An experience called Airavat

‘Airavat’, in ancient Hindu philosophy is the name of the six headed elephant which used to be the vehicle of Rain God Indra, the ruler of Swarga. The description itself is sufficient to denote the type of luxury associated with the name Airavat.

The Airavat I wish to talk about here, is the Volvo service run by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). Started in the early years of this decade, this Volvo service is truly one worth its weight in gold. KSRTC has over the years improvised on its existing fleet and is today one of the biggest customers for Volvo India Pvt Ltd.

The B7R and the lately introduced B9R buses from Volvo itself are a revelation in the Public Transportation Sector. With the infrastructure in the terms of good roads complimenting, Volvos have certainly taken off in the right direction. Of course the more recently introduced luxury buses from competitors of Volvo have been successful, but Volvo has clearly got the early bird or the first mover advantage.

Over a decade back, the journey to Mumbai from my place Udupi used to take atleast 24 hours. Starting at 9 in the morning, it used to drop us in Mumbai at not before 9 the next day. But today, given good roads and weather conditions, an Airavat covers the same distance in hardly 15 hours .

Of course, all these doesn’t come cheap. Airavat is definitely a bit expensive than some of its competitor state run Volvo services or even the private operators who run the same. But with the benefits that an Airavat offers, that extra bit of an amount seems like peanuts. Without a doubt, I can say that the Airavat Volvos are the best maintained Volvos today. An Airavat Volvo which has been running for the last 2 odd years will still be as good as a new one which has just rolled out of an Assembly Line (For that matter, any vehicle owned by KSRTC is better maintained than its respective counterparts from other competing State Transports). Be it the suspension or the AC, be it the steering or the power, be it the seating comfort or the cleanliness in the maintenance of the interiors, be it the accessories provided or the quality of the AV system, an Airavat beats everything heads down.

Part of this goes to the wise decision by KSRTC to forge an Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) with Volvo India Pvt Ltd. KSRTC also ensures that the vehicles are driven by only those handpicked drivers who are trained properly by Volvo itself.

The popularity of Volvo was risen when Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), the younger brother of KSRTC became the first to introduce Volvos for City Transport also. Yes, Bangalore is the first and probably the only city in the country to have Volvos running on all major routes. And this became a feast for frequent flyers, when the Bangalore Airport was shifted outside the city and BMTC introduced special Volvo services from various points in the city to the Airport at a very very nominal cost. And the beauty of this service is that these buses are specially built by Volvo for BMTC and have enough space for the luggage as well. Other than most of the top businessmen and executives, majority of the flyers actually take this service.

The greatest feature of these Airavat’s is their punctuality. They start on dot and more often than not, they reach the destination on dot. Hardly have I seen an Airavat reaching the destination more than half an hour late than the scheduled time under normal circumstances.

I became a fan of Airavat when I was put up in Hyderabad and needed to go to Bangalore very frequently. With train tickets availability at short notice being a big question mark, Airavat was a viable alternative. And with every passing trip, and with improvements on the NH 7, my love for Airavat always grew. Whenever I now look for travel options, if there is an Airavat available, it wins straightaway. Nothing else will even be considered. Every bit of the experience is enjoyable. You can relish every moment of the journey. And the best part is, even after travelling whole night, you can remain fresh enough to go to duty the next morning, completely normal.

If you have not experienced Airavat so far, I bet you have definitely missed one of the best experiences you can ask for in life.

Exam Fever

After an eventful fortnight, which comprised of a hectic week of Summer Placements followed by final days of classes, where we had on an average 2 internal assessments per day, the time is coming closer. The temperatures are rising. Not in the literal sense, but the exam fever is on.

After having spent a good four months on campus, now is the time for the real test. Though the course lays a heavy weight age on the internal assessment unlike the engineering days, the externals carry significant weight age too. The internals carry 60% of the course credits to facilitate continuous learning (Err!! What’s that?? ) and 40% of the course credits are dedicated to the externals. The main problem here is that one needs to clear both external as well as internal separately. This makes things slightly tougher, though not impossible. For people who have cleared 8 semesters of engineering, nothing is actually difficult.

These exams are going to be a tough test for many of us. It is not going to be a test of what we have learnt. It is more of a physical test as to how we are going to write continuously for as less as a hundred and twenty minutes to as much as a hundred and fifty minutes. For most of us, who have worked prior to coming here, it’s really going to be a race against time. We have literally lost the touch and the last I personally had written continuously for three hours was the last paper in my final semester of engineering. That’s over three years now and I am really struggling to hold a pen in my hands and write continuously. I observed the trailer of the same a few days back when I was writing a subjective internal assessment paper for 45 minutes. At the end of it all, I could barely manage to read what I had actually written.

Over the years after leaving college, I have hardly written consistently. I have never had the habit of maintaining a diary or a record. Whatever writing I used to do, was either one page handwritten reports or totally electronically written reports. Such was my inclination to the computer that, when last week I had to submit an assignment in a time crunched situation, I actually opened the laptop and started typing it to the surprise of many of my classmates. I was convinced that my typing was definitely faster than my writing, and also more legible too!

With this background and almost 55% of the batch in a similar situation as mine, the 10 days period from 22nd to 31st October is going to be challenging indeed. Though I am not explicitly worried about the subjects and the paper as such, I am definitely worried about what I am going to write in those hundred and twenty minutes.

Touring Troubles!!

I had joined TVS Motor Company as Graduate Engineer Trainee (GET) in July 2006. After a few months of general orientation, I was placed in the Sales and Service Department. Then I was trained on specific aspects pertaining to the Sales and Service portfolio. On completion of the training, I was deployed to Hyderabad, where I was re-designated as Territory Manager – Service. My job was primarily to handle after sales service in the territory, which for the time being was limited only to the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. This was the place where I was first exposed to all the intricacies of the job and what was demanded out of me.

Once I had fit into the groove, and I had started showing sufficient progress in my career and significant results, my territory was expanded. It now covered the northern part of Andhra Pradesh which is better known as Telangana. This contained 6 more districts and 8 more dealers. So on paper, my responsibilities had been doubled. And covering the dealers in the districts meant that I had to start touring. This also meant waking up early in the mornings and reaching my destinations late at nights. I was prepared for that and eager for new experiences.

Fortunately for me, most of the places I travelled were connected well by train. Except for two places, which were not, the remaining places had good rail connectivity. With experience, I started planning my tours such that I covered all these places in one shot. I would generally leave on a Monday morning and return back on a Friday or a Saturday evening as required.

Telangana is well known to be a Naxal infested area. Though the troubles now were minimal or literally zero, it was one of the strongholds for them early on. On one such tours in this territory, I had to travel from a place called Karimnagar to Warangal. Though Warangal is a major railway junction between the south and the north, Karimnagar is not connected by train to any of these places. Fortunately, the road connectivity between Hyderabad and Karimnagar is excellent and even the road transport is good in entire AP.

When travelling from Karimnagar to Warangal, I was late. The two places are approximately 70 kms apart and it takes roughly 90 minutes to cover the distance by road. So I started from Karimnagar around 10 PM in the night, expecting to reach Warangal by 11:30 PM. The buses between Karimnagar and Warangal are not too great. One has to travel in simple luxury buses as they are known, but to this day I have not understood what is so luxurious about those buses.

There was hardly anyone in the bus at that hour. I could hardly remember 12-15 people in the bus. By the time the bus had crossed the town limits and started moving on the highway, it had around 20 people. Half way through, I was trying to catch some sleep. The bus was travelling through a dense forest, with literally no human inhabitants for miles together. Suddenly, the bus stops and a mob get into the bus. I start cribbing to myself about the driver, public transport and God knows what else. I was too sleepy to realize what was happening. Slowly the noise started becoming louder and people starting yelling at each other, something which I could not realize.

After a good three minutes, I was fully awake. It was then that I realized that we were being held hostage! People around were shouting, crying, pleading, yelling at each other, blaming the driver and there was chaos all around. The mob which had got into the bus, were also shouting at each other and only panic was ruling the situation. They all had some crude weapons in their hands which they were pointing at people in the bus and trying to recover something. I was not sure if they were drunk, but they were definitely behaving as if they were. I was sitting somewhere in the last few seats, waiting for the drama to unfold in front of me. And was indeed sleepy to think properly and react.

One of them finally came to me and shouted something to me in Telugu. I did not understand that and I did not react. And from his reaction, I was sure that he did not know anything other than Telugu. But from his gestures and body language I understood that he wanted to rob me. Within no time, two more joined him. I was probably the richest and well to do person they could find in the bus at that hour. I was still in my company uniform and wearing the company badge. The weapons in their hands were indeed frightening. I was not sure what to do.

Luckily for me, I was not having any ornaments or valuables. And fortunately, I had forgotten to even wear my watch that morning. My MP3 player, which usually accompanied me on most of my tours, had also been betrayed this time around by my absent mindedness. I was just carrying a few clothes and a few office papers in my bag. The only valuable that I had was probably my mobile, a Nokia 1200. So I fancied my chances.

I told in Hindi that I don’t have anything with me. One of them started speaking to me in crude Hindi. He asked me to show him whatever I had. With the limited options that I had, I opened my bag. No sooner that I had opened it, the three men pounced on it. They emptied it outside on the nearby seat, only to find nothing of their use in it. Another person started frisking me in anticipation of finding some valuables, only to be unsuccessful again. One of them laid hands on my wallet, which had a few notes of tens and twenties, a few coins, my driving license and a Debit card. They probably did not know what it was. Angrily, they threw it back at me. He then laid his hands on my mobile, but my 1200, was too old fashioned or cheap for him. So the mobile too met the same fate as my wallet did. Everyone in the bus was eagerly anticipating for something to happen.

Suddenly someone shouted from outside, and they all emptied the bus in a hurry and vanished behind the trees. Within moments, the driver started the bus and we were back on our way. I was sitting and wondering whether it was a dream or it had really happened. Within a few minutes, I got a call from the manager from my Warangal dealership, who had booked a hotel room for me. He was worried why I had not reached yet, as I had informed him when I had boarded the bus. I spoke to him in broken Telugu, and told him that the bus had got punctured. I told him I’ll reach in another half an hour or so and asked him to inform the hotel and not wait for me. The gentleman sitting in the seat ahead of me was watching me in awe.

To this day, I did not know who they were. At times, I felt they might have been the Naxals, but then Naxals would have been much more professional. They would have carried much more standardized weapons. I thought they might have been some local villagers who were most probably drunk. I even at times thought that the entire episode might have been masterminded by the Driver and the Conductor. But I did not put much thought behind this possibility, because I have always believed that it’s wrong to point fingers at someone without having concrete evidence. The most surprising part was that nobody was actually harmed physically or assaulted in the whole process.

Whatever it is, I would say I was fortunate enough that I was not wearing something valuable. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was not having much money in my wallet. Luckily, I had forgotten my watch and MP3 player at home, and the mobile that I was using was simply too old and outdated. And most importantly, better sense prevailed on me to not converse in Telugu with them and act dumb, which probably was one of the reasons for me to have escaped safely. God knows how many times I had cursed myself that morning for having forgotten to get the MP3 player and the watch. But then, it was just another example for “Whatever happens, happens for a reason!”

I reached Warangal just after midnight and checked into the hotel. Next day, I went to the dealership, completed my duties, took the train in the evening and returned back to Hyderabad. On Monday when I met my boss, I explained to him whatever had happened. Till then, I had not told it to anybody. By the time I was done, my boss and a couple of my colleagues who were listening to me were simply dumbfounded. Their reactions could be very well judged watching their wide open mouths.

After this incident, we at the Area Office took a resolution that whenever we are on tour, we will not travel after 8 PM. Wherever we are at 8PM, we will halt there itself and travel early next morning to our destinations. Though this was taken seriously for the next few months, all of us including me forgot it and found exceptions to the rule when the work at hand was more important. Even after that, there have been lots of instances when I have reached Hyderabad late after midnight, or even some other places. But I made a point to at least not travel the Karimnagar Warangal route so late.

Google..... Wikipedia...... and MBA.......

Imagine. You wake up one day, switch on your laptop and try to find something on the internet. Only to realize that the Google server is down, Wikipedia is not working. Just imagine what your reaction would be in such a scenario.

We are all so much addicted to the internet in general and Google, Wiki in particular that we simply cannot live without them. Who other than an MBA student can understand the importance of these? Google is the starting point of anything we do. Without google, our assignments can never start. What Sergey Brin and Larry Page started a little over a couple of decades ago, has become the life line for millions of people around the world today. Hardly would they have imagined anytime that it would be so successful. When they first came with the search engine and went to sell it, they were rejected. In a way, it came as a blessing in disguise. Even today, if they make google a paid site, even a nominal fee of say Rs 100 a year, I am sure that people would still be willing to enroll for it. Simply because, google has become like air and water. Just imagine the revenue potential that the founders of Google are sitting upon.

As I have said in one of my earlier posts, technology has made life so simple for people that it has become unimaginable to live without technology. This is a classic example for the same. What used to take probably weeks for an MBA student a decade ago, can be done in a matter of hours now. Just contrast the MBAs of the 1990s and the MBAs today. A presentation on any topic, would require them to slog for weeks, toiling for days and nights together, looking for information on the topic. Compare this with the amount of effort that’s required today. Type in a few key words and technology itself would direct you to hoards of information sites across the world. Thus being in your hostel room, you could get all the information that you needed and probably even much more in a matter of a few clicks.

Consider the case of an assignment I had to submit last Monday. Last Sunday, when I got to know the topic, I just clicked on Google and typed the key words which appeared in the topic of the assignment. Its highly unlike of me, because I usually complete my assignments and other submissions whatever it is, well in advance and do not keep anything till the last moment. But this was a one off occasion because probably I had something more important, that I had to keep this aside. But since I was so sure that I would get the required material even at the last moment, I trusted the internet and kept it pending till the eleventh hour.

Within seconds came a list of search results and in a matter of a few minutes, I found exactly what I wanted. What was more fulfilling is that I got everything I wanted from s single source. So it was only a matter of time before I restructured it along the required lines and published it as a part of my assignment. Sometimes, even presentations on common topics are readily available on the internet.

So coming to the point that I was making a couple of posts back, has technology really helped us? In this context, it definitely has. There is no denying that Google and Wikipedia have changed the life of millions of students across the world. But consider the flip side of it. The art of reading books and gaining knowledge and information is slowly vanishing. The general knowledge level of students is slowly falling down. They hardly read newspapers these days, even if they do it’s most likely to be an e-paper. Arrival of PDFs and e-books have definitely contributed to the environment, but look at the other side. People don’t even read books these days. Everything is on the computer and people spend hours on the computer now. The skill of reading and information searching has slowly moved from books to the internet. And with Google coming in, the information is available in a matter of seconds.

With presentations and materials readily available, you don’t apply anything to analyse it. More often than not, it is simply ‘Ctrl C’ed and ‘Ctrl V’ed. Those who are a little aware and careful, take slight efforts to change the fonts, layouts, graphics and animations. But does it serve the real purpose? Even when it comes to assignments, they are literally copied word to word, and submitted only by changing the formatting, the layout, the text and text size and importantly, the name and other details on the first page. So are you actually adding value to your work? Are you really learning something from the assignment or exercise which was given to you with some intention? I am not sure.

All I can say is that Google, Wikipedia and Internet have become inseparable parts of our lives and it’s indeed difficult to imagine even a single day pass without logging on to the internet even once. Google and Wikipedia have indeed revolutionized the way an MBA is done.