The new Gullible India Inc.

Our poor railway network is a reflection of how we, as a nation, wait for things to happen unlike China that makes things happen.

To date, India, with one of the largest railway networks in the world, doesn't have a single kilometre of railway that can be called high-speed, dedicated to trains running at 200 km or more an hour.

To date, China has 8,358 km of such tracks laid out and in service and 17,000 km more under construction.

Readers may draw their own conclusions. As far as I am concerned, the attitudinal difference of the two nations couldn't be starker.

We keep hoping things will fall in place by themselves some day. They think "some day" isn't good enough when a nation waits to grow, and things must be made to fall in place.

The railways are just one example of how they're forcing things to fall in place, instead of simply waiting for them to happen.

Our fastest trains still can't best 160 km per hour. Their latest bullet between Shanghai and Beijing runs at 300 km per hour, bringing the two cities, 1,318 km apart, within five hours of each other.

We may have as many Durantos as we like, but, in today's speeding world, these are nothing but a bunch of tortoises in disguise, let loose to fool a gullible nation.

The hares are much wiser now and slow and steady is no longer a race-winning quality.

We may not bother because even a bullock cart is capable of getting us to our destination, some day. But we aren't in bullock-cart India.

If we wish to be seen as a dynamic economy, we have to be seen to be moving faster too, since economic growth, after all, is a matter of overcoming time and space barriers to expand opportunities and benefits.

Growth scenarios change when distances shrink and airways alone aren't a good enough substitute for efficient surface transportation simply because of the breadth of physical ground the latter is able to cover along the way.

This is something we don't seem to comprehend. There's no better way to bring growth to virgin or little-exploited countryside, and transform it into an integrated economic hinterland, than to build a full-blown network of speedier roads and railways.

Our highways, for the most part, are like dressed-up country roads, where even cyclists and pedestrians demand the right of way. Our railways haven't advanced much beyond their colonial past and hardly run on time.

Of course, we have half a dozen high-speed rail corridors in mind, but for now they're only visions.

Let's be happy with that, calling up mental images of our very own bullets hurtling across our landscape at 200 km or 350, even 500, if you like an hour. Isn't mind travel the best form of travel for the lazy, where speed has no limit?

China is obsessive about reducing distances and overcoming the vastness of its geographic space.

It has had at least six speed increases on its trains nationwide since 1997. In the Beijing-Shanghai section itself, travel time has come down from 14 hours in 2001 to nine hours and 48 minutes in 2006.

Now, with 300 km-per-hour bullets in service, one can make the journey in less than five hours. It reflects a degree of keenness to improve, to bring the nation closer together in every possible way, which India has so far been unable to show.

Actually, two sets of high-speed trains are being introduced on the Beijing-Shanghai route, 90 trains in all.

Sixty-three trains will run at 300 km per hour, covering the distance in four hours and 48 minutes, while 27 trains will run at 250 km per hour with a travel time of seven hours and 56 minutes.

What does it mean for travellers? A train every five minutes during daily peak hours! And when one remembers that all the 136 existing trains on this route, running on separate tracks, are also going to stay, the connectivity assumes the dimensions of a virtual metro network.

Connectivity at increasing levels of efficiency is the name of the game, and China has been at it heart and soul with its railways since 2005.

Its aim is to have 120,000 km of total railways by 2015, of which 45,000 km will be high-speed, including 8,870 km of railways with top speeds of 350 km per hour.

Will this put us into introspection? Don't even ask. Introspection is not in our nature. Besides, the moment China and India are compared, our nationalist bristles begin to stand up and the dictatorship-versus-democracy arguments start flying.

All other questions become moot, even harmless ones like why do we keep introducing more and more lumbering trains on the same old tracks that haven't been renewed for ages? Is it progress? Doesn't efficiency matter? Is it forbidden in a democracy?

The new Panerai Radiomir 3 Days Platino

At the recently concluded Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie or SIHH 2011, Panerai released the stunning new Panerai Radiomir 3 Days Platino

At a massive 47mm diameter, the case is platinum with removable wire loop strap attachments. The only functions included in the watch are the Hours and the Minutes, but I personally would like to see at the power reserve feature and the characteristic device that protects the crown, which is a Panerai trademark by the way. Too bad that is included only in the Luminor watches.



The movement is hand-wound mechanical with the in-house Panerai P.3000 calibre, executed entirely by Panerai. It is 5.3 mm thick has 21 jewels, a Glucydur® balance, 21,600 alternations/hour, with a Incabloc® anti-shock device. The power reserve is for 3 days with two barrels. The watch has a total of a whopping 160 components.




The bezel is entirely Platinum, and that's where it gets the sheen from. The back is a see-through sapphire crystal. The dial is brown, and has luminous markers for easy readability in the dark.




The strap is a PANERAI personalised alligator strap with a large-size white gold buckle. It also is water-resistance up to 100 meters (10 bar).

If you are contemplating to buy watch, and are ready to loosen your wallet by about $20000, you should go in for it. It truly is, a piece of art.

Indians, and civic sense (or the lack thereof)

Just the other day, returning back home from somewhere, I found a car parked right across my car. It was so perpendicular to my car, that it was fitting like a 'T' (pun intended). It was like someone was plotting against me, and had planned to delay my departure, so that a team of snipers could take me out. After honking incessantly for about 10 minutes, the guy appeared from somewhere, sat in his car, and drove away. And oh yeah, I forgot to add, there wasn't a mere mention of the word 'Sorry'. Not even a 'I'm-sorry-for-parking-like-an-idiot' look. And that was that.

I sometimes wonder why my fellow countrymen are built this way. No remorse for making a person wait, absolutely no respect for your fellow compatriot (or foreigners for that matter), and just doing their own thing, without even taking a moment to think, if someone else will be troubled by their actions. Coming in late for a function, without informing, is 'cool' in this part of the world. It makes you just that much more important.

I live in a society where owning a garage, and parking your car inside, is a luxury. People come from anywhere, and park right in front of other people's garages, and walk away. The poor guard just is a mere spectator, and he dare not open his mouth to say anything to anyone. If I have to go somewhere, and if there is a car parked right in front of my garage, I then have to waste about 5 minutes of my time, asking the guard to call that person down, to remove the car from there. And, even then, sometimes, they have the audacity to send only their car keys down, and then I have to move their car over to another place, then remove my car, and then drive away.

When are we going to learn that simple things like parking a vehicle, is supposed to be done in a way that no one else has a problem. Is it that such a big deal ? God forbid, if a person needs to be taken to hospital for an emergency, and someone needs to drive them down, the poor person will die in the car itself, due to the apathy of their fellow countrymen.


It is high time we Indians learn to act like adults, and put others' needs in front of ours. Having your own space and privacy is a basic necessity today, and is everyone's right, but some imbeciles have no idea what that means. Everyone trods on others' spaces, and think that they can get away with anything, because India is a 'free country'. So much for a free country.....

Indian Spit-fest

Indians cannot wait to part with their bodily fluids, place and time be damned. Everyone spits in India, ALL THE TIME...It is a miracle that Indians have so much saliva inside them, that it is always wanting to come out, and no one really bothers where they are, before spitting it out.

Hell these spitters are everywhere. In cars, walking down the road, public places, but nothing really deters an experienced spitter, does it ? All you gotta do is, just arch your back, and let one rip. Car windows will roll down, while waiting at a red light, and out will come the thickest, the greenest (or red, if they've consumed some kind of betel) phlegm one has ever seen. And the best part is, no one has the right to say anything to these people, or else you end up starting a free-for-all. You would be driving a Rs.2,00,000 car, but when you gotta spit, you gotta spit..!!

India's street and pavements are dotted with 'Do not Spit' signs, and there are spit stains right under those signs. Talk about irony !!

I had the (un)fortunate chance of experiencing a spitter (who happens to be a well educated colleague, I might add) right next to me while we were hanging out. And I was disgusted, to say the least, but he actually had an argument to defend himself about his actions. This is what he had to say :

He said "Everyone around us does that. If you feel like spitting, you just go ahead and do that, there is no other alternative. If someone feels so dirty, then the government should provide spittoons all over the place."
I asked him whether he would do the same at home, and he obviously had no answer to that.

And these same Indians, when they travel abroad for various reasons, act perfectly pious and never litter (read spit) on the roads, because it is their duty to keep the city clean. But really, they are just afraid to pay fines, because Indians are very stingy people too. But it is always the other person's responsibility to keep the country clean, while in India. Hell I've seen people vomiting out of buses on the roads, while the bus is in motion, which frankly for me, is past disgusting, and goes into 'Hell No' territory.

The Indian government needs to take cognizance of this spit-fest all over the country, and the health hazards associated with it. And they need to do it. Like now. I am not sure if the compulsive spitting that is common in India is result of an excessive disgust for the life Indians live in India. Even if that is true, please do not spit on me. EVER !!