Thursday, September 08, 2005


Nadia and me at Ballarat. Posted by Picasa

Words of admiration from a close friend...

honey_blossom0: u jus f ing crazy
amachwe: hahahahaha thanks!
honey_blossom0: ya
amachwe: i gotta put this on my blog

My sex unappeal is just amazing! ;)

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

The state of the Union


Delhi is a funny place. No one living there could imagine that it was the capital of India. The city from where the big bosses governed the world largest democracy.
Why I say this? Here is an excerpt from an article in Times of India…

“The crisis seems to be man-made, although it can’t be directly attributed to the city utilities. According to the DJB, its supplies have been affected by power cuts at the main water treatment plants during peak hours. As a result, the plants can’t pump out treated water in time, if at all. Even a 15-minute power cut, said DJB officers, resulted in a 45-minute idle time for these huge plants that take time to rouse themselves to full pumping power after an electricity cut.”

What fun, the main pumping plants taking 45 minutes to reach full capacity after a 15 minute power cut.

Another excerpt from the same article…

“Given the situation, the state-owned Transco has thrown up its hands. ‘‘We are helpless,’’ said a Transco spokesman. And the two discoms — BSES and NDPL — smarting under the recent public outcry against a tariff hike, have turned visibly nervous, lest they are held responsible for the city’s water shortage too. This nervousness is expected to ensure power supply to the pumps and, in turn, better water supply to residents.”

I was laughing out loud on this one for a long time! To make the basic amenities work for you, you need to make the companies responsible ‘nervous’. It is like we are living in a people’s dictatorship! People get together and bully the big boys into providing them with the basics of life – water and electricity.

Another excerpt…
“While discoms seem to have been callous in not ensuring power to the pumps, they have had an acute power supply problem in the last few days. As many as seven power stations supplying power to the northern grid have been shut, creating a big power crisis in the region. These include three in Delhi — Rajghat, Badarpur and IP — Singrauli, Auraiya, Rihand and Nathpa Jakhri.”

Now the logical question to ask is that why were seven main power plants plugging into the Northern Grid no less, shut down at the same time?

Monday, September 05, 2005

Delhi-Agra Mag-lev

A funny thought…
Few days ago we were talking about intercity travel times in India. Someone mentioned that the Govt. of India is looking into implementing super-fast rail corridors between major cities. Someone added that they should have mag-lev (magnetic levitation) trains instead and cut the travel times in a big way.
I just thought that if we did have a mag-lev link between say Delhi and Agra then probably they will have to shut down half the Northern Grid and divert power to the mag-lev for it to run.
We might see items in news like ‘Power supply for New Delhi to be cut off at the following times during the day for the operation of the New Delhi-Agra mag-lev’


A single pylon of the Westgate bridge. Posted by Picasa


The Westgate Bridge over the Yarra River.  Posted by Picasa

Crossroads at Infinity..


A deserted crossroad in Williamstown, Australia. This was one of the most magical of place for me. An old abandoned pub sitting on the corner waiting for the time when people once again pass through the crossroads. Almost like a way-station of the old times where people passed through telling a hundred tales and taking hundreds more with them as they left. Most of them probably never saw the crossroads again since it is the destiny of humankind to forever look ahead towards the future.. to expand and never look back. Posted by Picasa