातला भाग नाही. झाल्या प्रकाराने आपली परदेशात लाज जायची ती गेलीच आहे.

माझ्यासारख्या बहुतेकांना वाटलं होतं की खेळ सुरु होऊ शकणार नाहीत, झाले तरी आपण काही खास करू शकणार नाही आणि त्यामुळे तरी कलमाडी कंपनीवर कारवाई होईल. कलमाडी कंपनीने राजीनामा न देता खेळ सुरु होईपर्यंत शिताफीने रेटलं आणि लढाई अर्धी जिंकली.

प्रतिकूल परिस्थितीमध्ये वर येणारे खेळाडू नक्कीच कौतुकास पात्र ठरतात.  पण खेळाडूंनी मिळवलेल्या यशाच्या झोतात आता कलमाडी सुटले नाही म्हणजे मिळवलं.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

"what is the command to create a file?"

This question troubled me a lot few years ago! I had just started learning computers. It was the time when I had 8086/8088 based diskless machines running MS-DOS 3/4.

Every book I found mentioned that computers store stuff in files. "Everything is file", they said. It was difficult to understand this because we never created files back then!!

Why so?
Our teacher would...
 - Boot up the PC using a DOS bootable disk.
 - type CD BASIC
 - type GWBASIC (BASIC interpreter would start and then the bootable floppy would be removed)
 - We would happily type our "Hello World" codes, run and just turn off PC when done :D No hassles of saving code :D

Soon our DOS lessons started and then using "DIR" I could see that the bootable disk that we used contained two files and one directory - COMMAND.COM, GWBASIC.COM and BASIC. Phew! There were indeed files in computers.

Next command was "MD", yes, fnally it seems I was getting closer. "MD creates a directory. MF would create a file?", I asked myself and tried the command

A:> MF KIRAN
Bad command of filename (blah!)

I was surprised and broken :( No file for me :( I went to my teacher and asked him - "what is the command to create a file?". He couldn't understand my plight too and I couldn`t understand what he explained. My search of answer continued...

Years later, I met that teacher again on Facebook. I was really glad that he remembered me too.

Thankfully, I now know a little more about computer files than before :D

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Hotel The SeaRock, gone forever!

It was a surprised news in the Hindustan Times newspaper today. It showed an empty piece of land, photo taken after complete demolition of Hotel SeaRock, Bandra Bandstand.
Photo: Sattish Bate / HT Photo
This hotel was one of the victim of serial blasts of 1993. The blasts damaged the hotel to the extent that it could not be repaired without demolition. Perhaps this process got stuck in CRZ rules or whatever, but it remained closed and abandoned (in a way) till this year.

Photo by Swami (http://www.flickr.com/photos/araswami/)
Whenever I went past the hotel, it always made me wonder about why this thing is not taken down or why it had not been put into service. The following link is perhaps the only detailed information you can find about the hotel. Without this, I would have never been sure about the revolving dome at the top :)

There is hardly any information beyond this on net, nor any photo of the hotel when it was in its peak glory. Not even after the blast occurred. I would like to copy-paste the entire article before the link goes defunct.

From: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/no-more-searock-bysea-rock/357165/

The landmark hotel in focus of reported takeover talks, has struggled to come to terms with the future since the bomb blast in 1993.



Some time after Jane Fonda and long before Shilpa Shetty cut a fitness tape, Bollywood star Rekha became the brand ambassador for fitness icon Rama Bans, who would knock her celebrity clients into shape at the health club at Welcomgroup SeaRock Sheraton at Bandra’s Land’s End. Smita Patil was another regular at the health club, Sangeeta Bijlani swam in its pool overlooking the Arabian Sea, Parveen Babi met journalists and producers here and not in her home, Jackie Shroff would mope in its coffee shop before the release of his blockbuster Hero, the party for which was hosted by director Subhash Ghai coincidentally at the same hotel.


The SeaRock was Bombay’s first serious attempt to shift away from the Fort and Nariman Point to the suburbs, and viewed as a Johnnie-come-lately by stalwarts Taj and Oberoi, from whom it grabbed both eyeballs and business when it opened in 1978. The arrangement with Welcomgroup, as the ITC chain, then newly launched, was known initially, was for marketing and management, before the 400-room property was leased to the group.


In the early eighties, it introduced Bombay to several firsts, including a frontier restaurant called “The Earthen Oven”, the rooftop revolving restaurant “The Palace of the West Empress”, known for its Chinese cuisine, the popular coffee shop “The Oceanic” and a vegetarian restaurant “Vega”. Its Playmate Club was a gathering place with a somewhat less salubrious reputation, but it was where the film fraternity and its financers — in those days the underworld — probably met. Several Welcomgroup hoteliers — Dammi Sabherwal, Channi Pantal, Anil Channa — cut their teeth managing the SeaRock.


The Sheraton relationship came later, at a time when though room rack rates were still sub-Rs 2,000, a two-year, Rs 25-crore renovation programme saw its transition, recounts veteran hotelier Sarabjeet Dhawan who was general manager from 1989 to 1992, “from just a film-frat hotel to a business hotel.” He remembers it as a glittering property designed by Kiran Patki — “what might seem commonplace today, but was pioneering then” — introducing, for the first time in the city, different categories of rooms and suites, and a business centre and executive lounge on its 15th floor. Vega and The Earthen Oven gave way to Habib Rehman’s Dum Pukht and the inauguration party was the talk of Bombay, attended by Sunil Dutt, the Ambani family, Khushwant Singh…


The bomb blasts in the 1993 riots that crippled the property now seem out of an Arthur Hailey novel. The building was endangered, the lift well was skewed out of alignment, the revolving restaurant no longer revolved, the floors were damaged and considered dangerous. Remembers Welcomgroup old-timer Shona Adhikari, “Only the fourth floor remained functional with 10 to 12 rooms, and we had to climb the stairs to our rooms when we visited Bombay.” Tea/coffee makers were provided in the rooms to tide over F&B crisis, though the coffee shop stayed open, at least notionally.


When in 2005, Suresh Nanda of Claridges Hotels and Resorts bought the SeaRock property for Rs 300 crore, it was assumed that they would bring down the building and replace it with a new one, though the headache was in dealing with city regulations that made fresh construction on the promontory overlooking the sea near-impossible. The delay since then might account for this, but in January this year the group signed an agreement with the Taj group (which has the Taj Lands End located diagonally across the road) to offer it technological and operational advice. Currently, though, with the Taj group not commenting on the takeover talks, it appears likely that it might end up with a majority stake in what was once its competitor. Whatever the outcome, one thing is for sure — both the landmark silhouette as well as its history seem consigned to the past.

Now the Tata group has confirmed that the deal is done and a world class facility is set to appear in the place. After 20 years of hibernation, it would be interesting to see what comes up. If news from void is to be believed, this pic depicts the new property

If I could go back in time, this is surely a place I would like to visit in the past. I went there recently and took some photos of the remaining structure. The curiosity of the stucture again made me wonder. Hence News in HT today was a little surprise. The demolition happened quietly in a way or perhaps the abandoned structure was assumed to be there for few more years. Its disappearance was unexpected.

I could never step inside old Searock and probably would never do so in the new one. But the place would remain an icon in the heart, and a story to tell for sure.

Enjoy few more pics ...

Sea Rock Hotel
Photo taken by me a while ago, Sea rock against Land's End
IMG_2171
Photo taken by me a while ago
Bandra Worli Sea Link from Plane
Awesome photo by Amit K

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

HID on Bajaj Pulsar 220F

Finally the HID is on! (For the impatient souls, scroll down fast :) )

Ever since I started digging through various forums and groups, one magical acronym always sounded desirable - HID. There was enough information to read about it and posts flooded with questions, opinions and experience that caused an overload :)

With VT-KIRAN nearing 4 years of existance, and daily commute nearing 70kms, most of it on dark highway, it was tempting to get HIDd. I had done the avenger coil mod but it still didnt seem sufficient. HID kept tempting.
When I finally decided to get HIDd, I got my hands on two projector assemblies salvaged from from P220F and a pair of Raylux 4300K HID. The excitement of getting slim ballast shortlived when I could not get this going!
You could buy these projectors at Kurla bazar for a few hundred bucks. It was crude to get those mounted on top of P180. And then, no mechanic around me was sure how to wire the stuff. In desparation, I wired it directly to the battery on Mahabaleshwar ride, just to discover that the projector was mounted incorrectly and the beam pointed to sky :( So the projector was left on during the entire trip and served well to attract folks around who could not get what that protruding thing was :) In second attempt, I used a relay and switch to swap it with stock low beam. It failed miserably too and then I suspended the project. VT-KIRAN soon left me and gave way to VT-RAPTOR.

Inside HID packing, note the slim ballast
Raylux HID pair

I thought adding HID to P220F would be simpler but many ensured that its not as easy as it seems. I was told that opening up P220F fairing is a daunting task and should not be undertaken. I wondered how would it happen if stock bulbs fail? Someone pointed out that P220F has a mechanism to detect failed low beam bulb based on lower current draw and then it would switch over to high beam (HIDs draw less operating current than stock P220F bulbs).

Many thanks go to the low beam bulb that died. On a fine evening I started and noticed that the high beam stays on. Next day at service center, it was a matter of minutes to get that replaced. Looking at it, I decided to get my hands dirty again and be glad about it.

Here are quick steps to wire HID to Bajaj Pulsar 220F

What would you need
  • Phillips screwdriver
  • Adjustable spanner
  • Electrical insulation tape
  • HID (bulb, bllast and wiring harness)
  • P220F :D
Steps to plug it in
  • Switch the lights off and turn off engine
  • Use a spanner to unscrew two retaining nuts under the front number place
  • Just above it, there is a plastic cover kept in place with 4 small screws, remove that with phillips screwdriver
  • Put your hands under the fairing and remove rubber cap at the back of low beam bulb.
  • You can now pull out the wire plug that provides power to low beam bulb
  • HID kits are easy to setup, the HID bulb will fit into ballast using polarised connectors. Then the ballast has two wires with flat lugs at the end.
  • Put these flat lugs directly inside the low beam plug that you pulled you out. You have to check the polarity. If connected the wrong way it wont turn on the bulb. But you can use general electrical commonsense to detect the polarity (Black is GND ;) )
  • You might have to press the lugs a little to ensure that they fit tight
  • Start the engine and turn low beam on to check that BCU doesnt detect bulb failure and switch to high beam. If this test passes, congrats, you are already through! You need not look directly at the HID. Also do not hold it with your fingers, IT WOULD GET VERY HOT!!!
  • Turn off engine again and let the bulb cool off for few mins.
  • Carefully press retaining clips on stock bulb and take it out. This has to be done with little guesswork if you haven seen it how those tiny wire springs clamp the bulb in place
  • With greater care, put the HID bulb inside and clamp it. This is tricky as the bulb is longer. It fits inside properly so do not worry or press hard. If you have to use pressure then you are putting it wrong way ;)
  • Put the wire clamps in place to keep the bulb firm in position
  • You can cut the rubber cap a little so that you can put it back on
  • The HID kit must have come with cable ties, use those to secure the ballast inside fairing
  • Use insulation tape to wrap up the stock plug and ballast connection
  • Put the Plastic cover and number plate back on
  • Fire up and amaze yourself with the upgrade
  • Adjust beam throw using adjustment screw under the fairing. Your beam cut off should remain parallel to the ground. This would ensure that road is lit maximum and oncoming people/traffic do not get glare
  • Ride out and enjoy!!!
The whole setup should not take more than 30-60 minutes.

I am yet to figure out how to replace high beam bulb but as of now this looks sufficient. Road illumination is improved for sure and I am finally HIDd :D