Mumbai Trains

The metropolis of Mumbai holds many a challenge for the 'rookie' who lands here unaware of the hurdles and challenges that he or she might have to face.I think you will enjoy this one. A recent incident saw one such hapless victim falling prey to the overenthusiastic nature of Bombay's local train commuters. Our Hero (you can take it to be me if you liked the rise after the fall) wanted to go to Matunga, but as luck and trains would have it, boarded a fast train not halting at his destination. He panicked on realising his mistake but by then the local had started moving. On seeing his plight, a sympathetic co-passenger decided to come to his rescue. It seemed that he had been commuting by that particular train (6:03 pm Kasara Fast) for the past 6 years and had noticed that the train always slowed down just before Matunga station and crawled at a snail's pace while passing through it!!. He told the man to jump out of the running train as it slowed down and that with a little bit of fleet-footedness, he would make it safely on terra firma. However, knowing the man's inexperience, he added some words of caution: "Keep running the moment you jump or you'll fall. Just keep running." He stressed the word "running" lest the man not know the laws of motion. The train did slow down just before Matunga station and at the prompting of his mentor, our hero jumped out of the train and started running as if all hell had broken loose. What he didn't realise, of course, was that he was running parallel to the train instead of running away from it. Meanwhile, the train slowed down further, so that the man was running faster than the train. In the process, he reached the door of the next compartment and the footboard commuters there pulled him in thinking he was trying to board the train! To ! his agony, the train picked up speed and sped past Matunga and his new co-passengers started to congratulate him on how lucky he had been, until he told them that they had actually undone what he had done with great difficulty. Those standing at the door of his "ex-compartment" had witnessed the whole drama and just couldn't stop laughing at the poor man's situation, while he grinned sheepishly.Thats Mumbai for you my friends.Isn't it?

Coorg and Shopping !!!!!

Coorg( Madikere...) a small hill station in Karnataka. I had been there earlier as well...with THE DUDE...but this time around my family.(Parents and Wife) were accompanying me. I was more excited about the car than the place. My wife (as all the girls) was more interested in shopping than the place . My parents at least had some sympathy for the place.


First Place we went to was RAJA seat( though it was difficult to decipher why the name SEAT) .We reached right in the morning at 8.New Camera and New Car fascinated me more that the Seat . Both were put to some good use in the wonderful locations along with the family .

"You hold the mobile and the purse , I will have a look around for the shops.." ...She said. ( those who are still wondering who I am talking about...get ur brains checked up..its my wife)...

"Its a park ...You cant find a shop over here..." ...I shouted ...but she could hardly hear ...because by the time I said that ..she already had covered 100m. Sometimes I wonder how fast can she walk for a shop where she isnt going to buy anything. Yes she hardly buys anything. Its always window shopping.

But then I was left with the mobile and the purse which I kept in a bag and left for the park with my parents. Soon she also joined as there was only one shop open at the time.( out of the two).


I kept the bag on the Seat oF the Raja and clicked as many snaps...Sunrise and Mist ..Cloud...everything was there. After the general session of chit chat ...we left for the next place Abbey falls. It was about half an hr from the SEAT.Water fall is one thing which excites me more than anything. I love the sound of water falling and the splash generated. After spending about 2 hrs we reached back to madikere near the SEAT around 11 am.

"Look...he has antiques..such beautiful ones"...she said looking at a street side vendor...

"Damn..." ...again no prize for guessing whose response was that...

I will not give an account of what happened there with the vendor...for 15min...Finally vendor lost his patience and told a shop nearby for more collections . Another 15 min .And this time she for a change actually bought an antique...took us almost 30 min .(for beginners ..there are a lot of choices and bargaining that goes into this 30 min). 15 min to load that in our car( it was 2m long wooden decorative piece). Car should also not get damaged and so as the antique . All put together 1 hr 15 min without any exaggaration .I looked at my wife and then at the piece and wondered which is more antique. I was about to sit in the car to start when the call came..

" Hellooo...."....My mother in law...from chhatarpur
"Oh hello..."..I replied...expecting some formalities to be shared..
"Where is the other mobile..." She asked..

"It may be in silent mode ...or we may nt have listened...." I started clarifying...
" Nahi kisi ka phone aaya tha uske number se ...koi Raja Seat karke jagah se.." She hurried..

" .............................." was all I could manage.

" He said he will wait there for 10-15 min and then leave ..it seems she has left some bag there...with lots of things ...and mobiles..."...she dint knew It was me and not her..who had left

I disconnected the phone and jumped out of the car and ran towards the adjoining SEAT.
Security Stopped me and Asked Ticket...

"No ticket I left my bag in there." I muttered..and he allowed me..

I ran where I had left the bag ..right on the bench....Lo...There was no bag. And neither any one near the bench.

Now what . I thought I would call her(my wifes) number...It rang but nobody picked up. I called again, it was switched off this time.

" The number you are calling is switched off.."..with that my heart beat sank ..

" Has he taken out the sim...or ..battery gone.." I thought...

My all credit cards...ATM cards.. DL...PAN card..Purse...2 mobiles...everything was there in the bag...

Now how will I know him...or How will he know ...even if we see each other..
He might have given it to security... No Mother in Law told me...
"HE wont give it to security as it has many valuables and ..he dint trust anyone"
Is he the one I am seeing now...or Just my imagination..

Acting aur Amitabh ka keeda...
Let me bring a real horrified , worried and troubled expression and show everyone on the park I am the Most worried man on the earth.... CAN I PULL IT OFF...

believe me or not...

within a minute 1 person stopped me and asked

" Are You anand kumar.." ..
Anand Kumar....no I am amitabah not anand...I thought ....
"No I am Ankur"
"Oh yes...before I could pick up your phone the battery went off..."
You had left your bag and we saw the mobile and called the last dialled number saved as "mummy" and informed her.

I thanked him a hundred times and came back to the car and explained the whole story to everyone in the car.

"See my antique and shopping saved you a lot..." she said....

I couldnt reply a thing as actually she was right ...we would have been 1 hr 15 min away from that place but for her shopping.

I just kept quite and for the first time in life I thanked god for her shopping mania.

Hyundai I 10 Sportz ...

Buying a car can be a difficult task.There will be so many opinions, your friends,your family, your colleagues , your relatives and of course YOU. Internet only increases the confusion , it just increases the number of opinions and recommendations and If you are married you have had it. The number of opinions double. After all its ...an add on wife..her friends, her colleagues,her family,her relatives and of course HER. I somehow came out of the confusion by a TOSS. Believe it or not yes it was a toss between Swift and Hyundai I10 1.2 L . I was with I10 and my wife with Swift.

" If its a head its gonna be a swift Vxi and if its a tail its gonna be I10.." she said...

" But lets make sure this will be the only toss ..aisa na ho ki ...after this you say one more toss or lets do it again...or best of 3 or best of 5 kinda stuff.." I replied...

"Oh sure......I m sure god is with me and I can be sure of swift.." she said...

"Ok then lets consider this as the voice of god..no more overruling for this" I knew this would ensure no more childish response if she looses...but deep down fearing what if its head...i cant play this childish tricks as well...

Well it turned out to be my spin...and in came the Hyundai I10 . She was pretty sad and disappointed and I had to really cheer her up saying color will be of your choice. She was as always a great bargainer and despite loosing ..she demanded Black and further bargained for Sportz model whereas I had thought of Magna. Haarkar jeetne waale ko baajigar kehte hai and jeetkar haarne waale ko Ankur Kehte hai I guess.And she would have definitely felt like a baazigar. For those of you reading this for review of the car here are my readings for Hyundai I10.

Looks..: 10 /10 I went in for a black sportz model 1.2 L Kappa Engine with Electric Red Interiors. I personally like the look both external and internal , and to be honest from the heart I find it the best. Even my wife agrees so after I bought it. She says.." Yea black I10 is better looking than any swift.." ..that coming from a staunch supporter of looks of swift was more than a compliment. Wonderful Interiors , Red Colored , Beige interiors ...display of the music system.. wonder internal dashboard lights.. oh how much I love it.

Engine : I m not a mechanical engineer or great with engines and all....I know that its 1200 cc engine generating good power and torque without making any noise( some times I check with accelerator whether engine is on or off...at signals..specially) . I took it to coorg within a week after I bought the car and it was zooming off those mountain curves with steep hikes without any problem. On the highway it touched 130-140 as well without any one realising any sound/ noise/ vibration. On the mountains of talacauvery a constant drive of about 40-60 km at 3-4 gear and any drop in speed I could pick up from 3rd gear itself..so sufficient power and pick up I believe.

Mileage : 10/10 Well this was something I never expected . When I left Bangalore I got it full tank with extra premium ( Speed ...may be..) petrol . I got the tank filled up again after 370 km and only 21 lts was all that was required. That was a mileage of 17.6 km/l . I was very very happy. AS the maximum they claimed was 15-16 km / lt . I thought may be Speed Petrol ...something to do with it. But slowly the facts dawned on me. I had switched on AC for almost 170 km ( heat in some places and some where for mist and rain ). I am a new driver so I don't go much on to 5th gear, My drive was mostly on 3rd and 4th gear . I drove for about 100 km.Rest was driven by my driver who drove mostly on 5th gear. Then drive from Coorg to Talacauvery was always ghats where my driver drove on 3-4th gear. Went and came back about 80 kms of ghats ( up and down) out of 370 km ..here is the break up

90 km of ghats ( 45 km Ac and 45 without AC )

250 kms of Highway ( 130 with AC and 120 without AC ( 100 driven by me and 20 by driver appx))

30 kms of City and traffic.(without AC)

Now despite all this I get a 17.6 mileage ...Its unbelievable for a one week old car. But I will get it checked up again on my next filling and come back on the corrected figure.

Other Features : AC works pretty well ,it cools immediately and like a chilled shimla.., Power windows too good, Music system very good. But we miss remote in the system.Nor is the USB slot directly available .Got to get some converter soon but CD player,radio and IPOD player were too good and sound quality also good throughout the car...4 speakers..I have. No space for a can,bottle,cup on the dash board,but its fine.I keep it in the middle below the gear but that's one disadvantage. I keep searching for putting my water bottle. Now the electronic central locking. It works fine but after such rains it has stopped making sounds...guess electronics you cant say anything ..even the back gear sound/alarm has gone down.Power steering is a bit weak when u compare it with swift ,estillo...etc. But still its a power steering.

Price : I got it for 4.2 On road with the annual tax option . Got a few accessories ..some basic ones.Car cover , central locking..sun film etc. (I am thinking of getting an under-chassis coating to be done after the first servicing). I thought it to be reasonable when u compare it with swift and similar cars.Price was one factor I was with I10 and not Swift after its my salary and not hers. :)

Overall : I feel that it had been a good bargain when compare it with swift . May be after six months or so I will have to add / change something but now I am happy as I have got what I had thought of when I bought the car.

Overall Hyundai I10 (I love to add KAPPA engine in the name) has been the dream come true kinda car for me..

And above all my wife agrees with me... :)