Friday, August 22, 2025

Railway retiring rooms - Needs better care

Indian Railways, under the Ministry of Railways, is a mammoth institution with more than 1.2 million employees. It operates over 13,000 trains, connects 7,000+ stations, and carries more than 6.9 billion passengers annually. On the freight side, nearly 12,000 trains run daily. Beyond transport, Railways manage schools, hospitals, factories, internet services, hotels, catering, metro operations, real estate, research institutes, training academies, housing colonies, and even sports facilities.

One such lesser-known service is Railway Retiring Rooms. These can be booked using a valid ticket PNR at either the source or destination station. Bookings are available in flexible slots of 4, 8, 12, or 24 hours (up to 48 hours at a stretch), making them a practical alternative to hotels with rigid check-in/out rules. They’re economical, safe, and highly convenient for passengers in transit.

On a recent trip to Uttar Pradesh, I booked two retiring rooms at Prayagraj Junction for 36 hours. The booking process was straightforward online, but at the station, the counter staff couldn’t validate it with just the PNR. Thankfully, I had the RR number from the SMS confirmation, which helped. The staff wrote the booking details on paper for the caretaker, and we finally got access to our rooms.

The rooms were well equipped – refrigerator, fan, AC, almirah, writing table, cushioned chairs, coat stand, and bed. However, the real problem lies in cleanliness and maintenance.
  • Bathroom design flaws: Water doesn't quickly flow toward drain; spilling into the room if not checked.
  • Poor upkeep: Tiled floors and walls were discolored, showing absence of periodic maintenance.
  • Bedsheets and mattresses: The provided sheets were faded, stained, and clearly beyond their usable life. Only after insisting did the caretaker replace them, but even the new set was worn out.
Clean bathrooms and hygienic bedding are basic expectations, especially in facilities meant for passengers arriving after long train journeys.
 
Broader Cleanliness Issues in Railways

The cleanliness issue is not limited to retiring rooms. Trains themselves often suffer from poor maintenance. On one Delhi–Amritsar trip, I encountered a bogie with a floor littered with food waste and four toilets in such a state that three were unusable. Overflowing, unhygienic toilets are not just unpleasant – they can lead to health issues, particularly for women who risk urinary tract infections.

Here the problem is not just with railways, but with passengers as well. Very often, passengers leave train toilets messy, spill food on floors, or misuse the facilities without a second thought. If users respected these spaces the way they would in their own homes, then the experience for everyone would improve drastically. 

Why Retiring Rooms Matters

Despite the shortcomings, retiring rooms remain a cost-effective, safe, and practical option, especially:
  • For travelers arriving at odd hours.
  • For short stays without the hassle of hotel check-in timings.
  • For passengers wanting to explore the city with bookings up to 72 hours (48 hours each with incoming and outgoing PNRs).
During my stay, I met a traveler who didn’t speak Hindi and was struggling because the lockers in the rooms had no locks. The caretaker brushed him off, saying - Railways doesn’t provide locks.” Luckily, I had a spare lock to lend him. It makes one wonder – if lockers are provided, why not add a basic lock and key system, charging passengers if misplaced? Such small improvements could go a long way.
 
Final Thoughts
 
In the hospitality business, cleanliness is non-negotiable. All the amenities in the world cannot compensate for unhygienic toilets or stained bedsheets. The good news is that these are not expensive fixes – they simply require consistency and cultural change, both from passengers and the Railways.
Retiring rooms have the potential to be a blessing for travelers if maintained well. They’re safe, affordable, and convenient – all they need is better care.

Sajeev

Note: 
Not all stations have retiring rooms. Please check availability before planning your journey.

PS: During my stay, I also came across another issue: the lockers in dormitory did not have locks. A fellow traveler, who didn’t speak Hindi, was trying to explain this to the caretaker, but was brushed off with the reply - Railways doesn’t provide locks. This is a serious oversight. If lockers are installed, they should come with basic locks and keys. Misplaced locks could easily be charged to passengers at checkout. It’s a small step, but one that can greatly improve both security and peace of mind for travelers. I always keep two small locks and keys while travelling in railways (very useful if you use clock room facility). I gave my spare lock to him, which he returned the next morning.

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Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Hyderabad Diaries: Exploring the City of Pearls - Day 3 (Ramoji film city)


'Udayananu Tharam' is a famous Malayalam movie (released in 2005) that talks about—and mocks—what happens behind the scenes in the film industry. Around that time, one interesting detail also came out: the entire movie was made in Ramoji Film City. People no longer need to search for natural or suitable locations for a movie. One can do everything within the comfort of a film city.

Built by Ramoji Rao, this film city spans over 2,000 acres and is probably the largest integrated film city in the world. More than 2,500 films have been shot here. Some of the famous ones include Bahubali (both 2015 and 2017), Chandramukhi, Enthiran(Robot), Krrish 3 (2013), Kick (2014) etc. The place has sets for airports, railway stations, hospitals, foreign cities, palaces, villages, jails, streets, houses, and more. The film city also welcomes tourists and showcases various aspects of movie-making. In case you want to stay inside the complex, there are multiple hotels like Sitara, Tara, etc. If you're looking for a destination wedding venue or want to host corporate events, Ramoji is a good choice.

The film city is located far from the main city. From our location at Lakdikapul, it’s more than 35 km away. Fortunately, it's close to the Outer Ring Road, which offers easy connectivity back to the Bangalore highway. Since coming back to city areas would cost a lot of time, we planned the Film City visit for the last day and headed straight to Bangalore from there. We had an early breakfast, checked out from the hotel, and jumped into the car to reach the city. Since it was Monday morning, there was a lot of traffic on the way. Eventually, we got onto NH-65 (Pune–Machilipatnam), but that didn’t ease the traffic. After a while, we crossed the ORR junction on NH-65. From there, the film city is quite close. There’s ample parking space at Ramoji. Since we didn’t know when we’d get another break, feeding Niha became a priority.

There was one issue at the booking counter. Ramoji doesn’t permit cameras with lenses over 55mm. I didn’t have an 18–55mm lens suitable for my camera, so I had to go back and leave the camera in the car. Everything is well organized here—after booking, we could directly join the queue to board a bus to the main film city. The bus was nicely decorated and dropped us at first stop after a while. 

Ramoji Film City

It's good to allocate two days to view film city. However if you have only one day, then you need to pick and choose what you want to see and to skip. As one Quora post suggested, it's better to try filmy dunia, space ride, moving making, wild west etc. at the beginning and then go for studio tour. This again depends on people to people - what I liked might be different from what you like; so make a plan which choose your interests. 

I recall reading that there's an opening ceremony worth watching at film city. Unfortunately, by the time we reached inside, it was a bit late, and the ceremony had likely ended. We took a look around and waited at the first drop point. Buses for the Studio Tour came and went quickly, clearing the queue in front of us. Eventually, we got onto one and officially began our Ramoji Film City tour. Since I'm writing this article months after the actual trip, I've forgotten the exact sequence of events, so the order described below may not be entirely accurate. After boarding the bus, the guide began introducing Ramoji Film City and its history. As we moved along, she pointed out various landmarks and mentioned names of movies/scenes were shot in each location.

Many houses we saw were just facades — only the fronts were built. But on movies, they look like complete houses or streets. After viewing several such sets, the bus dropped us off at the Bhagavatham set. Here, you can walk through Pandavas' Indraprastha and, in the next room, the Kauravas' Hastinapur. If I recall correctly, there were a few more sets, all separated by single walls. A short walk ahead took us to a railway station set with couple of bogies of a train (not real railway bogies, but something they made there). It felt like, within just 1–2 square kilometers, you could shoot an entire movie. After exiting the railway station, we arrived at the next bus stop, where another bus would take us to the next location.

The tour ticket also includes access to three complimentary adventure activities. One of the buses stopped at the adventure zone. From there, a different bus takes you further to the actual spot, which is a bit farther away. Unfortunately, I was seated at the back of the bus and couldn't hear what the driver announced. A few people in front got off, but the rest of us remained. I realized it was the stop for the adventure section only after the bus started moving again. In hindsight, it was probably for the best—we had Divya with little Niha and my mother, who is in her early seventies. They likely wouldn’t have participated, and getting off would have cost us valuable time and other experiences.

We moved on, and the next stop was likely the Bahubali set. On the way, we passed an area where filming was in progress. One tourist tried to take pictures, but our guide quickly asked him not to, as it's against policy. The bus dropped us in front of Mahishmati's gates, and we entered inside the legendary fort. This is a famous location, and many visitors were busy clicking photos. However, it looked a bit neglected—the paint was peeling, and there were cracks in many places. Perhaps the idea is to keep it open to tourists until it can no longer be maintained, and then it will be replaced with a new set. Although it appeared beautiful in the movie, I didn’t find the set particularly impressive and moved quickly toward the exit. By the way, there were couple of restorants nearby which sold Devasena dosas and Bahubali biriyanis!!!

There was a souvenir shop just before the exit, where we picked up couple of items. For those concerned about food and water, Ramoji Film City is well-equipped. Near the Bhagavatham set and again at the Mahishmati set, there were food stalls and full-fledged restaurants.

From there, another bus took us to the European Street set. The buildings resembled the front facades of European towns, much like in movies. We walked through the area and reached (if I remember correctly) hospital and airport sets. Many buildings serve multiple purposes — for example, one side might be the hero’s house, another the villain’s, and yet another side might represent a courthouse. So, one building could function as four different sets. We explored the airport area for a while before heading to the gardens.

When the bus stopped, we got off at what seemed to be one of the highest points in the park, offering good view of the surroundings. Note that, not all part of film city is open to visitors; some areas are reserved for filming or closed during active shoots. We walked downhill toward the first garden, stopping for some time at a restorant on right side. Food took some time to arrive which also helped us to rest for some time. 

Further down were more gardens. My favorite among them was the Japanese Garden — it was beautifully designed with traditional Japanese architecture and flowing water channels. We walked around there for a while, even walking a little through the water. I would have liked to spend more time, but it was already afternoon. We quickly moved towards bus stop and boarded one for next location — I can't recall exactly where it dropped us, but it featured several more gardens, including a small bonsai garden.

Next, we visited the movie making attraction, where they demonstrated how movies are made. Presenters also picked up three ladies from audience and made small video as well. This was followed by space ride. Both experiences were excellent, and I highly recommend them. After exiting from space ride somewhere down we saw the building where wild west show was going on. Unfortunately by the time we arrived, only five minutes remained, and it was the final show of the day. We missed it, but judging by the laughter and excitement of the audience, it seemed enjoyable.

Eventually, it was time to wrap up. Our memorable trip come to an end. Niha probably saw everything without understanding much; I'm sure when she grow older and looks at these photos, she might insists on seeing all one more time. By 5:30 PM, our return bus arrived to take us back to the parking area where we had left our car.

During the ride back, I went through everything we had seen. In a way, I gained better understanding of how sets are used in filmmaking; but it also removed a bit of magic. Won't I think about these sets and when I watch movies next time? Would it affect how genuine the scenes feel to me? I remembered an old roommate of mine - Rakesh - who was a huge Tony Jaa fan. He introduced me to movies like 'Ong-Bak' and 'Tom-Yum-Goong', famous for their flying knee strikes and stunt choreography. Rakesh admired Tony Jaa’s knee strikes and often explained his knee movements during action scenes. He also loved Jackie Chan, whose movies typically end with behind the scenes clips showing how the stunts were performed. Watching those behind the scenes clips made me appreciate the effort but felt like all these are not real. We all know that much of what we see is staged (many dangerous stunts are done by doubles) but still seeing how its done suddenly brought a kind of disappointment. From now on, I’ll probably watch movies with a different perspective.
Back to Bangalore

We left Film City by evening and soon got onto the ORR. It's a nice road to drive on—aside from some repair work happening here and there, there were no blocks on this fully elevated stretch. It took a while to reach the cloverleaf junction where the ORR intersects with NH44. The entire scenario changed once we entered NH44—lots of repairs, heavy traffic, and delays. It took some time to get through all the jams and finally reach lighter traffic. Unlike the stretch of NH44 from Bangalore to Salem and beyond, this segment is narrower and darker.

The long walks inside Film City had made everyone tired and eventually hungry. Finally, we found a place to have dinner, and surprisingly, the food was much better than I expected. Still, we had a long way to go to reach Bangalore. I almost stopped every half hour to have coffee. I think I’ve never had this much coffee and tea in a single day or night in my entire life. At some places, I even had two cups. It was also a bit cold outside. In some places, people were burning things to keep themselves warm. I stopped near one such spot where something was being burned. There was a tea stall nearby, and a lady was watching milk boil on the stove.

A large lorry had also stopped behind our car; compared to its size, our car looked like a child standing in front of an elephant. The truck driver got down and ordered coffee too. On the other side, the fire was still burning whatever people had thrown into it, spreading warmth. I walked back and forth, watching the flames, the truck parked just behind our car, the lorries passing by on the road, the moonlight, and the dark, tall trees lining the other side.

It took a while for the coffee to be ready. Meanwhile, I thought about all the pit stops I had made today. Some places were fully lit but mostly empty. Others had several trucks parked nearby with just a few people around. At some stops, I was the only customer the entire time. Finally, the coffee came—and it was indeed good.

I kept walking for a bit. The truck driver finally woke his trailer from a short sleep and got it moving again. Bangalore was still a distance away, but not too far. We started moving once more.

Sajeev
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Sunday, June 1, 2025

Hyderabad Diaries: Exploring the City of Pearls - Day 2


Rashtrapati Nilayam


Booking was done in advance for Rashtrapati Nilayam. In case you want to book, use the official Rashtrapati Nilayam website. Once booked, you need to reach the location on time; they permit a delay of up to 40 minutes. Showing the ticket on mobile with a matching ID card is good enough for entry. To avoid getting late, we left early in the morning. On the way, there were numerous traffic signals, but they didn’t cost us much time as we were traveling in the morning. Surrounded by military facilities, the area is very quiet. There was ample parking space; we left the vehicle there and walked towards the entrance. There was some confusion about whether cameras were allowed inside. One person at the entrance said it was okay to carry a camera, while an older one standing next to him said no. Finally, they asked me to check with the officer in charge, who was in a building next to the parking area.

I went back and the officer in charge wasn’t came yet; rest of the staff were not very sure about rules regarding camera. Eventually, they mentioned a rule (something made up on the spot?!!) stating that to use a camera, permission must be obtained from Delhi at least one day in advance. As time was passing, I left the camera in the car and returned to the entry gate. It seems photography is permitted everywhere except inside the main building. However, I’m still not sure whether DSLRs are allowed or not.

This 16-room main building was constructed in 1860 by then Nizam Nazir-ud-Dowla. Later, it became the country house for British Residents at Secunderabad. After Hyderabad State joined the Indian Union (post Operation Polo) in 1948, this building became part of the President's retreat. The President of India stays here for at least two weeks during his/her winter visit and conducts official business from here.

Tunnel - Secret package

We kept on walking and entered the first building, which hosted a limousine (and many other things) used by presidents in the past. From there, we walked toward the main building. The President and his family stay here in the main building when they are in Hyderabad. Here, we got a guide, and he explained the use of each room. We stood at the door and viewed inside from there as entry to room was prohibited. Once we came outside, we went to the next building and explored the underground tunnel. This tunnel was originally used as a secret passage. In 2023, the government renovated the passage and painted Telangana's Cheriyal folk art along its entire length. Calm music accompained us throughout the passage. Mom and Divya walked quickly and reached ther other side; me and Niha spent considerable time exploring the art. 


The area around the building is still undergoing renovation. They are building new gardens and planting trees etc. The estate spreads over 90 acres and has six gardens as of now — Nakshatra Garden, Herbal Garden, Rock Garden, Maze Garden, Palmatum, and Fruit Orchards. In addition to that, there are three stepwells — Jai Hind Stepwell, Nakshatra Stepwell, and Chinna Baavi. Step wells are more than hundred years old and are currently undergoing renovation. In buildings adjacent to the stepwells, there were detailed descriptions and drawings on how these were used in the past.

It was indeed quite a long walk. At one end, we finally sat on metal benches placed in one of the gardens. Mom sat there and explained to Divya about some of the old systems used in the past. Niha was tired but became a little happy when we left her in the ground. I started exploring the map to see how to reach our next destination.

Chowmahalla Palace








It's quite far from Rashtrapati Nilayam; here, parking is a bit difficult. After waiting in the queue for some time, we finally got a place to park. Chowmahalla means four palaces and was the official residence of the Nizams of Hyderabad. Construction began in 1750s under Salabat Jung and was completed under Asaf Jah V. This palace complex contains grand halls, courtyards, etc. There was some kind of party inside the palace in the evening, so we quickly moved to the main building; it was quite beautiful and displays the luxury of the bygone era of the Nawabs.


To read details about the palace, please visit, 

Lumbini Park

By the time we left the palace, it was evening. Next was the light and sound show at Lumbini Park. This park is spread over three hectares and close to Hussain Sagar lake. We reached there on time, booked the tickets, and went for the show. I can't say I liked the show very much, but it was good. After the show, we spent some more time walking around the park and finally went to Paradise Biryani one more time.

Sajeev
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Hyderabad Diaries: Exploring the City of Pearls - Day 1


This was my second trip to Hyderabad, but it felt like the first as I had almost forgotten the previous one, except for some memories of Salar Jung Museum and Golconda Fort.

When I saw that Monday was a holiday, first thing I did was open Google Maps to check which places I could visit in three days. After browsing through multiple locations in and around Western Ghats and nearby areas, I finally zeroed in on Hyderabad. My previous trip was rushed and felt more like ticking items off a list rather than experiencing the place, its culture, and food. So this time, fewer points were chosen and made enough room to enjoy the food. Railway tickets and Rashtrapati Nilayam tickets were booked in advance — everything was ready.

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder once said, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”

I can’t fully agree with the statement, but my plan had to change even before the trip began. We were so delayed leaving for Bangalore City Station (SBC) that it became nearly impossible to catch the train. Since we didn’t want to abandon the trip altogether, we decided to go by car. One advantage of traveling by car is that we could carry more items. The downside? I would lose two nights sleep. On top of that ORR traffic consumed a lot of time. Finally, we reached KR Puram. Instead of taking the usual route, we decided to try the newly opened Satellite Ring Road (SRR). Leaving KR Puram behind, we rushed toward Hoskote and entered SRR. The road was good and mostly empty, which helped us to connect quickly back to NH44 after Devanahalli town. 

Time for dinner. We stopped at a good-looking, famous roadside restaurant and placed our order. Along with other dishes, my Hyderabadi biryani also arrived. I stared at it for a moment — it was sticky rice in a greenish color. Did they give me something else? The biryani was overcooked and drenched in palak (a spinach verity). Suddenly, I was hit with déjà vu — memory from more than one and half decade agao. Back then, I lived in Electronic City (Bangalore) with roommates. Among five of us, two (Nixon and Sushanth) lived outside the southern states before. In those days, a Tamil lady came to cook for us every morning and evening — we had to buy the groceries, and she would cook. Sushanth was interested in trying palak curry; he was talking about it for sometime and bought it as well. At that time, I wasn’t familiar with palak, and apparently, neither was she (though she was a good cook otherwise). Sushanth handed her the palak and asked her to cook it. When we returned in evening, there was a green, watery substance waiting for us. Sushanth’s eyes bulged at the sight of the tragic condition of his palak!

Back to the present — I called the waiter and asked about the sad state of the biryani. It looked terrible and tasted even worse. I’ve had Hyderabadi biryani from Meghana, Kritunga, Biryani Zone, and many other restaurants in Bangalore. None of them served it in greenish with such a bad taste! The waiter insisted this was how Hyderabadi biryani is actually made and claimed he had worked at 15 restaurants and all of which cooked and served it the same way. I sincerely hope I never set foot in any of those 15 places. Divya and mom's dishes weren’t great either, but at least not as bad as mine; but both of them didn't finish it.

We left the place and entered Chikkaballapur district. Bangalore’s famous tourist and trekking spot — Nandi Hills — is located here. Chikkaballapur is also the birthplace of legendary civil engineer Sir M. Visvesvarayya. The next district was Anantapur. Penukonda Fort is not far from this highway. Divya, Niha, and mom were already in deep sleep before Penukonda. Divya most of the time never admits she slept while in car - it's just closing the eyes and thinking deeply.

Road was quiet and we crossed Penna River near Pamidi. Penna originates in Karnataka and flows into Bay of Bengal. It’s this river that carves the beautiful Gandikota canyon. Gooty, Dhone, and Kurnool passed by. If it had been daytime, I would have spent some time exploring Kurnool — maybe next time. Kurnool, also known as the 'Gateway of Rayalaseema', was capital of Andhra Pradesh for three years in the 1950s. Next came the legendary Tungabhadra River. The famous capital of the Vijayanagara Empire — Hampi — is located on its banks. Telangana border wasn’t far now.

The NH had changed a lot. When I last drove this route toward Gandikota, there were hardly any restaurants or tea stalls. This time, there were many. I wasn’t expecting such a long drive and had barely slept the previous night. So a few short breaks were necessary in between. Its always better to stop and take a short nap rather than believing that one can drive well, even if they are sleeply. It doesn't matter even if you are so close to home/destination. Always take break when you are sleepy. Just before the Krishna Bridge, saw a roadside tea stall near a petrol pump. I stopped there and slept for a while. Almost half an hour passed and I woke up had a lot of coffee and resumed the trip. Coffee was really good by the way. I wish I’d crossed the Krishna during daylight — maybe next time. With construction underway in many sections, our speed dropped in between. Signboards for Mahbubnagar, Shadnagar, etc., came and went. Finally, after sunrise, we crossed the Outer Ring Road and entered Hyderabad city.

Salar Jung Museum

After breakfast we left the hotel. Our first stop was at Salar Jung Museum, located on the southern bank of Musi River. It’s my favorite place in Hyderabad. I couldn’t complete the museum tour during my last visit.

Museum is named after Mir Yousuf Ali Khan (Salar Jung III), who served as prime minister to the Nizam of Hyderabad, Nawab Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan Siddiqi (Asaf Jah VII), in 1912. Salar Jung resigned in 1914 and devoted the rest of his life to art and literature, collecting artifacts until his death in 1949.

The museum is divided into three main galleries: Central, Eastern, and Western.

Central Gallery includes: Founders’ Gallery, Indian Sculpture, Indian Textiles, Ivory Carvings, famous Veiled Rebecca sculpture, Arms and Armor, Metal Ware, Modern Indian Paintings, Miniature Paintings, Walking Sticks, Toys & Dolls, Flora and Fauna, Silver Gallery, Carpet Gallery, Jade Gallery, Bidri Ware, Kashmir Gallery, Utility Items, Manuscripts, Coins, and the Children's Gallery.

Eastern Gallery includes: Chinese, Japanese, Eastern Porcelain, and Far Eastern Statuary.

Western Gallery includes: European Paintings, Glassware, French Gallery, Clocks, Porcelain, Bronze Sculptures, and Marble Sculptures.

The museum also houses two major libraries. The English section has about 40,000 books, and oriental section has 19,000. Manuscripts are preserved on parchment, textile, palm leaf, paper, glass, wood, and stone in languages like Arabic (25,000+), Persian (4,700), Urdu (1,200), Turkish, Dakhni, Pushtu, Hindi, Sanskrit, Telugu, and Oriya—covering over 84 subjects. There are over 1,500 calligraphic panels and albums of miniature paintings from various schools.

A crowd favorite attraction here is the musical clock, where a small soldier comes out every hour to strike the bell corresponding to the hour. At noon, the place is packed with people waiting to see the soldier hit the bell twelve times. The action is also displayed on large TV screens.

We moved slowly through the galleries. There’s so much to see — it takes time to appreciate the artistry and understand the historical significance of each piece. This time also, we couldn’t finish the entire museum. Divya, mom, and Niha got tired, and we had to leave many galleries for another time. There's ample parking inside and outside the museum. There is a North Indian restaurant behind the main building, which took forever to prepare and serve the food.

Charminar & Beyond

Next on the list were Charminar, Mecca Masjid, and Chowmahalla Palace. We followed Google Maps, but traffic near Charminar was heavy, and there was almost no parking. If you plan to visit, I suggest using Uber, Ola, or an auto instead of your own vehicle. We eventually dropped the plan and headed to Lumbini Park. By the time we got close, it was night.

Google Maps led us to the wrong location — we ended up at the Boat Club road which is close by. It seemed like other visitors made the same mistake. The roads were so crowded that missing a turn meant circling the entire stretch. Eventually, we reached NTR Marg and then turned onto PV Narasimha Rao Road. When we were about to enter Narasimha Rao Marg, a lady driving her scooter in the wrong direction crashed into the right side of our bumper and fell. She apologized, and even the traffic police scolded her, but the damage was done — the inner plastic panel broke. When you overtake car from the left or right or you drive any commercial vehicles, please be careful with cars. There are a lot of plastic parts which broke very easily but very costly to repaint and replace. I once saw an auto rickshaw jumped ahead from left side when everyone else was waiting for red signal to change and pulled apart the bumper of the car standing on the right side. Nothing happened to auto as parts are mostly metal; but car was new and its bumper was broken. Auto guy didn’t even bother to stop!!! 

Incidentally, this road — PV Narasimha Rao Marg — is named after the former Prime Minister. There’s also an expressway in Hyderabad named after him, but few institutions or roads carry his name outside Hyderabad. That’s unfortunate. Many people give full credit to Manmohan Singh for the 1991 economic reforms, forgetting that Singh was Finance Minister under Rao. It was Rao's government which backed and initiated these bold reforms — dismantling the License Raj, promoting foreign investment, liberalization, globalization, and more. His government also launched the Look East Policy, strengthened ties with the U.S., normalized relations with Israel (now one of India’s key defense partners), passed the Panchayati Raj Act, and liberalized foreign exchange management. It was also under Rao's government Indian state took back the fight back to militants in Punjab and finished insurgency as key threat there(Punjab was under president's rule from 1987 to 1992) and cracked down heavily on Kashmiri militants.

We stopped near Hussain Sagar Lake and viewed the Secretariat. The new B. R. Ambedkar Telangana State Secretariat building was beautifully lit. Next to Secretariat was NTR Memorial and Garden, took a left turn, and saw a grand statue of Ambedkar. We parked the car in a groud next to statue and got out. Divya, mom, and Niha were exhausted — ready to eat anything. Divya was sad about missing Charminar, but the prospect of Hyderabadi biryani from the famous Paradise Biryani on IMAX Road cheered her up. Niha, unbothered by worldly concerns, just looked at us hoping something would soon fill her empty stomach. The biryani took a while, but it was really good.

Sajeev
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Saturday, May 31, 2025

Night Drive

It’s after a while that I am leaving this late from the office. There is no one at home; Divya and mom went to home back in Kerala for a couple of weeks. So even if I reach early, there is nothing much to do there. So, better than spending time in front of Jio Hotstar to watch the remaining episodes of Tracker, I thought of staying late at the office. Finally, close to midnight, I decided to go. Hardly there were many people in the parking lot. A couple of cab guys were sitting in their cars; headsets plugged in — might be watching YouTube Shorts. One of the side effects of liberalizing data traffic when Jio was launched was YouTube, Instagram, etc., becoming accessible to everyone. No more buffering. The invention of infinite scroll only made the addiction worse. Well, I am also a victim here!!!

Leaving them behind, my scooter left the office main gate and ventured onto the public road. Hardly any vehicles were there — just a couple of cabs stopped on the sides and water tankers. Water tankers are prominent on most inner roads of Bangalore; many areas of the city depend on the water arriving in these vehicles.

This time, I decided to focus fully on the road and bring my mind to the details around. The mind is like a horse without reins — it goes in whatever direction it wants. This time, I deliberately focused on the road. On the sides, there were a couple of Swiggy and Zomato drivers waiting for their next call. Opposite, a couple of cars came and went, many using high beams. This is one of the problems in driving at night. People, especially the ones driving private vehicles, always use high beams at night regardless of whether someone is coming from the opposite direction. Nowadays, even stock high-beam lights are very powerful. In many cases, they replace them with brighter bulbs and make it very hard for people coming from the opposite direction. Even after they pass, your eyes get blinded for a few seconds. Previously, people driving yellow-board and commercial vehicles were better — they used to dim the lights. Nowadays, even yellow-board cabs are no better.

These roads have a lot of stray dogs. More than anything, these stray dogs are a problem while riding bikes at night. One can't say when they will suddenly jump in front of you. This time, one dog was rolling left and right on the road, probably to scratch an itch on its back. Light from the headlight brightened its eyes.

Soon, I entered a busier road and increased the speed slightly to match the pace of other vehicles. While traveling on roads, it’s better not to go too fast or too slow; as Buddha said, the middle way is better. Going too slow or too fast creates problems for fellow vehicles. Slightly ahead, one biker was drawing sine waves on one side of the road!!! I soon overtook him — it looked like he had put his phone on speaker and was holding it in one hand, controlling the bike with the other.

I was already going slow, and in front of me, there was a bike going much slower. I’ve often noticed that unmarried couples go slower compared to married ones. Probably they are more romantic and have more things to say to each other? Both groups go much slower compared to single guys (or when both rider and pillion are guys)!! This is my observation; it’s possible that your observation is slightly different. Let me know.

One problem while riding bikes on Indian roads with the visor open is the amount of dust. There is so much dust in the air that it kills the enthusiasm. I often prefer to ride after a slight rain, as the dust will settle for a while and Bangalore roads are not submerged in water. Soon, I reached home, and the date on the calendar had changed.

Sajeev
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