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Monday, August 4, 2025
MADANAPALLY NEAR BANGALORE
Madanapalli is a township in Andhra Pradesh State not far
from Bangalore city and few kilometres from the State border.It is a historical
place in many ways and comes within the Rayalaseema territory of the
Vijayanagar empire. The emperor Krishnadevaraya was fond of this town for many
reasons and the term Madanapalli has Vijayanagar origins..Madana being name one of
the founders and Palli meaning village and is simply a village
in the name of Madana. Madanapalli is a small township in the cradle of the
eastern ghat mountain ranges some 75 kilometers from Chintamani off the NH 4
highway.
One of the key hillocks at this
place is Basinikonda which has a temple atop it.It has a statue of
Krishanadevaraya at two places. The Basinikoda and its adjacent hills give source
to a river in the past and a drain of today that criss-crosses the heart of the
city. In ancient times this river must have been the source of water for this
township.
The paradox of this place is the
dichotomy of weather. As we approach the city the area some twenty five kilometres before the city is very cool with temperatures increasing steadily
over evey kilometer. This is an irony of sorts. The reason for this is that the
Eastern Ghat ranges twenty five kilometers before the town carry very high
amounts of vegetation adding to the the cool nature of the weather but as we move
into the town the hillocks like Basinikonda are hard rocks which absorb
sun-light and emit the heat into the town creating a furnace like feeling
within the town; To cool the town Government could consider rampant addition of
vegetation of some kind on the hills adjacent to the town to create a more
cooler atmosphere.
Once the English took over this
place they added many logical components to it like English education through
the Theosophical Society of Annie Beasant. The present day Madanapalle could be
made even more endearing by adding various forms of professional inputs to it
and developed in ways it can support the city of Bangalore in many operational
and functional ways.
Sunday, July 27, 2025
Saturday, July 26, 2025
THE BANGALORE FORT AT KALASIPALAYAM--THE MOTHER TOWNSHIP OF BANGALORE
The Bangalore Fort can be stated
as the mother of Bangalore City as we see today.It is traditional Bangalore
which could be more than one thousand years old,the remains of which can be seen in
the Kalasipalayam area of Bangalore City of today. The original Bangalore is
Kalasipalayam. Palayam in the vernacular means a Fort. It is also possible this
place was called Kailaspalayam which with centuries became Kalasipalayam.In
ancient times people lived in such fort complexes which were a city in itself
with many facilities and hosted some less than half a million in population.The
Fort provided protection from inimical forces.
The very consistent view point
here is the large hillock seen within Lalbagh which was the primary motivation
to set up Kalasipalayam. The hillock served as a watch-tower and also as rains
embarked this place gave vent to large lakes flushed with water which served as
a primary source of water for the residents. Kengal Hanumanthaiah road also
called double road today was a lake in the yore of mammoth size storing large
quantities of water and the water coming down this hill also guided through
small water-ways into various tanks within the Palayam or Fort. Such water
bodies can even be seen today around this hillock.This hillock was the
life-line of this fort centuries ago.
What did this fort look like
exactly.The Sanctum Sanctorum of the fort if you may so call it is the
structure seen today which was the residence of the Kings and royalty from time
to time with its own paraphernalia , design and assets. Around this was another
large wall which is extinct today but stretched over a large periphery with
gates on four sides.In history there is mention of the Kengeri Gate the gate
from this large Fort Complex exiting towards modern day Mysore road.
To politely understand what the larger periphery of the Fort wall could have been study the temples of
Bangalore city.There are two kinds of Temples in Bangalore city…one kind that
exists on the banks of rivulets like the Gali Anjaneya Swamy temple and temples
in Ulsoor which pre-date all other temples in the city by centuries.The other
form of temples are ones generally built within Fort complexes.To understand
the periphery of the external rampart walls of the Bangalore fort study the
trajectory of temples.The fort walls towards Ulsoor side must have extended
upto modern day Richmond Town.Note a temple exists at the almost fag end of
this trajectory today behind the Mallya Hospital,the Ulsoor Gate of the external
Fort walls could have been around here and towards the Mysore road side upto
the banks of the Vrishabavathy river. On the other two sides the Fort
wall extended much beyond Basavanagudi and could be upto the Ulsoor lake on the
remaining side. It is difficult to pin-point exactly but that was the expanse of
Kalasipalayam from the sheer study of temples. Near Mysore Bank circle towards the end of Avenue Road also we
see a temple which was part of the Fort system. I have roughly tried to mark the
periphery. With the advent of Cannons it was easy to penetrate these
fortifications because they succumbed to Canon fire over centuries and the
simply don’t exist. With the advent of the rule of the Mysore Sultans many
mosques and similar structures found its place within these fortifications. In
the third Mysore war under the direct supervision of Lord Cornwallis this entire
structure fell into the hands of the English. The English appear to have broken
through these Fortifications from the Ulsoor side reaching the sanctum
sanctorum of the fort seen near City Market of today creating a breach on the
Fort some one square meter in size and thereafter using various forms of
ordnance through this aperture killing many within this complex and then
sending foot soldiers through this opening and finishing the job , opening the
fort gates and thereafter taking full control of it.
The original fortified settlement
dating back centuries is Kalasipalayam. Chickpet Balepet and all these pets were
markets that served the needs of people within the fort. Including modern day City Market. Around this fort were
agricultural activities of various kinds and it must be emphasized that Lalbagh
of today stands within the Kalsipalayam Fort complex and so do the many
temples seen near Sajjan Rao circle.
Next time you walk through Kalasipalayam in Bangalore near the City Market for any reason remember you are trudging on centuries of History.
Wednesday, July 23, 2025
The Nandi Hills in Bangalore
.NANDI HILL IS A HILLOCK
ONE AND A HALF HOUR DRIVE FROM BANGALORE
.IT IS A KEY TOURIST SPOT
.IT IS A PECULIAR HILL FORMATION
FROM EASTERN GHAT MOUNTAIN RANGES
.IT HAS SHARP PRECIPICES ON THREE
SIDES AND A GRADIENT ON THE OTHER
.HUMAN ACCESS TO THE HILL-TOP IS
THROUGH ROADS ON THIS GRADIENT
.RIVER ARAKAVATHY TAKES ITS BIRTH
HERE
.IT FORMED A KEY MILITARY
INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE PAST
.IN THE THIRD MYSORE WAR THE
ENGLISH CAPTURE THE HILL
.CHIKKABALLAPUR IS A TOWNSHIP
CLOSE BY.
Sunday, July 20, 2025
Friday, July 18, 2025
TRIP TO WHITEFIELD AS A KID
As a kid in middle school the authorities of the school had the
ingenuity to take our class for an excursion to Whitefield, which we kids were
all very excited about. This must be in the sixth standard as Mrs. Grace
accompanied us.The plan was to take the morning train at 9:00AM and return by
the evening train at 4:00PM.
We visited three places , the Alembic glass factory, the Blind
school and the Joy ice-cream factory.It would be worthy to point out that
Bangalore in the 1970,s were full of mini plants largely making steel and a
power intensive sector where many worked in various capacities. Kamani steel,
Kap steel, Andhra Steel, Shivamoni steel to name some on the K R Puram Railway
station to Hope farm road. Whitefield had become a very important residential
hamlet by the early 1900's with many Victorian style houses.
What struck me most as a kid was the Alembic Glass Factory.
Kamlesh Mehtha the son of the owner was a student at our school for some
time.We tiny-tots were treated with courtesy by the factory staff. Alembic
glass factory existed close to the Whitefeild Railway Station. We were amused to
see glass manufacturing. Alembic glass company made glass bottles for the Medical
industry. Large furnaces and procedures that made glass bottles were seen.
In retrospect I think children could be introduced to Industrial
Manufacturing so that at a very formative age they get to appreciate such
things and imbibe them which will shape what they do in the future.
Monday, July 14, 2025
IIM KOZHIKODE
INFERNO (FIRE) IN GRAPHITE INDIA PLANT
I was a witness to a major fire in the GRAPHITE INDIA plant in 1992.Industrial fires are of a major concern around the world as it can create huge economic losses and an extended and un-predictable down time.
Graphite India used to have a Baking unit which bakes charge coming from Extrusion department.It used to be done with furnace oil in pits at a temperature of 800 degrees centigrade. Calcined petroleum coke and pitch are the key ingredients of making graphite which is a by-product of the Petroleum refining industry.
On that afternoon welding was happenning near by and a spark lit the oil largely that was scattered on the ground.The GM of Graphite India was A K JAIN and the Joint General Manager was Kersi KUKA.I used to have good relations with Kersi Kuka.A K Jain was out of town and Mr.Kuka was supervising things and sometimes had the temerity to go close to the fire which was ill-advised.
What ensued later was a very major fire towering above the plant and the fire engines arrived almost two hours later and doused the flames.
There was fire in BPL plant one night during over-time when some spark from some soldering machine lit cotton waste in the corner.
One of the reasons why I am putting these on record is that Indusrial engineers and managers must do everything possible to prevent fires.Sparks from the welding process have created fires at many places.The resonsibility of predicting possible fires and extinguishing them very early is a key aspect of Industrial engineering which would prevent huge losses to all stake holders and prevent organizations from going into a reverse gear.
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
DR. K P MOHANDAS AT REC NIT CALICUT
Dr. K P Mohandas served REC of our times and NIT of today for many decades with diligence and distinction.A product of College of Engineering Trichur and later doing advanced education at IIT.He could be easily labelled as one of the few academic experts in the area of Control System Theory of which he was a specialist. I mentioned somewhere earlier that I used to get high grades at the exams in his subjects.I was planning to visit the College of Engineering Trichur but will do so some time soon.COE Trichur is one of the earlier Engineering colleges put up in Kerala.
He had a methodical approach to teaching most of the time bringing notes to the class and progressing through the session in a systematic style and also was an intellectual in his own right.My Father used to share good rapport with him.
If I were to remember some of my teachers in the list would be Mrs. Starry who used used to teach Science at Lowry Memorial School in Bangalore,Mr Chandrashekar who used to teach Sanskrit at Sri Sathya Sai Arts Science and Commerce college in Whitefield and Mr. H K Nagaraj who used to teach Trigonometry and Mr. Hegde who used to teach Physics both of the above at Whitefield.In this list would come two more people Dr. P S Srinivasan who used to teach Induction Machines at REC NIT Calicut and Dr. K P Mohandas who used to teach Control theory at this place.
If there is one thing Professors can learn from him around the world never go into classes without some description or document which pertains to that particular session so that classes can be effective a lesson one can learn from Dr. K P Mohandas.
Thursday, July 3, 2025
SHIVAGANGA HILL NEAR TUMKUR
TUMKUR now called TUMAKURU
is a town towards the north of the city of Bangalore distant by some
sixty kilometers and is an important transit point. Bangalore, Tumakuru and
Shivamogga (Shimoga) are towns in the Deccan Plateu and are not very far
from the Western and Eastern Ghat mountain ranges.Tumkaru is a town which can
be said to be equi-distant from these mountain ranges, the city of
Shivamogga(Shimoga) more closer to the Western Ghat mountain ranges and the
city of Bangalore more closer to the Eastern Ghats than the Western Ghat
ranges.There are many independent mountains and hillocks at various points in
the Deccan Plateau and these hillocks are made of solid rock formations and
resemble the Eastern Ghat ranges.
One such hillock is the
SHIVAGANGA hill on the way to Tumkur from Bangalore; I had visited this place
decades ago and if my memory serves me right a turn towards the left from the
highway It is an independent hillock which has many mythological tales and
anecdotes associated with it.There is a SHIVA temple here within a cave.I did
climb the entire hill. It is an exercise of adventure climbing the hill which
is steep at many places and there are well formed stairs and railings at
various points to make the ascent easier and the view from atop the hill is
breath-taking.
Anyone living in Bangalore during
his younger age must visit this place atleast once and take a climb up the
hill.When you climb the hill take due care not to slip and go about the
exercise with diligence and caution.
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
THE AUTOMATIC JAPANESE SOLDERING MACHINES IN BPL
From 1980 to year 2000 full twenty years BPL made Television sets now called the Dome TV. Mrs.Indira Gandhi on returning as Prime Minister sanctioned the large scale expansion of TV transmitters creating a sudden explosion of the Television Market. There were hardly any tv's in the country and only very few very privileged people had them. The sudden explosion of the TV market meant a huge demand for TV sets and there was only one channel namely the DOORDARSHAN.
Dyanora, Solidaire ,Bush were all few names during these times and into this market gate-crashed a less known electronics company called BPL which was till then known for making Medical Electronics products. With the pioneering spirit of its JMD (Joint Managing Director) K P R Nambiar BPL for several years later had dominance in various forms over the TV industry.
Initially TV was made with hands-on soldering and with time imported two automatic soldering machines from SANYO.
These machines were of a splendid nature and showed superior Japanese engineering skills of these times.Some twenty operators would stuff the PCB( printed circuit board) in a production line and it would enter the machine which operated with many sets of relays..the most key part being a solder bath at very high temperature arising on the operation of a relay and automatically soldering the entire PCB and another set of two TUNGSTEN CARBIDE cutters driven at high RPM cutting the leads of the electronic components after soldering. With the arrival of these machines the Production quantity at BPL quadrupled. The machine had a circular design with PCB's taking a U turn at both ends.It was a treat watching them work.
There must be such machines in vogue even today. These machines can give sudden maintenance problems of many kinds and periodic servicing of some kind and spares replacement can prevent break downs and critical maintenance issues.
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Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Sunday, June 15, 2025
Friday, June 13, 2025
9089 and 9347
9089 and 9347 are two telephone numbers that Iam not able to forget. These are the PAX telephone numbers of my Father's workplace within ITI (Indian Telephone Industries).PAX means PRIVATE AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE...a modern equivalent of Intercom with every part of the township connected very well by the PAX system.I dont remember a single day when this system did not work.
Everything was well ordained within the ITI complex with a PAX telephone avaliable for the public at the main gate. As a kid I could not reach up to the phone and had to prop myself on some slab to get access to the phone to speak to my Father and at times some elderly person or security staff would help.
Along with the PAX system ITI also had the PABX system meaning PRIVATE AUTOMATIC BRANCH EXCHANGE with the help of which we could call BSNL telephones in the city. However this facility was only available in the hospital. Note that in the 1970''s and almost through the 1980's telephone penetration in India was very poor.There must have been one BSNL land-line for every say 10,000 (ten thousand) people and people had to look at some public outlets to make telephone calls. Sounds strange. Land line penetration improved drastically in the 1990's with Electronic Exchanges made by C-DOT(centre for the development of telematics) From the ITI hospital I used to call the cousins of my mother PRABHA SANKARANARAYANAN on 75695 and PREMA BAKTHAVATSALAM on 74453 and also the house of Dr.P C Nambiar in Cox-town on 51188.
Recently I was riding near the ITI main gate and happenned to remember those times and as I stand near the Main Gate of ITI can somewhere here the faint voice of my Father even today.
Thursday, June 12, 2025
KETTANGAL AS OF NOW
KETTANGAL is simply not what it used to be.It has changed from being a hamlet or a village to a small township...some of the old structures simply dont exist. Ali.s hotel is gone ,some of those smaller restaurants around are gone..A prominent mosque exists at this junction and so do flashy and up-market restaurant.How and when such a change happenned is unknown.
There is a full fledged auto stand and the roads from various directions that meet at this place.In what aspect Kettangal will change in the future is unknown but more far-reaching changes can be expected.
What was Kettangal during our era. It had Ali's hotel managed by his sons ...few other hotels of this kind,few barber shops, hamzas omlette corner and juice shops that gave mango milk shake.
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
THE CANTEEN AT REC NIT CALICUT
The Canteen at REC NIT Calicut was in many ways a place to socialize for students during our times. At present there are many food outlets at the campus but during our era the canteen was one of the eat-outs in the vicinity of students. Recently on my visit to the institute I saw the canteen is fully refurbished with aura and murals painted on the external walls that gives a good feel and ambience. The menu has changed drastically with all north and south Indian cuisines and food..during our era it used to be Nai-roast with tea and a simple elegant afternoon lunch with boiled rice.Radha and Damu used to be the key waiters at this place and Mr.Vijayan used to be the Manager.
The Canteen building in many ways is elegant and symmetrical.,they have given a new name to this place which I do not re-collect.Both the wings are functional now and gives a relatively imposing posture.The Canteen building has stood the test of time and has existed here welcoming scores of students over the years.
It was a meeting point for we students very often settling in the corner table and sharing one nai roast.As I sit at this place I can see scores of students of my era and also some times the rain that lashed outside.The space in front of the canteen now is more busier than what it used to be and with increase in traffic and population there is chaos.Some rumble strips could be put on the main road to regulate traffic flow.
The present canteen can be improved further. I dont know exactly how. Some architects and civil engineers must take a look at this place. The basic idea is to build a firtst floor over the above structure without disturbing the present aesthetics and the floor could be some 4000 square feet a large expanse which could hold a large populace with some portion of it air-conditioned. If such a proposition can be executed in the ground floor with attachments even that would be welcome. Architects and civil engineers should have a look to see how such a system can be executed and incorporated.
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
DEVELOPING GUNDLUPET AS A MAJOR RAILWAY HUB
GUNDLUPET is a township at the crossroads of Bandipur forests some one and a half hours journey from Mysore.For good or for bad the broad-guage railway link on this sector is upto Nanjangud thereafter the railway link extends towards Chamrajnagar.
Gundlupet has a key strategic role as buses towards Ooty and towards Calicut have to pass through this township. A broad guage railway link to the township of Gundlupet will have many advantages more than anything else it will ease the population load on Mysore Bus stand and also the Mysore railway station.Instead of travelling to Mysore interim populace could directly travel to Gundlupet by train and proceed to Ooty or Calicut by bus. A major Government bus stand can be planned at this place with pathways and link to the Gundlupet Railway Station.
Railway links to places like Sultan battery (Ganapativattom) and Vythiri in Wayanad through the forests can also reduce travel time to Calicut and other towns in Kerala. The Government is planning a tunnel from Meppadi in Wayanad to Anakampoyil in Calicut through the Western Ghat mountains the tunnel being some ten kilometers long..the tunnel could also accomodate the Railway line.
For reasons unknown such a project has not been undertaken as the time and expenses to lay such a railway line would not be much considering it is level land and could help propel the economy of this sector.
Friday, May 2, 2025
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Saturday, April 12, 2025
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Friday, April 4, 2025
Thursday, April 3, 2025
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Saturday, February 22, 2025
Saturday, February 1, 2025
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Saturday, January 25, 2025
Thursday, January 23, 2025
THE HOLY CROSS COLLEGE IN CALICUT KOZHIKODE
When the weather gets cold in Bangalore I take a break for a day or so and visit the city of Calicut or Kozhikode to enjoy warmth and the hot afternoon sun which is stimulating. There are exceptional A/C buses that ply on this route and there are decent budget hotels in Calicut also called Kozhikode in the vernacular.
When at Calicut I toyed with the idea of visiting HOLY CROSS COLLEGE where my younger son Gireesh studied. This college is affiliated to the CALICUT UNIVERSITY and is a division of HOLY CROSS Jesuit institutions run by European missionaries and is situated near the MALAYALA MANORAMA office in Nadakkavu not far from Mananchira .
To me it seemed to be a well run Educational enterprise operating from some five acre campus and has the instant looks of a Three Star Hotel in its posture with attentive and responsive staff.I went up to the third floor to meet one of the teachers who taught Gireesh. I was told by some students there are hostel facilities here.
To my understanding the overall city of Calicut can be developed on the lines of Bangalore .The only issue is that the forest gates of the Bandipur forests are closed in the night and most buses take the Manantavady route where the roads for nearly fifty kilometers is not good and bumpy.Some kind of a FLYOVER or a UNDERPASS must be considered to bypass the forests.
There are some ways in which this can be done.Over the entire lenghth of the road through the Bandipur forests erect walls on either sides some six feer high so that animals like elephants dont trespass into the road and provide broad and fairly high underpass at several points on this stretch of roads for animals to move beneath without transgressing this road. One another option would be to put a flyover over the forests in the Mysore H D Kote road so that buses can reach Manantavady via this corridor during night times reducing travel times to Calicut drastically. It is ludicrous to keep forest gates closed in the night creating waste of valuable time to all forms of Commuters.
Budget Hotel in this place: Aradhana Tourist Home; 04952302223, 04952303978, 04952302220 ; 9947665556
Sunday, January 19, 2025
CREATING A WATER GRID PAN INDIA
India as a country is self-sufficient in the area of Electrical Power to my understanding and power situation is much better than what it used to be few decades ago , largely due to the creation of the POWER GRID CORPORATION which is a national grid that supplies power between states ,largely drawing power from surplus states and sharing it with places where there is power deficit so much so that any power generation facility in the country can service any state in the country.
The same mechanisim must be duplicated with regards to water creating a NATIONAL WATER GRID.There might be water crisis in the country during certain months of the year and also a short supply.
Some five years back I was walking through Esplanade in Kolkata where I saw water outlets on the road with gushing water with a voluminous flow rate and I was told that these facilities supply water 24/7 around the year.The concept is to create such a network pan-india which would be immune to seasons and also could provide input water for the water bottling industry which to my understanding draws ground water for bottling.
Water issues existed in Bangalore since time immemorial where in the distant past many lakes were dug every few kilometers which would give both ground water and harvested water from the rains.Fifty years back we had ground water at 30 ft but now on an average must be around 300ft which shows depletion in ground water levels.
The earliest attempt to pump water into the city of Bangalore was undertaken by the British who pumped water into the Cantonment area from the Tippagondanahalli reservoir in the Magadi hills.To my understanding this has been augmented by water supplies from the Cauvery river which is fairly distant from the city.The present day world has a active bottled water industry which supplies potable water on-demand in the retail chain.
There could be some kind of a water deficit situation in the future .To my understanding mean time between rains in the country could be some one month and a half which could have a more severe impact during the summer months due to heat and evaporation.Any issue of this kind can be solved locally but the ideal situation is to create a NATIONAL WATER GRID which could fill up drying rivers and other key water bodies..the water ideally being drawn from the Seas.
India as a country is blessed with the sea on three sides.A city like Kolkata can draw water from the Hoogly river which is perennial and an extension of the Ganges river because of the water inputs from the Himalayas. The idea on one side is to make rivers in South India perennial and also provide water to door steps around the year and round the clock in a abundant and gushing fashion..water which is both potable and can be used for generic purposes.
The idea is to create a National Water Grid which is activated from water from the Sea.Using both the support of Gravitation and pumping technology cleansed and desalinated water from the seas must find its way through every corner of the country.How such a system can be created must be deliberated by Water specialists.
The issue of water can be of concern in the future.Using pumping systems would be costly and energy demanding;but a national grid should be created like what we have with electrical power to respond to any water demands any time of year with ease and responsiveness.