one reason which I can give for trains beings delayed in Delhi is the fog. It very is common at this point of the year.

bangalore has changed drastically in the past two years (between my last visits). while autos still follow the meter, they are often tampered. auto drivers often demand excess fare and refuse to go. if things proceed in the same way, it would go the same way as delhi, where no one uses the meter.

btw … had you gone for an acm competition ?

i have made posts before on bangalore lacking infrastructure and stuff, condemning kannada nationalism and many thing thats wrong with south india … in this post i have talked abt what i have seen in media about s. india being more developed than n. india in general …. some of experience i had in my first visit to north for just two days have been bad …. i know i am generalising …. but, thats the experiece i have had …. as i said i have talked abt thing wrong with south india too on this blog, please dont compare me to one of those people who simply resort to saying “i am better than you” kinda crap.

please treat this post as “what could be wrong with n. india?” post and not some “north vs south” post.

abt trains being delayed …. every alternate train was delayed that day …. if trains are added without addding any tracks, what else can be expected …. in a way, that was the prime reason for me to miss the flight and lose 3k.

dont know abt mumbai.. but chennai bus conductors are much better than bangalore. auto drivers in chennai are the worse you can get. i have managed to get away in bagalore with standard rate in autos…. dont know if you have had bad experience. at leat bangalore was good place when i was there four years back …. some people tell me things have changed .. if so, i am talking about old bangalore.

you say that you experienced pre-recorded messages for the first time in delhi and you try to explain it away by “blaming” bihari politicians.

a single incident in kanpur (which you compare with chennai btw) leads to such a sweeping statement. why dont you compare apples to apples (say delhi to chennai ?)

i have heard stories from relatives who were singled out for discrimination in chennai coz they spoke hindi. never heard of such stuff in delhi. living in bangalore, kannada nationalism is all too visible, trying to intimidate “outsiders”.

please try to avoid such sweeping statements … unless you are trying to attract some particular kind of readers to your blog.

Coming from Mumbai, the lack of professionalism in Bangalore is obvious.

Chennai is much better than Bangalore in that respect.

As for the whole North South issue, cut the crap. Certain parts of the south are better developed thsn the north. Certain parts of the north are better developed than the south. Did you know that the Bangalore < -> Mumbai rail route isn’t even electrified for most of it’s length? As for trains being late, I have experienced that happening even in the south, it’s just that you won’t hear those announcements .

Of course, the economic powerhouses of the country have been in the east and west. The South has just started growing, and hasn’t yet been impacted by overcrowded cities. Give it another couple of decades, when the blue collar labour migration occurs.

That’s when the south *will* break down. You need massive investment in infrastructure, and south India just doesn’t have it yet (try going north of Bangalore to see when I mean).

Doing the same thing in the north would help a lot more, because you could stop the movement of people to the south.

I have seen cops travelling in rickshaws without paying in Bangalore. They actually travel by bus/train in Mumbai and buy tickets.

Though I would agree with you about not travelling by Air Deccan, but not because of safety issues. Keep in mind that aircraft cost a lot of money, and losing even one is a huge cost. Air Deccan will do it’s best to keep the aircraft in the air, if only to avoid paying airport charges.

PS: Chennai autos are well known to loot travellers by overcharging. Bangalore isn’t much better in that respect after 8 pm. Kolkata and Mumbai have much better systems.

Perfectly said! The professionalism in the behaviour is only found in South.

Congrats on your programming expeditions. Hope you get to go to Tokyo.

Cheers,

And as far as Blore conductors are concerned this is a common thing….. it is upto the passengers to pay the entire ticket amount and get their ticket. I personally pay a buck or two more and get the ticket.Anyway these days 90% of the travellers have some kind of a pass.

S.Manohar

@ashwin (ghattu)
continental … will remember that

@janak
it has happened to me in Bangalore too but it involved not more than a rupee.

@nikhil
i have always managed to get the change back

@aswin (bus)
thanks for the honest comment …. but seriously, what??? i haven’t been writng for a while and haven’t been reading either for a sem owing to gre and agre … maybe that’s the reason. will speak to you later