Blind Turn, Sharp Samaritan

Vehicles proceed towards the blind turn, further down on the right

The blind turn on the right is now visible


This is the good samaritan (click on image to enlarge) at the blind turn.Holding traffic coming from the other side of the blind turn so that there is no gridlock on this narrow lane

This small lane ( coming from Benson Cross road) joins Basaveshwara Main Road (road to Cantonment Railway Station,Bangalore) near the Masjid, after you take the blind turn shown above. This good samaritan holds up traffic from one direction to let vehicles from the other direction pass.He is always there during the morning and evening peak hours. I don't know who he is but I do know that without him traffic will be on a mess on this road.

Perhaps, the traffic department should felicitate him.

The Unlike Look Alikes

There is a theory, for which there is very little literature even on the internet, that there are seven look alikes for every person on earth.I do not know how much truth there is in this theory. However,I do know that people have uncanny resemblances to completely unknown people.

I vividly recall this instance when I was boarding the aircraft to Singapore.The person behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said " Hi, are you Bharat?" I was surprised as I did not recollect seeing him ever before. When I acknowledged that I was Bharat but professed ignorance about who he was - he said "I was your classmate in Bishop Cotton school". Since I had never studied in Bishop Cotton school, I told him that and moved on to board the aircraft. However, it did seem a little uncanny that someone mistook me for someone else with the same name.

Some year earlier,I saw the photograph of my brother's friend. I mistook this photo to mine - he looked so uncannily like me.Other than his sartorial style which was quite different,I could still mistake him to be me.

Over the year,I have been fascinated about the strong resemblances between Roger Federer and Arbaaz Khan. Between Dr. Prakash Kothari and Deven Verma.Just look at these pictures below:


Deven Verma is on the left. This well known cinema actor is seen with the late Sanjeev Kumar in this image.

This is (image above) Dr. Prakash Kothari. Notice how similar he looks to Deven Verma,above?

This is a photo of the actor Arbaaz Khan.


This is the Roger Federer.He looks like the fourth Khan after Salmaan Khan,Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan.

Perhaps,like the internet is running out of static IP's - the DNA responsible for facial features is running out of permutations.

What if your doctor said, Oh Sh*t!?

They were not able to figure out the root cause of the Vertigo. Vertigo is when you go spinning even when you are not on a Ferris Wheel or a Merry-go-Round.Vertigo can be caused due to inner ear problems or due to problems with the brain.An attack of Vertigo causes involuntary movement of the eyes. I did not have any involuntary movement of the eyes.Yet, since I felt that I was always spinning, my trouble was diagnosed as Vertigo.

Over a period of two years I went from ENT specialists to Neurologists and Urologists in search of a cure. Though this happened over 20 years back, I still remember the cocktail of medicines that I took. Arlidine,Vertin and Stugeron over a period of several months. Nothing really worked.

One of the doctors, among the several I met, found that I had marginally elevated blood pressure and suggested I do an ultrasound of the Kidneys.Perhaps the Kidneys were responsible for the elevated blood pressure and the elevated blood pressure for the Vertigo. Of course, an earlier doctor had suggested a CT Scan of the brain. The CT Scan report was squeaky clean (i.e. i had a brain and nothing else in the brain!).It is, of course, another story that the nurse on duty did not believe that I was the one on whom the scan had to be done and that I had turned up without a chaperon.

Coming back to the day of the CT Scan of the Kidneys.The doctor ran the scanner over my abdomen.A little later, during the course of the scan, he said,Oh Sh*t!I thought,Oh Sh*t!.I hope all's well with my kidneys.With blood completely drained from my face, I feebly asked the doctor:

Me : Doctor,what's wrong?
Doctor : It isn't working.
Me : My kidneys?
Doctor : Your kidneys?
Doctor : No, the scanner.

Oh Sh*t!

Thank God.

PS: For the record, Dr.Batra's Homeopathy fixed my Vertigo completely.
PPS:This is not to endorse Dr.Batra's Clinic or even Homeopathy. I am not a doctor.Description of Vertigo, above, are as were experienced by me and may not be an accurate description of Vertigo or its symptoms.

Nathanille

She balanced the job of cajoling brawling babies and mollycoddling her colleagues to go the extra mile with equal ease.In between, just-become-mothers also got some free advice to calm their babies.

For some reason, I never felt as good as this before - the reason for which I could not quite fathom,initially. The space looked as run-down as ever.The staff was as unsmiling and grouchy as ever - except Nathanille. She seemed to be all over. She figured out from the look in his eyes that he wanted a refill - but could not get himself to ask the lady. He got his beer without needing to ask. The have-seen-and-opened-a-milk-power-sachet-for-the first-time man spilt sticky milk powder all over the place and then did not know how to clear the mess.He got quick help without the this-silly-fellow-has-messed-up the place look.

I then realized that I was feeling good because seldom before had someone asked for my jacket to be put up on the hanger without my having to request for it, several times. Never before had someone asked me whether I wanted some more tea or coffee.Never before had someone asked me if my seat was comfortable. Never before...

When IC 961 from Bangalore to Sharjah, on the 5th June,2008, landed at the right time it lead me to believe that my previous poor impression of Air India was misplaced.With person like Nathanille in-charge of the cabin and pilots who made up,en route, for the delay in takeoff, surely Air India must be among the better airlines. I recalled a Singapore Airlines test pilot telling me, some months earlier, that Air India was second only to Singapore Airlines when it came to the ability of its pilots and the competence of its engineering department. I landed on a high.I decided make Air India my preferred airline.

On the way back to Bangalore on the 12th June,2008, IC 680 from Dubai to Mumbai was delayed by over 3 hours. The connecting flight from Mumbai to Bangalore (AI 620 on the 13th June at 0330 hours) was cancelled. The alternate connection, IC 105 - 3 hours later, was late by an hour.The in-flight service(or even the enthusiasm of its crew) was not even close to what I and others had experienced on IC 961 to Sharjah.

Sorry, Nathanille. In spite of your best efforts, Air India cannot be my preferred airline.

Stuck Under the Over

This bus was stuck under the railway overbridge for over 15 minutes.I wonder if it did any damage to the structure?

This is not for the first time that an oversized vehicle has got stuck under this Pottery Road rail overbridge.

Menon Raghu Mr.

I got a call,recently,from Air India asking me to reconfirm my booking with them.

The caller requested to speak with me addressing me in this format - Surname/Name/Title. Thus,if you are Ms.Geeta Singh the caller would ask for Singh Geeta Ms.

It is one thing to book a ticket in the Surname/Name/Title format but quite another to address a person thus.It took me a fraction of a moment to realize that it was indeed me who was being addressed.

Any comments, Menon Raghu Mr?