The first class trip (17 – 19 Sept, 2010) – Day I.

After 4 semesters of engineering, it was time for spending time, visiting places. After a lot of yes/no, finally 12 guys agreed to be a part of it. Chikmagalur was our main destination.
Members: Jayaram, Wilson, Thejas, Amar, Manjunath, Navin, Reddy, Rakesh, Priyesh, Chetan, Dushyanth and myself.
We decided to have a three day trip starting from 17th and thought we could visit Chikamagalur and nearby places. The vehicle was booked, plans worked out and we were all set to proceed.
Day 1 – 17/09/2010
We were supposed to be out of Bangalore by early morning, but unfortunately we had our first hindrance. :( Reddy and Rakesh dint have hot water to bath due to power cut. So we were forced to postpone the time of departure by around 1 extra hour. Not loosing hope, we started our journey. The vehicle started from Magadi Road picking up Jayram and Dushyanth. Next pickup point was UVCE, KR Circle. Priyesh, Navin, Rakesh and Reddy got in. I got in with Chetan at CBI, Bellary Road. Finally we deviated into outer ring road and had our last pick up point at BEL circle where all the rest got in. We reached Tumkur Road, took a left after Nelmangla to get into NH-48 and were moving away from the frenzy of B’lore. We were out of B’lore by about 8.15 AM. 

Next, we stopped for breakfast at Kunigal. The preferred breakfast was tatte idli, though there were some takers for pulav and poori. :) With our stomach’s full we continued in NH-48 towards Mangalore. NH-48 is in good condition. The only disappointment were the numerous deviations due to the road widening work Our first destination was Manjarabad fort. You come across this on NH-48 just after Sakleshpur, just in the beginning of Shiradi Ghats.

Few steps to climb and you would reach the fort. The fort looked awesome, covered with wonderful views from all side. The area looked clean, well maintained and actually had security. We were not allowed to climb the walls, which had valleys on the other side. A guy about 50 year old, with an assistant half his age made sure that no one ventured near the walls. :) The funny moment was Reddy scaring Rakesh with the help of a window. :P An unforgettable  moment for everyone present. We spent some more time venturing into different caves, clicking pictures in burst mode and were back into our vehicle by 1 PM. Next we had lunch at Hotel Adithya, Sakleshpura. Nice food!! :) We took a deviation from NH-48 and moved towards Belur. The road was not so great.
We reached Belur by 2.30 PM. As we stepped into the temple, guides leapt onto us, but we refused anyone’s help. We moved about the outer circle looking at the wonderful carvings and also clicking pictures in different poses competing with the poses given by the shila balikes. :P  We went inside the temple. Paid Rs. 20/- for getting a light switched on to display the ceiling which had zillions of carvings inside it. The light was also focussed on a pillar, which according to the person operating the light had all the carvings present in the temple.

Some information about the temple.



As we were leaving the premises of the temple, a group of foreigners had assembled. The guide was explaining in English. A translator translated that to some unknown language.A feeling of pride was induced into me. The happiness lasted only for a few minutes, because I remembered about something I had witnessed earlier. The picture would explain better! This is the India we display to our visitors. :( The board is surely edited by some literate, since for an illiterate it would make no sense, with the presence or absence of the word “Don't”. Such things present the sorry picture of our country. When the citizens cant present their country’s tradition in the right manner, its seriously shameful. :(



We left the calmness of Belur and moved towards Halebid. The road was pretty good. A 30 mins drive and we reached Halebid at about 4 in the evening. We strolled about the area, clicking photographs and having fun. :) We moved on to the nearby park and spent some time there speaking rather very nonsensical stuff, which made absolutely no sense but wonderful fun! :) We decided to get back to the vehicle as darkness had started to engulf us. The moment we stepped out, there were a gang of women waiting to sell us different items like lamps, Ganesha’s made from stone. Quite a few of us obliged to them and after lot of bargaining, some decent amount of business did happen. Never expected others to buy them, but rarely do things happen according to your expectations. The best part of the whole incident was the reduction in prices by other vendors when a person would buy from one vendor.
Finally with memories of the two most exotic temples of Karnataka, we headed to Chikmagalur. We reached by 8.30. Checked into Soundharya Residency. They provided us with a single large room with about 10 beds. There was not much rush since it was not the season for visting  After freshening up, we separated ourselves into two groups. The veggies and the non-veggies. The veggies had a satisfying dinner at Soundharya itself. :) We were back to our rooms to catch the RCB match. :) Everyone except Jayram, Wilson and myself were busy in playing some card game and watching the match. We 3 were doing some planning for the next day. Finally by about 12 everyone was in deep sleep, with the promise of getting ready by 6, the next morning. :P

New cobbler in town!!!

 

Came across a dog sitting on a street cobbler’s mat. Dint know whether it owned the establishment or in charge of security.

What do you feel?

Please comment.

Camera: SE C510.

Location: 13th cross, Margarosa Road, Malleshwaram.

Admission season at UVCE.

 

 

Everyone awaiting their turn.

Camera: SE C510.

Sunset at the beach.

Photographer: Myself.
Camera: Sony Ericsson's C510 cell phone.

Configuring WA3002G4 for wireless access.

After setting your modem for “Always on” (PPPoE) mode, you may wish to access internet wirelessly through your laptops. This post will help you in this regard.

You can view my previous blog post regarding how to configure WA3002G4 for internet access using PPPoE mode here.

1. Open your browser, preferable IE and type 192.168.1.1 in the address bar to access your modem. Type the username and password both as admin, and continue to the Device Info page.

Note: If you have configured your modem properly, you will be assigned a Default Gateway.

2. Next click on the Wireless option in the left panel. Here you can encounter 2 cases.

Case 1: Wireless may have been enabled in your modem.

You will get the following window:

Another check you could make is whether the the light under the WLAN text in your modem is on. If both are happening, then the wireless in your modem is on. Set all the fields as in the image. You can move on to the next step.

Case 2: Wireless is disabled in your modem.

Your browser will show the following window.

The WLAN light in the modem will be off. In this case you just check the Enable Wireless option. Click on Save/Apply and wait for the page to reload and you will get a page as in Case 1. The WLAN light will turn on. Set the fields to as in the image. Proceed to Step 3.

3. We need to secure our wireless connection, so that no one else uses it. You can have higher security, about which I am not discussing here. I will only mention about the basic security measure.

Click on Security, below Wireless in the left panel.

Now select Enabled in the WEP Encryption drop down menu. You will get the following window.

 

Now choose your Encryption Strength as you wish, either 64-bit or 128-bit. Choose Network Key as 1. Enter the Network Key in the Network Key 1 box. The number of characters are predefined according to the strength. Please note the rules in the bottom of the screen and type the exact no. of characters. Next click Save/Apply.

4. You will get the following page. I have considered the Network Key as xxxxx. Your browser will display the Network Key you typed previously.

Now you can close your browser.

5. Turn on wireless in your laptop/PC.

You will notice the wireless icon in your taskbar. Right click on it to and select View Wireless Connections. Then you will see the DSL wireless service provider with name UTSTarcom. Just click on that and type in Network Key what you have given before then just click Connect. You would have established wireless network connection with your router. I cannot provide an image for this step due to hardware issues.

Hope this method works fine. Better securities can be obtained by changing Network Authentication type.

Please post your queries.

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BMTC and their whole stages theory.

 

BMTC has their own way of setting their fare, i.e. through stages. For example, a bus route is divided into number of stages and rates are fixed accordingly. The reason, I dedicated a post to it was the following experience I had.

Case 1:

Bus route used for travel: Vajra 195; route: Shivajinagar to Chandra Layout (via KBS,Vijaynagar).

I boarded the bus at KBS and bought a ticket to Chandra Layout. The conductor gave me a ticket of Rs. 15. The whole experience was nice(that being my first time in Vajra). The bus had automatic transmission, but still the driver couldn't drive properly. Lot of jerks were experienced by me. One good point though was he didn't have to stop  the buses at most stops, since everyone would consider Vajra something very costly and would wait for normal buses. This would make the journey faster, say by 5 minutes. Everything went on well, accomplished the desire of travelling in Vajra once. Being the owner of the student pass(another senseless idea), I wouldn’t find travelling in Vajra economical.

Case 2:

Bus route used for travel: Vajra 333T; route: Marathalli Bridge, BDA complex(Nagarbhavi) (via KBS,Vijaynagar, Chandra Layout)

Dismissing my economical ways of travelling in normal buses, I boarded the bus at KBS. This was a newly launched route at that time. So when I asked for the ticket, the conductor demands Rs. 18. I argued that the fare in Vajra 195 is Rs. 15. He says that the stage in 195 is Chandra Layout, whereas the stage in 333T is Nagarbhavi, so the difference. I say I travel the same distance, in the same route but pay different rates. Why is this so? He  says, that you have to ask BMTC. I pay him after scrutinizing a piece of paper, which had all the listings of different stages and different fares. So I concluded that you can travel a same route but pay different fares for them, in the same class of service, since your stages are not same.

 

I think the whole process is wrong. Above all BMTC fares are costly. I pay Rs. 5 for travelling 3 km here. Whereas in my hometown, where private buses are mode of transport I also pay Rs. 5. So what is the use of Govt. transport. Also, I may get a concession in my hometown if I travel in the same bus daily, which would amount to Rs. 3, making it cheaper. Of course, passes are provided by BMTC. They are also costly. A daily pass cost Rs. 32. 32 is costly and senseless pricing. The conductor and the passenger fight for Rs. 2 change. BMTC need a complete revamp on their pricing. This is what I feel. But I guess they are busy introducing new buses, new models of buses in the same old routes.

How to make people vote???Maharashtra has the answer.

 

This article is influenced by the following piece of news, I read in TOI(Bangalore) edition. Click here to read the article. The Election Commission had recommended a total shutdown of Maharashtra on Oct.13(day of polling), so that people wouldn't have anything better to do and would come and vote. Maharashtra Govt. acted on this idea and has implemented a total shutdown on Oct. 13. All shops, malls, multiplexes, offices, commercial establishments, residential hotels, restaurants, theatres and industrial establishments will be closed on the day and only essential services will be available for use.

I found this whole exercise a very good one, though it may not lead public thronging to the booths, it may influence a sizeable amount of voters to come and vote, since they wouldn't have anything better to do. This will help all the owners of the commercial establishments to easily access their right to vote. Of course, a day of closure may lead to huge losses, but our country has come to a state, where people have to be coerced to cast a vote, even though it being one of their rights. If this idea can change Maharashtra’s poor performance in polls(voting percentage), we would have a Govt. which will be elected by nearly 70-75% of the people. Even though the Govt. may contain the same useless ministers, it would mean that 70-75% people consider them less useless then the others. This is better than 40-45% of the total population, considering a selected few(politicians) as useful.

The Election Commission must come up with such new ideas, for better polls in India. This method may or may not improve the political situation of the country, but will surely make a larger percentage responsible for it.

What are your views on this? Please Comment.

Note: 1. People of Maharashtra, please GO AND VOTE.

         2. Blog post written by Windows Live Writer. Its starting to look better and better(though with some minor issues).