Mouli's thoughts and musics over two decades
Yep. Intriguing title right? When I was with Microsoft Hyderabad, I used to be a Program Manager with the SQL Server team. We pretty much owned the front end manager of the DB, and this tool is called the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
So recently, when I saw the two photos below – I had to blog about it. 🙂
Yep. The stickering says – “Glory of SSMS”. Now you see how the title makes sense 🙂
I live pretty close to the Army Service Corps campus in Bangalore. Some of these building look beautifully out of place in this era. Stone buildings nestled between trees. I am sure it would look fantastic at dawn. But being the lazy person that I am, I took a photograph in broad day light and made it sephia.
Shot from the MG Road Metro station on a warm afternoon last week.
(click to enlarge)
Finally, did the touristy rounds of the Bangalore Metro yesterday. Though the wife and kid had been on it quite a while ago, this trip just kept eluding me for quite a while. Caught an autoriskhaw to Trinity Circle on Saturday evening. Took the metro down to Byappanahalli and back.
Once you get out of the Byappanahalli metro station, you see the Byapannahalli railway station behind you. If you are a train lover, this viewpoint is perfect. Here are some snaps from here.
On Saturday morning, I had gone to the nearby Darshini (“Krishna Upahar”), the super awesome food joint near my place for breakfast. I am quite a regular here. The dosa master here is a fantastic guy. Churns out one of the best dosas ever. Though he is kind-of in the back, I always smile and sometimes give some appreciative gesture in sign language. The dosa grill is quite at the back of this small restaurant.
I digress. On that day, I had ordered a masala dosa. I had paid up, given the chit to the front-guy, who took it and gave a bark – “Bhattare – ondhu masale ….”. The guys who work in this restaurant have always called this dosa master as “Bhattare” .. dont know why (I wish I knew enough kannada to ask…). No sooner than he had said that, the dosa master had started pouring the dosa. Just then I realized that, I was not up for much spice that morning. I quickly said, “Red chutney beda”. The masala dosa in these parts have a spicy red chilly-garlic-tomato chutney spread inside the dosa for added flavour. But only then I realized that the dosa master had started spreading the chutney. The front-guy looked at me and shrugged – which basically meant – sorry dude, damage is done.
But then, I saw through the corner of my eye that the dosa master had heard this conversation. We made quick eye contact. He smiled and asked in sign language if I did not want the chutney. I nodded sadly. Without a second thought, he removed the dosa which had just started cooking, tossed it into the bin below, and poured me a fresh new dosa. And he turned and smiled.
It may have been due to a variety of reasons, but the one that strikes out to me, is that this compassionate gesture was all because of the simple smile.
These days, the stuff that you mostly hear about is Bad service at Skoda Service Centers. Here is a breath of fresh air, and yes it coincides with the fresh rains of yesterday in Bangalore (though they are totally unrelated).
The Background Story: A few days back, I had gone to the Shell Petrol bunk to fill up petrol. The supervisor was a cheerful fellow, and asked me if I would like a complimentary oil and coolant check. I said Ok. The guy opens the hood of my Skoda Fabia and pulls out the oil dip stick and gives me a (false?) shocking expression and says that the oil is below the minimum mark. He also adds that it is dangerous for me to drive this car. Now, this steed of mine is only 4 months old, and Skoda is a german car known for its reliability – in fact the first scheduled service is 1 yr or 7500km. I defensively said, I will have Skoda look at it, and pulled away (probably the best decision I ever took in recent times).
The Skoda Experience: So I called up Skoda showroom, and the service representative promptly said – not my problem, call Skoda Helpline. :(. I called up helpline, and they offered to get my car to the nearest service center, but they could not tell me when and how the problem (if any) would be diagnosed. But they said, if I called the Hosur Road service center, they may help. Sliver of hope. So after these 2 hiccups, I called up Hosur Road Tafe Access Service Center. (This center is just too far away, else I would have just driven there!). So I called them up. The lady on the phone (Ms. Mona) said, they would be glad to take a look at it. They can even have someone pick up the car and then they will check it, and then someone will call back for estimated fix time. Awesome.
The magic: And then the magic moment – the manager of the lady-on-the-phone (Mr. Naveen) calls me back (ever had someone from a service center call you back??). He says that this is a very common scam that Shell Petrol Bunks these days are doing. They claim to check oil and say there is very less and try to convince you into topping up (hence earning more money!). The manager went on to say that this was a totally wrong way of checking for oil – especially in Skoda (and most high capacity engine cars). Mr. Naveen also called me first thing the next day morning to make sure I was satisfied. Wow. Good going Tafe Access.
How to Check Oil in Skoda: Check the oil dip stick only after 3-4 hours after engine has been stopped. When the engine has just been started or has been in running for some time, the oil is all up there in the pistons and other parts of the engine. It takes 3-4 hours for all the oil to drip back to the oil well – which is where the dip stick checks.
Happy Ending: I went home at 6PM. Skoda sent two engineers at 830PM (on their way home) to check. And there it was – the dip stick was showing full oil.
Moral of the Story: Beware of Shell Petrol Bunk guys who can force you to top up oil. The Skoda guys say that, they once got a car with oil topped up beyond capacity, and because of which the engine had stalled. The other advise that the Skoda guys said, was to not put any after-market parts or service for the first 2 years . Apparently the Skoda warranty department is super strict and will reject claims based on warranty-voided very easily.
The Bangalore Metro snakes over the Old Madras Road – BEML intersection, contrasted by a beautiful April sky.
(click to enlarge)
Domlur, Bangalore. Around 8:10AM.
Taken with my Blackberry bold
(Image credit: flickr user chocolate geek)
Went to Kamat Swad over the weekend. I had tried the Jowar Meals here before (well I had tried it at Kamat Bugle Rock), but the wife had not tried it before .This is one type of meals that is worth trying atleast once. My review of Kamat Swad and the Jowar Meals:
As much as I do avoid writing about political issues, I could not resist penning down my current frustration at what is happening in the Karnataka at the moment.
For those who are not in the know of what happened since Friday:
Few things irritate me about this situation. A well known saying is that – “Two people whom one should tell the truth and the whole truth are doctors and lawyers”. Such is the respect that is given to lawyers in society. They are the saviors of law. They are the ones who fight for other people’s rights. It is disgusting to see these folks pelt stones at the common man, and set fire to police vehicles etc. If they had had any sense of moral responsibility towards their profession, they would have handled this situation in a much more dignified way (whatever the original reason for the fight was! Arnt they trained in making well pointed arguments?).
I, for one, lost a lot of faith in the lawyer community after this incident. And it is going to take a while to regain it. Not that the musings of this ordinary man would matter much to them.