IIN, Bharati VidyaTel propose fee hikes, students pissed off.

Recent developments and strategic decisions regarding "Education for All schemes:Net Neutrality"- backed by philanthropist businesses such as InternET.org- have taken a sour turn after it has emerged that student body and a swathe of alumni staged protests against the proposed plans. The downhill journey started when Bharati Vidyatel, a leading correspondent University, decided to restructure the way students pay their fees.

Currently, students pay a base fee and are free to explore anything they may have an interest in. There is no limit to how many courses a student can register for, and how many years he stays in the university. "There is no definite graduation plan for our type of universities" said Mr. Sirla, the Director of IIN. 

However, this will be changing soon. Recent studies and trends have shown that students are preferring one stream within the education system-social sciences, and the demand for the same has risen exponentially. After this observation, TRY, the Education body has given the universities the freedom to change fee structure and charge as per courses a student registers for.

"Our recent study shows that students have an inclination towards social sciences, and the number of people registering for the course has increased manifold times, as compared to a few years back. Keeping that in mind, and considering the cost of providing free education to all, we needed to hike fees" said the Vice Chancellor of Bharati VidyaTel. "As a responsible social organization, we have to ensure that we make sufficient cash for ourselves and our philanthropic sponsors to keep the idea of education for all alive" he added. 

Social Sciences, which has a huge goodwill funding from some very large tech firms will be given free of cost. It is slated to be a fast track course, where students can hang out for infinity and share, like and comment on their path breaking thoughts, pouts, and half cooked domain knowledge. Instantgram, an online practical course, which specializes in peer reviewed photojournals, will be offered free of cost as well. These and many other similar courses which are in demand will be provided free of cost. Additional charges will be applied for all trivial .edu courses and for startup courses, with students having to dish out extra cash for accessing contents of these courses.

The move, however, has not gone down well with the students. Large scale protests are erupting in all campuses, with outraged students and alumni feeling their freedom in education is being snatched away. "The fees are high as it is. The teaching is very slow, and now they want to increase fees. Where will we find our next Sahu if this trend continues?"asked a furious student. 

Mr Sahu, a recipient for Rajeev Gandhi Jagatik Shastragnya Award for his contributions in Engineering and Technology fiercely criticized the move. "I received all my education for free at the base fee. Its illegal to hike up fees in this way. You have to give students access to all contents in the university equally. If this was done in our times, I would have never been able to do independent research in Bakery Automation. I have never been to a library after I flunked my IIT exams, but Ive heard that there you do not obstruct students from entering any section. Same must be the case here. We have that in place in IIN currently". Mr Sahu is the second most successful Alumni of IIN, a university which was to propose the fee hike as well. Mr Sahu is the known inventor of developing an egg carrying drone. He was widely acclaimed for his achievements and was awarded with Rajeev Gandhi Jagatik Shastragnya award for his contribution in "Indira Gandhi Khadya Maal Vahatuk Yojana" and "UPAY(II) Bhook Hatao Yojana". 

Confusing net secularism with crop secularism, Mr. Rajul Handi, the vice chief of  Secular Farmers Union of India Association chipped in with his 2 million cents, "Increasing the crop fees in this fashion will be detrimental to the united progress and alliance of the country- It undermines the efforts of the previous board of governors in handing out free doles of cash crops."Mr. Rajul Handi is one of the top alumni of IIN, and its most distinguished topper.. "The current crop course has resulted in an economic boom for overseers of farming community. With this oppressive fee structure, the farmers will be at great loss" he added. Dragjoy Singh, the left hand aide of Rajul Handi interrupted his boss and said "This is all an RSS conspiracy. It just wants more subscribers by proposing automatic blog updates."

Meanwhile, TRY has handed out a questionnaire to all Correspondent course students regarding fee structure feedback. It is to announce its plan regarding the same in near future. 

पोपट-पुराण

मधे कधीतरी पोपट या विषयावर चर्चा सुरु असताना पु.लंची आठवण आली आणि एकदम नखशीकांत हिरव्या रंगात बुडालेले "दामले मास्तर" डोळ्यासमोर आले.(चिन्या दामले नाही. नाना दामले तर मुळीच नाही.) तसे दामले मास्तर आधीच हरणटोळ आहेत म्हणतात, त्यातून पोपट म्हणजे "डेडली" काहीतरी होणार म्हणून तो विचार तिथेच बंद पाडला.

पुढे शाळेत शिकवलेला "पिंजर्यातला पोपट" हा धडा आठवला. म्हणजे धडा नाही आठवला, पण धड्यातल्या एकूण पोपटांची संख्या आठवायचा प्रयत्न झाला. त्यात एक पिंजर्यातला पोपट होता, एक लाकडी पोपट होता, एक पोपट नावाचा मुलगा होता. हा पोपट तो पोपत, सगळ्या पोपटांचे पोपट- सगळीकडे पोपटच पोपट. डोक्याची पार मंडई करून ठेवली.  नंतर अतुल कुलकर्णीला  सिनेमात झालेला पोपट आठवला आणि आपण पोपटापासून लांब राहिलेलंच बरं हा निष्कर्ष काढला. पण डोक्यात किर्र किर्र करणारा तो कीर काही डोक्यातून उडत नव्हता. त्यामुळे त्यावर थोडे फालतू विचारमंथन करायचे ठरवले.

पोपट हा बहुदा औरंगझेबाचा वंशज असावा. नाहीतर तो एवढा हिरवा नसताच.  हा विचार ज्या क्षणी माझ्या मनात आला, त्याच्या बरोब्बर पाचव्या मिनिटाला डिस्कव्हरीवर एक लाल रंगाचा पोपट बघितला. त्यामुळे हा पक्षी फक्त औरंगझेबच नव्हे, तर स्टालिनचा देखील वंशज असेल हा विचार सहज चाटून गेला. मुळात असा कोणी पोपटी इसम अस्तित्वात असता तर त्याने सर्व जगाला तरी ठार मारले असते नाहीतर २ विरुद्ध विचारसारणीच्या जळमटात अडकून स्वतः मेला असता. सुदैवाने पोपट अशातला नाही. त्याच्या कृत्यावरूनतरी त्याच्यात या दोघांचे गुण अजिबात उतरलेले दिसत नाहीत. आहो पोपटाच्या हाती(चोचीने- पोपटाला हात नसतात) कोणाचा मुडदा पडलाय हे कधीच ऐकले नाहीये! त्यामुळे तो रंगांनी औरंगझेब आणि स्टालिनसारखा वाटला, तरी विचारांनी तो गांधीवादी वाटतो. माणसाने त्याला कितीही छळो, तुरुंगात टाको, उगाच मिरच्या बिरच्या खायला देवो, हा कोणताही हिंसक मार्ग न अवलंबता निमूटपणे सगळं सहन करतो. त्यामुळे तो खरा गांधीवादी असावा हे माझे मत ठाम झाले आहे. एवढा संयम बाकी कोणाला! 

औरंगझेब, स्टालिन आणि माहात्मा गांधी यांच्याशी पोपटाचा उगीचच संबध जोडणाऱ्या डोक्यातून पुढे "पोपटाचा धर्म नक्की कोणता?" हा विचार येणं स्वाभाविक होतं. वास्तविकतः पोपट कोणत्याही एका धर्मात बसत नाही. त्याला बसवणं शक्क्यच नाही. कारण माणसासारखा तो देखील सगळ्या धर्मांच्या रंगांमधे दिसतो. हिरवा, लाल, निळा, पिवळा, गुलाबी, पांढरा, करडा आणि काळा अशा वेगवेगळ्या रंगाचे पोपट मी सिंगापूरात बघितले होते ते एकदम डोळ्यापुढे आले. त्यामुळे कोणत्याही एका धर्माच्या रंगाचा शिक्का त्यावर मारणं चुकीचंच आहे. भगवा पोपट मात्र मी आजवर बघितला नाहीयेत- त्यामुळे, पोरोगामी भाषेत,  बहुदा सगळे पोपट सेकुलर असावेत.  

सिरीयस विचार बाजूला ठेऊन फक्त फालतू कुतूहल म्हणून पोपटांनी त्यांचा स्वतःचा धर्म प्रस्थापित केला तर तो कसा असेल असा विचार आला.या धर्माचे नाव बहुदा "पोपट मीमांसा"( हिला ट्वीटरवर शोधा!) असावे. त्याच्या भगवंताचे नाव बहुदा "कीर" असावे. एरवी पोपटाला कोणी त्या नावाने हाक मारत नाही, त्यामुळे जो "कीर" आहे तो त्यांच्यातला स्पेशल कोणीतरी असावा. पोपटाला भजनं म्हणता येतात असे बऱ्याच पोपट पाळणार्यांना (फक्त त्यांनाच) वाटते. त्यामुळे पोपटाच्या धर्मात भक्तीरस भरपूर असावा. पीता-पुराण असे त्यांच्या धर्मग्रंथाचे नाव. त्यांच्या धर्मगुरूंना बहुदा पोप-अट म्हणत असावे. मोक्षप्राप्तीसाठी  तरसणारा  माणूस जसा "राम राम" करतो, तसा मोक्षप्राप्तीसाठी तरसणारा पोपट बहुदा "किरकिर" करत असावा. किंबहुना स्वर्गात जागा मिळवण्यासाठी त्याने याचा रेटा लावावा असा देखील नियम असला पाहिजे. पोपटाच्या धर्मानुसार एका आदर्श पोपटाने फक्त फलाहाराचे भोजन स्वीकारावे असा दंडक असावा. मांसाहार करणारा पोपट मी तरी बघितला नाहीये. हां- उपवासाच्या दिवशी चेंज म्हणून पोपटाने हिरवी किंवा लाल मिरची असे तामसिक पदार्थ खाललेले चालत असावे.  पोपटांच्या धर्मात पोपटाने डोक्यावर कोणती टोपी, पागोटे, तुरे शेंडी ठेवलीच पाहिजे असा दंडक नसावा- ज्या त्या पोपटाला हवी ती स्टाईल मारता येते. तेवढे अभिव्यक्ती स्वातंत्र्य पोपटाचा धर्म त्यांना देत असावा. दाढी मिशा वाढवलेला पोपट मात्र कधी दिसत नाही. त्यांच्यावर रंगाचे बंधन नाही.

 इतर धर्मांप्रमाणे पोपटाच्या धर्मात देखील तीर्थयात्रा असाव्यात. त्या बहुदा दक्षिण अमेरीकेत असणार. कारण तिथल्या देशांची नावं उगाच "पेरू" आणि "चिली" नसणार ना! ती नक्कीच पोपटांसाठी मक्का-व्हेटीकन-वाराणसी-जेरुसलेम असणार. पोपटांच्या धर्मक्षेत्रांची स्थानिक भाषेत नावे देऊन पोपटांच्या भावना दुखावल्या जाऊ नये यासाठी मानवांनी या जागांची नावे पोपटांना पचतील अशीच ठेवली आहेत. या देशाची किमान एकदा यात्रा केली की पोपटाला परस्पर मोक्षप्राप्ती मिळत असावी. पेरू आणि चिलीला गेलेले पोपट परत आले आहेत असे ऐकले तरी नाहीये. एकूण काय, तर कोणत्याही इतर धर्माप्रमाणे या धर्मात देखील त्याच गोष्टी असणार.

सुदैवाने पोपटांचा धर्म अस्तित्वातच नाहीये. असलेल्या धर्मांचा गाभा आपल्याला समजत नाही, त्यामुळे कशाला उगाच नसलेल्या धर्मावर  वायफळ विचार करत बसायचा! थांबवलेलाच बारा!! आणि हो- या विषयावर बोलून  कशाला उगाच आपला पोपट करून घ्यायचा!...

माणसाच्या नजरेत पेरू-चिली

            पोपटाच्या नजरेत पेरू-चिली.

The Impeding Punekar

The last few months have been spent whining and complaining about how atrocious the vehicular traffic has become in Pune. The sheer number of two wheelers is mind boggling. If you go to Fergusson College Road for an evening stroll on a friday, it feels claustrophobic to just walk. Same is the case for many of the other roads in the city. Im not talking of the Peth areas- they are an altogether different story, but of newly developed areas such as Kothrud, Deccan, Baner, Bavdhan, Pashan, Aundh and Hinjewadi. To add to the traffic woes, the roads are ill maintained, and causes jams. Add to that the haphazard way in which the roads are planned, and the idiotic mentality of vehicle users, a healthy mix of all ingredients for a traffic jam is created. No wonder all the roads are choked.

I do not know why 80 percent of Punekars are even allowed to drive! Seriously, these people have no regards for traffic lights, parking norms, traffic flow, lane discipline among other things- if you test them for traffic rules, most of them would fail. (incredibly, you have to pass a traffic rules test before you can get a drivers licence- they have a way around for that in form of "Agents"), Half of these uncivilized people seem to be colour blind as they clearly cannot distinguish between red and green lights- not stopping at them, honking when a red light is present etc. The remaining half are retards who just happen to have sufficient money to buy a vehicle. I mean there are more things to driving a vehicle than just starting it at making it move forward. Lane discipline for one- following speed limits the other. Less said on this, the better. The drivers licences of such idiots should be confiscated forever and, on top of that, these retards should be given life long bans from driving. If they refuse to give in even then, "gadhvavar basun dhinda kadha".

Within this group of people with special needs, there are a few with even more special needs. They are illiterates who do not know what an arrow with a cross over it means. These retards, for saving fuel worth a few paise flout all traffic norms and go wrong side. Seriously, forget a drivers license, these people do not deserve to own a vehicle. Ive started passing sarcastic comments at such "intellectually advanced" people- Call them things like Shaktimaan, Chhatrapati, followed by some kharpus insult in chaste marathi. Most of the time they do get embarrassed, We should seriously stop tolerating these idiots.

Then, leaving these idiots aside, there is another species which can only be described as super idiots. Rikshaw drivers, Taxi drivers, Bus drivers truck drivers can be included in this category. Driving a heavy trailer in the fast lane of a 60kmph highway at 20 kmph, abruptly stopping the vehicle in the middle of the road, starting a queue at any inconvinient corner, stopping 30 feet ahead of a scheduled bus stop, having unclean indicators are just some of their traits. Rikshawalahs- What can we say about them? Less said the better. They have the hand of a certain "Donkey" on their backs, which has made them extremely rude. Lets boycott them for a few days. Or lets oppose the constant fairhikes that they come up with. Let them go on strike. There is so much less traffic that way!

Sure, there are idiots and super idiots driving on the road, but then there are some others who sit in plush "municipality" offices, laying down the bluprints for "town planning", floating tenders to construct roads, constructing roads; who are capable of asking "Who's your daddy" to the aforementioned  idiots. Politicians, Contractors, town planners with absolutely no knowledge or sense of civility or being cultured- all vying for a wad of cash to fill their pockets- building public works. These morons are actually questionable. Its us who never question them for their stupidity. Pune roads are comparable to "ठिगळ लावलेले भिकार्याचे कपडे"- patchwork clothes. Its horrible. Roads are made of pavement blocks instead of tar. No proper drainage system for rainwater. relying on archaic methods, and "nako tithe doka lavna" are some of their traits. These people fail to analyze a problem. Their solution to everything is a jugaad or a temporary fix. eg- roads are relaid again and again, the basic problem of them being washed away never looked at.

Paud road is a perfect example of the genius of all the above mentioned people. Its chaotic. The only problem with it being chaotic is that it would not be if people followed simple rules, or the "municipality" corrected some of their blunders along the road. Lets have a look at whats really irritating. From chandani chowk to Paud Phata(Flyover)


1) Part 1: Chandani Chowk

(Black cross indicates jam because of people not following rules. Blue lines indicate path taken by retards to save a few bucks., orange, green, red indicates normal routes)

2) Chandani Chowk to Bhusari Colony

 
3)Bhusari Colony to Vanaz

4) Vanaz Corner

5)Ideal Colony

6) Ajantha Colony

The circle near Vanaz deserves a special mention as it is beyond all things ridiculous.  (This 4 feet high ventilation chamber needs to be demolished now!) Following is what I had to say about the issue on facebook:

"Fruits" of Sheer Stupidity- Part 1.
This Vanaz Circle on Paud Road was probably designed and created by a road building genius of the highest order. The underpass, immediately after the circle, for some strange reason has a "ventilation" system which sticks out at least 4 feet off the road like a "biased" road divider. Its not even in the middle of the road, which has resulted in narrowing of the road on one side, causing a major bottleneck for traffic going from Chandani chowk towards Nal Stop.
not that the other side is any good either since the leftmost lane is occupied by parking slots, which causes chaos at this place during peak hours.
In fact the whole of paud road was probably constructed under the leadership of this same genius and has some major technical glitches. Now Punekars will know when was the last time Paud Road had a major "facelift" - i.e. concretization- which makes it easier to predict where half of the funds may have gone and why the road is in such a sorry state.
There are many such artificial bottlenecks, all around Pune, probably created by the contractors and our netas (either to whisk of some amount of cash into his pocket or due to lack of empathy for those who actually drive or they are actually dumb and dont understand anything- for which we must thank ourselves for electing them.
I will try to highlight many such things on my blog. If i were the mayor of pune, id refuse to pay the engineer/contractor for showing lack of planning and probably sack him as well. we need to stop tolerating these things and ask the "Municipality" answers for why these things happen. Dont spare these guys now.

.

It is irritating to make your way forward in this maze of idiots. Its tiring. On top of all this, there is non stop honking. Its our tolerance and tendancy to ignore these things which is giving rise to these problems. Lets take a firm stand against this stupidity. Paud Road may be one example, but this is prevalent every where. Lets end it once and for all.   Lets truly make Pune a World Class city!
(PS- Ill be sharing more of these things as and when I get time)

Open letter to department of roads(?), Pune City.

I had written this as a status message on Facebook a while back. Was irritated then with the road conditions- so this was a vent. Somehow, yesterday was vexed with the road conditions again. (This time at Hinjawadi Phase 1) A newly laid pipeline burst in exact 3 days, and a newly laid road has been converted to a brook, with its top surface washed off. This shows the shoddy work thats being done. The contractors should be held accountable for this mess. Anyway, the scenario reminded me of this particular "open letter" i had written, and its worth sharing again. (This time with Pics!) 

That said, I do hope the new government takes some action against all this bullshit contractors.

________________________________________________________________                                                                                                                                     30 June 2014.

To,
PWD Officer,

Pune Municipal Corporation

(If it should be called that- Municipalty is probably better).

Sir,

It rained heavily yesterday. Probably for the first time this monsoon season. And the "fruits" of your brilliant planning and execution of the world class quality of the maintenance of Pune roads became all evident. For cross country motorcycle enthusiasts, such as myself, it was a dream come true. We are fundamentally against the very concept of level roads with proper dividers and lanes. You provide this basic need free of costs. How much I thank you and probably your mother and sister every single time I ride over a bump or a pothole, you wont know and probably wont understand. 

The rains are an added bonus to us motorcyclists, giving us new "levels" to complete the game Motocross Madness Pune. How beautifully the rains have dislodged loose gravel from newly patch-worked roads. How quickly it created a new circuit full of not just potholes, but what can be called as gorges, caves, sinkholes and everything else. 

I salute you for your awareness to fit manholes atleast 6-8 inches below the road level and create a superb obstacle course. That combined with the existing potholes, diggings, gravel, sand and what not is a paradise for us citizens. I was truly impressed by your new patch of the circuit- on Senapati Bapat Road near Dominos Pizza. Its a miracle that you and your team managed to sink an entire lane atleast 4 inches below the usual road level and give us a reason to be excessively excited! I also salute you for one of the most difficult patches that you have created- Near Chandani Chauk Petrol pump, where you had a gravel pit immediately after a speed breaker. Let me tell you- it was one of the toughest patch on the motocross course. Unfortunately, the gravel there seems to have been washed away, and I urge you to create a new pit as soon as possible.

Other than these improved cross country practice tracks, I also take off my hat to your brilliant drainage system, which transforms boring smooth roads into fast flowing streams 1-2 feet deep. It gives a sensational feeling of riding the bike on the everglades of Florida. I sincerely appreciate your efforts to bring Florida to Pune and thus give a glimpse of the west to us citizens- and that too free of cost. 

However, water filled roads dont excite us as much as a potholed filled water logged bylanes in the old city. Oh god, these are wonderful to drive on! The sheer volume of grit, mud, dust, spit and feces that mix with the water and gets splashed everywhere when we ride through a pothole is a joy to behold. I would like to especially congratulate you for creation of these temporary oasis on the otherwise dull and boring roads of Pune.

The Pashan- Bavdhan- Chandani Chowk road, sir, is usually filled with mudslides, pebbles, rubble, stones, trees and branches washed down from the extremely lawfully constructed buildings. This year, we have been denied the opportunity to skid ride through that patch. I hope you look into that matter. 

Also, I sincerely urge you to instruct all PMT bus drivers to stop their buses in the 2nd lane on extremely busy roads and provide us with "Instantaneous hard braking" practice.

Sir, you are a direct beneficiary of the tax payers money as your wages are drawn from the taxes collected from us. The excellent quality of the motocross tracks that you give us, year in year out, every year without fail, just speaks volumes of your love for us, and shows a sense of appreciation for what we Punekars really like and enjoy. I sincerely thank you for providing us with world class motocross facilities to make our monsoon all the more enjoyable.

I wish you heartiest congratulations on probably putting Pune as a hot destination for the sport of street motocross. (If an event such as this does not already exist, I urge you to start one, as it will greatly boost the tourist industry of our city.) I cant really thank you enough for making our lives so imaginative and computer game like. 

Regards,

Chinmay.

A citizen of the city of Pune.

P.S.- Sir, your decision to make key traffic lights at Nal Stop, Paud Phata, Tilak Road Hatti Ganapati Chowk non functional during peak traffic hours was a masterstroke! I doff my hat to you for that! 

Regards.

C.

सृष्टीचे मित्र आम्ही, मित्र अंकुराचे

The movie, Dahavi Pha. (10th F) is a gem of a movie.It is sprinkled with some beautiful songs scattered throughout the movie. Beautiful poetry. 

Here is another one which is very very close to me. Somehow, for some strange reason it strikes an inner chord. Its a beautiful thought.

सृष्टीचे मित्र आम्ही, मित्र अंकुराचे  

ओठावर झेलुया थेंब पावसाचे...

अंकुर त्या बीजाला हवा उन वारा

मायेची छाया अन मनाचा उबारा

पाचूचे मखमाली चित्र जीवनाचे...

सृष्टीचे मित्र आम्ही मित्र अंकुराचे...

लवलवत्या पात्याचे नवे गीत गाऊ

विज्ञाना ममतेचे नवे सूर देऊ

युद्ध नको शांती हवी, शब्द अमृताचे...

सृष्टीचे मित्र आम्ही, मित्र अंकुराचे...

Listen to this song here.