Terrible Trip Sandeep's Day Out V - The Vantage point.

 

The continuum that we enjoyed, the tales that we spoke, never compelled our minds to think about the food though our appetite can fill a loaf of bread each. The return journey to Madhur was quick as we felt. Just as we were about to enter the highway, I stopped the car and asked Manoj if he could continue the driving. Manoj looked grumpy, “What’s the problem”, I asked. “I feel nauseous”, he replied. May be due to the rough ride with an empty stomach would have caused this problem. We decided to stop the car at a near by restaurant and have our delayed lunch. Manoj asked me to drive until we have our food so that he can take control after the refreshment. Pushing the pedal we started to move forward. After driving through gutters and troughs, highway looked much comfortable for me. Driving with no interruption we met with the first signal on our way back. Our car was the last to miss the green signal and was made wait in the first row for the next. Vishnu who had been silent all the while was only estimating the time at which we will reach home. “tok tok tok” we heard a knock at the left rear window. Kandy, who had been sitting closest to the window, opened it to see a woman with a basket selling boiled groundnuts (with shell). Without any hesitation Kandy pulled his wallet and bought a packet of it.
Eating the nuts we went in search of a restaurant. Vishnu who had been at the co-driver seat was breaking the shells and giving me the nuts. Kandy who was tired and feeling sleepy went low in his seat to make himself comfortable for a small nap. Seeing the sign board displaying ‘Bangalore 30km’, Vishnu turned back to Manoj and asked “Machu we had a great tour. Why were we afraid to take the car? See we have accomplished.” “Certainly”, was the reply. The accent was sharp, crisp and oh so pleasing. The thought of accomplishment was a bit too early for us. There happened something which I would never forget in my life, not because it was pleasurable but it obliges to get erased from my memory.
.
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[Drivers point of view - Sandeep]

I always tried to maintain the right lane of the road just because I was not in a competition to race other vehicles and was driving at an average speed of 70km/hr so that the vehicles which want to overtake me can do it without taking much risk and blowing the horn repeatedly. I saw a lorry with no load moving just in front of me in the same right lane, with a little slower speed. I thought of driving past this lorry which I had been doing for all the vehicles that was traveling with a speed less than mine. I checked for the vehicle that were coming behind me with a top mirror and identified one blue colored Swaraj Mazda racing just behind me. My instinct acquainted me to allow the vehicle move forward and then go to the left lane. As thought, after the passage of Mazda I pushed the left indicator and switched over to the left lane. By that time, Mazda had crossed the lorry and was in the same left lane. There was a wide gap between the Mazda and the lorry where I can comfortably overtake the lorry and reach the right lane. I pushed the pedal, speed was increased when immediately I realized that the Mazda had pushed its brake and was about to stop all of a sudden. The gap started closing; the fear in me hitting the Mazda head on came over, even if I apply the brake. With a bold decision I pressed the accelerator to the maximum so that I can seep through before the gap gets closed. The lorry driver was also reluctant to lower his speed. With blowing horn I pushed through the gap. Eyes keen on the edges of the car I almost crossed when “thud”, I felt a push in the car. The right indicator at the back along with a small part of the car was hit by the lorry. The only thought that came over my mind was that none of us were buckled with seat belts. I felt a jump of the car and steering out of my hand. The car was heading towards the median that separates the road between the vehicles coming to Bangalore to the one going to Mysore. With my left hand I managed to hold the steering and turned it to the left knowing there wouldn’t be any vehicle since the Mazda had stopped behind. Thank God! It was a power steering which helped me to pull the car to a halt under a tree beside the road. Horrified I was, cursing the lack of maturity I had, I turned to see Vishnu who seemed to be troubled. When I saw down he was trying to split open a small groundnut shell. Succeeding his attempt, he ate the nuts and said, “Guys get down”.
[Co driver - Vishnu]
As a very responsible co – driver, I used to help Sandy in doing judgments all along the homecoming, which I am sure he would be grateful to me. After buying the ground nuts, I was more concerned about the groundnuts than our lives which we had surrendered to our driver Sandy. As I was busy breaking the groundnuts, I saw a van in our same lane (left) & lorry in the adjacent lane & we were heading towards it. I was convinced in Sandy’ driving skills by then & expected that he would take a sensible decision on his own & kept mum for this time. I guess, he was confident enough to squeeze through & of course he did. While overtaking, I heard a “Thud” & the car bent to the left, I saw all the ground nuts kept on the dash board falling down. I realized that the car had hit the lorry. By that time I split open the nut that I had in my hand (This had not fallen down), the car was parked. I looked at Sandy. I could see myself in his eyes. There was dead stillness inside the car. I broke it by uttering” Guys, Its hit, Get down”.
[Passenger who was awake - Manoj]
At one signal we bought some groundnuts and were eating it. It was after this, things took a wrong turn, along with the car. At one point Sandeep decided to overtake a truck. He changed lanes and was pressing the pedal. That’s when he noticed that a van before us on the same lane was suddenly slowing down – of course it was coming to a halt! The gap between the truck and the van was closing down... Sandeep continued pushing the car through the gap until 3/4th of its length when the truck hit us in the rear end and the car went out of control. But for Sandeep's quick reflexes and presence of mind the car would have crossed the median and gone to the other side of the road. He was able to catch the steering wheel again and brought the car back to control before parking it on the left side of the road. I still remember those sequences in slow motion as I was watching him from the rear seat. Apparently Vishnu and Kandy did not realize the magnitude of what could have happened, because Vishnu was still trying to spilt open the shell and Kandy just woke up from his sleep to a nightmare!! Vishnu after successfully breaking the ground nut and eating it said – “let’s get down!”.
[Passenger who was sleeping - Kandy]
I was a little tired and wanted to eat desperately, I could not prevent myself buying ground nuts with SHELL (cause of Vishnu’s “historical event”) and I went on finishing it very quickly. When quarter of it remained, I heard that they were probing for a hotel, So I closed my eyes for a while.
And after a while,
Suddenly…. I felt that the car was oscillating slightly and for an instant, the car was in air and I opened my eyes….. Sandy’s arms were moving very rapidly in counterclockwise direction and the car was stopped. I was quick enough to realize that an Accident had occurred and we all wanted to get down, to see if any damage has occurred for the car. None moved and everybody was reluctant. And then the “historical event” occurred, which I missed to seeL. I think the taste of ground nut has forced Vishnu to do it.
Vishnu asked us to get down.

Terrible Trip - Sandeep's Day out IV

 

Post by Kandy…

We drove further 30 kms down the Mysore highway. The speed at which we were cruising had increased after Manoj had the food. I should say, he was driving fantastically, the reason being, he had the complete control of the speed and every criticizers silence after the "laugh-out-loud scene" described by Sandy, could be taken as the evidence.

We really missed our roommates .  We wished they too were with us for our first road trip @ Soliton. We reached Madhur in 1 hour. By enquiring at one or two tea shops we found the "Left" that would take us to our destination. As soon as we took the left Manoj took a break and Sandy took over. I guess he had been waiting for this situation to emulate Michael Schumacher.

Fortunate for us and unfortunate for Sandy, the road was worse than what we expected. It was full of gutters and holes. As and when the speedometer touched 30Km/Hr, we found ourselves in front of a trough and he was forced to decelerate and he understood the situation and showed some noteworthy driving on rare occasions. But on the course of journey, he kept asking me regularly [Hmm…. I became the only victim and I don't know why?], about what I felt about his driving. I wanted him to look confident, so I told that he was driving better and there was some truth in it. But we made fun on him when ever he fumbled, which he did not take seriously. Journey was becoming little dull, so to boost our sprits we switched on the radio.

We realized that we had had traveled 80Kms from Bangalore when we couldn't tune in to any of the channels. Soon we reached  ShivanaSamdrum!

We parked the car and hopped out. A gentle wind blew into our face as if welcoming us. My oh my, what a view it was – the Niagara of Karnataka. The water was milky white and looked like a silky white hair of the Hill. I stood still for a moment and was lost in the beauty. We walked down the hill to the valley to experience the splendor. There I felt as is if the silence was made up with the sound of the stream. Enough of poetic expressions. At the same spot there was water falling from 3 hills. We hired a coracle and rowed near to each of the falls that usually only men with guts like us do :). As we rowed nearer & nearer the turbulence created by the massive fall was causing our coracle to dangle & that was a real test for our nerve. To add to our excitement, the rower started spinning the coracle rapidly. We screamed in ecstasy but still every one of us was very keen in getting photographed.

Once back to the land, we looked around & noticed the amused looks of the people around and realized that we were the only stags out there. Vishnu looked at the watch & reminded us of time. He hurried us uphill so that we could get back to our house before dark. We smelled something fishy on his artificial worry & later we discovered the reason was that he was going out on a date that evening. Anyways, it was already 3 PM, we decided to return back & for the sake of Vishnu we skipped our lunch & satisfied ourselves with 'Good Day'...

We were invigorated by the nature & we bid adieu to ShivanaSamdrum. Sandeep hit wheels & Vishnu positioned himself in the co driver's seat, I & Manoj were relaxing at the rear. By 4 Pm we touched the Mysore Highway. Even though the road was terrible our experience until now was wonderful.

In all the excitement and bliss we never realized that we have not fastened the seat belt. By 5: 00 Pm we were 30 Kms away from Gayathri Bhavan. One of us exclaimed "Thank God! Vishnu's dream didn't materialize!" I guess we overlooked the remaining 30Kms.

To be continued….

Terrible Trip – Sandeep’s Day Out - III

This post was by Sandeep himself…!

Sandeep's Day Out- Drive the car, Push the car !?!

The quest for the BLR-Mysore highway was still pertaining in our minds, because at some signal we have to take a left turn so that we can muster into the highway. The road looked decent but the traffic did not. As usual Vishnu had his own way to pass the time by speaking his “19 to the dozen”, myself and Kandy commenting on every “fact :)” that he was explaining. In all this excitement I forgot to notice one thing, the driver of the vehicle was not responding to what ever our tongues were wagging at. He looked very serious, sitting straight and cautious on the road. Though the meter reading did not cross 30km/hr (due to traffic) at any part of the time, I felt its better not to disturb his concentration. It was Kandy who used to pump Manoj with one identical question, “Is everything alright?” Manoj would respond back with an “hmmm” reply.
Things were moving smooth on the ride. At one point of time, we could see that the roads were completely packed in a still position. Oh that was a traffic signal! The signal looked big enough for us to conclude that to be the junction which connects the highway. Manoj looked relaxed; he was waiting for this point to ease himself from his upright position thinking the traffic would be less and roads much smoother than what he was riding. With all excitement Manoj pushed the left indicator despite the fact that there is still a half a km journey to the signal. The car crawled like a snail and at last we took a left for the second green signal.
The road looked narrower than what we had expected it to be and only very few vehicles took a left turn at the signal. The road went steeper and steeper, a feel of ambivalence took over us whether to proceed or not. We stopped the car beside the road and thought of asking the commuters who were sitting at the teashop for directions. They informed us saying this was not the signal were we had to take a left, but the third after this.
‘A waste of time!’ we felt. We got into the car and now we had to take a U-turn and go back to the signal. Manoj ignited the fuel, gear was pushed to the first position, handbrake was released and zoom the car went in the reverse direction. With astonishment, Vishnu asked “why are going backwards, we cannot reach the signal this way, go front and take a U-turn.” But the fact was Manoj couldn’t push the vehicle forward in the slope due to steep ness, by the time he releases the clutch the car moved in the reverse direction. I saw the sweat in Manoj’s face so taking the responsibility of a co-driver I asked “shall I take on the wheels?” Abruptly Manoj pulled the handbrake and opened the door. I was so happy for the confidence Manoj had on me, but unfortunately he moved to the rear end of the car and was staring at the wheels behind. Kandy who accompanied him was discussing something seriously with Manoj. After a few seconds I and Vishnu got out to see what these guys were up to and saw something which I can describe as a laugh-out-loud scene. Both Manoj and Kandy came running to the car with two big stones to keep behind the wheels preventing it from rolling down. “Thank God, Manoj did not ask us to push the car!” It was such a funny sequence which we could not control our laughter until we reached the correct signal.

The road was clean and smooth; we were able to realize the shooting up of Manoj’s confidence with the speed of the car and there we went zooming the highway. Vishnu who had been sitting like a slackened rope enjoying the ride jumped up suddenly and said “Manoj stop the vehicle near a hotel, I can feel butterfly churning in my stomach, am hungry.” There we stopped at a small hotel beside the road and attacked our breakfast. The day before our travel (after the practice session in driving) at around 11.30 pm, I and Manoj made a quick visit to the office to browse for the directions to reach Shivanasamudram. We learnt that we had to take a left diversion at a place called Madur. After the breakfast we settled in our respective seats and having keen eyes on the sign board, we continued our journey in search of the name called ‘Madur’.

Terrible Trip - Sandeep’s Day Out – II

The second part was from my point of view.

5:30 AM - Nothing Significant

6:30 AM - These pesky mosquitoes :(...

7:04:32 AM - I hit Vishnu in his head with a heavy ‘pillow’ and woke him up before he could add more horror to it. It was already seven and there he was sleeping nice and tight. He opened his eyes and looked at me as if he was looking at a Ghost, & yelled “Oh! My God!”, apparently still in his dream land. We were already late and to exacerbate up the situation he recited the whole of his delirium to us! A pleasant way to boost our morale!Huh!

8:04 AM - That was the time, beyond our doubts we commenced the exciting trip! It took us a few minutes to get settled in the car. I was in the drivers seat, Sandeep, supposedly my co – driver was beside me. Kandy & Vishnu were relaxing at back. All was set! I released the hand break, turned on the keys, shifted the gears, mildly peddled the accelerator, the wheels started rolling. Yahoo!! . Kandy uttered ”Manoj! Meduva ootada! Paathu Da!(Drive slowly and carefully)” & buckled his seat belt.

Our first halt in the expedition was after traveling 180 decimeter. The reason was that, I wasn’t comfortable with the height of the seat. So Vishnu walked back to the house & got a ‘pillow’ for me. I assumed that I am comfortable, even though it was the other way. At last we started the trip. Remembering that we need to fill up petrol - drove to the near by HP bunk & parked the car near the pump. The filler approached & noted with inquisitive eyes”The sticker says its Diesel!” We realized the goof up, to avoid the embarrassment; we pretended “Oh, Is Diesel the other side, huh??” We turned the car to the other side & filled in the right fuel. Thanks to him ;).

Towards North..Oops..West we went in search of the Bangalore - Mysore Highway.

Terrible Trip – Detailed Recollection - I

You might remember the terrible trip we had about two years back to Shivanasamudram. For the first anniversary of the trip all of us who were part of it wrote a detailed – suppose to be funny – description of the whole experience on our company’s blog. I am reproducing it here with their permission!

The series of posts were named “Sandeep’s Day Out” as he was the unfortunate person driving when the accident happened and thus has become the target of all our teasing till this day :)! So the first post was by Vishnu and here it goes :

Sandeep's Day Out !

This incident that I am narrating now happened almost one year back. I shall try to recollect as fine as I can & I am sure that it’s going to be effortless for me & hope to entertain you. All the characters & incidents in this narration are real & original. Here we go!!
We had completed 3 months at our company by then & had been discussing for long time for having a break. One eventful weekend we decided to go for a one day trip. Oops, by “WE” I mean, Manoj, Sandy, Kandy & Vishnu.
We were discussing in 3rd floor on a Friday evening about the plan. We intended to rent a car & decided to go to Shivanasamdrum, about which we had heard from Mekhala earlier. As we were thrashing out, our MD was around and she suggested taking their car. She, out of curiosity, enquired if any of us knew driving. Manoj with hesitation nodded and said “I drive!” & added, just to reaffirm the qualm eyes of mine & Kandy,”In fact, I had driven to Chennai few days back”. Vishnu was convinced & confirmed the car from Mekhala. So after few more thoughts we decided to take the car. So that night with lot of enthusiasm & apprehension we went to Ganesh’s house & took the car. Our MD called back that night & reconfirmed that Manoj knew driving & he was who going to drive.

Just for a practice for the next day, Manoj & Sandeep took the car for a small test ride around 11 pm. Manoj came back after the drive & told ”All’s well! Even Sandy is driving decently. So we are going to blast tomorrow!!Yahoooo!!” .We decided to wake up @ 5 30am & leave by 6 30am.

The Next Day:
5: 30 AM
(Nothing really significant happened! Let’s move ahead)
6: 30 AM
Even now nothing great happened!!.
7: 04 AM
We were in the car. Manoj was driving. Sandeep was beside Manoj in the front & I in my usual way, talking nineteen to the dozen to Kandy. We were on Mysore Road, the traffic was pretty less as it was early morning. We were cruising at 90mph. Our adventure started from there. A black dog from nowhere just jumped in front of the car & Manoj was sensible enough to apply the hand breaks & car along with us overturned & I hit my head on the window glass!!
Oh my God….!!
To be continued!!

Graphical Programming and Text Based Programming

I have been coding in G using LabVIEW for some time(last two years). For those who do not know what G and LabVIEW is here is a quick introduction. G is a graphical programming language where you write program using icons and wires which connect those icons. It is more visual and graphical compared to their textual counterparts. LabVIEW uses G to allow people to create code for industrial automation - quickly and efficiently. The main aim was to make it such a way that those who don’t code every day can use it to create quick solution for the automation they require. I have been working on it to develop similar automation solution for a client.

Recently I got a chance to work on text based programing and scripting(C, PHP, JavaScript and Perl). It felt really good to work on text based programing after such a long time. Some how text based programming feels more powerful and flexible. But the visual based programming is a lot easier to code and understand if rightly done. With a bit of decorative ability you can make the code look lot more appealing for another person to see and understand.  Also most of the time you would be using the mouse to code – would save you lot of time if you are a slow at typing!

Notepad++ Is Good!

I am to work on PHP, Javascript and Perl (after a long time working in LabVIEW!). I needed a good editor basically to help me out with  syntax highlighting, group together opening and closing braces, and help organise the code in a better way. I came across Notepad++ and found out that it already supported the said three scripting languages and also many other like C which I might use in future. I was pleasantly surprised with its simplicity and all the features it supported. It was just the right editor I was looking for. Until I need Visual Studio style editing capabilities I would stick with this.