Tag: bangalore

My Perception of 3 Cities


Madas day is happening and I’m proud to be the son of a city which has a great History. But I’ve been thinking how did I feel when i went to 3 other cities and what was my first take about the city. Here goes my perception;

Bangalore: First i visited the city when i was 8 years old and that too for a day. I hardly remember much about that experience. But later I went to this city when i was 17 years old after completing my schooling. My father took me there for vacation. Right from the beginning i got excited;

  • I saw a very clean & planned city.
  • Saw pretty girls who were modernly dressed again unlike Chennai (then, now Chennai is much better than Bangalore :)).
  • Saw couples smooching on public places (Sadly this is controlled these days).
  • Lots of pubs unlike Chennai.
  • A enviable night life.
  • A pleasant climate.
  • Lot of hotels.

All the above were new for me then because Chennai was considered very conservative them. I even considered getting settled in Bangalore. But today Chennai has caught up with all the points i specified & Bangalore has fallen down. Also Bangalore has become a victim of mass urbanization and it has lost its charm. Anyways I consider Bangalore to be my second home town as I’ve a house there and Chennai – Bangalore being very proximate I don’t get the feel that it is a different city.

Madurai: There is nothing much to talk about this City. The day I entered the city it was dirty, unruly & zero entertainment. I felt very lonely for the first three months as I didn’t have any other place other than Cafe Coffee Day. I’ve never intended to stay there as that was not the place for me. But I owe a lot to this City as it helped me to come back from all the pains cause during 2008. Year 2010 has been more happening for this city and there are lots of joints and brands falling in this city & today it gives tough fight with Cities like Chennai or Bangalore. These days i enjoy visiting this city.

Coimbatore: My first visit to this city was 2 years back and I was really carried away. Like Bangalore i got a liking towards this city on first sight. Things excited me;

  • Posh houses & cosmopolitan lifestyle.
  • Pretty Girls but culture abiding.
  • Less traffic.
  • Good Climate.
  • Nice Business environment.

I want to get settled here if this place doesn’t become another Bangalore.

How to Finish a Task with Bureaucrats?


Last week it was the end of month long agony with bureaucrats. There is a common phenomenon with bureaucrats.

  1. They are lazy.
  2. They never accountability.
  3. They are irresponsible.
  4. They are corrupt and crocked.
  5. They won’t offer information on one go. Eg: Every time we make a visit they send us back telling one correction or other.

Over all for a work which should not have taken more than 3 days took 25 days to finish it. But the experience gained in phenomenal. I had two types on experience in Coimbatore & Bangalore.

  • One place i was not allowed to deal from the top and i was totally not accessible with the concerned person in the top.
  • Second place i was asked to deal with the Top directly.

In my experience both as challenging. In one case we can proceed with the work without having any one to deal with. In second case dealing from the Top expensive. So this is how i dealt with Case 1.

  • I met the Professional Tax Officer on second day and he took the documents and he didn’t give me his phone number.
  • Then again he was not approachable in office.
  • Then i caught hold of the Peon who gave me all information and called the officer everything i visited their office or gave me updates on the progress when i called him from Chennai.

Over all job got over after 15 days because of Bureaucratic delays and after constant followups. Totally i spent Rs.80/- for the peon for his help. I cant consider this as Bribe because he helped me for a job which was not his responsibility and for picking calls and linking with the concerned officer. Here Bottom-up approach helped.

Then in Case 2.

  • Officer was always available in Office.
  • Was directly dealing with the Department Head.
  • Bribe insisted was Huge.
  • We denied to offer bribe and we paid the entire penalty.
  • I was made to run everyday asking for more details / information / document.

Finally PTO said he can’t give me the certificate without giving him some Professional Fee (This is the term he uses for Bribe) and finally i had to bow down and make him some Professional Fee. I was deeply upset because PTO made me run to his office at least 11 times and i produced all nonsense information he requested and finally ending up paying him a bribe.

I behaved like a common man standing helpless and bow down to business pressure. Let me see when all this will change?

Bangalore & Coimbatore Professional Tax Done


I’ve been slogging for last 3 weeks to finish the registration and remittance of Professional Tax for a big client of CCS. Today I got the receipt for PT remittance and Professional Tax Number for Coimbatore which my uncle collected and couriered to me.

Also much awaited Bangalore is also done. Today I got the Professional Tax Number but the officer denied to handover the certificate to me as he wanted to meet the bank’s branch manager.

So my stay here goes prolonged for one more day. Now only Salem is pending and I don’t know how long it is going to take.

Private Bus Drama


Normally I never travel in small time private bus operators. All my previous experience has been bad. So these are the things that happened in the past; 

  • In 2001 I boarded a bus called Sangeetha Travels by 10.30 to Chennai. Since I was tired I slept and woke up by 1 o clock only to fine the bus was still in the same spot I boarded. They were still filling the empty seats. Then reached by 10 AM.
  • Second is also with the same operator & same year who dropped us in chitoor claiming they don’t have a permit to enter Tamil Nadu and left us in a normal bus. Again reached Chennai by 10 AM
  • Then 6 months I boarded a bus to Madurai. This time operator name National Travels. I was told bus starts by 10 o clock and again when we crossed Chennai it was 2 o clocks. Until then they were filling the seats. Then they reached Trichy where most of them got down and again they halted for an hour to fill the empty seats. Then reached by 1 PM.

After these entire nightmares I stopped travelling using smalltime players. Yesterday I badly wanted to travel to Bangalore as today is the last day to pay Professional Tax. I must have booked tickets as I know I must travel to Bangalore. But that is me I love vagabond travel.

Again yesterday I was called by Sangitha Travels. The cost of the ticket was Rs.850/- which was double than what I normally pay. Then I was told I need to board 11.30 PM bus. Then couple of people was asked to board 11 o clock bus and when I asked it that was my bus they said mine was 11.30 bus. A Gurka employee of the travels said 11 o clock bus was last and by now I smelled again I’m into some trouble.

Not this is how the drama started; 

  • All of a sudden asked for my boarding pass.
  • He returned asked me to take my bag, run and follow him.
  • He returned shouting at his other agents to call and stop the bus.
  • Then he gave the boarding pass to Gurka and asked him to stop the bus and make me board the bus.
  • He took me to some other agent.
  • He shouted at me asking what time to come.
  • It irked me I started giving back telling I was waiting inside his office for more than an hour. In fact this guy saw me sitting inside his office for long, but he pretended as if he doesn’t know me.
  • Then he asked for another 100 bucks claiming he needed that to help me board another bus.
  • By now I started shouting at him in local Chennai lingo and I said I can create a scene.
  • Then he changed the topic telling I owe them Rs.100 bucks. Then I said if he is going to mess around with me he is into trouble. My ease speaking Chennai lingo helped.
  • Then he said he is doing me a favor. He said without my knowledge he has sent someone in my bus and he took his boarding pass to me.
  • He gave me the front seat where ask I was given the last seat in my ticket.
  • I was adamant not to pay these people even a penny.
  • Then I got into my seat and got settled.
  • Then when I peeped out there were old people, young couples with kids who were put into trouble.

I was in no mood in give a helping hand to them and I was watching all the quarrels. Finally they started the bus by 12:15PM and reached Bangalore by 5:15 PM.

THESTARTUPBUZZ VC Showcase


VC Showcase is the first of its kind event in India where Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors showcase about their firms, explaining about their expectations from entrepreneurs. Each VC/Investor will have their own table setup only for meeting great companies and entrepreneurs

In short: 

  • 20 VC / Investors will showcase their firms.
  • 200 Startup CEOs & Aspiring CEOs meet and discuss with VC/Investors.
  • Wide range of sessions.
  • Social Lunch to network among the participants

 Date: 31st Oct 2009
Time: 9.00 AM to 6.00 PM
Venue: The Capitol Hotel,Rajbhavan Road, Bangalore.

Speakers: 

  • Start-up founders will share their experiences of starting a venture, sustaining it and taking it to the next level.
  • VC’s will share their focus areas and funding strategies.

 Audience: Start-up founders / entrepreneurs.

 Format:

  • Event will be attended by VC/Investor, and Start-up founders / entrepreneurs.
  • The event brings together Startup Founders to share experiences and interact with other start-ups in an informal manner.
  • The other guests, like you, will typically be experienced entrepreneur / investor / a person from the start-up ecosystem

 What will you gain from the event? 

  • Opportunity to interact with no. of investor/VC   Meet in Single Point.
  • Opportunity to interact with others in the startup ecosystem.
  • Share and learn from each others experiences in running businesses.
  • Potential to meet a business partner, investor, employee, etc.
  • Opportunity to build a strong startup community

Registration Fee: Startup/Entrepreneur => Rs.650/- (Per delegate)

Confirmed VCs : Accel, Ojas, Cleantech, Intel Capital, Sidbi, Mumbai Angel, TVS Capital, Acme Housing and Still continue..

For Sponsorships or Event Support, please contact Mr. Ohmprakash @ +91.9739721611.

Unplanned travel & Happy results


Until 6 PM yesterday I was not sure what am I going to do. Whether to go to Chennai or Coimbatore or Stay back in Bangalore. It was very drowsy feeling and nothing was happening till 4 PM. I was still on the bed browsing and watching T.V, didn’t take bath, lots of cloths to wash, house was dusty.

By 4 PM I realized that I can’t do anything with the Sales Tax work after 4 o clock. I thought I must do something to make the day productive and I broke my laziness and I went one to wash my cloths and it was 5 PM by then.

Then I sweeped the house, had a perfect shave and had a nice bath and it was 5.45 PM. Then again back watching T.V, browsing and thinking what to do next. Then I thought I can check tickets for Chennai and thought if I don’t get a ticket I can think of next choice.

I logged into KPN travels site and found 4 tickets were available for the last bus which was very expensive (cost of a ticket is Rs.706/-). Last bus was always my choice when it comes to travelling between Bangalore – Chennai. Then there was no second thinking. I booked tickets and found KPN has got a new facility to collect tickets on counter upon providing a PIN unlike before where in we had to carry a printout of e-ticket.

Then I travelled to my cousins house in BTM had dinner with him and he dropped me in Bhommanahalli and I boarded the bus by 11.45 PM. I was eager to know what is special with the bus as it costs so much. On boarding I found it was a big bus with 42 seats. I was surprised to see how come they charge so much for having more capacity. When volume is more cost has to come down that is the theory of economies of scale.

Anyways I didn’t bother as I was able to take a decision because of availability of ticket. Then after boarding the bus I made couple of calls until the bus reached Hosur by 12.20 AM and I slept by then. The bus reached Porur by 5 o clock sharp. I woke up exactly before Porur. Thanks to the driver for playing FM songs and switching on the lights. Normally nothing perturbs me on sleep but this time it was unusual and again I’m not going to complain as the result was good as I got down near my house, had good sleep and comfortable travel.

Overall it was very much unplanned and all ended up comfortably and now I’m in Chennai posting this blog.

Bangalore professional tax experience


Preparation for registering and remitting professional tax for our clients Bangalore branch started on Sunday. I had to get the route from maps.google.com. My client’s office changed six months back but it was not updated in their system in head office. So went to the old address only to find they no longer exist there. Their new office was located near to my house. One good thing for the client is they changed the new address in all their communication only yesterday.

Then from then on I had to head to Strum Board Building put up is Raseeldar Street in Sehsadripuram. The trail in Google map was long one. My father guided me thru a short route. It didn’t take more time to find places in Bangalore courtesy to my roaming in Bangalore in my college days. Now I realize noting goes as waste in life :).

Again irony in Bureaucracy started immediately. The concerned officer was on leave and there was no alternative to handle the case. But one particular staff was good enough to look into the document and told me that we didn’t fill Form I & II. I was shocked seeing the form it was completely in Kannada. I requested the offer for a copy in English / Hindi. Unfortunately forms are only in Kannada. Returned for the day doing nothing

Next day had to goto client’s office again to get the form filled as I didn’t have any clue on the contents of the form. Then I reached the professional tax office and found soft spoken gentle men who were present today. He still found some missing elements and he gave me the numbers about the penalty to be paid and he asked me to meet the superior.

One entering the superior office that is of gazette officer rank asked me come after 2 hours. Then I had to wait outside the office playing games in my mobile and making calls as my house is 25 KM from this place.

I went back after 2 hours and the officer spoke to me for 30 min without any point. He asked for offer letter of 50 employees. Immediately I understood he is expecting a bribe. He asked for 4 more documents and he said he wanted tax till date to create a Professional Tax no. and I had to return back with only 50% of work getting done.

Now we have requested clients for more documents and sure it is going to take time from their end and I must return to Bangalore again sometime this month.

Over all it is a good experience and tomorrow I’m leaving to Salem to register and remit professional tax there and I going there without expectation…

4th Block memories


Today I took my mother and grandmother to Jaya Nagar 4th Block. This was a spot which we use to frequent almost everyday for shopping. Yes 12 years back when I first visited Bangalore my father took me to shopping to 4th block. For me everything looked different compared to Chennai. The language, the people, the culture and I really enjoyed the new place and culture. From then on I use to frequent this place when ever I’m in Bangalore.

Though 4th block had one-way traffic system even 12 years back but a lot of things changed other that that too. It was not this much crowded and one can see lots of retired old people gathering and talking with each other. The climate was even better than now. The bus stop was one the corner in an open space.

After the malls started occupying importance I stopped visiting this place from the year 2002 though I frequented to Bangalore.

Today the bus stop was changed into a commercial building. Traffic has gone really 10 fold more without exaggeration. I can’t see any old gentlemen.

Today it was really nice to walk down the memory lane. Walked through nook and corner of the place. I remember how I nagged my parents for all nonsense things (I feel them nonsense today), but which I thought of importance then, the I got on the platform shops, paw-bajji on cool joint, then juice and ice-creams.

Today I’m independent and can buy what I like but those were special day. But nagging parents to get something and cherishing the past is cherishing historical moments…

Driving to Bangalore


One of my friends has got an interview call from a company in Bangalore and the company has promised to reimburse him the petrol charge for driving to Bangalore. So we thought we can club that opportunity for a tour to Mysore or GOA.

So we are driving to Bangalore tonight and will be deciding where we will be up to once his interview gets over. As usual planning for drive his so high and I’m carrying a Red & White WINE bottle.

As usual we will be having our dinner at Khaja Restaurant Ambur. Other than that we have not planning much on how to spend time in Bangalore but for sure it will have a visit to Forum / Garuda Mall and I’ll have a tattoo sprayed for sure.

My Tattoo Experience


tattooFor long I wanted to tattoo and the dream got realized last week when I went to Garuda Mall. I had a temporary tattoo painted my star sign Pisces in my right hand and after 3 days I tattooed a sea horse at Forum Mall.

 

It took only 2 – 3 min of time to get it sprayed but there was difference in pricing at Garuda Mall we were charged only Rs.40/- where as in Forum Mall I was charged Rs.80/- almost double for the same.

 

After I got tattooed I was given a small slip which had Tattoo Care instructions.

 

  • Do not rub tattoo when wet.
  • Do not apply soap, creams on tattoo.
  • Only pat with towel after bath. Do not scrud it off.
  • May last only for 2 – 3 days for oily skin types.
  • Dab with powder after bath to increase life.
  • To remove tattoo use baby oil.
  • Tattoo is extremely oil sensitive.

 

Yesterday I went to Bella Ciao restaurant in Kottivakkam Beach, Chennai for dinner. I found a stall for tattooing but the stall was closed. I might go there by evening and get a new tattoo in my hands. For a person who needs to get tattooed can contact Garuda Mall & Forum Mall folks in this number

 

Garuda Mall – +91.9900807317

Forum Mall – +91.9448454625