SeetharaMusings

These are memories of Sri Bezawada Seetharama Reddy about his childhood, family, relatives, marriages compiled together to keep them alive 

Dr Vilasini:

In 1951-52 I was in the 1st year of B.Sc and I could not get accommodation in the college hostel and my parents left me in Reddy House under Yashodavvas care. Same time Hyma and Vilasini were studying in Evarts school and they were also under Yashodavvas care. They were the first twins in the family and Kistappa used to dress them up in identical dresses and they were very cute kids. 

Yashodavva who was our guardian angel and we were looked after like her own kids.

Very soon after Vilasini was married and within couple of years she became a Widow. She was still a teenager and Bezawada Gopala Reddy garu went out of the way and got her a seat in Medical college. After completing Medicine and serving the people of Chennai she went & joined the Ashram and did lot of service to the poor. My heartfelt condolences to the family.

Reddy house:

No comparison for Gudur house to Reddy house. Gudur house was confined to Varada tatas family whereas Reddy house was open house not only for our family members but also to many Nellore people. In fact many second hand car brokers used to crowd there in the morning's. Many taxi fellows at central stn knew Reddy house, the fixed fare was one rupee twenty five paisa. 

Dodla Varada Reddy:

Since Varada tatas name came up in our discussions I started recalling those days.

I was hardly 8 yrs old when he died. I didnot know that I was his grand son until many years later.

He was kept at a high pedestal by the family. He used to sit on Darwaja arugu in the evenings surrounded by many admirers and Tala manushulu use to stand at a distance for a call.

Kids used come out of the school and who had an eye contact with him was shown his index finger and the kid would run to Rukkinavvas room who would promptly hand over a cigarette to be given to Tata. I was one of the regulars and I used to feel that my day was made.

One day there was a buzz and the talk was abuot a photo session of Tata. MANY CURIOUS kids were there to watch the proccedings. Some photografers came from Madras and Tata was dressed for the occasion and he was seated with his right elbow on a bundle of books. later I found that photo in all his progenies houses. Another day there was a big commotion in the house and the people were talking about serious deterioration of his health and he was to be taken to Nellore. Many anxious family Members gathered at Talavakita lncluding some of us kids. Just as Tata was being seated in the car Bhasker, tatas eldest sons eldest son sneezed. Every body looked daggers at him as if he committed a big crime. At that time Penna river was in spate and vehicles could not cross the river and the only way was on the railway brige. later I learnt that my father spoke to the collector got permission to take the car on the rail way brige. 

Flying Officer Dodla Ranga Reddy:

Kotimreddy Sekhar mama was great storyteller in our family

Now I recall one of his stories.

Most of our people may be familiar with Reddy house in Madras. For every small medical needs and some special requirements our family members used to go to Madras and Reddy house used to be Full all the time and most of the men used to sleep on the terrace. One midnight when everyone was sleeping during war time suddenly they heard boots sound coming up the stairs. Since the doors closed nobody could enter the house and they were scared that it could be Ghost.

Suddenly there appeared pilot Rangamama who came to Madras airbase and he had few hours to himself and he didn't want miss the opportunity and visited the family in the dead of night. After couple of hours a jeep came and picked him up.

Tragically that was the last time any of our family members saw him.

Dodla Lakshmi Narayana (DLN):

Some reminisces of D.L.N.R.

IN 1941 MY MOTHER AND MY SIS SESHAPPA DELIVERED LEELA AND LAKHMINARANA FEW DAYS APART AT A.B.M HOSPITAL NELLORE.

AS A KID I USED TO SEE THEM LYING DOWN IN SIDE BY SIDE COTS IN BABEMAMAS ROOM IN OUR HOUSE.

Later peddabayya was sent to Bangalore for his schooling. When there was a group photo taken after the marriage of one of the brothers he was the only kid who was absent in thegroup photo of my father's progeny.

Much later in 1956 summer my brother Krishna and D.L.N came to Pilani to meet me when I just completed my post graduation in Birla scns college.

Later we all came back to New Delhi to my father's North Avenue MP's QUARTERS.

AFTER A FEW DAYS STAY THERE MY father SENT THE THREE OF us TO SRINAGAR FOR A HOLIDAY.

FROM DELHI WE WENT TO JAMMU BY TRAIN AND FROM THERE WE WENT TO SINAGAR BY A DAKOTA PLANE SINCE THERE WAS NO ROAD OR TRAIN CONNNECTION, MUCH LATER IN 60's BANNIHAL PASS CAME INTO USE.

THE RETURN FARE FOR EACH WAS 30 Rs. EACH PASSENGER ALONG WITH HIS LUUGAGE WAS WEIGHED BEFORE BOARDING.

IN SRINAgaR WE HAD VERY GOOD TIME GOING ROUND GULMARG, SONMARG,ANANTNAG, PEHALGAM ETC.

A FEW YEARS LATER WHEN I WAS WORKING IN VIzAG HE WAS MY GuEST FOR TWO YEARS WHEN HE DID HIS POST GRADUATION IN ANDHRA UNIVERSITY.

Dodla Janakappas:

Janakappas photo brought flood of memories of that time. Her marriage was a very big event and all the family members wanted to go to Penubally. All the jatkas and Onteddu bandlu were taken away for ladies and we many kids were left behind since going by open double bullock carts was infradig for reddygari pliiakayalu.Then Kodandamama who happened to be in Buchi got a brilliant idea. He enthused all the kids to take evening walk from Buchi to Penubally and all of us enthusiastically participated. 

Marriage was grandly celebrated and highlight of the evening was a dance performance by one budding actress fromMadras.

Waheeda Rehman:

Since dance came into the narrative I recollected Parvatammas marriage in Girija talkies a couple of years later.

Kesatata arranged a budding actress by NAME Waheeda Rehman ,who just became famous with her dance song Rojulumarai.

It so happened I went from Madras to attend the marriage and a bus was arranged from Santapeta for the dance troop and I could travel in the bus.

There was awe that a fabulous sum of three hundred rupees was paid to the troop and it included their travel expenses.

In pursuit of Ram Lalla & Kumbhmela

Visit to Ayodhya is a trip with mixed feelings of right after wrong and get a feel of Blessings from the divine.

As you land on the 19th January 2025 and are taxing you will be immersed in chants of Jai Shree Ram led by the pilot. Small airport, hired a Uber and reached our hotel within 30 minutes in spite of some typical Indian traffic.

Rameswar vatika the hotel where we stayed is a compact 10 room hotel and well managed. According to the owner he is adding 20 more rooms, hope they will continue to manage the hotel with the same standards.

Owner of our hotel helped us with mobility and the auto driver took us to the banks of Sarayu. As it got

dark the Aarthi started at 6.10 PM, after spending a while, we moved to the Ram mandir, walked from the spot where we were dropped (all autos are not allowed till the temple).

Quickly walked towards the mandir, on the way dropping our footwear & mobiles at the respective counters. Finally reached the steps which lead us to have the darshan of Ram lalla. As we climbed the steps we noticed 5/6 queue lines, we chose the one in the middle. If we had taken the extreme right line, we would have stood closest to the idol as we take a 90 degree left turn towards the exit. Idol is visible from a good distance as it is placed on a high pedestal, if we continue the entire distance looking at the idol, we will have a fulfilling darshan. 

After climbing down the exit stairs, we will be coming to a place where prasad is distributed. On the way out we collected the mobiles and footwear from the respective counters, there is no payment for these services. We were given the locker keys/Tokens on presenting the same we get our stuff, well managed, I felt.

From there, we went on to have a darshan at the Hanuman garhi, a climb without any support of railings and multiple Q lines. Fortunately crowd was not very heavy being a Sunday, also probably because it was almost closing time.

Got back into the auto and got dropped at our hotel. A buffet was laid out and had some hot vegetarian meal, prepared with love and served with care. With all the walking and travel fatigue went off to a good night sleep. My friend who lives in Dallas was worried about the size of the mosquitos in the room, saved by odomos, he too managed to get few winks.

After a 4 cuisine breakfast and some hot tea we boarded the cab booked on MakeMyTrip on our way to Prayagraj. Managed to do the distance in 4.30 hrs., with few stops for fuel, fruits etc. Picked up 3 kgs of peas for the family at Hyderabad.

Hotel Town House booked through Oyo (Hotel Santosh Palace) near the Prayagraj junction, room is big but service was poor, in spite of online booking, filling up a form, register takes its own time. Prices were high as the industry was making hay while sun shines (Maha Kumbh).

After a quick meal went towards the Sangam ghats to have a dip and interaction with the innumerable sadhus who were camping out there.

Like in Ayodhya restricted plying of autos in phases/zones was applicable here too. We could notice extensive availability of electric autos in addition to CNG autos. Fortunately crowds were not very thick and movement was smooth.

I would be failing if I don't mention the arrangements. Heavy visibility of the PM n CM on the hoardings present on both sides of the road. Number of food courts present throughout the long walk. There were enough information stalls put up by the PSUs n government bodies like RBI, LIC etc. Available stalls were selling food at reasonable prices, no fleecing from the bhakts. There were number of public toilets made available through the length of the distance. Near the bathing Ghats changing rooms were provided about 50 meters from the place where you take a dip. Plastic sheets were on sale for people to buy and use them as mats.

Bathing Ghats were well created, one can stand in the water and comfortably take a dip as the water is only waist deep, till you reach the water sand bags are laid for a firm footing, on the other three sides there is a protective barricade made up of plastic material which is floating and firmly placed. There is absolutely no risk of any kind of drowning.

Continuous announcement about non usage of soap and leaving flowers in the water was being made. Even the flower+ Diya sellers were being shooed away by the cops, the people were seen floating a diya and leaving some flowers in the water in memory of the departed. Best thing you notice is continuous cleaning of the area of all the rubbish left by the people and cleaning of the bathing Ghats was continuous of all the floating flowers, diyas & other stuff left by people. I understand there were 5000 people deployed for this purpose.

There was continuous movement of VIP vehicles, it is OK on a less crowded day, wonder what would

be the situation on a very crowded day. Steel sheets were spread near the river bank for easier movement of vehicles and walking public avoiding the sand beneath. Pontoons were built to cross the waterways, shaky but steady.

It is told AI cameras are deployed to count the number of persons visiting the Ghats, whatever maybe the accuracy of the cameras, sheer numbers do not match up to the bearing capacity of a city of the size of Prayagraj.

Prayagraj is a dusty city, with so many people walking their way to the bathing Ghats, you can see the haze created by the dust. It was more visible during our trip to the airport on our way to Hyderabad in the morning hours.

When my friend went in pursuit of the Naga Sadhus, I decided to rest my feet, which carried my bulky body, and waited for my friend to return. Meanwhile entertained myself with the peoples behaviour in front of me.

There was this group of 2 couples with 3 teenage boys, all 5 men managed to take a dip with just wetting only two under wears, Helps to have a common physique which facilitates such happenings. Interestingly one of the women, bent upon buying the plastic sheet, which was being sold for Rs.20 for Rs.10, unfortunately her husband didn't appreciate her bargaining skills and paid of the seller.

Some of the ladies didn't wish to go up to the changing rooms and were having all kinds of difficulty changing on the banks based on the dress they were wearing, either they were not aware of the possibility of a changing room being available or simply didn't wish to go that far.

Hot tea was on sale and vendors were using chulhas, hot flasks to keep it hot. The usual murmura mixture was on offer along with samosas.

There were plenty of unofficial bike taxis on offer, if they are parked and single, that means they are likely to be looking for a customer, only useful for single or max two people. Expensive considering the situation.

All images used in the post Copyright belongs to the respective owners, they have been used for indicative purpose only

RERA why the apathy?

THE REAL ESTATE (REGULATION AND DEVELOPMENT) ACT, 2016 is an act brought in to safe

guard the purchasers from being taken for a ride by the promoters. There were too many such instances around NCR which prompted the Central Government to bring in this law.

This law has been pronounced in 2016 and became a law in all the states with respective state promulgating their own Act. However, if one reads the main Act and the various state versions there is a certain amount of dilution by the state governments for the reasons best known to them.

To prevent money being misused it was mandated to set up Escrow accounts to keep the money in those accounts and only a part of the amount was allowed to be used by the promoter for construction based on certification by authorised persons like Chartered Engineer/Architect etc. This is one reason many a promoter is reluctant to Register his project with RERA.

RERA insists on submitting a list of products and makes/Brands that are proposed to be used in the construction and expects the promoter to use the same. However, what has been submitted by the promoter is not known to the buyers and the intended transparency is lost here.

One of the main criteria for qualifying for registration with respective state RERA is more than 8 flats or 500 Sq Mt land area on which development is taking place. Then how come most projects which fit into this norm are not registered with RERA. RERA though very powerful is understaffed. It is impossible to monitor development that is taking place in the entire state. What is more surprising is this body is under the aegis of the Ministry for Urban Development & Municipalities. Practically every building including an independent house is mandated to take planning permission from the Local body.

Under these circumstances why there is no integration between RERA & Respective local body, more so when both are under the same ministry. Every plan approval which qualifies for registration with RERA should be automatically shared to RERA by the local body. All guideline sheets issued to the promoter by the Local body should set a deadline for RERA registration in the guideline sheet and enforce it. 

Enforcement is much easier for a Local body as they mortgage 10% of the project size with themselves and no promoter can afford to lose the 10% of his project to the government. Occupation certificate which is given when the building is completed releases this 10%, but not having a RERA registration will compulsorily not make the promoter qualify for Occupation Certificate/No Objection Certificate/Completion Certificate (as they are called in different states)
.

As usual the consumer education is little or negligible. Is a buyer really concerned about what is good for him, this is a million dollar question and leaves one wondering, is our Nation full of compromisers. Here is an Act brought out in the interest of the consumer / Home Buyer and they hardly ask the promoter any question regarding RERA registration and or easily convinced by the reply of the promoter. As long as the projects are getting completed, buyer is relatively safe, Alas if there is any Hiccup he will find it difficult to deal with the promoter who would be mightier by size.

Consumer should be able to check about the projects RERA registration status just like how one checks their PNR. The moment an enquiry comes from a mobile phone a OTP should be sent out to the number which is seeking to know the status of the registration. Once the OTP is matched Project registration details as submitted by the promoter should be sent out to the prospective buyer including the GPS location of the project. Any misuse of the information by competitors could be made a punishable offence as a deterrent for misuse.

Banks do ask for RERA registration particulars to approve the project for Home loan sanction process. However, there is no such requirement prescribed for single file processing by the financial institution. 

RERA & Local Body should insist on prominent display of the RERA registration Number and the Plan Sanction Number of the local body at the project site. Any deviation from this should attract a substantial penalty. 

It is interesting to note the effectiveness of RERA seems to be quite strong in the states ruled by the BJP while few other states seem to be lagging in the implementation of the RERA Act in its entirety. One could visit the state RERA websites like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh etc in comparison with states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan the intent to help the consumer is absent in few states while the purpose of this Act is well demonstrated in other states.

Unless the State becomes a protector of the consumer ensuring there is no undue bias towards the wealthy promoters who could contribute to the party fund, consumer will never win.

It is important such an important Consumer centric Act is not diluted by vested interests, who are happy to make some money.  Once all projects get automatically reported to the RERA by the Local bodies, there will be drastic improvement in compliance. Let RERA not become a money spinner for few and be a protector of the consumer as was intended while bringing out the law.

Good Morning Ji

We Indians seem to be not tired at all in sending Good Morning messages. I was watching a show, where they talked about these GM messages slowing down the internet and they went on to say our population helps in adding to the problem

We have plenty of people typically new comers to the internet keen to share the knowledge which they have just gained as enthusiastically as only they could be. On top of it these are the people who are part of family groups or their own Alumni groups. They have so much of time the limit of 5 forwards per turn is just not a deterrent.

While it is easy to blame them for slowing down the internet, we have to look at their compulsions for doing what they are doing.

1. They are typically reached a state of mind of a retiree and are finding lots of time at their disposal.

2. They have moved away from a routine and need to occupy themselves with activity

3. Smart phone makes their life easier to connect with people

4. Calling may not be an option as they don't know what the other person is doing

5. Reading as a habit has died down

6. TV is dominated by the lady of the house

As we get, we forward, we are so confident that what our friend has just shared is the absolute truth and most believable news. Our confidence in what we receive makes us forget that February has typically 28 days and all days come four times a month and stupidly think it comes only once in 823 years. Common sense be koi cheese hai bhai

Many of us are not aware of the rules framed under the IT Act and innocently forward fake news too, putting ourselves in the danger of being punished for our probable innocence.

Based on the community, we have now designed ‘message for the day’ Starting from Monday till Sunday with a God’s image/symbol added to the well designed message. You can be rest assured these are forwarded with impunity and needless compulsion.

Thanks to the developers of messaging platforms like WhatsApp we have disappearing messages just to ensure chat thread is cleaned up on regular basis. Due to these needless forwards many an admin is forced to set the group with disappearing messages. Only con is we might miss out on important communication as they too get disappeared.

Family groups which have a mixture of age groups have a different kind of problem. If they restrict forwards, compulsive people feel suffocated, what remains is the greetings for birthdays and anniversaries. An admins job becomes very delicate in such situations as it is family after all.

If we dont forward will we miss out on something, absolutely nothing, we feel keeping in touch is posting good morning messages. No that is not true, we can find many ways to share information as to how we manage a day.

• We could talk about our family and encourage other to do so

• We could share the joy of good tidings within the family and get friends to respond

• We could exchange meaningful banter based on the closeness with the other person

• Avoid topics on politics and religion in a group as all of us may not share the same ideology

• Alert friends about how a neighbour/self got cheated in the ‘online’ age and how they could learn from this experience

• Encourage the silent to express (they choose to be silent when there is too much of junk shared)

• Puzzles/riddles are a good way to engage all age groups, they respond too

• Talk about your activity and how you keep yourself engaged this could motivate others to emulate

• Ensure short communication to make it easy to read and comprehend, avoid long stories

• Share jokes not pictures (cartoons), pictures occupy larger space in the recipient’s phone

• Vulgarity, abuse is avoidable in all groups

We have to make it a habit of the following:

• Sending Good Morning messages is not the only way to tell your friends that you are alive and kicking

• Forwards are not a measure of your intelligence or social commitment, so avoid forwarding everything and anything

• Cross check the news/incident/event before you forward

• You can ‘react’ instead of ‘replying’ to messages which you receive, saves space

• Spread cheer instead of sorrow/grief

Ji, let us stop slowing down the internet, let us improve our bonding with family & friends, Trust this effort of mine will make at least one person change his messaging habit.

Cheers n bye

Manure the man-kind

Manual scavenging is banned in India, however that fact has not deterred people to hire men to clean up the septic tanks at their homes and elsewhere. This in spite of the fact there are mechanical solutions being available.

World has moved forward in this area and have found ways to deal with human excreta. India is just now moving from defecating in the open to building toilets at home. What was considered as a practice (defecating in the open) is being seen as a shameful act now, thanks to the Swachh Bharath movement initiated by the government of India.

We have mechanical evacuation options available to empty the septic tank, however, either due to

lack of knowledge or for emergency reasons people engage in hiring humans to urgently clean up the tank, to ensure the home atmosphere is clean. Tragic death of 6 people near Chennai is just an example how, short sightedness leads to fatal situation.

How is the world dealing with this problem, lets look at thickly populated country like China. China has moved a long way in dealing with this problem and have designed septic tanks for every home, depending on the number of people and toilets available. These tanks not only collect the ‘Black water’ (Water coming from the commodes) but they process the water and collect methane gas from the same. This collected methane gas can be used for cooking and heating purposes. Human waste is considered to be high yielding in terms of gas generation.

These septic tanks are a boon where there is no centralised collection of sewerage. Most Indian cities do not have under ground drainage system, today constructing UGD is an expensive idea, as the sewerage once collected has to be processed at a collection centre (Pump House) and depending on the size of the city pump houses may have to be located in multiple locations in the city.

It is necessary to mandate installation of septic tanks which can capture methane and prevent any future hazard to the mother earth (cemented tanks have a life span of 10-15 years and there after can start leaking and pollute the soil around the area, resulting in potable water sources getting polluted. Some of the better known septic tank bio digesters have 25-30 years life span. These are typically designed to work on fit and forget concept.

The collected methane can be used to light a stove for cooking, heating etc. Methane removed and processed water is very good for gardening or farming. In Many locations where the Sewerage treatment plant water is used for lawns and farming, the green carpeting is healthy and lush.

In a country like India, human life value is considered negligible it is important a suitable legislation is mandated to install Septic tank bio digesters in all places which have no access to under ground drainage system. Any violators who are found guilty of polluting the surroundings should be severely punished.

(Copyright of all pictures used in this blog rests with the respective owners, they have been used for indicative purpose only)

Problem to Profit - Waste to wealth a possibility

Hotels generate anywhere from 300-1000 kgs of wet waste (food, vegetable chopping etc) and restaurants from about 25 to 200 kgs based on their size and popularity. This waste is considered a nuisance as decaying food will emit stink and will harm the serenity of the surroundings.

With the advent of the recently mandated Solid Waste Management guidelines and stricter implementation of the same by the local bodies it is becoming increasingly difficult for the waste generators to simply transfer the responsibility to contractors who are deployed by the local bodies meant for handling the city's garbage.

These establishments enter into an understanding with the contractors to lift their food waste and dispose it off elsewhere on payments, which are not above board. These contractors in turn might end up dumping this waste into the municipal dumps, leading to foul smell and even generation of Leachate.

Local bodies have been insisting for the past few years with these waste generators to set up bio digester units or Vermi-composting units. Problem for these establishments is the non availability of practical solutions for this problem. Most of the Bio-digester being offered in India require civil construction and huge set up. Imagine a restaurant located at higher floors how will they ensure all these. Coming to hotels, their inability to provide space for setting up these plants.

A day is not too far where the local bodies will be constrained to come down heavily on the violators of the guidelines on waste management. Already Bengaluru city corporation has issued a threat to not renew the trade license if waste management compliance is not ensured. So have many other local bodies in different forms

However, these waste generators have solutions available which can not only ensure compliance but turn their problem into a profit. There are smart looking systems available which not only ensure the waste is converted into a useful bio gas (could be used in the kitchens of these outlets) will also ensure there is no foul smell emanating and can be smartly installed anywhere, on ground floor or on terrace or even in the corridor of the restaurant. Mostly less spoken benefit is the bio slurry that comes out of these digesters is the healthiest organic manure for kitchen and terrace gardens and for farming activity at large.

Waste will no longer a problem but will turn into wealth for these business establishment. It has been established that LPG consumption comes down about 20-30% based on the quantum of waste generated by using the Bio gas generated through the Bio Digesters. With commercial LPG prices ranging at Rs70 per Kg it will be a considerable saving. No more payouts to the local body contractors for illegally taking away the food/wet waste. Slurry can be another money spinner if the same could be made available in carry away packaging. Most importantly instead of contributing to methane generation in the dumps these establishments will be utilising the methane  in the food waste for productive purpose in the form of Bio-Gas and earn carbon credits

(Copy right of the images used in the article rests with the respective owners, they have been used only for the purpose of visualisation) 

Whose black money is it anyway?

This is the definition of Black money as per the on-line dictionary, for a minute, let us ignore the first part, let us focus only on the second part ‘Not declared for tax purposes’, now most of the people who are complaining /cribbing are the one’s who never thought they have to declare their income for what ever reason.

People in this category could be anyone, tuition teachers,

Tax Table for AY 2017-18

Drivers, Artisans, Tent hirers, Caterers, Small eateries, Mess operator, tailors, art & craft trainers etc., there could be thousands of categories of income earners, who never thought it as necessary to declare their incomes either within or outside the tax free limit. Let us assume for a minute, if only they had been declaring their incomes, for general public without tax exemptions there is no tax up to an income of Rs.2.5 lakhs. There are number of exemptions, which can take your income, tax free depending on the various savings and exempted expenditure. If they had been filing their returns either under the within tax free category or remit small amount as tax, just in case their incomes exceed the tax free limit, would they have so much to crib about. They could have simply walked in to the bank deposited their money and walk

out in style. Coming to withdrawals, yes there is some hardship due to lack of exchangeable currency, due to lack of smaller denomination notes and also absence of preparedness for this announcement of demonetisation.

The queues in front of the banks are primarily for the exchange scheme, which was meant for people to by pass the banking system and exchange demonetised currency to legal tender. Unfortunately the Indian jugaad, has used this option to convert as much of their stock of demonetised currency into legal tender by hiring help to do the job for them. We have thousands willing to do this task for a small fee. I have seen people like building watchmen, daily wage earners, servants etc in the queue to exchange money for someone, who wish to be anonymous.

ATM queues are another situation, we have new denominations and new note size, calibration was a

must, not considered as a challenge before the announcement or missed the attention of the think tank, ultimately, lead to long queues and frayed tempers, when the ATMs run out of money due to lack of legal tender.

When you hear some of the people complaining about the delay in the queue and not having legal tender in hand, the big question that, by passes all is, why these people didn't wish to keep the money in the banks in the first place. Instead of keeping the money at home (unsafe habit) if they had kept it in FD’s and bank savings account, then their problems would have been lot lesser. Having not done that, yes they have to wait in the queue lines. Politicians are taking advantage of this activity not considering the issue behind it. Netizens too are blasting the PM ignoring the fact millions of middle class come under category 2 of the Black money definition.

Bribe takers, tax evaders (other taxes) all these people are finding alternate ways to by pass the restrictions, finding ways to seek the black-sheep in the banking system just to exchange their demonetised notes to new notes, lack of availability of new notes is certainly hampering this particular activity. If only 2000, 500, 100 notes were available, we would have had many neo rich people from the banking sector.

Fast thinking politicos and business people managed to take calculated risk and bought Gold n other precious metals on the 9th & 10th. Most of those waiting for an opportunity to use their banking contacts, kind of got jacked, because of lack of availability of legal tender. Many a political party and their leaders got struck with a big apple in their throat, so best thing they have started blaming the plight of people as a reason for their opposing the demonetisation move. But alas, people didn't agree with them.

No doubt, there are hardships, people have the money but not able to use it, people celebrating marriages suddenly found themselves in awkward situations, without legal tender and not enough tax paid money in the bank. Gali janardhan Reddy might be an exemption, leading to major speculation about his spending capability.

Everyday we are reading news about money being caught in transit, Bank officials being arrested for participating in illegal exchange, Robbers running away with money waiting to be exchanged. What does it tell us, there is enough money people are not willing to just dump but trying all possible means to convert it into legal tender. Now, can we call this black money or hard earned money.

People who have been tagged and noticed as high net worth, have already changed their habits and started accounting all their major to minor expenditure and more so maybe their ability to earn is much higher and most cases tax free thanks to expert advice from tax consultants. Middle class, never assumed they have to account for their earnings, except the salaried class, who were anyway receiving TDS deducted money. That leaves us with tax evaders, bribe takers, these are the people, who are generally sitting on free money (hard earned some might still call it) now these people have been caught with their pants down, how well they can manage is to be seen. One biggest advantage for these people is, they can start all over again charging a 'CESS'.

It is going to take time for the fake note printers to get into the act, since the features that have been let out so far are only few and there are many hidden features too in the new high denomination notes and by the time fake notes start coming in, we do not know, what new steps this government will take.

Will India change and move towards a more compliant economy or continue its way of believing in cash economy, only the future will tell us and the year 2017 is going to be very exciting for all those hopefuls, nay sayers can never see anything in optimistic way, for them it will not matter.

*Some of the pictures used in this blog are taken from the Internet and the copyright of those pictures solely rests with the respective owners.

Choice, Choice and _________

Having a baby is a choice

What is born to us, is not

what they grow up and achieve is not in our hands

Getting married is a choice

Whom we get married too is a choice

What is the outcome of the marriage, it becomes a choice of two, maybe more

Raising a crop is our choice

nurturing the crop again is our choice

Output from the crop is dependent on various factors including nature

Wanting to go to a destination is our choice

Choosing the mode of transport is our choice

Reaching the destination is once again not totally in our control

Having savings in cash at home, our choice

Not accounting for the same, again our choice

if hurdles come for enjoying the savings, choice that went wrong

Making statements is our choice

Ensuring they are legal, is our responsibility

Being irresponsible, has no saviours

Putting money in your account is your choice

Drawing from it is based on availability of cash

During a crisis managing with what you have is sensible

Not filing IT returns was our choice

Demonetisation was not our choice

Ruing about not having enough cash in books, is an opportunity lost

House hold savings are always a choice

Saving enough for emergencies too is a choice

But keeping it as cash, not a sensible choice

Cribbing about our government, a choice

Choosing the mode is your choice

Repercussions, Trolls thereafter is a purchased choice

Having a bank account, is a choice

Keeping money in it is again a choice

Saying I don’t have account is no excuse

Reading this is your choice

Reacting to this is your choice

Writing this is my choice

How effective is social media?

It seems to be very effective in spreading the negative news much faster and more purposefully.

Let's look at some instances in the recent past, the biggest news break was the Nano chip in the Rs.2000-00 note, that was scheduled to be released in Feb 2017. Scared the shit out of many and even few channels ran news stories around it, apparently without even verifying the news. Later on thanks to the demonetisation, notes got released earlier and we realise there is no chip. When our own phones don't work without signals, how did people expect chips without power source sending signals for indefinite periods from distances below the surface up to 10 ft.

All the talk of people getting affected due to demonetisation weddings, hospitalisation, death, travel etc no doubt people will get inconvenienced, when such big moves take place. It is the Indian Jugad which has to help them, in such times. But what is baffling is we give so much publicity to these and make it sound as if, these don't happen in normal times or under Force Majeure conditions like earthquakes, cyclones, floods etc.

Similarly, we have so much of false info being presented to us, wherein we are unable to judge and make out which is genuine and which is false. I saw a WA message on Urjit Patel & Jio connection, How Banks balance sheet will improve with this demoetisation etc. When I questioned back people who forwarded me, they don't have answers or they agree with my view point and say it was an error forwarding the stuff.

It is indeed a problem for all of us who start reacting to all the news that floats on the net and without verifying make comments or accusations, like in the case of the alleged daughter of a BJP leader holding 10 bundles of Rs.2000 notes, without even bothering to note value is not one million but 2 million for those notes. It turns out this man in question does not have a daughter. How quickly the news got spread, the girl in the picture must have cursed for sharing it with her friends, her proud moment turning out to be a nightmare.

2014 elections BJP used this medium very effectively to run their campaign and today is forced to defend itself, when others are using the media for their purposes. Unfortunately, this exercise is causing many to feel insecure in their own nation as they have started seeing things with magnifying glasses and are forced to believe the stories.

We see the creative photo-shop work being put to good use in social media with lots of malice at the regional level too. This is evident among the followers of two regional parties in AP TDP & YSRCP. We see a huge amount of dirty tricks being played by the followers to the extent one doesn't know who is telling the truth.

In the process anyone who tries to reason out will be either called a secularist, Bhakt or a patriot. So be prepared to be branded when you want to be active in the social media in addition to be trolled either way.

Biodiversity, a talk only activity

Was visiting Coringa Mangrove near Kakinada. About 237 Sq Km mangrove at the confluence of River Godavari and the Bay of Bengal. There are some boats arranged by the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department to ferry passengers around the mangrove.

Most favourite activity seems to be bird watching in this mangrove in addition to spotting Otters n few types of snakes. The time we went was not the best time for bird watching. Our trip was used for visiting the centuries old Lighthouse (abandoned). Long trip to the place and bit tiring by the end of the day.

We had for company a Research scholar, who was explaining to us the place and we could feel the pain in his heart at the disappointment he faces whenever he submits a research paper and no action is taken.

Rat Nest

According to him, neither people nor the department really cares for the Biodiversity and Live and let live method it preaches. We the people take pride in polluting the place with enough plastic, which we carry for our food and water, by dumping it in the waters. This plastic is eaten by the endangered species like Olive Ridleys as they mistake the plastic for Jellyfish and inevitably choke to death thereafter. We are most happy to clone and talk about creating more rather than saving what is existing.

He was mentioning about a report submitted by him to the department about a study on the same species of fish found dead during a particular time of the year. However, this study is gathering dust, since no one wants to disturb / hurt the fisher folks for the fear of losing their votes.

Old Lighthouse

While a wooden bridge has been constructed to access the lighthouse, the condition of it is not conducive to the heavy flow of tourists, maybe it is one way better, that there will be less pollution in the waters with less plastic floating around with fewer people visiting the place.

This situation seems to be the same all over our country, with many of our sanctuaries, National parks, fighting the plastic menace and people's apathy towards the other living beings. As a researcher of wildlife, his explanation, sounded convincing, about the Delhi Zoo death of the man who fell into the Tiger enclave was indeed an effort of the Tiger to save him from other people who were throwing stones to scare away the tiger. He also says, wild animals only react to our actions, they  are not the natural predators, wonder when the man will realise this fact and co-exist with the other creatures on this earth.

స్టార్ట్ అప్పులు

మోదలు పెట్టండి స్టార్టప్ , మీ తెలివి తేటలే మీ పెట్టుబడి
కలుపుకోండి మీ సహచరులను వారి వెంటబడి

కనండి కలలు మీ ఐడియా చేస్తుంది మిమ్మల్ని ఒక బిలియనీర్
మీ ఏకాగ్రత చేస్తుంది మీ పనులు సులభం, లేదంటే మీకు మిగిలేది కన్నీర్

ఐడియా ఉంటే చాలదండి, దానికి కావాలి సరియైన గమ్యం
ఉంచండి మీ ఖర్చులపై ఒక కన్ను, లేదంటే మిగిలేది శూన్యం

చేయకండి ఎక్కువ తప్పులు
లేదంటే మిగిలేది తీర్చలేని అప్పులు

గేలిచారా మీరు ఒక తిరుగులేని స్టార్టప్
లేదంటే మిగిలేది మీకు తరగని తిప్పల్

Where Eagles Soar

Long time ago, A king received 2 beautiful baby eagles in form of a present. The king was very pleased with the gift & decided to hire an experienced caretaker for them. He took great care of them and developed such a strong bond with those two, that they didn't need to be caged.

After few months the king decided to pay them a visit. He noticed that the two Babies had now developed into strong adolescents. The king wished to see them flying and ordered the caretaker to signal them to fly into the sky.

On receiving his signal, both eagles began to fly. One of them flew high into the sky and touched new heights, While other one flew for some seconds and returned to the branch where it was earlier sitting.

King found this little weird and asked the caretaker that why are these two so contrasting . The caretaker told the king that this one had a problem from the beginning and he would never leave the branch.

The king desperately wanted the second bird to fly high as the first one. So he announced this as a challenge in his court and stated that the person who will be successful in making the eagle fly would receive a grand prize from the king. So, many scholars and bird experts came and tried to apply the knowledge they had, But no one was successful. The king too lost hope and almost gave up.

But after few days the caretaker informed the king that one man was successful in making the eagle fly high in the sky. He was then brought before the king where the king was eagerly waiting with the promised prize. The king learnt that the man was a simple farmer. He just asked him his method he used which lot of highly qualified people didn't think about .

He said, ” I simply cut the branch. The branch on which he had an habit of sitting . As there was no branch , he had no option but to fly. And which he did very well.”

We all are meant to fly high in our life. But sometimes we underestimate our-selfs and don't realize our true potential. We are habituated to doing certain things which will always limit us. Just as the eagle didn't realize that it could actually fly so high as it always liked to remain on the branch. After the farmer had cut it,it had no option but to come out of its comfort zone and start working. Only then he realized its true potential.

Even we need to come out of our comfort zones as great things in life are only achieved out of the comfort zone in which we keep living and hoping for life to get better.

All pictures in the blog are taken from the internet, Copyright for the same rests with the respective owners

This is an improvised version of a story in circulation in social media, original author unknown

Foot board travel - neither a fashion nor a need - Prevention is possible

In every metro and emerging town we will notice one thing commonly as we commute on the roads, foot board travel by passengers in buses. Certain instances the bus would have almost touched the floor with the weight of the passengers while taking curves.

When you travel in a bus you will be hearing the conductor telling people who are hanging near the steps to come inside the bus, Generally young men who are hanging for their life, will ignore these pleas and continue to hang. This trend can be noticed in local trains also during peak hours.

While the problem of increasing the frequency of service is a need, is this alone the cause for such travel. I have witnessed plenty of times youngsters taking pride in catching a running bus, hanging on to the window panes with their feet hanging in the air etc., We do keep reading about accidental deaths of people who die after falling/slipping while traveling foot board. No doubt foot board travel is only for a brave heart, but are these brave hearts having mistaken priorities. 

Undoubtedly, with the their parents at home eagerly waiting for the safe return of their wards, is this adventure on a day in day out basis a necessity. Augmenting the service, let it be handled by the authorities, have a thought which could make some sense in this area.

How to prevent foot board travel by all under any circumstances, can technology be used to prevent it. If punishment is the intention, then, fixing cameras from the roof top near the doors and shooting all those hanging at the steps is one way, this has its own limitation of identifying people and punishing them. Being students and kids it may be little tough on them.

We can pick up the idea from how an Elevator works. When we use a lift/elevator, it will have a mention of number of passengers or total weight it can carry. If the weight exceeds, the lift refuses to move and will start beeping. It will move only if someone alights from the crowded lift to ensure the weight of passengers is within the limits prescribed. How about using this technology, if the weight on the steps is constant, then the bus will stop (steps are not meant to have passengers on them), if the solution is little more expensive to implement, then they could have a beeping noise coming once there is someone standing on the steps, automatically the driver can bring the bust to a stop and ask the passenger to either come in or get out of the bus. Having an alert mechanism should not cost much per bus and could be something which could be implemented without a hassle. There cannot be a switch which can be operated by the driver, so that he can switch it off.

Many a time prevention is better than cure, if we can ensure such an alert system, even the co-passengers will insist on these 'Foot board revelers' to either come in or get off the bus. Since there is a huge cost to a human life, it is better to have solutions.