Drive Safe Please

I am working in a department where vehicles are tested for its endurance. There are too many “rules”. I remember one test that I did which I am sure I will never dare to do in my car intentionally.

I drove my car to about 70-80 km/h speed in 5th gear and I tried (in fact very hard as it could not be done) shifted to Reverse gear . The gears should never mesh but I could feel the baby really being abused. (may be that’s why it is called abuse test). The test will hardly take 30 minutes, but preparation and checkpoints before doing the test is heavy and it consumes too much time. Why do we do it; for safety it means to avoid accidents.


In test track there is a patch where one can cruise from 80 – 175 km/h (the 175 is the max speed that I have heard possible as the road ends to a sharp turn). There is only cars and that too in a single direction. Giving the “rule” that one could go at high speeds we had a major accident. The security person who was walking (may be I can say suddenly wanted to cross the road without looking back) in the direction of the track could not notice the car that is coming behind (may be because there was a constant noise from turbine nearby). Result; he broke his leg with multiple fractures. Result; he needs one more leg for rest of his life. May be it is his mistake that he did not see the road but in my opinion a car should always stop before hitting. There lies the skill of the driver.

So, as per books driver cannot be blamed as it is he is within the rules!!

Well this not only happens in test track, it happens in India everyday. As per statistics, there are about 300+ people killed everyday, due to accidents. And as per Indian law, Car is the only vehicle which is licensed to go above 60 km/h speed.

I should specifically mention about “Indian roads” – where one can expect people crossing the National Highway roads (where one can least expect and where they are not supposed to and I think they are the only area where cars can reach beyond 80 km/h). as if the cars will slow down and wait for then to pass.

I remember my boss saying, guys when you are driving keep your eyes wide open because in India you can see anytime anything coming at you in any direction, so drive safe and slow there. (I thought he meant that I can drive at any speed in test track)

One always has the right to say that I went by rules and it is the pedestrian who was wrong. But if you see in-depth the truth is,

1. Your conscience will be pricking you all the time that you have bumped into someone. That will always be there in your mind (and the worst part is you will start advising others which they will never like). It creates an unnecessary fear.
2. It is you or the pedestrian who is making the mistake but it is the pedestrian who will suffer (unless to avoid hitting him you go and bang a group of people where you make yourself and many people except the pedestrian, suffer).

SO
“Drive safe and think in mind we are humans and they are too, Because you don’t have the luxury to say sorry.”

I am never alone

I am staying with 5 of my classmates very happily. Sometimes we may not get time to have chat. But still there would be enough sound so that house owner feels that we are alive. Now as there is block closure (for a week), everybody went home. Days went cool, very silent too. I had great time experimenting (and honing) my cooking skills and my adaptability to a lonely environment. Then the D Day. I misplaced my mobile. Usually I give a call from friend’s mobile; solved. But now where are the friends? No one near. Ha ha. Since it is late I cannot disturb anyone. Ha ha. I kept on searching and finally it got resolved when my friend “came” – ha ha he came in gtalk and I asked him to give a missed call. Problem resolved. I am never alone. Ha ha

Delhi is becoming cleaner for Common Wealth Games

Cleaning the city for common wealth games have begun a year back in Delhi but I could find the change when it happened it near my home at Gurgaon NCR. All petty shops were removed and there is a daily watch from cops to null it at least till the event. You know India now looks clean. Rules are made and the best part is made to follow strictly. I think this is correct for the capital, but only for the capital.

My Road to Maruti Suzuki

Before writing about Maruti let me tell something about my road to Maruti.

I am an automobile engineer who never dreamt to start my carrier with auto sector. In fact I wasn’t a kind of a guy who was very much interested in Auto before joining the course. I took this stream because I don’t want to be in one among the junk. I wanted to be different & (may be another reason is) there was a sudden boom in this sector and (one more reason) I never liked electrical or electronics, which I feel a study where people should assume that something is happening inside a wire and predict this will happen. (After very long mathematical calculations). I really hated it as I never cared to learn even in school. But I remember Ms. Padma, my Chemistry teacher saying."most of you guys will dream that you will be flying in cars when you are starting your career, but the reality is not that. Remember. Stop dreaming and learn." I sometimes felt that she was pointing me and said. But the reality is I am really flying with cars, as I deal only with cars, the sexiest of all things on earth. I wish one day I meet her and take her in my car fly at speed more than 200 km/h yet she feels comfortable and safe.

In South India it is a pride to say I am software engineer than a Mechanical Engineer. Actually the parents are the happiest & proudest people then the student. Like my friends I also wanted to take computer stream (May be because it was considered a cream job). But I understood that IT is an everybody’s game and the college that one studies does matter. (I mean it is not really restricted to IT engineers, open ground to all). I was interested in pursuing Biotechnology (a fancy study, when I was in school). Some of my friends still remember the “bioinformatics” topic that (I read in news paper) I kept talking about it. I remember the day when I was supposed to select my engineering stream, my dad even just a few minutes before I completed the application form asked me again and again to rethink on my decision to take automobile engineering as he knew none of our relatives or his friends know about it. In fact one of my close relative even said, only sons of auto bigwigs study the course and it could be a dead zone if you are not landing up a job. May be that is the first risk that I took in my life. I went on my way. But I remember telling my dad, “Dad I do not know what you ll do, if I am not landing up in a job you are getting me a good university for Higher education abroad”.

I am the only guy in my family to take this course. I was really proud when there were some of my relatives’ added auto engineering to their most prefer list after seeing me. (Nice to see people follow)

College life went cool. I really did not study much hard but life in hostel and PSG Tech is a real experience. It taught me many things especially how to handle with people. And why there is a separate field which studies to understand the human mind(I mean the MBA and micro, nano economics). As expected I first got placed in Software Company(I was happy and satisfied too), and then after 2 months and attending 2 other reputed company interviews (and getting screwed) I finally got placed in Maruti. I did not find the interview too technical to handle, they were of general topics and some advanced technologies in auto sector. I had a light confidence after interview, but after final announcements wow! I was not on the earth for a while. I was really flying. Getting into Maruti is a remarkable leap in my life, my best achievement too