Is Bangalore Safe - Beware of Gangs

Hi All ,
I am sharing the content of an email , which i recieved from one of my close relative .The Email Says :-

Hi,Thought of sharing with you a mail from Suncity. Take extra care/caution during such situations..
Regards,Nagarajan

A similar incident happened with me a couple of months back … I was returning from Elan and was forced to stop by this motorcycle gang on the road connecting Sarjapur Road and Belandur junction. These two goons made a similar story of a boy being hit by my car … fortunately I managed to get out of the situation without paying … but this was a scary and close call. A friend of mine had a similar experience near Innovative Multiplex …
Looks like a common happening around this area …
-Ali
Dear Suncity Residents - I would like to inform you of a rather unpleasant incident that happened with me last Monday, when I was returning home from my office during daytime for lunch. As soon as I took the left turn from ORR towards Suncity, two people on a black colored pulsar bike behind me started honking wildly and came by side of the car, asking me to stop. I lowered my glass window and they told me that I have caused an accident while on the way and they have been trying to stop me by following me since then. After this they stopped the bike in front of my car and I had to stop the car just after Drapes View. I thought that there would have been a misunderstanding of some sort since I didn't recall being involved in any accident or hit while on my way. My intention was to talk to them and pacify them. As soon I stepped out of the car, the guy driving the bike said that I had driven the car over the foot of the person sitting on the pillion of the bike and that his foot was badly injured. He then said that there is a huge crowd that has gathered at the spot of the so called accident and I need to go back to that spot to settle things. After this they came and forcibly sat inside the car, leaving the bike outside. Bike driver who now sat on the front seat of my car started threatening me by claiming that the person I have injured is the younger brother of a local goon, Munianna and that he is not going to leave me unharmed for this. I tried to reason with him and offered to take the other person to hospital to treat any possible injury that might have happened to him. He did not listen to me and went on with his threats, even uttering intentions to harm my car, apartment and family if not complied to his demands immediately. Sensing trouble, I tried to call my colleague back at office at which he suddenly became violent and broke the rear view mirror of the car. Their sheer audacity of doing this in broad daylight, immediate damage to my car and continuous threatening by now led me to believe that they were indeed real goons and I had got caught in their clutches. He started demanding Rs 2 lakh as settlement for the injury to his friend. When I said that I didn't have Rs 2 lakh, they asked me to get the money from the ATM. I told them that I had only 15k in ATM and I cannot pay them Rs 2 lakh at which they forced me to hand over my two gold rings and a gold chain. They said that this is not enough and they need whatever money I had in ATM plus another Rs 1.5 lakh. I was then forced to drive to the ATM with these guys following me on bike and withdraw cash. I was unable to note down the registration number of the bike as it was in Kannada. Thoughts of fleeing away after hitting them with the car and then going to police or shouting to gather crowd came to my mind but I decided against it as there wasn't any use doing these things with goons, they would have waylaid me again and done greater harm. I wanted to get out of the situation and hence I withdrew Rs 14,000 and gave it to them. As soon as I handed the money to them, they asked me to follow them but then they fled away. At that time I realized that this might be a gang operating for this very purpose and I had been one of their victims.
I went to HSR layout police station immediately to lodge a FIR, the SI refused to lodge one and instead took a written complaint without any receipt. My repeat visit didn't yield any results as SI/Inspector would not be present in the police station. Later on I came to know through various sources including police that such kind of incidents are on the rise in ORR/HSR Layout. The miscreants who looted me were on black colored Pulsar bike with registration number plate in Kannada and were in mid thirties(one stocky dark fellow and other was average build having wheatish complexion)
Please exercise caution even during daytime and do not fall in the trap of these miscreants as I did. Its advisable not to stop the car for any unknown person even during daytime irrespective of the reason given by them. Even if you have to do this, drive the car to a place where you are comfortable and have help available at hand. I would appreciate if anybody from EC can help me with getting the FIR lodged in HSR police station.
Please be safe.
Vineet10/103

Is Riding Autorickshaw in Bangalore Safe

Auto rickshaw in Bangalore are not safe at all .
This has not come from 1 incident , but a series of incidents either witnessed or victimed .

Incident 1 :-
A very long and rough conversation with an Auto driver which eventaully ended up Calling police .
Reason : I was going to KSRTC Bus Boarding Point . Inspite of telling me , that it would turn up only 65 bugs if you go my way he didnot pay heed to my words .Then he took some long route and meter said 95 bugs .I got pissed of and started the Argument . Eventually I had to call police and then we settled at Rs. 70 .

Incident 2 :-
An year back , I saved 2 of my friends being thrashed by an Auto driver . I was in my 4 wheeler , just behind them .
Reason : While taking a turn from Signal , Auto touched thier Bike and disbalanced them . Though they didnot fall , in a rage they said Auto driver to drive Carefully . Driver stopped them and thrashed them .

Incident 3 : -

Yesterday one Auto driver almost smashed a person while searching for a house .

Reason : Yesterday , while i was washing my scooter on the road , an auto driver asked me the way to 26th Cross . I said i don't know. The driver got pissed off on the Passenger and almost smashed him .He must be finding the house for a long time . Passenger would have made a deal to get down at house no "xyz" . Now this Auto driver was asking the Passenger to get down and give his money . Passenger objected , as he is not being dropped to the said Address . So he was almost thrashed by Auto Driver .I was feeling really bad for Passenger .

Bangalore Administration should really do something for these Upper- Middle class , who have to deal with these auto drivers . The voice of the General Public can also be heard from the following link :-

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/777219.cms?prtpage=1

Helping hands are better than Praying Lips::Call 1098 child helpline

Not liking the food you have daily????
How about some pizza?

No??? Ok....... Pasta? No?? .. How about Taco?

Not in taco mood today? ... ok.. Trying this Mexican Food?

No again? No probs.. we have more choice..
Hmmmmmmm.. chinise???????

Burgersssssss????????

Ok.. lets try Indian.. J South Indian Food? Naaaaa??? North Indian?
But.. They have No choice..

They just need some food to survive...

Think of them next time you throw the cafeteria food saying, its not tasty!!

Think of them next time you say ... Roti or Bread here is too hard to eat..

Please DO NOT WASTE food If you have a function/party at your home in India and food gets wasted, don't hesitate to call 1098 (only in India ) - Its not a Joke - child helpline.. They will come and collect the food .
Please circulate this message which can help feed many children.

HOW MUCH EASIER IS TO BE GENEROUS THAN JUST

After my second blog , I frankly didnot knew when I will be doing a new Post Again .I was busy with my other Blog on Travel - www.eyemytravels.wordpress.com but my experience with generosity touched the strongest chord of my heart. This prompted me to write about some of my face to face experiences with generosity .
INCIDENT BLIND
I was crossing the Parangipalaya bus stop , 2 blinds were trying to walk past the Road with the sticks in there hand .Cars, scooters , Buses is what they were fearing . I saw them , slowed down and thought of helping them .But it was just the thought which was not followed by any action .While i was still driving very slowly and thinking to stop , I asked my wife whether we should still stop as we were getting late .She told me 2 things which made me felt ashamed . Firstly she told me that , I shouldnot have thought too much .If I were feeling , i should have gone for it .Secondly , I shouldnot have crossed them , instead i should have stopped my car to make way for them .This would have worth more than clunching their hands and making them cross the Road .With this , they would have felt confident of crossing the Road independently and I would have felt that i helped those blind guys .

INCIDENT OLD
I was passing by the Belandur Red Light on my Scooter. 1 old man was returning from the temple with the "Lota" or Puja Mug in his hands . A similar situation was there ,everybody was passing by and he was struggling from 5- 7 min .I finaly stopped my scooter in such a way that i block most of the vehicles behind me .Finally I felt like dripping in the Holy Ganges .It felt great .GUYS PLEASE BE GENEROUS AT SOME TIME IN YOUR LIFE YOU WILL LOVE TO BE GENEROUS AGAIN .

GENEROSITY IS NOT GIVING ME THAT WHICH I NEED MORE THAN YOU DO , BUT IT IS GIVING ME THAT WHICH I NEED MORE THAN YOU ...............................................

NOTORIOUS TRAVEL AGENT AMROSE (C/O ANUPAM TRAVELS) IN KERALA TRIP

I would like to start my story from Bangalore .On 29th Of September, I decided to spend the Long Weekend(2,3,4th Oct) in Kerala (God's Own Country).I went to Madiwala to book 2 Volvo tickets .We asked each and every shop , but couldnot make it. At last we decided to go for a packaged tour from Choice Travels , Madiwala .The guy named Sunil who is the Boss of that Travel Agency looked quite convincing about the services and hotels .We boarded an ultra deluxe Volvo from bangalore to Allepey on the 1st Oct .

The horror started from the 2nd of October . It was raining in Allepey .We got down from the bus at around 7.00 a.m . There was nobody except 2 old man sitting under the shed.We were told that there will be a pickup car for you as soon as you get down from the Bus in Allepey . Then I called the most wonderful person of the trip "Mr. Ambrose" .This is the person whom i am suppose to call , if there is any problem in the trip .He told me to get an Auto and reach the Jetty Road to the Office of Star HouseBoat .I got pissed off , but i didn't had any choice . That place was like a Development Authority Complex , where every body was sleeping . Somehow i made them awake and asked for my HouseBoat Booking .I got the shock of the trip , that there is no Booking in my name .Again I called "Mr. Amrose" , and they gave us a Lodge kind of room for refreshment.Ambrose assured me that there is a houseboat for us and they will come to pick us up at around 12.00 p.m .This was still ok .We were ready at 11.30 a.m and we were not on board till 1.10 . This 1hour 40 Min went through a series of fights amongst many people {Choice Travels ,Anupam travels (Mr. Ambrose),House Boat Agency and me} .
What I got to know was , Ambrose called for the booking of house boat last evening though all the bookings were confirmed to me 1 week before .That day was fully packed . Almost all the 1000 house boats were booked .
Our package included Travanchore Palace beach resort .This hotel had very good reviews in the Net.So we were in a very Relaxing Mood when we went to Kovalam .The Rooms were really good . It had a beautiful Swimming Pool as well .But all were under maintenance .We got a pretty descent room and then we stopped expecting too much .I really wanted a resort with a swimming pool , but every thing was prepaid .
Now the ultimate tension occured when we have to board the Volvo bus back to Bangalore.
We were told that our bus is from Trivandrum at around 3.00p.m .But at the Last minute (11.30 a.m)we got to know that our bus is from allepey at 5.30 p.m. Agian we had to rush from kovalam to allepey which is around a 5 hour drive . We reached Allepey , but the tension was still not over beacuse the bus was not from allepey . It was from Cochin at 5.30 .We again ran form Allepey to Cochin which is around an Hour Drive .
At last we reached Cochin on time .But the show was not over yet .Though we paid for Volvo, but the bus turned out to be a Deluxe Ac Bus . We were not the only couple who were surprised by the facilties of the Trip .There 3 more families, who went through this Anupam Travels to Munnar Trip , they were also complaining about this Anupam Travels .

ACTION ITEMS OF THE TRIP : Whoever plan for a trip to Kerala . Please beware of :-
1. Anupam Travels (Mr. Ambrose) - mob. 09447979357 .(These guys are the ultimate cheaters)
People taking the Trip from Bangalore to Kerala . Make sure Anupam Travels is no where included by any means , otherwise your trip is really risky .
2. Choice Travels (Mr. Sunil) - 09241144427 (takes his package tour bookings through Anupam Travels)
LESSON OF TRIP : Plan your own trip in Advance . people of Kerala are very nice and helping except this Ambrose .Our taxi Driver Mr. Levin Cooperated with us to all extent .
Even the House Boat people were vey nice .
DO VISIT KERALA . We had some very nice time there . THOSE EXPERIENCES I WILL SHARE IN MY TRAVEL BLOG .

Develop Your India

To All Indian ,
I am a software Engineer based in bangalore .
Today i was coming from my home at HSR Layout to my workplace Whitefield .
I saw a lot of places , where Either the Road is in a Bad Shape or is getting built from past 2,3 months .There is a possibility that , the condition would remian in the present state for the next few months .I have started to take a log of all such problems faced by india everyday .

I donot have an intension to blame the Government , Municipal Authority or any such Government or Private organisations taking care of us .It is quite probable that , the officers or the supervisors of such authority might not be aware of the Situations .

I would invite all people , to spare sometime , think and write about all such problems you face in your day to day life .You are more invited to propose Solutions to such problems as well .