There is big hue and cry about huge sum being charged for admission in Medical College.Times Now did a sting operation on M.P.from southern state and exposed(!) the scam. Now almost all the aspirant to medical college know the asking price for seat in MBBS/BDS and Post Graduate courses. Its an open secret and these days students dont even appear for CET conducted by Pvt.Med.colleges. All the seats are booked in advance,sometimes 2-3 yrs ago. Every one knows but no action is taken because the Management belongs to Ruling party-Congress/NCP.

Both Congress and NCP have fine tuned this Business in medical Education and today its a Multi Crore business. All these Patils,Kadams and Nimbalkars have built up Educational Empires almost from nothing. it's very simple.

It started in 70s at District Level in Maharashtra. Local Politician( Mostly Congress) with the Blessings of the state level leader,would set up ****** Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana ( Cooperative Sugar factory) and would purchase 5 shares. He is the Promotor. Farmars would be persuaded to join in by purchasing 5 shares each. It's easy to get permission from Govt. ( Congress Govt.). Now from this seed( 5 Shares) a big banyan Tree will grow!. Sugar factory is the source to have seed capital. Coop banks would give huge loans against almost no surety and NO sugar factory has ever repaid the loan. if there is shortage than the farmers are there to contribute towards various causes like natural disasters and Wars.Ofcourse this is not paid to charities but is gobbled by the Chairman of SSK. There is limit to how much one can borrow from banks and poor impoverished farmers can be coerced to contribute. Fortunately for them, big hunger in India's huge middle class to be Doctor or Engineer showed them the perennial source of making money.

Next to Sugar factory they started School and Junior College. Land was available. Initial capital was diverted from sugar factory.People applauded.He has brought Education to their doorsteps.
But what the children would do after passing 10th in Marathi? Ah! He got the answer.it's Technical Institute, with courses in refrigeration,Automobile repair,electrician,Wireman & Diploma in computer,Electronics.

In few years upgrade this to Engg. College with permission from State Govt. This doesn't require lot of Infrastructure. (what's Infrastructure and Labs?). 50% of the seats are paying seats where one can take Donation money under the table. So now the Role is reversed. Instead of asking for contributions He can demand and also can grant favour by reducing or even agreeing to give admission. This is Political windfall as well. Now its easy to get elected as MLA . if luck is good may be MoS or berth in State Cabinet.

But his own family is also growing. His children are rearing to go and he has very little time to manage all these institutions. So he has to expand College,tech. Institute in new Mumbai.Pune.Nashik... so many cities in state. There is surfeit of Eng.Seats. But real shortage of Dentists and Doctors,especially in Rural area. now he is MLA/Minister, so its easy to get permission to start Medical/dental College.

He has the permission but MCI has this stupid rule.There should be a Hospital attached to Med.College. This is really nasty as setting up 200 bed Hospital requires good kitty and lot of hard work. But there is Khajana at the end of the tunnel! so there will be well meaning friends and well wishers, who would contribute towards cost of starting hospital and Med.college and they can request him to admit their candidates.Ofcourse after paying the Donation or Capitation Fee.

Now he has become "Sikshan Samrat".His trust has number of Engg./dental/medical colleges. His children are managing them staying near these Institutes in houses provided and maintained by the Institute. Car,telephones,vacations,Forign Tours are paid for by Institute. He has now applied for "Deemed University" status for his Trust colleges. Congress Govt. in state and Centre,and that hard working HRD Minister will give permission.

As "Deemed University" one is finally free from all supervision.Can conduct own Exams.can confer Degrees which may not be better than one given by Pvt. Management Schools. demand and take money for admission.A blank answer paper can get marks sufficient to get admission in Dental/med college as fixed. yes, Times Now has carried out sting operation but its a minor irritation.Congress friends in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha will make noises. It should look politically Correct. But admissions will continue as it used to. Elections are round the corner and party needs funds. So the Charade goes on. Are Bhai, if this Ukrainian,Russians and even Chinese are making so much money from med.Edu. why should you grudge Patils/Kadams/Nimbalkars making money?

Today after 3 months i entered Operation Theatre. I had to assist in Tubal Ligation operation by Laparotomy. Both for surgeon and for me it was doing an operation after a long hiatus. For almost more than decade Laparoscopic T.L. is preferred method. But once in while we get a patient who prefers this open method with almost nil chances of failure. For surgeon this operation is more difficult than Lap.TL, takes longer to perform.

when i joined as Resident in OB/GYN yrs ago.T.L. after Delivery was the First operation a Resident would get to do.After 2-3 operations, he was expected to do it on his own with only a Nurse to assist. Every operation day would have at least 4-5 T.L.s. Today the scenario has changed completely. TL is not preferred method. Among my friends and colleagues, i dont think anyone has undergone TL op. In our practice also number of TL op. have gone down drastically and after delivery ( once a preferred time) no one advises TL. If TL is to be done than Interval Lap TL is preferred method. This must be real spanner in achieving targets for Family Planning staff. Lap TL requires costly equipments and trained Doctors. ---PK

After longish 3 months stay with my son in Bay Area, it was back to Mumbai. Its really HOT here! After bracing 20 C in Sunnyvale,Mumbai's sweltering 30 C was really painful,life sapping ordeal. Today friends had planned to meet in Club. After 3 months of respectful 'Uncle" treatment,it was real pleasure to be with friends. Beer never tasted so refreshing and good. It was time to catch up.Though we were in constant touch thro phone,emails and chats, nothing surpasses get together and chat with friends. In months nothing changes as such but one expects that things would have changed for better during your absence. No such luck!!. Same Crazy,unregulated traffic,Eunuchs and Fruit sellers at Traffic lights,same chaos and Bheed everywhere. Ill have to start getting back to routine. Drive as one has to in Mumbai.

Amit Varma's first book has been published.Though we dont know each other, his blog on Tsunami got me hooked to this wonderful world of Blogs. i will remain indebted to him for this.I have missed his visit to Crossroad in Juhu to promote his Book which has received good reviews and i think i will buy it on my next visit to Crossroad.

Talk with friends these days is dominated by latest affliction suffered by Mumbai suburbs. "Redevelopment". Though the buildings are not even 30 yrs old,their prime location between Bandra and Andheri has made them prime target for redevelopment. So the talk with Builder is "on",then 'Off'. Started again as market in Real Estate has revived.so on and on. Funnily the cost of construction is suppose to be Rs.1000/- PSF. and Market rate for flat is Rs.15000/- psf, so the builder cant pay out even 2-3 residents if they are unwilling to join. It exceeds the entire project cost!! Everyone wants to join in and wants new,bigger house,no maintenance charges with nice corpus. But no one is sure when they will get the possession and how long they may have to stay in rented apartment. If builder runs away then what? For every completed project there are 4 incomplete projects with building demolished and owners staying in rented houses for years. Legal remedy is costly one in these cases. New problems on daily basis for Aam Aadmi.--PK

Medical Facility in West-Is it really great?

Last Saturday, my son got injured while Skiing. He had injured his Knee.He was given Primary treatment at the Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe. On Monday on his return to Bay Area, he consulted Orthopedist, who examined him and told him Dos and Donts and asked him to wait for 2-3 days for MRI Scan appointment and take his appointment next week with MRI report. Then he will decide on line of treatment and Surgery-Arthroscopy- will be scheduled after obtaining consent from TPA/HMO. So its wait for about 3 weeks before any treatment can be started. If he were to be in Mumbai, his MRI scan with report would be available by Sunday or Monday evening and Surgery if needed could have been done by Wed/Thursday. Why there is so much delay in initiating definate treatment in USA?. When one is paying so much for treatment and when Medical Insurance Premiums are so high, why there should so much delay? Besides it is so costly so no one can afford to pay it without Medical Insurance. There HMO/TPA decide everything and would like to pay the least amount. Prescription drugs are costly and may not be part of your insurance cover. So one is denied effective medicine and given cheap medicine,which is less effective. At the base of this problem is very high cost of Medical treatment. We in India are slowly moving in that direction. With all these Corporate, state of the Art hospitals, treatment will be world class, but at a cost which only few and those covered by Mediclaim can afford. There is Trickle down effect and Private small Hospitals and Nursing Homes increase their charges. After few years Insurance companies already running in loss on Mediclaim Insurance will start cutting cost and will start Deductions and co-payments. Then we will be in the same situation as USA.-PK

Indias Neighbour---USA

In a very interesting article in TOI, M J Akbar points out that India's closest neighbor is not from the SAARC countries and definitely not Pakistan. Its U.S. of A. How true !!.Though we are on other side of the Globe, we know more about USA than about any of our neighbours. We know about American Politics, are avid followers of Presidential race, heard candidates debating,supported Obama since Jan 2007, Inaugaration watched on TV-though it was almost 1 am. American movies are regularly realeased simultaneously in India.Anjelina and Brad Pitts are household names here. Friends,Baywatch,Sienfeld, Jay Leno and so many TV programmes are watched daily by thousands.They must be having good TRP as can be judged by number of commercials shown during their telecast. Most urban and many rural homes must be having some relative in Amerika. Our shops are full of US brands -made in S E Asia,China. Today our children have moved to US -either for studies or Job- so we keep watch on recession & job loss in US and stimulus package. Slowly Politically and ideologically we are moving closer to US.

Compare to this, we hardly know anything about Pakistan. I get many Pakistani TV chennels,but hardly watch any.Dont know Names of Pakistani Film/TV stars.Singers are known in India as they regularly sing for Bollywood movies and their songs are routinely lifted. Except for the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan,other politicians are not well known in India. Cricketers and Hocky Players are known as Pakistan is our bitter rival in these games. Pakistani authors, Bloggers,Books,Magazines are not known. I remember meeting Pakistani couple in Sylvan Park,Mountain View. We were visiting our respective sons. Unfortunatelly we could hardly converse as we had no common topics. We talked about old Hindi movies and Music. To imagine that just 60 yrs ago we were one country , one family,having common past,culture, life style,Language, sharing everything! Today we are neighbours but almost half a World apart.---PK

Slumdog Millionaire

I was not surprised by the Box Office failure of S.M. Fox released it with 300 prints( more prints in Hindi dubbed version.) Its a Multiplex movie and more effective in original English version. This once again proves that dubbed versions normally dont do well. Besides its storyline was neither new nor interesting for Bollywood viewer, though its a novelty for foreign viewer. Traditionally movies on slums of Mumbai have not done well in India. Usually they were from Parallel low Budget cinema and had tough time finding a distributor. SM was no exception. True to life movies on Mumbai slums or realities of life in Mumbai doesnt attract upcountry audience and Mumbaikar refuses to pay for what he sees everyday free. All the incidents in SM are part of everyday life for us in Mumbai and doesnt merit even a second glance.

I liked SM for its storyline and format. Life-rather underbelly- in Mumbai was depicted as life expiriences Jamal had. Storyline is taut and is based on true incidents in Vakola-Dharavi slums-playing Cricket on Mumbai airport Airstrip was routine affair. It reminded me of Classic Tom Hank movie "Forrest Gump". FG depicted life and times in US between 1950 and 1990. For my generation it was like that period passing by and we, together with Forrest watching from the sideline. My children(born in 80s) couldnt understand why its a classic movie. This format is very effective as Docudrama, provided the storyline is good.SM has this advantage. Its going to be Oscar deluge for SM. But Rehmans music score in SM does not merit award. He has given much better music in Indian movies-especially in 90s.--PK

Today while shopping,my daughter's Cell phone was stolen/lost. Between my wife and daughter, this was 3rd phone stolen within a year. Ladies have this real problem. Men can keep his cell phone in Shirt/Trouser pocket or can use Cell phone pouch fixed to the belt. But for ladies ,its either carry it in the purse with all the difficulties of retreiving it when phone rings or carry it dangling from the neck- real Eyesore ! All the Fashion designers have not given thought to this problem and provide good solution.

American President

In a weeks time Mr.George W will be ex President of USA. This is last week of him being " Most Powerful Politician" in the world. His 8 yrs as US President has almost destroyed US Power, Prestige and Republican Party. But for Stand up comics this is a Great Loss, they could depend on President to provide material for their act almost every week.Like Churchill's quotes, President Bush's quotes will be remembered for decades.

But there is real scary thought. He is Son of Ex President of US. Had privileged life. Good Education. He was Governor of Texas and got " Elected" as President of USA. He campaigned and took part in debates for Nomination as Republican candidate. He debated with Al Gore and John Kerry on National Television and convinced his party and people to elect him as President. How come we never got whiff of his ignorance and incompetence in all these debates, speeches, acceptance speech etc? Can one hide his/her personality, shortfall so successfully and easily in this Television era ?. Today President Elect Obama is darling of the Press/Television and people. But is this real Obama? Are we going to see some other personality in White House ? Its like Movie. We believe that Actor is the person, he/ she is portraying in the film.

Is it that "Average American Voter" feels that President is like a person next door. When you watch " Jaywalkin" you feel that average American (Like any average person) is like President Bush. Limited knowledge, not bothered except for his immediete surroundings, has skewed World view. Unfortunatelly for World, person he elects as President has impact on the lives of Millions, all over the world.

Went to see movie 'Wednesday' on Sunday Matinee show in PVR Juhu.
Surprise, Surprise !! In the crowd of some 150 people, Elderly and Senior Citizens outnumbered youth by 3:1. Quite a few Senior Citizens were being helped by their Children and Grand Children.

Car Thefts in Mumbai

News item that Mumbai Police have decided to take Car Thefts seriously will gladden Car Owners in Mumbai. Following illustrates the state affairs prevailing in Mumbai before Ahmadabad Blasts where cars stolen from Mumbai were used.

A friend's old Maruti 1000 was stolen from the bylanes of Santacruze-west last year. He went to nearest Police Station to register his complaint. They noted his Car Number.He was told to come after few days and to look for his car in Mumbai as it may be abondoned after using it for some illegal activities. May be his car was stolen for Joyride by college students. If he filed complaint then if found, he will have to recover it through court after due legal process.

After a week, when his car was not found, his complaint was registered. For 3-4 months nothing happened. Then one day he received a call from Police that his car was found abandoned in Parla-East. He was asked to identify his car.

When he saw his car, he was shocked !!. It was apperent that car was involved in a major accident and was damaged extensively. It must have been an accident where someone must have been injured and matter reported to Police. But Police had no info regarding the accident.

From this it is easy to understand why terrorist can strike wherever and whenever they choose. There is systemic failure at all level,primarily due to corruption. You can get Fake Birth Certificate of municipal Corporation, Ration card, by bribing concerned Inspector/Officer.There are agents who will do this for you. This can be used to make Car Driving Licence( One of the easiest thing to do in Mumbai),PAN card, Voters ID. Now how far away are you from getting Passport? If you have Immigration Officers dancing with Bar Girls in Lonavala, its easy to enter and leave India even when Look out notice is iisued. No wonder there are 25 Million illegal (!) Bangladeshis in India and according to IB they pose major threat to our Security. Is it surprising that we have highest number of Terrorist attacks after war torn Iraq ?.

When Cancer has spread so much and nation is in final stage,do you think we can save our country from Terrorists?---PK

Prepared to Fight Terror

Had gone for late night show in Versova Multiplex. Famous Music Composer/ Singer/Reality show Judge/Actor and now Star had also come to see movie. He was provided Security by Govt.. A Sub Inspector accompanied the star, like Mary's Lamb. Star was strolling in the Foyer, in deep conversation with friend. S.I. was following them, keeping a respectable distance.

Experts lament that we do not have sufficient number of Security personnel to tackle terrorist attacks. Our intelligence gathering is poor. After targeting Delhi, it is feared that now Mumbai will be the next target and we are using fully trained person to provide protection to a star. Govt. can ask and authorize Private Agencies to provide armed Bodygaurds to famous people. Hollywood stars have their own Security.

What about morale of the Sub Inspector? After taking training and with ambition to do exemplary work in Police force, he is posted to follow a star and provide protection !!. Is he enjoying his work or is bored and disillusionised?.

VP Nominee Gov.Palin

It's R.N.C. time in US and after managing Storm Gustav successfuly, Party has turned its attention to RNC. They want to make it as Vibrant and successful as DNC to energize voters. Gov. Palin's speech was hard hitting and effective.Unlike Bush and Mccain, Palin can wow the crowd and can get standing ovation. she is one very effective speaker.

All through the week Democrats attacked her for lack of experience. Their concern is that she is Heartbeat away from Presidency and she can not be effective President in case McCain kicks the Bucket during Presidency.

Now this is mean and absurd. Agreed, at 70 McCain is older than any other Presidential Nominee.But that doesnt mean that he may die in next 4-8 yrs. India had Prime Ministers who were older than Senator McCain when they took office.

It's absurd to talk about Gov. Palin's inexpirience cause Democratic Nominee Senator Obama has no leadership experience at all. As Rudy Giuliani said in his speech, Obama's experience amounts to total 3 years as Junior Senator from Illinois. He doesnt have great record as Senator.( Forget all the spin after his nomination).

Gov. Palin is Pro life. She has a son with Downs Syndrome and she did not terminate the pregnancy deciding to have the child, who may require life long support from her. Her unmarried daughter is 5 months Pregnant and She has decided to keep the baby. If she is ready to face challenges for her beliefs and convictions then it shows her strength and determination. What more can one ask from Politicians.? Contrast this with what happened during Trust vote in Indian Parliament.--- PK

Kashmir Crisis

In May 2008, Kashmir Valley was peaceful.Thousands of tourists were visiting Kashmir. Peace with Elections just few months away lulled everyone to believe that now Kashmir had turned the corner and will join mainstream like all other states with periodic hiccup and all. In May a perfectly logical order was passed by the State Cabinet. Order transfered temporarily, 40 hectors of forest land near Shri Amarnath Cave to build Pre -Fabricated structure to house Pilgrims during 2 months of Yatra. This was not communicated properly to people of J & K by Congress Govt. Separatist, marginalized and loosing support in the valley, grabbed this opportunity and started misinformation campaign. Both Govt. at Center and State were inept. Separatist could convince Vally that Governor had plan to settle Hindus in the alloted land and change the Demography of the region!!. How absurd is this!!!. Center or State Govt. could not resettle 'Ethnically cleansed' Kashmiri Pandits in the valley for 20 yrs and Pandits are living in most inhuman conditions in refugee(!) camps in Jammu. Can anyone believe that this Govt. can change demography in Vally in favour of Hindus?
Agitation started in Kashmir and PDP and NC joined it so as not to loose support in Kashmir. As usual, when faced with opposition and threat from separatist, Congress Govt. gave in and revoked the order to appease separatist. This changed the complexion of this agitation. Jammu region felt betrayed and started agitation against revocation order. And unexpectedly this agitation was as widespread and violent as agitation in Kashmir. For the first time there was ' Intifada' in Jammu. Protestors throwing stones at security forces, Curfew orders couldn't be implemented, Govt. property destroyed, roads blocked and burning of cars, tyres everywhere. In Jammu, Kashmiri & Congress leaders faced peoples wrath.Their houses and property destroyed. They were physically assaulted. Jammu's only demand-non negotiable- is to revoke the order and allot land to shrine Board.

Journalists,TV anchors like Padmashri Barkha,Rajdeep and Karan Thaper et al had multiple programs, where leaders from all political parties in India and Kashmir, Separatists like Mirwaiz,Lone,Mehbooba and Mallik and S.A.S.S. leaders have participated. There is 'grave' danger. Kashmir is angry and agitation is led & fueled by teenagers. So called Children of Conflict. Jammu is also very angry and there also non political teenagers are leading the agitation, employing the same tactics used by agitators in Kashmir. Everyone blames Central and State Govt. for it's inept handling of the crisis when it started.Everyone wants Center to hold talk immediately.Everyone is shocked at the way PMO and Govt. is procrastinating. But the problem is What should PMO & Govt. talk at these meetings?

Strong agitation in Jammu has left Govt. with almost no options. Kashmiri leaders wont agree to give land to SASB. So Jammu will continue their agitation. Blocking of Srinagar Highway may have fueled the separatist movt. in Kashmir but it has also shown what is in store for Kashmir if Jammu is not with them. Mujaffarabad road is option but it has its own consequences.Even Pakistan is not very happy with the idea. Earlier Kashmiri leaders could threaten to cede from India and could wrest any concession from Delhi. Unfortunately this time giving more sops to Kashmir wont stop agitation in Jammu, rather it will fuel it further as Jammu can charge Delhi for appeasing secessionist and favoring them over 'Nationalist' Jammu. So no one is able to answer 'what next?'. Even Azadi will not come in month or two. Azad Kashmir as viable state will be subject matter for another post. Kashmiri leaders are not fools. They have milked this 'Azadi' demand for last 20 yrs and have done exceedingly well for the state. This year Indian Tax payers will pay Rs. 11510 Crore to state or Rs. 11510 to each Kashmiri to shout Anti Indian slogan and burn Indian Tricolor !!!. Unfortunately this time they picked up a wrong issue to demand Azadi and even they don't know how to wriggle out of this.
Lets hope that atleast now matter will be finally settled once for all. Either this way or that.---PK

Why this Double Standard ?

Last week in Orissa, VHP leader Swami Lakshmananand Saraswati was shot dead in his Ashram. Four other followers of the swami were also killed in the attack. Initial report that Maoist had attacked the Ashram and killed the swami was put out by local administration. But it has emerged that it was preplanned attack carried out by Christian group whose Religious Conversions were opposed by late Swami who had informed state Govt. time and again about threat to his life from these Christian groups.

As was expected, VHP called for the State Bandh which turned violent and mobs attacked Churches,Christian run Edu. Institutes and orphanages and Christian homes. This was widely and repeatedly reported on National T.V. and media.

Why such double standard? Compare this to murder of Graham Stein.All hell broke loose when Christian Missionary was burned alive in 1999 in Orissa. But when Hindu Saint is killed then there is deadly silence!!. Are all Christian Missionaries saints? History doesnt support this. They are ruthless killers when they are spreading Catholicism. American Indian Civilization in N.America, Inca Civilization in S. America, all local Tribal Civilizations in Africa, N.E.India and S. E.Asia were wiped off by Christian Missionaries with the help of the European rulers. In Asia they were in violent conflict with Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists and couldnt make much headway. One of the reason for 1857 Mutiny was fear of religious conversion of Muslims and Hindus to Christianity.

So murders and atrocities committed by Christian groups are kosher and any retaliatory action by VHP or Hindu group- should be highlighted and condemned in strongest terms on TV and Media. Ethenic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits is not even mentioned in press.(It is called exodus of Pandits from Valley!!) This double standard against Hindus has led to simmering discontent among Hindus and its erupts in inhuman acts of violence as witnessed in Gujarat and Orrissa. It becomes much more difficult to rein in attackers by the saner element of Hindu community. India must be the only nation where religious majority is pilloried day in and day out for its religious beliefs and practices. Even in U.S. Catholic issues like Abortion are major presidential Election issues and Candidates vie for support from conservative Christian religious groups and Church. Orthodox Christian/Muslim/Jewish beliefs and practices are no better than their Hindu counterpart. Hindus are slowly developing siege mentality and if majority Hindu community becomes intolerant of other religious groups then it will be disaster for India. ----PK

Will there be change?

Relative was arriving from San Fransisco by Jet Airways. Scheduled arrival time was 8.45 am. As Typhoon was expected to hit Hongkong I phoned Mumbai airport for ETA. Jet Airways informed me that flight was arriving before time and ETA was 7.05 am!!. I rushed to the Airport. Arrival monitor on Mumbai Airport was displaying ETA for the flight as 8.45 am / on time. Flight landed at 7.05 am ,passengers started coming out at 7.45 am but Airport arrival Monitor did not indicate that flight has landed. Why we cant manage such simple things on International Airport is beyond my understanding. Railways under our Lalu Prasad is doing better job of providing real time info.---PK

Road Travel travails

On long Independence day weekend,our group had planned to spend the weekend in Daman. A friend has just bought Beachfront Bunglow in Moti Daman. Daman,a former Portugese colony's fame as a travel destination rests on fact that it is surrounded on three side by Dry Gujrat state. Fourth side is Sea but unlike Goa,Daman Beach is rocky where most of the Hotels are. Beach in Moti Daman is Sandy but sand is Blackish and beach is dirty.So swimming is not very popular on Daman beaches. Like Goa, Booze is really cheap but there are no shacks.

Trouble with all the weekend gateaways around Mumbai is travel time to & from destination.Khandala and Lonavala are now easy to reach thanks to Expressway. But road to Daman,Selvassa,Manor -Mumbai-Amdavad highway,is bad between Mumbai & Manor. Its part of Golden Quadrilatral but Congress Govts.have never paid any attention to Roads. Though Daman is Just 130 Kms from Borivli,travel time is usually 4hrs or so. Return journey is especially bad in Sirsad-Vasai belt and traffic jams stretching for 3-4 kms and lasting some 2-3 hrs is common. That's why no one likes to travel by road to Gujrat. People from South Gujrat, start in the morning to catch midnight International flights from Mumbai airport!!.This is going on for years but there is no improvement in road up to Maharastra border. On Gujrat side roads are good and express ways are built between main cities.

Regular travellers start very early from Mumbai,to avoid traffic. But when one is on vacation then why should one get up at ungodly hour? So as expected we were caught up in traffic upto Manor. It took us some 3 hrs to reach Manor. Everyone is so tired that Kamat Restaurant is God sent for Mind,mood,stomach and Bladder!!. Traveling in U.S.-esp. road travel is such a pleasure. One can take regular halts and can expect good restaurants and restrooms there. In India even upscale restaurants have stinking,dirty restrooms. While returning we were in traffic jam near Sirsad for almost 2 hrs. Male members relieved themselves on the roadside in full view of everyone. For Ladies , traveling by road must be a nightmare. When you reach home on Sunday evening, entire fun of weekend vacation has gone up in smoke. Unfortunately there are no alternatives to this situation and in years to come it's going to worsen. You have any suggestions?----PK

News item in I.E.(here), that Railways will provide real time info to passengers-both on station as well as in trains-about the exact time of arrival is heartening news. This is very useful service provided by Railways and one should congratulate Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav for many such traveler friendly steps taken by him. This facility will be boon for passengers on train. It's common sight to see passengers with heavy luggage standing for long time in Passage of train ,not knowing when the train will reach the station. Families rushing through passage with Bags have woken up many passengers at night. Its really annoying to know that such basic services are grudgingly provided. Hopefully Railways will provide many more such services to make journey comfortable and enjoyable.--PK

Made in China Doctors

News report(here) that there are more than 6000 Indian Students learning Medicine in China left me wondering about our Higher Education Policy. Though there is great mismatch between demand and available seats in all branches of higher education, Govt. stubbornly refuses to increase number of seats there. In Medicine this mismatch is much more pronounced. China,Russia and other countries have taken advantage of this situation. If only we can increase the seats and make them paying seats,so as to pay for the upkeep of Hospital set up in rural area,we can solve our problem of providing Medical facility in rural area. China & Russia with its language problem cant provide better education than Indian Medical college. Colleges in South India are charging hefty sums to students from US. Unfortunately Govt. gives permission only to trusts managed by Politicians of party in power in that state.Many state govts. have completely ignored setting up of Private colleges.Anybody with good track record of running degree college should be able to start college for higher education. In less than decade we will get rid of the shortfall in supply and everyone will be able to pursue and get degree in field of his choice.----PK

Govt. Offices

Yesterday I went to UTI-ISL office in JVPD Mumbai to get PAN application form. Its in very small passage( where one can barely stand) in the rear portion of UTI building.Its not painted or plastered for very long time. There is no protection from rain, no roof over the open space in front of it.Long queue of people, to submit their application, struggle in vain to protect their original documents from rain. After that I went to UTI office located in front portion.Its nice big A.C. office but almost empty. UTI-ISL never thought of shifting their PAN card office to better premises. I had blogged about Marriage registrar's office in MHADA bldg. near Bandra Kurla complex here. Recently I heard that it has been shifted to premises that is worst than the earlier one. Cooperative courts in Contractor Bldg. at Bellard Estate-a Heritage bldg.owned by Shapoorji Pallonji- were in very sorry state.Fortunately it has been given new paint and new Men's Restroom, improving its air quality. Moment you enter a Bank's premises you know whether it branch of Nationalised Bank or Private Bank-not HSBC or Citibank- Indian organisation owned HDFC or ICICI Bank. RTO offices in Mumbai are in Tin shades with no provision for Publics or staff's comfort. Even if the office is good to start with, its never maintained properly. RTI act should be used to know how these Govt. offices are planned and maintained. Is it the poor mindset of our Babus? But then they are IAS officers and many secretaries have IIM's as their Alma mater.!! May be its part of our " Incredible India"

Spain's Victory in Euro 2008

Finally Spain won the title after 44 long years. From the group stage they played attacking,attractive football and their game in 2nd half against Russia in QF was one of the best game of the tournament. When two Giants meet in final, game is often scrappy and played in midfield with very few attacking moves, but yesterday's final was pulsating,attacking game and Spain was the better team.
The only goal scored by Torres indicated that it was Spain's day and luck was on their side. The goal came from nowhere. It was a simple forward pass( and not defence splitting as claimed) from Xavi which was pursued by Torres,Lahm had ball shielded from Torres,Lahm saw Goal keeper rushing forward and was sure that he will collect the ball so he slowed down a little to avoid crashing into GK. Lehman saw that Lahm has ball sheilded from Torres and was slow in sliding to collect the ball. Torres who did not reduce his speed overtook Lahm and was just a step ahead and chipped the ball over Lehman. Ball glided and slipped in the net almost like in slow motion. Even Spanish players did not realize that goal would materialize.
Hindi Commentary on ESPN was very irritating and two hours of this verbal diarrhoea will give headache to listener.Why Indian commentators feel that they have to constantly talk and describe everything is difficult to understand. They are fit for commentary on Radio. Thank God for Super Sport 3 channel which was broadcasting with English commentary.