Road Journey in Telangana in Public Transport Bus

It has been quite a while since i had a long journey in a public bus. Used to travel in Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) during my graduation days between Thiruvananthapuram / Trivandrum and my home in Cherthala / Shertallai. Not so quite comfortable journey mostly carried out after second show of a movie in a theatre near Thampanoor so that i can use the 4 hours for sleeping. During my first year in college, this journey in a Fast Passenger class of KSRTC bus costed around Rs. 20. Generally there will be a pit stop at Kayamkulam for pipping hot tea and snacks. Those memories apart, i made use of a recent trip for an opportunity to travel by Telangana public transport Journey from Ramagundam - where i am presently stationed, to Hyderabad was in night. I relished my erstwhile method of sleeping through journey in this leg.

Return journey from Hyderabad to Ramagundam was in day time. This was a "Super Luxury" category of bus which is akin to "Super Fast" of KSRTC. Its a Non-AC bus with tinted glass windows. Remarkably it has one USB port in each row of seats for Mobile Charging. I guess having mobile up and connected all the time is developing into a basic need like proverbial "Roti, Kapada aur Makaan" (Food, Cloth and Shelter) Unlike home, here only one staff is alloted to bus. He is primarily driver but doubles up as ticket dispensing, cash colleting conductor in KSRTC. The journey is again 4 hours. It was good to see the country side of Telangana - lush green with recent rains withRocky and hillock terrain appearing at times.

Initially i was bit pertubed about the single man operating the trip, but really there is nothing much to worry. State run bus depots are nearby at any point in journey & any distress call would defenitely been catered to. Did not face any such problem throughout the trip. Dirver was helpful in allowing m to get the nearest point in the route to my destination though it is not a designated stop.

COVID Blues

World has experienced a series of effects of COVID pandemic right from the year 2020. We are into the third year, but the virus is going strong with its metamorphosis through Mutations. We have seen three major waves, many a variants, death and chaos in different parts of the world. Yes, it has been quite a leveler - affecting all human races, visiting all the countries - rich or poor, taking a toll on economy thereby governance, destroying livelihood of many daily wage workers, affecting work as well as education. It has also taught us to live within our means, eat healthy and be compassionate to the world at large. The worst affected are the young adults whose formal education has suffferred beyond limits. They have missed the fun of living and learning together. Small mischiefs and greater celebrations of campus life. Hope they will get their share of fun and frolic once sun shine emerges again. We have almost ran out of greek alphabets to name the variants of COVID. Some are Variants of Concern as designated by appropriate authorities. Present reign of 'Omicron' has been described by many as signal to end of COVID era. Fervently hope that these turn out to be true. Whatever be the outcome, world has learned to live with constraints. Many functions have gone online underlining the need for a robust network backbone - available for all without restrictions. From entertainment to education and work, affordable network connectivity is of paramount importance these days. I am sure world governments have taken notice and is working to ensure the same for its citizens. In fact governance is also delivered through the same network these days. May we pour collective wisdom of mankind into developing as well as deploying faster networks. Care should be taken to ensure availability of the same to the poorest of its citizens through appropriate mechanisms. The security of data should be protected when all the information is available on the network. Present scheme of encryption may no where be sufficient once quantum computers are deployed from their present research epoch. May be like COVID, mankind may have to live with exposure to private data. The targeted marketing calls or advertising one receives is a clear indication of systems knowing ones preference or search history. World will keep on evolving. Its quite good to know that human race will continue to adapt so that we can carry on. Future generations may not have "JOB" as seen in traditional sense. But then ours is quite different from those a century ago. Data, Infrastructure and security systems will be the thrust areas. Research into high end computing and fundamental sciences are going to be in the lime light as far as i can see. All the best to one and all

Life & Education Braves Pandemic

Continuing the thread from my last blog wondering how world will change during the pandemic times. Well, We all adapted to the situation. That quality is the one which allows continuation of life forms through evolution. There might not have been evolution in physiological or anatomical features of humans during the Covid - 19 pandemic but we have managed to discover to circumvent inconveniences caused by pandemic. Education is one sector which saw brilliant innovations. Teachers and students together made progress to engage one another and keep engaged. In fact students managed to beat teachers in use technology to one's advantage. Though a lot of aspects of education especially the social & physical ones got a back seat, show DID continue.... Many sectors especially tourism & transport got very badly affected. Companies lost much income while coughing up committed expenditure. Some of them even had to close their shutters. Certain sectors such as communication services amazed us in scaling up despite harsh environments. Online meeting platforms & social media thrived on the additional time men and women have in hand. Governments around the world are still having a tough time in managing the spread, gathering resources to keep peoples needs met & saving the economy from collapsing. Its an irony that stock markets are soaring, possibily due to inherent leaning of humen towards gambling. Moreover opportunites for sensible investments are dwindling. World lost around 50 lakh human lives & the clock is still ticking. Long term effects of COVID - 19 are yet to be ascertained. Some of the countries has started third booster dose where as majority of nations are struggling to complete administering first dose of vaccine. It is to the credit of software prowness of India that CoWin application served as rugged platform for vaccine administration and management. Aadhaar card rolled out earlier has been put to rigorous use to pave way for applications such as CoWin. I too got transferred in the midst of pandemic from Kerala to Telangana. Got vaccinated fully with a gap of 84 days in between the jabs. Going by the reported trend world over, we are nearing the end of pandemic. May life be back to normal as it used to be in the past. Loka samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu

Turbulent Times affects formal education

The world is going through a major crisis owing to the pandemic caused by COVID-19 virus. Countries imposed "Lock Down" to contain the spread of virus. Its glad to note that a few countries like New Zealand have emerged triumphant. Many countries have eased lock down restrictions but the threat is looming large. May scientists trying to find a cure & vaccine to this pandemic come victorious soon ! With lockdown, "Working From Home (WFH)" have gained prominence. Though the system was around for quite some time, many companies have embraced it these days. Except core operations of "Brick & Mortar" companies, WFH offers advantages to all sectors. In line with WFH, formal schooling has also gone to "Online" mode. Physical Classes are the best option where peer group interacts with one another, teacher clarifies doubts by explaining concepts in simpler terms, lot of group activities which will be stored in memory forever to feel Nostalgic about... Online classes will require a very robust networking infrastructure & availability of connectivity & required bandwidth to each student. Present scenario in many developing countries are far from ideal. Though efforts to build infrastructure is going on, its a time taking process. Television (e.g. "Victors" channel in Kerala) & Social media streaming sites is being used which is a very welcome step in improving the learning experience. I hope governments can release some frequencies from licensing so that community radio stations can be started by local bodies or even schools with low power transmitters to cater to students nearby. This will bridge the gap between the teacher & the student. Presently teacher on Victors channel is addressing students of whole state of Kerala. With community radio stations, it may be possible for each school to start a low power transmitter with help from parents, NGOs, Alumni associations etc. I would have loved to suggest local TV station but the cost might as well play spoil sport. Moreover, i am not sure if Indian laws in vogue allows terrestrial transmission any more. All TV sets is required to have a digital subscriber set-top-box these days. One possible way will be to persuade local cable operator to provide a few channels exclusively for School Education. Lectures can be recorded by local school teachers & broadcasted. Agriculture & formation of young people must be given priority by all nations. Fighting pandemic is the first priority. Resurrection of economy may be the second priority. Next priority should be Agriculture & School Education. Till world comes out of Corona Pandemic, all possible alternate ideas for imparting formal education to students must be explored. Afterall "Child is Father of the Man"

An Year went without Blog Updation

It has been quite some time. You can attribute it to my sheer laziness. It is nice to know that I have been away for more than a year. This post is just to ensure a blog entry in 2017. Going has been good, Heavens have been kind. Satisfying time period as far as professional life is concerned. At NTPC Kayamkulam, a pilot floating Solar PV project of 5 kWp was commissioned in 2016. Afterwards 100 kWp added to it. Both installations are in raw water reservoir of Kayamkulam plant. Incidentally 100 kWp is the largest installation of Floating solar in India as of now. I had the good fortune of looking after these projects right from the design stage to commissioning as head of section at Electrical Maintenance in NTPC-Kayamkulam. With vast backwaters, dams and waterbodies, Kerala sure have great potential for this renewable energy source. Especially since availability of land for a MW scale project in Kerala is pretty low. Commercial operation may become feasible with economy of scale as well as stringent environmental norms that are put into practice.

Picture from NTPC press release on 10th March, 2017

Walk Through Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=636BPQV5M5s

DD News Coverage : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgowaGHT-oQ

Change - The only constant thing - remains unchanged

My last post was about a year back on election. Elections did bring in change. Arguably for the better. Governance under coalition regime came to an end. A clear mandate was given by the people so as to straighten things in government & governance. It was a nice break from the routine. We earnestly hope for better days. ('Acha Din'). With a glorious start and a good pace, things started to fall into place. Big propaganda and little action at ground slowly moved out. Programs such as 'Swatch Bharath Abhiyan' moved well with public participation. And the first full budget of the present Central government has been laid out. Of late, I am getting skeptical about the change that current government is supposed to bring out. I am finding continuance of many policies of erstwhile governments. Hence the title of this monologue! Additionally we have enough controversies in political circle - be it at central level or at the state level. Common Man has no time to mull these things over. He/She is worried about the immediate needs - personal or familial or of the society. I hope media - including print, television and social - to turn away from sensational and controversial stuff. Glorifying unwanted acts/elements might fetch readers. Are they going to help in nation building in the long run? Are we teaching next generations any value by printing and talking about all the rubbish ? Let there be some consensus among media to restrain reporting on trivial issues.

Intolerance

elections, the biggest festival of the largest democracy is on the anvil. there are three tiers of elections for India. The local body level, the state assembly level and the federal parliament level. this year the elections are for the supreme tier viz Lok Sabha. There are 2 seats as far as Kerala state is concerned. All the major political parties have come up with their candidates. The biggest show is on. Alappuzha aka alleppey is my home turf. We do have many candidates out there. Sitting MP is contesting on congress ticket. His arch rival is from LDF. May the best of the lot win. It is tough to be at the top. In order to get to the top, one will have to cut through many rivals to raise in one'sown party. Alappuzha seat is traditionally contested by UDF (congerss)with candidates outside the locality, earlier by Vakkom Purushothaman, later by present KPCC chief V.M.Sudheeran to sitting M.P. K.C.Venugopal. We have the tradition in LDF too. however, LDF has decided to field a local candidate this time. Lets see how the elections work out. Initially i was under the impression that there is an anti-incumbancy leaning towards LDF. My recent trips and interactions reveal that there is nothing of that sort on grass root level. Though i am wary about the political machinations especially of the sitting variety,i guess present sitting M.P. is having an advantage. Picture is not yet clear. May the educated and politically aware electorate of the alleppey constituency decide upon the right candidate on the poll date. Considering the economic scenario, it is highly desirable that some political party gather winning majority to form the government at centre. Recent happenings at Delhi governance is an eye opener. I personally do not mind any political party coming into power at centre. My only worry is that some political party MUST come into power with a thumping majority. UPA led by congress if coming into power will see continuance in the present scenario. NDA led by BJP if coming into power will preside over some U turns in policy which need not be as bad as the word seems. Specifically one can hope for some more disinvestment. Hope Gandhiji's talisman will be remembered & the welfare of downtrodden will be prioritised. A clear picture will emerge after declaration of results. I hope all parties will abstain from horse trading to form a clean governance. Long live Indian Republic! This much as preamble, let me come to the title! Intolerance exist in the society de facto. The levels it can take is to be watched and curbed if necessary. Political, racial intolerance that exist in a plane do not ring alrams. However, intolerance to forms of art curtailing the freedom of expression does worry me. I was going through recent viral videos of youtube. As part of international womens' day celebrations, there was a song posted from some female artists. The kind of responses that we got were amazing. Clean parodies true to the spirit of 'King of Malayalam Parodies' Sri. V.D. Rajappan were enjoyed to the hilt. But there were some elements which as per news report threatened original posters. If such a thing is true, we ought to re-visit the definition of artistic freedom. I watched the trivandrum version, thrissur version and many i could lay my hands upon. Some were hilarious especially the Thrissur one and some were simple and elegant. To think that some one will take a revengeful take on a seemingly innocent outburst is outrageous. I congratulate the original uploaders ans the parody makers. I am sure no one would have thought with animosity. It is strange and sad that some people take things to extreme and goes on to threaten original posters. May wisdom prevail & people get used to ravines of the youth

At Cross Roads

Year of big elections for the biggest democracy. Big elections imply Lok Sabha elections. In fact for keralites, there is panchayat elections for next year and assembly elections on ensuing year. Surely the tone of governance in the coming years will be set soon. In a way we always had choices but this time choices as well as issues have sort of multiplied. Aam Admi Party (Common Mans Party) is the new kid on the block. Many especially the learned ones and activists have flocked to this party to make a change. With the Delhi fiasco, the long term action plan / agenda will have to be set. There are actions to resurrect third front. I am not very enthusiastic though. The main coalitions (UPA & NDA) will fight it out for majority. Regional parties which are associates of either of the coalitions might polish some worn out local issues to trump up support. National agenda of sustainable development and having a long term plan as in the past takes a back seat. The optimist in me hopes for prudence to prevail so that all parties stay away from election gimmicks and agree upon certain bare minimum agenda for nation building. We do have talent, resources and capabilities. A political will power is one missing ingredient. May all of my fellow citizen get good choices for the elections and may the best come out of the elections to govern this ancient land of wisdom. On a personal front, I am also at cross roads personally as well as professionally. I guess getting into 'Naughty Forties' comes with this baggage. Peace and stability in the long term are major issues. Responsibilities towards earlier and new generation gets a hold on you. Professional growth is still of concern but i guess that might get dumped into back burner once we progress on the time scale in life beyond the present. Investment decisions especially connected with asset creation seems critical and important. In a decade, kids will move from schools to college. Education has surely become costly! Given the values inculcated into my generation, we as parents will not spare any avenue to impart better education to kids. I am hopeful (merely hopeful) that kids will realise some time or the other that parents did their bit. Alas i can't claim that i had been with them for long. My job had kept me away from most of the time. Initially in New Delhi, then in Vishakhapatnam and presently in Thiruvananthapuram. I am happy and thankful that I managed to come nearer with every move so far. The progress have been good - from visiting family once in a quarter to bi-weekly visits. Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu

All is well

Hmm, It had been quite tough on professional as well as personal side. But the tough gets going i guess. Off to New Delhi today(8th Sept 2013) for a training. Hope to reach back in Kerala for the impending Onam Season. Here is wishing you all Keralite friends a very happy Onam

Onam

Keralam celebrated Onam on 16th September this year (2013) Festivities were slightly dampened by rains but the grandiose scale in which this festival is celebrated were really attempted to everywhere in the state. It has been my first Onam after getting posted back to own state. There was lot of travel just before onam as i had to travel to Delhi/NOIDA. Took family to Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala which is also my workspace at present. This is the place where Onam gets ample support from Government. There were a lot of decorative lamps literally on every tree and establishment, a lot of cultural programs and lot of people on the streets! Braving the evening drizzle, there were family outing to Museum, Vellayambalam Junction, Palayam etc. We also gave participation to otherwise thin audience at Nishagandhi open air auditorium where various classical dances were being performed every evening. My kids enjoyed the shows, outings and grand onam sadya (lunch) on 16th. I am sure Onam is celebrated by each malayalee remembering the just king 'Mahabali' and the golden era of justice and equality. Having lived outside the home state for considerable chunk of my youth, i can assure you that 'pravasi' celebrations are nearer to the true meaning of this festival! Anyway it is nice to be home during the season & thats the reason why many of the Kerala diaspora make it a point to come home during this festival.

Dengue and Me

Hi friends I had been to places in India which are remote in the literal sense of the word. My friends who are from Kerala might not understand the word 'remote'.But i am sure that those of you who have been to northern parts of our country can feel the meaning better. Well, there is always a danger of falling sick (& helpless) whether you are in a city, town or a remote rural area. Generally when one gets into northern parts of India where climate swings to extreme ends, there is always a chance of falling prey to a communicable disease. Normally it is either Jaundice or chickenpox. I have been to various sections of India for the past 19 years starting from 1994 but never got into such an imbroglio. I hope you can imagine a situation where in you are alone and get into sickness. surprisingly, after my posting into Thiruvananthapuram, i somehow managed to break free from my record and fell prey to Dengue. 'Saalaa, Ek Machar Aadmi ko.....' Yes dengue is supposedly spread by day time mosquitos. My previous posting was near visakhapatnam which is coastal just like Kerala. There was Dengue fever lurking around for most of the time in the rainy season. Still it eluded/spared me! At the nip of things where a gettogether was being organised for the 20th anniversary of golden batch of CET (College of Engineering, Trivandrum where i graduated),I was under attack. Though i can't claim to belong the elite class of organisers (at least officially as per the documented photos) of that gettogether even though i was an early bird and some what active member of the core group, i was down on 5th july admitted to hospital. I managed to attend the function at college on 13th July but missed out all the fun at the poovar resort. Alas i was there for the dry run of the poovar function and booked tickets for my family too to join the fun. Everything had to be called off at the last moment. I am thankful for my batchmates who welcomed & appreciated my prescence at CET. I had a chance to see many of old mates face to face after a gap of decades. I hope to have similiar events in future. I must admit that i missed many of my hostel mates. Hope we can have yet another meeting in days to come.

Just to say Hi

It has been quite some time since i wrote anything on this blog. Well blame it on my laziness! After moving on to Thiruvananthapuram, i can travel to my family on the weekend. It is nice to be with kids et al. So free time has become scarce & that probably explains long absence of activity in these pages. Kerala along with its southern state counterparts are reeling in scorching sun. To add to the woes, there is shortage of water and electricity. Since power generation within kerala depends much on timely & abundant rains, problem of water and electricity are in a way connected. I am sure the government had already initiated steps for central aid.Hope some thing good comes up. Issues of water, I fear will have to wait till the onset of monsoon. I do hope that all those leaky pipes in drinking water supply system can get corrected in this lean (and mean) period. Since any sensible, environment conscious keralite can not allow any more pollution to mother earth, i can't foresee any solution to power crisis. I am glad to note that government is moving in the direction of harnessing non-conventional energy sources like Solar & Wind. Hope something solid comes up & gets completed. Transportation is another badly hit area. Nice to know that Kochi Metro and proposed mono rail systems in Kozhikode as well as Thiruvananthapuram gaining momentum. Read in news papers that path leading to Vallarpadom terminal completed dredging to increase the depth to above 14 meters. Vallarpadom can now receive bigger ships (Mother ships?). Once the "loading/unloading" issue is settled in long term perspective, we can earnestly hope that there will be hustle bustle activity there. Proposed Port at Vihzinjam is yet to gather required momentum. Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu

Relocation

Well, my blogging had always been intermittent. If there is no developments, whats the fun in writing? After a gap of three months, there are news! After completion of Simhadri Stage - II (2x 500 MW coal based thermal power plant), I have been transferred. This time the posting is at Thiruvananthapuram, capital city of Kerala State. I had earlier bid dye to thiruvananthapuram in 1993 when i graduated from College of Engineering. This is my second innings! It is nice to be in one's home state eventhough after a gap of two decades. Hope i can find out missed connections, establish contacts with long forgotten friends and re-live the Kerala scenario. Do send me a line through mail and i shall contact you. I am not sharing my phone number in this media for fear of tele-marketers !

Kochi Metro

As with any infrastructure development project ever undertaken in the so called "God's Oen Country", Kochi Metro Rail Project has also got into myriad of problems. When North Overbridge modification works have started by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, keralites were hopeful that this project is going to come in right time. The kind of traffic diversions and construction management carried out by the team were praiseworthy. Notwithstanding such stellar performance, politics and ulterior motives are showing their power & might in derailing the whole project. Roads in kerala especially in ernakulam continues to be pathetic & narrow just like that of wicked people at centres of power. Can we all raise above petty politics & look into good governance in the long run ?

Development & Environment

There are many issues plaguing the country & the state of Kerala. The old adage "All men plume into improving the society and no man improves" can be true here too. Opposing political parties often come as hindrance to any development in democratic governance. This probably is the greatest bane of such form of governments. Except in a very few cases, most of the developmental projects comes to a halt once the political leadership of the state changes. Considering that many of the infrastructure projects have high gesticulation period, this leads to chaos. Most of the entrepreneurs shy out since the return for their investment becomes shaky. Nevertheless all Indian states are calling investors. Some time using Global Investment meets (Karnataka had it in July at Bangalore) otherwise by visiting foreign countries as a ministerial delegation. Recently Kerala had an investment meet titled 'Emerging kerala'. The outcome is yet to be materialized but I earnestly hope some serious investment will be coming up. On the other side, there is always a price to pay for development. Mostly the environment takes hit. Be it new roads, port or power project, big construction is sure to come up. This will lap up some of the fertile land or forest cover. At times there is the issue of land acquisition from private parties and associated hue & cry too. One of the major allegations towards 'Emerging kerala' summit was permission to use the land on long term. Afterwards state government had clarified its position and i guess the row has been subdued. Transportation and Power sector in Kerala remains to be a concern. No good roads are coming up and the road widening/expansion moves in snail's pace. I am not sure when was a major power project was commissioned in Kerala. All proposed hydro-electric projects are opposed for the environmental damage it may cause. In the nearby state of Tamil Nadu, a major agitation is underway opposing koodamkulam Nuclear Power Project. No concrete steps are taken towards renewable energy sources such as solar or wind farms. We can go back to lamps & candles in near future. Speaking of lamps, fueling them might also turn to be a herculean task. Fuel prices (be it Kerosene, ATF, Petrol or diesel) is progressively being taken out of the administered price mechanism. Liquid Fossil fuel reserves of the country are not aplenty. The production and processing capacity is also limited. India is dependent on imported fuel. Any variation in the international market seriously affects prices - not only for the fuel but also all commodities. A rethink on the way we use energy is required at grass root level. Every citizen has to think of ways to reduce own consumption. May be we can shun using energy for luxury and super comfort. Pooling of car, use of public transport, designing buildings in such a way that electrical lighting is not required during day time etc etc Energy conservation is not only our duty but also our responsibility to the future generations. Remember we are using what is rightfully theirs !

Welcome New President of India

Sri. Pranab Mukherjee is becoming the thirteenth president of India. He had an illustrious political career spanning decades. He had been cabinet minister for different portfolios. He was a peacemaker for the congress and UPA in many a crisis. Unlike some the former presidents who also had a political background, Sri. Pranab Mukherjee comes right from the thick of action & not after leaving active politics for some time. Though there were a huge demand (especially in Facebook & social networking sites)for Sri. A.P.J. Abdul kalaam, most of the political parties were, i guess - preferring some body from politics - their home turf - to become the president. Incidentally there was not much of competition for Sri. Pranab Mukherjee. Support given to him by Left parties were questioned by some. There were some action in JNU SFI Unit and its reaction came swiftly from higher party echelons. All is well that ends well. We can hope that Sri. Pranab Mukherjee, with his experience as a very senior political leader, will become an Icon of India as its first citizen. May the country prosper well under his tenure especially in wake of the economic turmoil which is happening in different parts of the world.

School Year Begins

It is back to academics time in Kerala. Schools which were closed for the midsummer vacation has just re-opened. Usually this season is accompanied by incessant rains with the onset of monsoon. This time however rain gods seems to be bit reluctant. As per the met dept, a few days delay is not of very much concern. Lets hope that rains are going to be quite normal this season so that kids can play a bit in the poodles around. There was a time when school going kids went walking from home to school through the ill-maintained roads. It was fun to play in the little 'ponds' in the road potholes. Normally the water will be brownish & it will leave a stain on clothes. Alas the present middle class generation goes to school and comes back by bus, car, auto rickshaw & what not.They definitely miss the fun. It is pretty hot here in vizag for the past week. There is an unprecedented heatwave which has resulted in even deaths. It is said that this is the hottest summer of the decade. Hope monsoon comes soon to Kerala so that we at Vizag can hope to get some reprieve soon

May Day

Here comes international workers day. We all are workers in some way or the other. Though there are many classifications like blue collar, white collar & what not. It is nice to have a day for all of us. Hope everyone gets little rest so that we all can introspect a bit. Life is getting fast & furious right? At times it is pertinent to slow down & look around. Better still look inward to see how we all have been faring. Much grime & dust must have accumulated to our body mind & soul. It is time to cleanse ourselves. Make some one happy & feel the exuberance that we used to have in our childhood for (seemingly) simple things. lets laugh aloud, make merry & live in peace ! Phew more of a sermon right ? Have a nice day..... ;-)

Bandh, Harthaal & Life without power...

February is the shortest month in a year. Thanks to feb being 1 day longer this year. As per a popular Facebook post there were as many as 17 days of Bandh / Harthaal in different parts of Kerala. Good going !
Summer heat is on & so is power cut ! owing to fears on Mullaperiyar, generation from Idukki dam based hydro power project was increased. Now water level in Idukki dam is on the lower side adding to the power crisis of Kerala. To top it all on 6th of March, the consumption of power in Kerala crossed 60 MU. Funny part is that only 22 MU came from our own hydel generation. About 30 MU came from central pool including that of NTPC's Kayamkulam gas based power project. Shouldn't there be a re-thinking on viability of a thermal power plant in the state to tide over power crisis. Almost every Indian state is doing capacity addition. Environmental concerns must be addressed in an amicable manner. In any case there are thermal power plants in the border like Mangalore, nuclear power plants such as proposed Koodankulam etc. Another option is to live in darkness or cut out all frills like air conditioning, festival lighting, Decorations etc. Why fuss over pollution from a power plant when almost every shop in a city is using small Diesel Generators which makes more pollutants. Coal will have to be imported or atleast trasported over long distances. Ash disposal can be a problem but with lot of infrastructure projects such as Kochi metro, Expressway etc coming up, ash can be effectively utilized.
Hope wisdom prevails in the echelons of power. (Either we make more power or we use less power)

One more year went on

Its nice to be back on to typing again after some good pause. Incidentally i completed 40 years of existence on earth. That means my half life period (Who knows? may be even more!) have been completed. As with any machinery things are getting down at times. I guess there is a scope of major overhaul as far as life style is concerned. Frankly i am reluctant to do so. Over the period of time i have accumulated many die hard habits more bad than fine. I guess thats the case with many people. Still young at heart but you can't blurt things out. World expects a lot of maturity (?) from people of this age. Any way life is a good mixture of paradoxes. "Chaltha Hai!"
As this is my first post in the year, it is customary to wish you the reader a very happy new year. Should there be any resolutions for new year? My keyword shall be 'Tolerance'. Lets all try to adjust to our neighbors & live amicably. Though it seems simple, some times its very difficult in actual practice. Hey what the heck! we all can give it a try at least....