On May 26th, I and my husband were traveling from Hubli to Bangalore by train, when this incident happened and I was shocked to see how indifferent the railway staff could be towards their duty.

It so happened that we were the first to get into the compartment at about 6.10 pm while the train was scheduled to leave at 6.40 pm. We had reserved our seats in Second sleeper. We made ourselves comfortable and just then at around 6.15 pm a crude looking person entered the compartment and placed a huge bag on the upper berth, which was reserved by us. I immediately asked the person to remove to bag to which he said that he will be sitting there only for a few stops and started talking to someone on mobile. A few minutes later, a family entered the compartment and asked this person to vacate the seat as it was reserved by them. This person promptly gets up and walks out still talking on the phone, leaving his huge bag on our seat.

Then the compartment got crowded with people having general tickets entering the reserved compartments. It is nearly 6.40 pm and there is no sign of this guy and this started to worry me (particularly because this was the immediate day after the election results were announced). I and my husband were the only people who saw this guy keeping his bag and all the others are assuming that the huge bag is ours. My husband went to check the bathroom and the platform to find this person and this person is not to be seen.

Then I see two TCs (one tall & hefty and the other a short guy) entering the compartment and making themselves comfortable in their seats. The train is delayed by 20 minutes for reasons unknown. Even at 7.00 pm when the train starts to move, there is no sign of this person and I worriedly went to the TCs to inform them of the incident.

I started explaining the incident to the TCs (when the train is in motion albeit slowly). When I finished my version, the hefty guy (looking at his personality I thought he will do something) told me in certain terms – “Madam please go and complain to the ASM in his office at the other end of the platform”. I was shocked at this response and said “What!!!”, and to this the reply from that TC was “ASM means Assistant Station Master.” I was very angry with this attitude and raised my voice and asked him “Do you mean to say that I need to go the ASM to complain when the train is in motion?”. Looking at my expression, the short TC immediately responded and asked me to show him the bag.

After seeing the bag he said, “This is very much common in this train. People with general tickets get into the reserved compartments to travel upto Haveri. If the person does not come until we reach Haveri, then let us do something.” And to my utter shock, I learn that the train would take another one and half hours to reach Haveri.

Then the train starts to gain speed and the compartment is awfully crowded with people traveling with small kids. And then we see the guy who kept his bag running and catching the train. Only after we were sure that this the same guy who kept his bag, did we heave a sigh of relief.

I do agree that I was being very skeptical about the whole issue. But, I also strongly feel that being skeptical is a virtue these days. People were not skeptical about unattended bags in Hyderabad and there was a bomb blast at Gokul Chats, which is always crowded. I was a regular at this eatery when I was in Hyderabad and the thought of it scared the wits out of me.

In this case, there was no unpleasant incident but I was surprised to at the attitude of that TC who asked me to go to the ASM and lodge a complaint. This was the least thing I expected from the TC. And the other one was trying to draw a logical conclusion though I appreciate him for atleast coming to see what is wrong lest being as irresponsible as the first one.

This is not the kind of attitude expected from people in public service, who are expected to be more skeptical and more responsible than the general public.

1.)       The Hosur Road Jam - Unarguably, the mother of all jams. People proud of being associated with great companies (Infosys, Wipro, HP, TCS, Siemens, and the list continues….) are equally proud of contributing in no small extent to this jam. This jam gives a great glimpse of the Other India - colorful music-blaring in the interstate buses, garment factory workers, highway trucks, smoke spewing Lorries, and so on. This one provides ample food for thought for socialist minds. (Rating: ***1/2)

2.)       Koramangala/Forum Mall Jam - These jams are definitely the best jams in town. PYTs (Pretty young things), fancy cars, and fancy restaurants; this has it all. But you can't afford any of those. Never mind!! Your sadistic brain can take pleasure in the fact that the guy in the fancy car next to you is cruising around for a parking space, feasting his eyes on the PYTs, while his family is having dinner in one of the fancy restaurants. (Rating: ****1/2)

3.)     The KG Road Jam - To be experienced in the evenings before a long weekend. Every auto/taxi in town seems to be stuck while going towards the City Railway Station - your hair stands on end, you start sweating, the heart beats faster, and you get the rush that Michael Schumacher gets on his last lap. And just as the auto moves, a movie show ends and a few hundred more vehicles pour out... Which was the train that hooted just now?? (Rating: ***1/2)

4.)      The Jayanagar Jam – This is the puzzle-lovers jam; Jayanagar is maze of by-lanes, one-way streets, no right-turns, no left-turns, traffic signals, and what not. It is an established fact that in Jayanagar, Point A to point B can be reached in 6436 distinct ways. But whichever way you take, you are left with a hollow feeling that another route had a better and bigger jam? (Rating: **1/2)

5.)       Marathahalli/Whitefield J
am - The IT professional's dream jam; as s/he sits in the office shuttle looking at other office buses, s/he can make career plans. A typical evening in this jam goes thus: Voice from Company A bus: "Any J2EE developers in your bus?". Three guys from Company B bus respond "Yeah" and get down. By the time, the bus crosses the Marathahalli Bridge, the first guy is hired as a J2EE developer. The second guy, who didn't know what J2EE meant, is hired as a Project Manager and the third guy is rejected as he realized late that he has already worked for Company A last year. (Rating: ****)

6.)       The Airport Road Jam - Similar in taste and character like the Koramangala /Forum Mall jam but has socialist twist. This jam treats the rich businessman, who will later travel business class on Jet, in the same way as it treats a poor programmer, who had unusually come to office early in the morning, 3 months back, to buy one of those cheap airline tickets. (Rating ***)

7.)     The BTM 7th Main-7 Cross Jam - Close to my home, so close to my heart. But alas, the spoilsports at BDA finished the flyover at the Jayadeva circle and brought an end to this jam. But for a couple of years, when the flyover was under construction, this jam used to give me pure joy as vehicles of all types created a tangle in the small bylanes of BTM layout. The BDA is now planning a new flyover at the Udupi Garden junction; so there is still hope. (Rating ***1/2).

8.)       KR-Puram Jam - Evergreen Jam. Come what may. Who can stop this!!! Sort of a daily dose… Nothing to think about…only sleep..ZZzzzzzzzzzzz....

We jam lovers - have petitioned the government to protect and preserve traffic jams as a cultural asset of Bangalore. Just so that traffic jams are not endangered in the future, we have these suggestions:

1.)      Build more flyovers - Flyovers do not reduce jams. They just transfer it to the  next junction. And in the 2 years that it takes to build them, you are assured of some joyous jams. I am drooling...

2.)      No public buses -If everybody goes by buses, where will our culture go?

3.)      Tax Free Cars - Make Tata's 1-Lakh car cheaper by making it tax free - Imagine every two wheeler replaced by a car...The prospects are too good and mouth-watering.

PS: Dear Bangaloreans, do leave your comment and share your views on this post. I am in Bangalore for the past two years and have already felt a deep association with this email. I am imagine the state of hardcore Bangaloreans…

I was having a hectic day at work and was very tired by afternoon. I was sipping coffee when I received this forwarded email and believe me this was the real stress buster for me that day.

Did you ever say that a software engineer or a BPO professional lacks creativity? Then this mail corrects you. Though I don’t know who actually wrote this but I could definitely say that this one comes from the mailbox of an IT/ITES professional, who just thought of a way to pass time when on bench.

Here it goes:

Over these last few years of living in Bangalore, I have slowly grown to like the jams, which this city provides in abundance. These jams do build your patience and character.

Is it a coincidence that India's most patient cricketers, Dravid and Kumble, hail from this city of jams? (Dravid is even nicknamed "Jammy"). Does it tell you something?

Sri Sri Ravishankar...does he get his daily dose of spiritual inspiration while in a jam?? And will I also get a halo after a few more years of this "character building"??

There are, I am sure, thousands of future stars stuck in the Adugodis and Anand Rao circles, who are plotting their moves against future Kramniks... those poor little Kramniks stand no chance. And if you see a professor-like guy prancing around the Palace road jam, you can deduce that a postulate in Physics has just been proved.

A few days back, I had a thought - If we can have reviews of movies, which occupy only a few hours of our life in a month, why not reviews of traffic jams, which takes up significant hours of our day?? So here is my review of some of Bangalore's famous and not-so-famous jams (in no particular order).

But before that, a general comment - As they say, the taste of food in a restaurant is dependent on the ambience; similarly, the way I see jams, cozy inside the office shuttle or public transport, is different from the way the owner of the swank new SUV sees it (by the way, if you are the owner of the swank new SUV, don't run me down).

PS: The reviews are in the subsequent post

"Bhajji Slapped and Rajput Clapped" is one of the best and most hillarious newspaper headlines I have read in the recent past. Though the content has a lot of discussion about the Nanavati, who is doing a investigation and.......blah blah blah.......

But what impressed me most was the creativity of the headline. Or rather the punchline. I was just enjoying this news and laughing crazily when I happened to receive this email.

Without any intention to hurt anyone, this creative artist (I don't know who actually got this idea) has just turned this incident into a hillarious one. This is another creative attempt to see the lighter side of the most controversial topics of the recent times.

Here it goes: Why did Harbhajan Singh slap Sreesanth

Harbhanjan Singh was enjoying Match.

Yuvraj Singh came to him and asked, "Are you relaxing"

Bhajji answered '" No I am Harbhajan Singh"

VRV Singh came and asked the same Question.

Bhajji said, "No, No, Me Harbhajan Singh"

Third one came and asked the same question. This time Bhajji was totally annoyed and decided to shift his place.

While walking he saw Sreesanth enjoying the Match. He went to Sreesanth and asked "Are you Relaxing?"

With a cool attitude Sreesanth answered "Yes I am relaxing."

Bhajji got wild at his cool attitude and gave him a tight slap across the face and said "Idiot, Sab tumhe wahahn dhoond rahe hai aur mujhe pareshaan kar rahe hai; tu toh Yahaan Aaram Kar raha hai."

Another forwarded email that left me thinking and wondering about the today’s generation of kids. Most of you might have read this earlier, but it is worth reading a one more time. I don’t think anyone of us would have defined Love in this way.

Here are few answers which proved children can answer better than most adults when it comes to love. The answers they gave were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined for the question: What is love?

When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.  - Billy (7 years)

Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other. - Karl (5 years)

Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs. - Chrissy (6 years)

Love is what makes you smile when you're tired. - Terri (4 years)

Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.  - Danny (7 years)

Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss - Emily (8 years)

Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen. - Bobby (7 years)

If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate, - Nikka (6 years) (We need millions of Nikka’s on this planet)

Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.  - Noelle (7years)

Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well. - Tommy (6 years)

During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore. - Cindy (8 years)

My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night. - Clare (6 years)

Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken. - Elaine (5 years)

Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsome than Robert Redford. - Chris (7 years)

Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day. - Mary Ann (4 years)

I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones. - Lauren (4 years)

When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you. - Karen (7 years)

Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross. -Mark (6 years)

You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget. - Jessica (8 years)

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”

I have been an English Language writer and editor for the past 8 years. I have been writing and editing for a living all these years (I don’t mean to say that I am expert but I only intend to highlight my experience), yet…..I have to go a long way……………………….

This thought came into my mind when I received this mail from a friend. Probably some of you could help me with the answers and the logic to the following questions:

1.)  Why are a wise man and wise guy opposites?

2.)  Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?

3.)  Why does no one say ‘It’s only a game’, when their team is winning?

4.)  If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

5.)  Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

6.)  Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

7.)  If 4 out of 5 people suffer from diarrhea, does that mean the other one enjoys it?

8.)  If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren’t people from Holland called Holes?

9.)  Why is it that people say they ‘slept like a baby’ when babies wake up every two hours?

10.)  If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

11.)  If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

12.) Why are you in a movie but on TV?

13.) If “I am” is the shortest sentence in the English language, could it be that “I do” is the longest sentence?

And just give this one a thought: (I desperately need an answer for this.)

How important does a person have to be before he is considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Consider this example: Daniel Pearl was assassinated and Jessica Lal was murdered.

Could someone explain me the difference???

Again, an email that made sent me into splits and yet again made me ponder over the astonishing ability and cleverness of the little geniuses around us.

These are the results of a first grade class test: 26 students, each of whom is only six years old, were given half of a well-known proverb and were asked to complete it.  Here are some of the results:

1.)  Strike while the bug is close

2.)  Never underestimate the power of termites

3.)  No news is impossible

4.)  Don’t bite the hand that looks dirty

5.)  A miss is as good as a Mr

6.)  Better late than pregnant

7.)  An idle mind is the best way to relax

8.)  Where there’s smoke there’s pollution

9.)  A penny saved is not much

10.) Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and you have to blow your nose

11.) When the blind lead the blind get out of the way

12.) If at first you don’t succeed, get new batteries

12.) Two’s company, three’s the Musketeers

An
d, the winner is:

 The pen is mightier than the pigs!

I was very impressed by this mail, which I received a few days back. It's about an experience shared by our former President Shri APJ Abdul Kalam, a role model for everyone. Here it goes:

India
Knowledge@W
harton: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure?

Mr. Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India 's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India 's "Rohini" satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources -- but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.

By 1979 -- I think the month was August -- we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts -- I had four or five of them with me -- told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal . It was a big failure.

That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am, and the press conference -- where journalists from around the world were present -- was at 7:45 am at ISRO's satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India ]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure -- he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.

The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite -- and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, "You conduct the press conference today."

I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience.