My first impression of SFO was “Wow! What a beautiful city!” and I would say I am happy to stick with that. A city that has both hills and sea, is truly a gifted place to be. People say that the weather in California is amongst the best in the United States. The ample warm sunshine was a pleasant break from the cold Chicago. Lovely tree lined streets, nice breeze, lots of people on the street, awesome street side food, great entertainment, excellent public transport, lots of Mexican babes… are just few of the many things that come to my mind when I think back of San Francisco… :)

The flight from Chicago to San Francisco is more than 4 hours long, but flies over some of the most beautiful landscape like the Rocky Mountains…

San Francisco City, as seen from the Marin Headlands (other side of the Golden Gate Bridge)…

The Golden Gate Bridge, is by far the most recognisable landmark of San Francisco… I actually wanted to see this bridge engulfed in clouds, and thought I was unlucky, though Sudeep thought the other way and said that I was lucky to be able to see across the  bay!

San Francisco, like much of the Bay Area, is a hilly city with more than 50 hills within city limits. Though being a planned city with roads looking like lines of a well defined grid, they go up and down, and are quite painful to walk around!

The SFO cable car system is the world’s last permanently operational manually-operated cable car system and is an icon of San Francisco, says Wikipedia…

The Embarcadero is the eastern waterfront and a major road that runs along the San Francisco Port, and Bay. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the city, with the sea and the pier on one side and the downtown on the other. Trees and trams run along the street on one side, while cyclists and joggers fill up the sea side of the Embarcadero…

The Navy Pier is a great place for people to spend some time with themselves, calm and serene, with tons of fresh air and sunlight (when the clouds are not around)…

The Navy Pier contains a number of restaurants and coffee shops and attract a pool of people who like to relax in the open…

Don’t I like taking pics of my feet?!?

This is the Bay Bridge that connects SFO to Oakland, is a double-decker bridge that has one of the longest spans in the world.

This statue of Gandhi is mired in controversies… and may not look as pretty or picturesque from all angles.

It was a weekend trip, but the total time I was in SFO was not more than 18 hours… I did miss a lot of places but the fun really was in walking the streets in downtown and exploring some of the little known corners :). I would really like to thank Sudeep for driving me around the town, and letting me put up with him at his place… Only after coming back to Chicago did I realise that Google’s HQs were just a stone’s throw away from where he stays!

Honda Activa Expedition II
Destination – Mahabaleshwar
En route – Wai, Panchgani
Length: 120 km
Max Altitude: 4500 ft above MSL
Time: 3 hrs 15 (including stops for snacks)

The travellers…

Krishna River Valler seen from Parsi Point, Panchgani

Mapro Gardens, do not forget to try out the strawberry milkshake or strawberry icecream with fresh cream and strawberries, and the grilled sandwich here: First reason for visiting Panchgani!

You can sample tens of fruit juices, crushes and milkshakes here along with jelly chocolates, and then buy them at 10% discount

Fresh vegetables, straight off the farms…

Fresh strawberries… Second reason for visiting Panchgani!

Grrrr!

A typical strawberry farm  in Panchgani

Paragliding… soaring 1000 ft above ground, and 3000 ft above sea level. Third reason for visiting Panchgani!

This is the same temple where many scenes of Swades were shot. It’s an old village named Manavli, 3 km from Wai.

No likes, no dislikes.

No will to write, none to work.

No will to be awake. Sleep.

It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay
Awake when I’m asleep
Because my dreams are bursting at the seams

- Fireflies, Owl city

SGP: What all they show in the news these days!! I don’t like it at all!
RFB: Dude, you know everything about history, but nothing about the present! Watch the news!
SGP: Beta… History repeats itself…!
RFB: Haan theek hai, history will repeat itself, and you will become a monkey again!

Stree is listening to the conversation with interest, but also watching the news from the corner of his eyes…
A’jee-K’wale: Where were you when the bomb blast occurred?
SGP: Beta…!
RFB: Look at Stree… ask him where he was! Btw SGP, do you know how to make an explosive? How to make rockets? Ask Stree!
Stree: Dishkyaon…!
Chorus: Pocket mein rocket hai… pocket mein…

SGP: Abbe yaar tum log meri hi kyun lete ho har bar?
RFB: Hum log teri nahin, Stree ki le rahe hain is baar!
Stree: He he he! Dishkyaon…

A’jee-K’wale: Abbe, he is returning on Monday, right?
MGupta4: And even “HE” is returning on Monday!
SGP: Who is he?
RFB: Chiteej
SGP: And who else?
MGupta4: HE, whom you do not want to SEE!
A’jee-K’wale: He is enjoying ladyboys…
SGP: Ladyboys? Yeh Ladyboys kya hota hai?
RFB: SGPpppppp… Ladyboys… Lady+Boys=Ladyboys!
(think: Hansa/Praful/Khichadi)
SGP: Beta…!
SGupta: You are blushing! OMG!

SGP: Theek hai… I will see you all tomorrow!
RFB: Ofcourse!

History will repeat itself!
Aur hum teri kal fir marenge!

Btw, if you did not understand SGP, here are some pointers:
KGP = Kharagpur
MGP = Magarpatta
SGP = ?

The above wallpaper is for widescreen monitors (1280 x 800p). Those who wish for a regular (1024 x 768p) click here. A few custom sizes are available, please leave a comment with your email id.

:)

The travellers…

aditto: Finally at diveagar. Its night. After 160km on activa my ass is paining. Bt just had lovely homely dinner :) tomo morning hit the sea :) 8:57 PM Jan 23rd

The route: Pune to Diveagar
Length: 170 km
Altitude: 2200 ft – MSL
Time: 5 hrs 30 (including stops for tea and lunch)

Hills, valleys, forests, broken roads, flat roads, highways, rural roads…

The Champion – Honda Activa

aditto: Back from the beach after almost 2 hours of bathing and sun and sand :) now hungry. Really hungry. #diveagar 12:50 PM Jan 24th

aditto: In the morning we had awesome homely breakfast of omelet and poha with tea #diveagar 12:51 PM Jan 24th

At Diveagar – Coconut and Arecanut trees

Sunrise at Diveagar

aditto: For lunch @nimmo wants to try some local fish preparation. Will take bath and set out to hunt for it. Lovely weekend destination. Not yet commercialised. #diveagar 12:52 PM Jan 24th

aditto: Me and @nimmo are in #diveagar a lovely beach on the konkan coast 160km from pune. Lovely weekend destination. Not yet commercialised. Rural 12:54 PM Jan 24th

aditto: For lunch @nimmo wants to try some local fish preparation. Will take bath and set out to hunt for it. #diveagar 12:52 PM Jan 24th

An outstanding shot… now taken at so many beaches around the world :P

aditto: Me and @nimmo are in #diveagar a lovely beach on the konkan coast 160km from pune. Lovely weekend destination. Not yet commercialised. Rural 12:54 PM Jan 24th

aditto: #diveagar has a lovely rural feel to it. The houses and/or parchments are in mud. Bullock carts and mud houses. Awesome 12:56 PM Jan 24th

aditto: For dinner at #diveagar ordered fish 8:17 PM Jan 24th

aditto: Second and last night in #diveagar tomo morning will go the beach one last time for photos 8:58 PM Jan 24th

Lonely planet, eh? 

aditto: The rural beach experience at #diveagar is much like mandarmoni in bengal but much much superior. The village is excellent and so so clean 9:00 PM Jan 24th

aditto: At #diveagar @nimmo Had surmai {what is it in english? Anyone?} fish and solkadi for dinner and loved it. They use a lot of coconut 9:01 PM Jan 24th

aditto: People are so surprised to know that we came to #diveagar from pune on an Activa! They are like ‘really?’ and im like ‘ofcourse’ :) 9:10 PM Jan 24th

aditto: People here look at my Activa’s MH-12 number in disbelief! We covered 155km in 4:15 hours <excluding stops for lunch/tea> pune to #diveagar 9:12 PM Jan 24th

Three (hundred) years old temple… Diveagar, Shrivardhan and Harihareshwar, like most Konkan villages are religious towns, filled with temples.

aditto: #diveagar has the Suvarna Ganpati temple which has Ganesh idol in pure gold. Very small and simple temple. I like. 9:27 PM Jan 24th

aditto: Started back for pune from #diveagar currently stopped for tea at mangaon. Had fresh strawberries @ Rs 25/250gm 11:16 AM Jan 25th

aditto: Reached pune in 5.30 hours :) now having lunch at a restaurant at chandni chowk. Hungry! Enjoyed #diveagar! Pics tonight if im awake :) 3:10 PM Jan 25th

aditto: If you happen to travel to #Diveagar do stay at Roshan Adulkar’s homestay… they serve the best homemade food… and rooms/bath very clean 8:41 PM Jan 25th

Sunset at Diveagar…

While leaving the home we stayed in, the land lady came and gave us a small memorabilia of the Suvarna Ganpati (Golden Ganpati)… that was very sweet of her. To stay at her place, call Roshan Adulkar @ (+91) 92724-57475.

A hedge fund billionaire may be able to spend a bomb on a bottle of fine wine, but if you make him do a blind taste test with an inexpensive supermarket wine, I’ll bet he will not be able to tell the difference. He is basically buying into the lifestyle of the affluent, sophisticated consumer, without being able to understand what he is paying for.

Came across this wonderful article in The Wall Street Journal, written by Devita Saraf. She writes about differentiating wealth from money, and how the neo-rich class of Indians have everything but values and rightly so! Read the complete article on The Integral reproduced as-is from the Wall Street Journal.

Money Shouts, Wealth Whispers

- Devita Saraf

In the new India, lots of people have made millions on stocks, real estate, technology, diamonds or any number of booming industries. Few, however, have been able to acquire class.

Too many of the recently rich, desperate to flash their new-found wealth, are on a crazy splurging spree. Yet with all the money they have acquired, only a few have been able to cultivate a discerning taste in what they purchase.

A hedge fund billionaire may be able to spend a bomb on a bottle of fine wine, but if you make him do a blind taste test with an inexpensive supermarket wine, I’ll bet he will not be able to tell the difference. He is basically buying into the lifestyle of the affluent, sophisticated consumer, without being able to understand what he is paying for.

There are many wealthy families in India that have class and remain subtle in their taste. They are able to sniff out the best without making a pomp and show of their choices.

At the same time there are some very successful businessmen who have grown large industries as pioneers in their fields, but are doing inane things like paying film stars to hang out with them in public to bolster their images.

Unfortunately for them, they can only fool a few.

Good taste and good manners are a part of a person. It comes from sensitivity and self-confidence. Dressing well and speaking well does not automatically come from earning well.

At my company, Vu Technologies, we had a young employee who worked in our retail store as a cleaner. His job was to mop floors and serve water to customers who asked for it. He knew about our products and was courteous to clients. He always showed up at work in an ironed shirt and with neatly-combed hair. Today, three years after he started with us, he has been promoted to a salesman at one of our biggest stores. He had sophistication, even as a poor boy from the countryside.

“We have a rich culture of art, music and cuisine that is centuries deep. It’s sad that few of us are able to imbibe in our own history of refinement.”

Of course the nouveau riche around the world and throughout history – whether it is football stars in Europe or dot-com billionaires in the U.S. – have been known to flash more cash than class. But it still upsets me when I see the richest and most educated people of India speaking rudely, dressing badly, dripping with bling and hurting the country’s reputation.

We have a rich culture of art, music and cuisine that is centuries deep. It’s sad that few of us are able to imbibe in our own history of refinement.

This insensitivity to quality spills over into the business world. We should demand quality in our products and services, yet too often we accept poor quality simply because there is a shortage of supply.

In India you can pay millions of dollars to build and furnish a fancy house, only to find the carpenter has left rough edges on the furniture or that the bathroom leaks.

Too many products available here have been made with low quality materials despite a premium price tag. Not being able to recognize and promote quality is going to cost us in the years to come.

Manufacturing in India, except for a few exceptions, cannot match what China has to offer. When I look for parts for our products, I find that the quality of a widget made in a small Chinese factory is almost always better than one made in India.

Yet, India is ahead when it comes to handmade goods. The quality of many Indian handicrafts cannot be matched. Why can’t we extend the same expertise and fine eye to manufacturing when it is so obviously there in our handicrafts?

If we want to build worldwide, world-class brands, we have to develop the taste to target to the demanding global customer. With our lifestyle as well as our products we need to understand the old adage "All that glitters is not gold." We need to focus more on intrinsic quality and refuse to be dazzled by bright packaging. When you make a fine product it shows through and through but in a subtle manner.

Money is important, but it is only part of wealth. Wealth is also about values, health, happiness, social responsibility and prosperity for the individual as well as the country. Money comes and goes so we have to build the wealth in our minds and our hearts and our nation so that we are good to go for the next few centuries.

Devita Saraf is CEO of Vu Technologies and Executive Director of Zenith Computers in Mumbai.

Were you at the Mumbai Marathon this year? There were tons of people… Either to run, or to walk, or to cheer the runners, or to dress fancy, or to promote awareness, or to advertise, or to see the crowd, or just to take pictures! I was in the last two categories… And below are some of the snaps…

 
The fast…

 
The steady…

 
The young…

 
The not so young…

The old…

The bold…

The beautiful…

The strong…

The strongest…

The rest…

And the men who played a big part in ensuring the event was safe!

Most cities experience a sort of rebel against the traffic authorities when safety rules like those for the seat belt and the helmet are introduced. People are reluctant to wear them. It is like smoking cigarettes. People are reluctant to follow what is in their best interest. As much as the fact that smoking cigarettes is injurious to health is true, not wearing helmets is a big risk too! Everyday newspapers in cities such as Pune, carry news of people getting badly injured or losing life because of head injuries sustained during accidents. I am not very sure how well seat belts actually protect someone driving a car, not especially in India.

In my honest opinion, compulsory rules of wearing seat belts or helmets must be scrapped. Also, all the road-side Pollution Under Control (PUC) centres in India must shut shops.

Below are the traffic regulations reforms that I propose without having any authority over them. Reading those, I believe my opinions on compulsory rules would make a little more sense.

1) Increase fine amounts from meagre Rs 100 to a heavy Rs 1000
People would just not pay so much fine, isn’t it? Understandably, there is a risk of increased corruption if the fines are too high. But there is a way to implement. In the US, fines for over-speeding range from $100 to as much as $400 or may be even beyond. That is a big pinch! The traffic authorities should increase the fines for parking in no-parking zones, over-speeding, jumping traffic signals, etc. Let the consumer move court to settle disputes. Imposing heavy fines is the first step in reducing the crimes.

2) Increase the charges for parking vehicles in public places
Rs 4 for a period of 4 hours for 2 wheelers and Rs 10 for 4 hours for 4 wheelers is definitely not the solution India is looking upto! With the exponentially growing sales of two and four wheelers, there is lesser space to drive or park the vehicles on the roads. Increasing parking charges to much higher rates would force people to think more than twice before pulling their cars out of the garage just to get bread from the supermarket. This would also promote usage of public transport – provided it is fully functional and exhaustive.

3) Fine pedestrians for jay-walking
Very funny things happen here in Pune. The signal is green for your vehicle to go ahead, and pedestrians just walk across showing their hands to stop your vehicle. This is even when the pedestrian signal is red! In India, pedestrians behave like cattle, they feel free to cross the street at whatever points they want, sometimes they even walk diagonally! Jay-walking is irrespective of the location being a pedestrian signal, or a zebra crossing or the middle of the expressway.

If vehicles can be fined, pedestrians should be fined as well. In my opinion, if a pedestrian meets with an accident in the middle of the road, the vehicle driver’s fine should be reduced to half of what he would be fined in normal circumstances. Because here the pedestrian is at fault!

4) Fine vehicles for using high-beam headlights within city limits
City roads have heavy to very heavy traffic, and in India, urban traffic is a good mix or 2, 3 and 4 wheelers. Most urban roads are 2 lane and without dividers in place. It means that the lights from the vehicles moving in opposite direction hit your eyes! This causes momentary blindness and can be a very big reason for accidents. In Pune a very large number of citizens drive their cars and ride their bikes with the high-beam headlight activated. There is no reason to do that as the traffic barely moves at 25 km/hr. In cities like Pune, you do not need to look far with a high-beam, but you do need to look down at the pot holes and for that you must have the low-beam on! IMHO, vehicles with high-beam activated within city limits should be stopped by the traffic cops and heavily fined!

5) PUC certificates are humbug! Fine vehicles if you see smoke behind them!
Like most certificates, it is very easy to get fake Pollution-Under-Control or PUC certificate for your vehicle in India. It really does not matter if your vehicle is emitting within prescribed norms. All you need is Rs 30 (less than a US dollar). With the agriculture industry being called the backbone of Indian economy, diesel has been heavily subsidised, mainly for agricultural use. A fallout of this has been that almost all car manufacturers have a diesel variant on Indian roads. In my opinion, diesel pollutes more than petrol and is more susceptible to adulteration (not confirmed). Most trucks and tempos that carry goods of small and large kinds use diesel. Many of them, and also a lot of 3 wheeler tempos and auto rickshaws adulterate petrol/diesel by adding cheaper additives. Who cares about unleaded petrol? What is CNG?

Few cities in India like Mumbai, Delhi and I do not know which others (certainly not Pune) have most 3 wheelers running with CNG (Compressed Natural Gas). CNG not only generates lesser pollution, but also drastically reduces running costs. Mumbai and Delhi also plan to move all public transport by CNG instead or petrol or diesel.

Coming back to the point of emissions. I believe that if you see smoke coming out of a vehicle’s hose, it is surely polluting! Fine it! Almost always they have valid (fake) PUC certificates and are hence let free. The traffic authorities must equip all traffic policemen with pollution emission testing kits to test such vehicles. These vehicles should be very heavily penalised.

If you are emitting black soot, you are polluting! No?

6) Do not make seat belts or helmets compulsory
Let us assume for the moment, that seat belts provide safety to the passengers in a car as much as a helmet to a bike rider. I think it is a question of personal safety to wear seat belts or helmets and traffic cops should not stop them in the middle of the road to fine them.

That being said, is not all that I want to say. If, the rider meets with an accident, he should be fined twice of the normal penalty. If a bus knocks down a two wheeler, the bus driver’s penalty should be halved if the two wheeler rider is not wearing a helmet. It should be up to the insurance companies to stop the payment of insurance money in case safety precautions were not taken. If this is put in place, I am sure people will themselves responsibly start taking care of putting on helmets and seat belts. Is that very difficult?

So if we put these regulations in place, would Indian roads become better to drive on? Would people still abuse the traffic cops?

PS: As Geetika rightly put it in the comments, traffic cops must be given better pays and more incentives. Probably their salaries should in part be commission based on the number of defaulters they give tickets to. Also, there needs to be a strict regulatory authority on top of that. Defaulters should be able to move court easily and cases must be dealt with rapid settlements. It is a whole big issue and a whole big mess. But something is better than nothing… better than those second tier contracted traffic cops who stand at the beginning of BRT (Bus Rapid Transport) routes to let only buses through the BRT corridors!!