Bangaloreans, this one's for you, I'm sure ALL can relate to it

You stand on the road and keep on asking the passing autos for a ride to your destination - if it's not your day, the autos will not even bother to stop; if you're a bit lucky they might actually slow down to hear your destination's name and think for a second ( i always wonder if they are calculating their net profit) and then speed away. However if you are more lucky, the auto guy might actually quote you an exorbitant price and then speed away. But if it's your extremely lucky hour of the day, you might end up getting an auto which is ready to take you to the destination at meter price.

There infact exists a government system which 99.99% of Bengaluru is unaware of !! 

The System needs you to Note the vehicle number (KA-XX-YY-ZZZZ) and email the details to transcom@kar.nic.in. Based on the prefix XX (for example KA-01),complaint will be sent to one of the ten RTO offices in Bangalore and adjacent taluk areas.Alternatively, one can also call these offices at the number given below based on the vehicle number prefix and directly lodge a complaint.

Vehicle Prefix (KA-XX)--Bangalore location--Phone number list is given below:

KA-01 Koramangala 080-25533525

KA-02 Rajajinagar 080-23324104

KA-03 Indiranagar 080-25254310

KA-04 Yeshwantpur 080-23376039

KA-05 Jayanagar 080-26630989

KA-41 Gyanabharthi 080-28602833

KA-50 Yelahanka 080-28561366

KA-51 Electronic City 080-25735522

KA-52 NeelaMangala 08234-285598

KA-53 KR Puram 080-25617951

Once the complaint is received at the corresponding office, a notice is issued to the address of the vehicle’s registered owner, requiring him/her to turn up at the RTO office within 7 working days. Every RTO

has about 10 IMV’s (Inspector of Motor Vehicles) who seize the vehicles which don’t report to the RTO.

The penalty levied from the auto-waalas is rs.100 under section 200.The various offences among others for which one can lodge a complaint

Refusal to come to destination (Any destination!!)

Demanding excess fare

Using rough language

Cheat the public, for e.g. taking longer routes.

Faulty Meter

There is also a helpline number - 080-22353785 available Monday –Saturday from 10:00 am - 5:30 pm on which one can call to lodge complaints.

What’s wrong with the system?

Lack of Awareness among the Bangalore citizens The system is inefficient in data gathering- emails or phone calls cannot be stored and processed properly, leading to ineffective use of these complaint data.

Converting these complaints into notices issued to vehicle owners is still a manual process Limited government officials to handle So, will our impatience always have to take a backseat? Can something be done to improve/compliment the system to make it more effective? Will we get a better platform to raise our voices democratically? Unless each of us understand and contribute, we cannot expect the system to change!!!

You can also SMS your Auto compliants:

If you hail an auto rickshaw but the driver shakes his head in disagreement to your choice of place or bargains with you about the fare,keep your mobile phone ready.You can take action.

In a people-friendly initiative,traffic police have opened a 24-hour interactive voice response system (IVRS) and text message-based complaint-lodging system.Commuters can use these services to lodge complaints against autorickshaw drivers who refuse to ply to a destination and/or for overcharging.Additional commissioner of police (traffic) Praveen Sood said SMSs sent by people will go to the traffic management system based on which action will be taken on the drivers.

Apart from the SMS service,a round-the-clock IVRS system will be available to register complaints.Even if there are telephone operators,people can also leave a voicemail,which will be taken as a complaint.

Auto refusal:
AUTO>SPACE>REF>SPACE>AUTO NO>SPACE>LOCATION>SPACE>TIME OF REFUSAL

EXAMPLE: AUTO REF KAXY1234 MG ROAD TO KORAMANGALA 5.30PM

SEND TO 52225

Auto over charging:
AUTO>SPACE>OVR>SPACE>AUTO NO.>SPACE>LOCATION>SPACE> TIME OF OVERCHARGING

EXAMPLE: AUTO OVR KAXY1234 MG ROAD TO KORAMANGALA 5.30PM

SEND TO 52225

Hope it's helpful. One SMS may help to set right these crooks on the road. I just lodged a complaint for an incident on Sunday, let's see how far it works.

My ill-experiences with Medicos

1. Once my brother was suffering from fever and we went to a St.John's hospital in Bangalore for check-up. The OPD was crowded but we were able to meet a doctor (mind you, not an intern but a proper middle-aged doctor). He asked us to get a test for Malaria done. The report was negative and we met him after getting the report. This is what he said...I remember each word clearly..." Viral fever doesn't last so long and he doesn't have Malaria, so it MUST BE Typhoid." With this he put my brother on antibiotics for typhoid for 3 days.I asked him that incase his fever comes down should I stop the medicines. He said we should complete the course. We simply followed him. That night his fever came down and he was feeling better. However, in the middle of the night his temperature came below normal and he started losing his consciousness. He started muttering some stuff which we couldn't comprehend and acting a little weird. We assumed it could be due to high fever that he went into delirium and continued the dosage of all medicines as instructed.

The next day his conditioned worsened and we took him to another hospital. He was diagnosed with jaundice which was worsened due to the antibiotics which were not needed in the first place. He didn't have any Typhoid. A simple case of jaundice was worsened such that he was hospitalised for 18 full days. As per this 2nd hospital, he had gone into Hepatic Coma which can have severe consequences.

2. My uncle is a diabetes patient. Doctors also diagnosed him with anaemia. They decided that he would require blood transfusion in order to improve his blood count. They transfused 3 units of blood in a normal way. For the last unit some illiterate untrained nurse was deployed. Instead of setting the rate of blood flow to 8-9 hours per unit, she completed the transfusion within 2 hours. His body could not accept this (which I think is quite natural) and he suffered a heart failure. On screaming and shouting at the hospital staff, all the doctors came running and somehow managed the situation. Needless to say a simple case was complicated due to sheer negligence.

The same uncle later suffered a stroke and partial paralysis on Vijaya Dashmi day, 2011.He was under guidance of doctors of Apollo Hospital, Kolkata but was not in Kolkata at that time. His son called up the concerned cardiologist. The response he received was shocking. The doc says," Do not DISTURB me with NON-EMERGENCY calls on a HOLIDAY". Hello Mr. Doctor, if people in your profession start celebrating Holidays then God himself has to descend to take care of patients. And please, non-medicos like us know that Stroke and Paralysis are not Non-Emergency. All we expected from you was advise as to what step should be taken immediately as we could rush to your hospital coz we TRUSTED you and BELIEVED that you would be of some help. Alas, that was our mistake.

3. I recently went to an elderly doctor for treatment and she asked me to get some tests and an ultrasound scan to be done. She told me that since NONE of the testing centres were reliable I must go to a specific pathology ( a reputed one in the city) and a particular Scanning Centre. With this she scribbled something on the prescription and asked me to come with all reports. As an educated and literate person I asked her exactly what blood tests were to be done. To this question she looked at me with a big frown and question mark on her face. Then very rudely she said "You just go and give this slip at the reception, they will understand what I have written here." I crumbled up the prescription on leaving her clinic and never went back. Yes, I am not a doctor myself but it is my right to know what you are going to do with my precious blood. After seeing SMJ, I think it must've been one of those Basin Tests :). Thank God I saved a few ounces of my blood and a lot of my money that day.

4. Now a funny one, but worth mentioning. There is this hospital which is attached to the organisation I work for. I went for a check-up and it all started with, yes you guessed it right- THE BLOOD TESTS. So this hospital is a little technologically advanced (they think so). Here when you meet the doctor, he/she enters all your details in their database. Then they type in some tests which you must undertake to facilitate diagnosis. Then you are directed to the blood collection centre of the hospital. They don't give you a slip as to what tests need to be done. So there I was, waiting for the pathology staff to collect my blood sample. He took a print out of the tests I needed to take and told me it would be roughly 2000 rupees for all the tests. I had no option and asked him to proceed. As he was collecting the sample I saw one of the tests was mentioned as "Blood Grouping Test". Just to make sure that this wasn't as simple as it sounded I asked him what test this was. The staff said that this was to determine my Blood Group! I said I already knew it then why this was required. He asked, "Are you SURE?" Oh come one, this has been done several times, when I was a kid and admitted to school, when I applied for my Driving License, when I joined the job. It cost me 100 bucks, fine, but it's not always about the money. It's just the intention of the doctors. What do they think they are doing? Fooling us??? Ridiculous!!!

Last Sunday's episode of SMJ triggered me to jot down some of my personal experiences. Some related only to money while the other serious enough to cost a near and dear one's life.

Lakhs of Indians may not be aware of what ways there are that Medicos are making a fool of them. I consider myself lucky that I am at least able to figure out when something fishy is going on. I am at least able to cross-question and link stuff to my Bio classes at school and understand what they are trying to convince me with. I am lucky that I can raise a voice. Yet when I visit a doctor now I really go in with fingers crossed hoping that it would not be one of those cases again where simple things are complicated and lives risked.

Just one message to all those ill-doctors with ill- intentions- "The Doc of all Docs awaits you up there, you aren't born to live forever either!So, Get Well Soon!"

Waves of memory...

When lightning lit the sky...
And set the sea on fire...
I stood and stared....unperturbed by Nature's wrath
Didn't clutch your arm out of fear,
Didn't run to you for comfort...
Coz you're no more there...
To smile and say..Itz ok!

The waves rose, hit hard at the rocks,
Like each memory of yours hits at my heart...

The waves splashed, split and lost their identity,
Like I was lost in you...my destiny.

The unwanted waves, they're thwarted back and sadly recede,
In search of themselves to the sea...
After you walked away...I continue to look for myself in me...

A strong gust of wind, took away everything,
But the eyes still search for your smile,
The ears hear you calling, in the midst of the night,
The heart waits for you all the while...

A drop of tear.....and another one,
Waves of memory hit hard again...
The heavens start weeping with me too,
They are tears of loneliness,not rain...

I walk closer to the sea,
A numbness within me...
Kneel down and close my eyes...
Tears run down my face as I pray
"If only, the fiery sea would rise once more,
And take me with it...to the unknown...to a land faraway..."

The Departure

Love has never been a bed of roses, loving has never been easy...Love need not always mean togetherness...sometimes love is departure..that departure which pierces your soul !

She has felt that kind of love..she’s still feeling it!

The first meeting was carefully planned....minute to minute..hour by hour...day by day...almost 3 months of planning for 4-5 days! She knew everything was temporary..yet they just had to meet...datz it!

And so it happened...days of ultimate ecstasy when nothin else mattered but Them. "Them together!”

They lived a life right out of a fairy tale...but this fairy tale soon ended as the days slipped by...

As though God suddenly realised...He woke up and said in a hurry.. "Sorry guys..but Time's Up for You both!" Like the clock had struck twelve for Cinderella....and she had to leave her prince charming and return....

When they hadn’t met, there was an attraction... inquisitiveness... excitement.... uncertainity... unknown apprehensions of something that was so much there..yet hadn't surfaced....

Once they met...all these feelings merged into one..and love was born...a love that was so real....a love that surpassed everything..a love that was blessed and also a blessing...

That love breathed a new life into them...a love that made them alive....

When they parted for the first time it felt like the end of the world...end of their world of happiness....they hugged, they cried, then left each other's hands and said goodbye....but the tears just wouldn't stop as he left in the train and she made her way back....

“ Was this it???It couldn't be...Well no..it just cant..how can we part so soon?”...she thought....time had zoomed past in supersonic speed it seemed....

Then came an assurance..."I will be back..we will meet again...as soon as possible!"

These few words lit up their hearts...that hope gave them back so much of what they felt they had lost forever...that hope of re-union would keep them going....

Many such meetings and departures followed...While each meeting made their love deep, each departure made it deeper...

And here They stand...at another crossroad...thinking of each other after yet another departure..

But now it is understood.. “ Life's like this for us..We are a different class of lovers..who look for love in the pain of departure...who know that this is permanent, meeting just a passing phase!”

That does not make love lesser....that does not make the bond weaker...

“With this series of meetings and departures I've realised that this love has only grown each time the pain of departure pierced through my soul...” she said.

Love is not always getting...love is not always the smiles...

Well, ask them about love...if you think that you’ve known it all!

Dreams are just that....dreams

A blurred image of You in my eyes,
A bit of your voice...a line or two,
And an ocean of memories of days that were
Was what I had treasured all through...

When I'd close my eyes,I'd see You there
I couldn't let You go again this way,
So I'd reach out for You..
But as always You would slowly fade away...

Then I knew the difference between dreams and reality
Everything else was real...You remained a dream
A mirage that frequented my thoughts
Which I could feel but not own it seemed...

And I would wonder why distance didn't matter
And why time had not erased
Even a bit of your presence in my life...
Seasons came and went,but my dream...it stayed.

Then I suddenly found You...
Is it a dream?Or will You stay...
When i reach out to stop You this time
Will You again walk away?

I'm scared to open my eyes this time
I want time to stop...stand still
Lest You disappear like You always did,
I'll be broken more than ever...really will.

Yet I cross my fingers and gather strength
Open my eyes as I whisper a prayer...
You are still standing...the blurred image much clearer
Just tell me I'm not dreaming..and that You'll always be there...

The Road To Nowhere

My first step on this road to nowhere,

Was the heaviest of them all...

I looked back once....

And tried so hard to stop...

Yet there was something that shimmered at a distance...

It beckoned me...

Mesmerised,enchanted,spellbound...

I tread along...

Then it became easier to leave a bit of me each time I stopped,

Certainly felt lighter after letting go of my Conscience...

It was ridiculous! It tried to stop me time and again...

Didn't It know where my happiness lay?

I got rid of It and carried on...

One more step, yet another one

Further away from the rest of the world,I followed my illusion...

Thoughts kept gushing into my mind,

Not many made sense....

The usual turmoil....and a numbness thereafter...

Preserving my sanity got tough,the road was rough,

And I but alone...

A part of me still pulled me back,

But I refused to listen,

I failed to see any reason strong enough to overpower my mind's illusion.

Finally, I'm almost there...just a few more steps...

I pause one last time to look within me...

And this is what I see-

I'm no longer me-I'm split!

A part of myself smirks,while a part of me cries,

Another part consoles me, but I know this part only lies...

I frantically search for the usual shimmer,

Not a trace of it I find...

And I stand shattered...

I know not what I've been walking towards?

But there's no way back...

Only a dead end.