Unethical parking..

Chennai is buzzing with big traffic these days and we can't escape the clutches of congestion irrespective of the ways we take to reach our destinations. There has been a common voice among the people of the city that has started sounding louder lately against the Traffic policemen, who, in an attempt to make Chennai a traffic-free city, took exactly the wrong course and made Chennai a city full of one-way roads. Thus, if you are a Chennaiite and if you wish to travel from Guindy bus stop to Adyar malar hospital, it is no more an easy task like what it used to be few months back. You are not supposed to take the straight road that connects these two places. Instead, you are required to travel straight towards Saidapet and take a right turn, which would bring you back to the straight road that connects Guindy junction to Adyar. This means instead of followin one edge of the triangular path, you would be diverted to take the longest route from one point to the another on this triangular setup and this incurs you loss of time, fuel, energy and most of all, health. If you have the heart to put a halt for piling up disheartening facts which have been given room by improper planning process carried on by the traffic policemen and consider the imperfectionists within ourselves, we can design so many ways to evade the traffic problems that are posing extreme discomfort to the public. I happened to catch the view of a bike that was parked right at the middle of the road parellal to my street last night. It was one of the busiest roads in the locality that has dedicated all its space for residential complexes. Initially, I thought it belongs to a policeman since the rules had been changed (AGAIN) and the street had been turned into a one-way. Indian policemen have the habit of using their bikes, registered to Government, as barricades to prevent the entry of vehicles into certain streets. Later, I realized it belongs to a man who was so sincere to the person who called up to his mobile phone. While this man was busy with his conversation over the phone, I found 3 cars standing one behind the other, waiting for this mobile man to show some generosity towards them. After having a glance at the chaos that was about to be created at that place, he turned away to concentrate more on the conversation. After few seconds, there was a complete congestion on the street because of the blockade dropped in by these 3 cars in the front. As a result, the adjoining main road suffered a big congestion that led to a big inconvenience to all those who decided to pay a visit to the area. Thus, a small irresponsible act could lead to a big hassle in the environment surrounding the cause. Thus, being responsible isn't a choice. That is the rule to be followed by not only the policemen but also by every single person who is called a citizen.

Rules derailed..

I hope you can see clearly who the man at the front is. He is an official in the Indian Democracy. His job is to make sure people in the society stick on to the rules laid by the Government. The rules that they deal with are related to traffic and other procedures that should be followed by everyone using the roads which some say are MAINTAINED by the Government (and still they look pathetic :-P). Hence, in short , this man in Khaki and white on the bike registered to the Government can be put equivalent to a guardian. Rather, guardian of society and rules laid by the Government. I happened to go to Marina beach few days back with one of my friends. When I was driving back home, my ride was interrupted by the flashing red signal. I was almost the first one to bring my bike to a halt just before the stop line. After the signal timer flicked for few seconds, I found someone trying to get on to the front of the lot waiting for the green using the small passage on my left which was not even sufficient for a bicycle to go through. I told myself "Wow! What an aspirant!!! He wants to be the first even at a signal!!" Finally, this man's bike stopped after completely crossing the stop line, the meaning of which he totally didn't understand. You can find the stop line in the picture and the man in the front on his bike as if he his on his way back home after winning the whole world. And you can also find that no one else in the picture had crossed the stop line. From his shoes, pant, shirt, helmet and the color of the bike, I recognized who he is. That was when I felt really bad for the people in our society. A man who is supposed to protect the rules has decided to crush the same under his feet. Several men at the same level as this brute in the picture above stand together at signal junctions just to catch hold of those who they say don't follow the traffic rules. And nowhere have I seen a rule that says these men carry an exemption from these rules and they need not follow what they say is mandatory for the public. I couldn't resist my frustration and I was completely annoyed. But, I couldn't do anything other than take a snap of this immorally molded moron. Had it been a common man crossing the rule, I bet the traffic constable at the other end of the signal would have extracted something from his wallet. What makes the difference here? It is just few things which our Government servants lack. They are supposed to be called the Government SERVANTS. But, their actions make us feel they rule the nation. This is because corruption is all powerful in this nation. It is way above people and society. When even the one who is responsible for keeping the rules intact is not prepared to stand by the book, who else can be considered for filling the most essential niche here? I've had several bad experiences with these beggars in uniform who catch at signal junctions me just to suck my pockets dry. May be this is the reason why I consider my feet more important than these brutes with bulky bellies. Some of my friends even advised me not to put these pictures here on my blog as they fear I might push myself into grave danger. But, I can't help it. I can prove anyone I am flawless just by showing them this picture which I love to keep staring at for the whole day. And I can justify whatever I've told about these roadside vagabonds. The man in the picture is just another creature who makes his living on the roads using what he gets from the society. If you still don't know who he is, I'll tell you about him. Ahh..He is totally insignificant. He doesn't have much importance for me to really talk about. I don't think he deserves any explanation. Leave it. I wish to continue this hunt for these senseless scavengers in Chennai. ;-)

Roaring road accidents..

Road accidents are happening at an exponential rate now a days and your vehicle bumping into one of them will be the most unfortunate thing ever. It’s always better to get prepared before hand and auto body shops city of industry makes that easy for you. Collision Repair expert comprises a big chain of auto body workshops that effectively bridge their customers with the best auto repair shops in the town. They have incorporated strict quality measures within their network to ensure that they provide the best to their customers. They personally call back every customer and evaluate their experience, based on which a rating is given to every auto body work shop that is publicly posted in their website. You can also fix appointment online and be assured that your vehicle is in the best hands in town. With Chennai fast developing a sophistaceted and modernizied metropolitan city everyday, accidents have become very common on the roads that people don't even care to help the ones who got their heads into these unfortunate twist provided by their fate. I would like to see the Traffic department coming up with innovative, useful and really sensible road rules to overcome these accidents that often prove fatal for some people. Instead of forcing the bikers to wear helmets, the Government can give bringing in the vehicle lanes on the roads some thought. You would find such lanes only on roads with heavy traffic. But, that makes me wonder why there are no such lane discipline rules available for Grand South Trunk road that connects the city to other southern parts of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu Police department should realize their purpose which is to ensure safety of society and public and they should also understand their hands can be put to good use other than saluting higher officials and blocking drivers for not following the rules which seem to have been designed only for the benifit of these vagabonds in khakis.

Road behaviors become rude behaviors..

Driving has become a tough job for those who regularly take on the roads of Chennai. With more than 65 million vehicles, the roads in Chennai have become completely cramped and even motorcyclists can't make a way out of the congestion. Traffic police department of Chennai is struggling a lot to bring the increasing traffic under control and their desperation is blatantly reflected by their action of making two-way roads into one-ways. But, the purpose is not served yet. This attempt of the police department has in fact become another reason for the city's traffic to grow bigger. While that is the part of the policemen in adding inconvenience to the society, some people also have bigger roles in building up the annoying congestion, especially when working people are hurrying up to their workplaces in the morning. It was 9.30 A.M and went to an ATM to check my balance in the savings account. After my job was done, I came out and found the far end of the street getting too congested, as you can see in the picture above. It wasn't a one-way and thus, vehicles giving ways for those on the other side of the road isn't a big problem though the road appeared quite narrow. But, that wasn't the cause for the congestion. It was a 2-way and the maroon car was being driven by a moron, who lacked even the basic common sense and parked the car right at the middle of a narrow 2-way road. I had all the time in the world to wait there to watch the other vehicles honking their horns like never before. My mobile phone wasn't too busy and I used it to make a permanent record of the scene that was going on in front of my eyes. As soon as I completed the photo session, the driver came out and pulled the car to the roadside. Just take a look at the maroon car to the righ in the picture. The driver had almost occupied half the width of the already narrow road to park the car. Doesn't it appear like a 3-lane road with a red car trying to break the congestion and enter the street while the moron's maroon car stand right at the middle of the road and the black car was parked at the place where it was supposed to be parked? If an insensitive idiot could cause such a congestion even in a street that is comparatively smaller than the other busy roads in Chennai, I couldn't imagine the impact of such irresponsible brutes who proclaim to be drivers, on the busier streets of the city which is building fast upon its traffic everyday. If these people can understand the basic driving rules and the sense of making the roads traffic-free by following proper lane disciplines, a major part of the traffic in Chennai can be avoided. I don't wish to take the policemen to the task all the time. I want to point to the part of mistake that lies on the side of the public. Either the policemen should be efficient and strictly follow the rules of the department or the people should understand the basic needs to avoid congestion. Situations on the roads of Chennai with people steaming under the hot sun for hours together due to heavy traffic would be the result if the policemen are totally inefficient and incapable and the people are hesitant to stay closer to the rules.

Rules gone wrong..

Of late, we find so many changes in the traffic rules that are applicable within the city limits of Chennai. Helmets are made mandatory for bike riders. I always talk about this helmet issue whenever I talk about traffic policemen and anything related to them for I've dropped some bucks in their pockets, sometimes for not sticking on to the rules and sometimes for sticking to the rules but failing to convince these jerks in uniforms. At the end of the day, I hate them to the deepest core! Anyway, let me take you through the anomalies in the traffic rules we follow in Chennai. There are hard proofs available to stand firm on the fact that there is no coordination between the traffic police department, the oil ministry, health ministry and in fact, the whole Government. Today, the trend that is invading the minds of traffic policemen is "One-way or no way". Almost 30% of the main roads in the city, which were once used for two-way traffic, have been made one-way which, according to the police department, is an attempt to regulate and diversify the growing traffic in the city. Recently, I had been to Egmore and found that almost all the Roads at the junction had next to Pudupet had been turned into one-way roads. Something told me it's not going to be an easy task to reach the Commissioner's Office. I drove straight and when I was about to take a right, I found that the road is being used for one-way traffic and I had to go straight further. This isn't area with which I am quite familiar. So, I had no idea about the small roads in between the main roads which might probably take me to the destination in my mind. I reached the junction and now the rule is different. I am not allowed to take a right turn, though the road on my right is available for two-way traffic. The journey, straight down the road, continued with my bike running low on fuel. I reached another junction, where the signal timer continued flicking through the numbers for more than 2 minutes. At last I took a right turn, which was exactly the same I should have done 5 minutes back. Now, my destination lied to my right and I needed to take a right turn somewhere. I found a right and also a board that said 'No Right Turn'. But, the funniest part of the rule is that U-turn was allowed at that place. My journey on Kilpauk high road continued. The next right turn was a one-way. So, it kept me moving straight. Finally, the end of a long stretch came to an end and I found that I had reached the place from where my journey from Mount Road to Commissioner Office at Egmore. Thus, what I was left with in the end was a 'Pradhakshanam' around the Commissioner Office. I sought after the help of an auto-rickshaw driver, who, I was sure, would know even the smallest of streets in the city. He made me reach the place through a small street. Thus, I had a 5KM ride on my bike which should actually have been a 300 meter journey. Isn't this an idiotic act that puts down all the purposes of the oil ministry to bring down the oil prices? I was in great demand for petrol for my bike. Demand is the reason for the price hike. I could imagine the number of people who would have faced the same misery on bike as I did. That magnifies the demand which in turn gives Government no room to reduce the fuel cost. Since the entire traffic towards Egmore is diverted to Kilpauk High road, the congestion at the junction at the mouth of the main road has increased to several folds. Thus, the amount of exhaust gases let out in the atmosphere obviously goes up, which makes the conditions highly unhealthy. Thus, all the efforts of the Union Health ministry is made to go up in flames. I doubt whether Mr.Anbumani Ramadoss has the knowledge that smoking in public doesn't add as much smoke as the vehicle exhausts does to the atmosphere when the vehicle engines are put on idling at junctions and when the runtime of the vehicles on the roads increase due to congestion, which in turn leads to same effects on one's health as smoking. This reflects the complete lack of coordination between the different parts of the machinery called Government. Thus, the state has become a vehicle with the wheels at the rear end trying to go back while the wheels at the front pushing the system forward. And the system, which is the society here, stays right at the place where it was before the processes started, leading to stagnation!

The mutual development..

Today, there are millions of bloggers out there and everyone wants the world to see their blogs. Thus, popularity is what all the bloggers expect today. In one of my previous posts, I've discussed about the best way to increase your traffic at no cost. That is the technique which involves the effective use of Cbox. I couldn't find a better way to reciprocate visits. If you are able to visit 50 different blogs a day, you are sure to get back at least 4o visitors to your blog on the same day because all the active bloggers will be so much addicted to their blogs that they stay online for almost 8 hours on their blog to check whether they have received any new visitor. If they find a new visitor as expected, they will be extremely delighted to give you back a visit which means your visitors as well as you are mutually building your respective blogs. This way, each blogger can support each other and pave the way for development of the blogs and this ensures the quality of the blogs reach higher standards. I found a hidden gift in Cbox technique. It's the way you can use the widget to boost your Pagerank. Cbox is now the tool which takes you to millions of blogs which some of the best bloggers in the world are working on. This means you get a chance to step on blogs that have good pageranks. When you understand the tactics to pursue the bloggers to add your blog link to their blog, the possibility of your blog's pagerank going up is very high. But, it is quite tough to make your link appear on quality blogs initially because adding a blog with pagerank lower than the blog in which the link is to be added would have a negative effect on the blog next time when Google runs pagerank update. If you are a beginner and if you are lucky enough to push your blog link into one of those blogs out there with high pageranks, you can count on your blog to get you more visitors soon who would wish to exchange links with you in the future. So, always make sure you exchange links with either blogs having pageranks same as yours or blogs with higher pageranks. That is the secret to keep your blog running for years to come!

Art of getting more traffic..

In my previous post about pulling traffic towards your domain, I was talking about something called Cbox. It was really very effective and my Alexa dropped from 23 million to 8 million in just 10 days. The best part of the Cbox is that even if you haven't visited someone's page, they can follow you to your blog if they come across your message on someone else's blog. Thus, you are not only getting the blog's owner back to your blog, but also bringing home several new visitors. That means it won't work as a blogger-to-blogger technique. Instead, your blog will be exposed to a large number of people all over the world. You need to visit at least 15 to 20 blogs a day and post your messages on the Cboxes available in all those blogs so that you stay at the top of the message list which means the probability of people following will be more. As your message sinks down to the bottom, people won't be able to follow you and you cannot get the visitors you want to your blog. Thus, you need to regularly keep posting messages on others' blogs so that people find your name at the top of the list and it would be easy for them to land on your blog because you can't expect everyone to scroll down the whole list of messages and particularly find your blog link to follow it. Bloggers are not here for that. They are here to blog. So, once you decide to make use of the Cbox advantage, you should balance your activities with what your visitors do for you. Revisiting their domains/blogs is very important and you can also browse through the first few messages in the Cbox of those blogs to follow unknown blogs which would soon add big numbers to the visitor count!

Increasing traffic..

So many people have asked me how to monetize their blogs, though I don't find a sincere blogger in me because I monetize all my blogs. Basic structure of the process to earn through blogs is very simple. You sign up for a free blogger account, start blogging about whatever you find interesting and popularize your blogs through various tools available on several sites that bring you good amount of traffic. If you feel this would take more time to develop yourself on the blogging platform, you always have the option to go for a domain with a good Page rank. After you acquire the domain from its administrator, you can start posting your blog son that domain. After you make some 10 or 15 quality posts on your new domain, you can register it with one of several pay sites which pay you for blogging for their advertisers. But, you should be fair on your part. Instead of making earning money the sole purpose of the domain, you should make it more productive, attractive and should bring more traffic to it. Back links play a very important role in making a domain or a blog retain it's Page rank. Numerous link exchange sites are available today which help you browse through their directories filled with domains and blogs of different page ranks from which you can select the domains with which you wish to exchange links. Better practice is to go for domains that have higher page rank than yours so that when Google updates the page ranks of domains, your domain would be able to sustain its status as it is. Advertisers expect blogs to have high amount of traffic. So, its your responsibility to draw more number of readers to your blog/domain. I found an excellent tool to bring a good amount of readers to your blog without the help of sites that say they can increase your traffic to a level from where you would be able to compete even with Google! Bullshit! There is something called Cbox. It's a message box which when added to your blog will be available for other bloggers to drop their messages for you. By following those who drop their messages on your blog, you can return them their favor and thus, bloggers around the globe would get mutually benefited by this. I used this Cbox and found that I can bring my blog as much as 60 visitors a day with no big strain. I am planning to discuss in my subsequent posts about other techniques to increase the visitor rate of a blog so that Alexa rank of the blog remains healthy.

Menacing 'MAMA's in Chennai..

MAMA. That is how a traffic constable is popularly known in Chennai. I've had some terribly bitter experiences with these police officers in the past. Very recently, I had the worst of all my hands on experiences with the cops who, in an attempt to make Chennai a congestion-free city, are making it exactly the other way. Luz is a well-known place for almost everything you have been searching for so far and your shopping efforts are never in vain when you are here since you would (I bet) get anything you wished for. That is just a part of the Luz I know. There is something big behind the screens for Luz. Its the group of Traffic constables who stand right at the signal and literally pounce on the motorcyclists who don't wish to get there heads overloaded by helmets. One of the signboards in the city said 'Wear your hard hat to protect your software'. I wonder what are the hard hats they are talking about. Are these helmets really hard enough to stay in good shape even when a lorry rolls over your head while you're wearing them? I don't think so. And still these people expect us to wear it while riding bikes. Let us go back to Luz now. I had to take the left at the signal. I was unbelievably so sincere that I was waiting for the green to flash even when the board said 'Free Left Turn'. I guessed 'MAMA' would be standing immediately next to the corner and put on my helmet. To my surprise, I didn't find even a single white shirt and khaki pant. Now why should I wear a helmet? I removed the so called 'HARD HAT' and placed it on the vehicle's petrol tank as usual, without getting a clue of who was closing in behind me. It was FATE!!! Just as I removed the helmet, I found the Man in white shirt and Khaki pant raise his arm and signaling me to bring the vehicle to a halt. Finally, fate caught me. After a session of questions and replies that lasted for some 3mins, I was asked for my license. The usual Traffic police tradition. But what happened after that was something uncommon. The sergeant filled up a form with my name, address and vehicle number and asked me to get it signed by another man in non-uniform standing just behind him. After going through all the legal but senseless formalities, I was asked to pay a heavy amount as fine. Rs.50/-. I don't know why they wasted a good quality sheet for recording my crime for just 50 bucks. And they even spent their PRECIOUS time answering my queries on the CRIME I committed. I handed over a 50 buck note. He stared at me and then saw the mobile court that was standing closer to the platform. I understood what his gaze meant. I went to the mobile court and the two police constables in full khakis asked me to switch off the mobile phone. I was wondering why these people are making a big fuss for just Rs.50. They could have made me pay the fine without all these formalities like they always used to do. Suddenly, my thoughts were shattered by a voice from within the mobile court, which is actually a van, and I heard someone calling my name thrice which reminded me of those old tamil movies where the climaxes are taken to the court. I was shaken by the very arrangements within the van. It carried the look of a real court! (Though I haven't seen a real court in my life. We learn things from movies right? :-P) A Judge was sitting at one end of the COURTYARD and a man was sitting just in front of the Judge, who gave the complaint or the crime record form (Whatever....) to the Judge. I was made to stand within the cage where criminals stand in the courts (Movies depicted it that way. Can't help it). To add the court essence to the scene, this man asked me 'Helmet podama vandi otunaduthan ungal kutram. Idai neengal oppukolgireergala?' Are you thinking of something? For a moment, even I was thinking your way. I thought it was one of those funny and silly dreams. I said 'Yeah. Ok'. The constable with a rifle in his hand, standing next to me, asked me to stand properly since I had my legs crossed, mistaking them for my fingers.:-P I came out of the COURT where I was penalized for my coldblooded crime of not wearing a helmet that hampered the country's economical growth and incited a serious unrest in the city by polluting the minds of the citizens with my inhuman intentions, expecting media to interview me as soon as I made my first step out of the courthouse. Unfortunately, fate was still on my tail. All I found were few other CRIMINALS who were caught red handed, which should really be 'RED-HEADED', for not wearing helmets. The most tragic part which I still couldn't digest is that the MAMA who caught me wasn't in complete uniform. When he waved his hand at me, I thought some restroom cleaner is asking for a lift. The rule is 'Show me your slippers and I'll tell you who you're'. Slippers. Not even a pair of synthetic shoes. Unwillingly I paid the fine for my CRIME. I am now a criminal. Watch out. I could chase you down anywhere!! Thanks to MAMAs in Chennai that I am a macho now! (I know it looks pretty exaggerated. Blame it on the MAMA.:-P)