Atul Karmarkar.Com» Travel

Rickshawale – Autorickshaw on call in Mumbai

Atul Karmarkar — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:40:50 +0000

The war for providing the most affordable and reliable commute just got hotter. For long, radio cabs and regular taxis have ruled the roost in Mumbai. Rickshaws have always been there too, but they either refuse to ply to certain areas or charge a bomb when they do, courtesy ‘fast’ meters. Even though taxis have the same problem, people usually end up hailing a radio cab / taxi rather than an auto, though the former costs more.

This is where Vikhroli based Rickshawale aim to change all that, by having

Registered drivers & live tracking of every Auto Rickshaw
Strict Pay-by-meter policy
No refusal of service
24 Hr service
Computerised call centre with trained staff

They aim to make it worthwhile for the rickshaw drivers too, by providing them benefits like accident insurance, genuine spare parts and qualified servicing for their vehicles as well as financing opportunities to meet personal and professional obligations. This is pretty good because drivers are the backbone of any such operation, and attrition is pretty high so it helps to look after their needs as well.

There is a Fare Calculator on the site which gives you an idea of the approximate fare so it doesn’t come as a surprise when you actually have to pay. I filled in Bandra and Goregaon as the coordinates and was shown the fare as Rs.113 (no idea how accurate this is – I haven’t taken a rick between these places) along with the route on Google Maps.

Their web site could do with some QC as there are typos galore, though I’m just nitpicking. The actual proof will be in the quality and level of service they are able to provide. This is not an easy task, and there will certainly be teething troubles, as Pune based AyAuto have been finding out.

However, the key lies in being reliable and if they crack this, it would provide some much needed respite to Mumbaikars.

Rickshawale are going live on Saturday, October 15th 2011, so we’ll find out then just how they are faring

AyAuto – Pune’s Dial-An-Auto Service

Atul Karmarkar — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 06:31:58 +0000

Close on the heels of radio cabs, it is the turn of the humble auto rickshaw to turn hi-tech now. Here is AyAuto, a Dial-an-Auto service in Pune that hopes to capitalise on people’s desire to have a mode of conveyance on demand, and one which is not so heavy on the pocket too.

The catch: For the time being, the service is restricted to Kothrud, ShivajiNagar and Deccan areas. Charges will be strictly by meter only.

I’d said before that in Pune, the distances aren’t all that much, and if comfort (like air conditioning) or ‘status’ isn’t a factor, then the auto rickshaw is a much more affordable means of transport as compared to a radio cab, which charges Rs.16 per km.

Hopefully, autos will be more easily available too, as we’re largely dependent on Wings Radio Cabs at the moment.

AyAuto are presently conducting field trials and plan to go live by next week. Let’s see how the Pune junta takes to this new service

IRCTC site gets a makeover

Atul Karmarkar — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 01:29:49 +0000

One of India’s most heavily visited sites, http://www.irctc.co.in/ has gone in for a makeover.

The new site seems much more simpler, user friendly, and easier to navigate, though I haven’t tried out all options yet. It is presently labeled ‘Beta’, and keeping in tune with our Independence Day, will go live on 15-Aug-10.

Here is how it looks:

You can either click ‘Beta’ on the current site or directly access the new site by visiting https://www.irctc.co.in/cgi-bin/beta.dll/irctc/services/home.do

Happy Bookings!

Another super week at Bangalore

Atul Karmarkar — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:20:36 +0000

Have been meaning to write about my recent visit to Bangalore (I know I know.. Bangalore again !! ), par kya karein, it is always wonderful to see my nephew and in fact this time we all went to celebrate his second birthday.

It wasn’t as cold as it was the same time last year though during the mornings there was always a bit of winter chill in the air accompanied by a fog. It was barely possible to see more than a building away, even at 7 am when this pic was taken !

Well, as usual, Bangalore is always home to the good times and it was no different on this visit too as bro-in-law introduced us to Kingfisher Ultra. Quite a neat bottle with a peel away bottle top and best of all, priced at Rs.60/- for a pint. I was wondering how I’d never come across this in Pune, and a closer look at the bottle gave me the answer… “Not for sale in Maharashtra” and below that, “For sale in Karnataka only” !! Maan, this sucks.. though when I tweeted about it on Twitter, Kingfisher was quick to reply saying it was available in Mumbai and would be available in other cities too.

As was to be expected at Bangalore, food and drinks dominated the proceedings most of the time. Met an old friend at Le Rock, near MG Road, and while the pitcher was decently priced, the snacks were too pricey ! The seating wasn’t all that comfortable and there wasn’t much of a crowd, probably because we went in the afternoon (happy hours).

A visit to Little Italy was also mandated and I love the place, especially as the one at Koramangala near Forum Mall is much closer. The Crostini Della Casa was good as usual, and we started off with the awesome Caesar Salad and Corleone before moving on the main stuff. Two of my favourite joints are of course Caperberry and The Egg Factory and I have a feeling I’m gonna be patronising both places each time I’m in town.

We celebrated my nephew’s birthday at Caperberry and he was as thrilled to go around exploring the place. The starters were yummy as ever and though I didn’t load my plate quite the way I did during the last visit, this was a handful, especially the pineapple and chicken combo, not to mention the gazpacho, again pineapple being a hot favourite.

The Egg Factory is a fabulous place to be, and we feasted on the Southwestern Frittata yet again, along with regular scrambled eggs. The grafitti on the walls was sadly not upto the mark as it was last time, so didn’t click any pics though I remembered to click one of the Frittata unlike the half eaten one from before !

The Daily Bread (adjacent to Barbeque Nation) is another super place to hang out and they let you customise your dishes and the toppings. I decided not to experiment, and ordered a German Potato Salad. It was decent enough, but I’d still say the one at Pepinos in Pune is better. Their pasta with chicken and fettucini was also quite tasty and we topped it all off with gelatos.

Sigh.. so much for eating out… yup, there were also days when we were all too tired to go out so ordered food from home, especially the parathas and assorted stuff from Mast Kalandar and the Gobi Manchurian from a newly opened joint in Bannerghatta called Maakhan Bhog. Apparently they also have excellent veg sizzlers, but as takeaway was not an option for this, it will have to wait for my next visit there ! All in all, a super week at Bangalore and a gastronomic delight in every sense of the word.

We flew Indigo both ways, and I gotta say the winter uniform of the cabin crew looks quite tacky. The onward flight was quite uneventful but the return flight had some 5-6 kids on board. One kid in particular was bawling away right from the time we boarded the bus on the runway till the time we landed in Pune, upto the baggage claim, after which we felt mightily relieved to step out of the airport premises. Considering the excellent rapport between my nephew and me, maybe I could’ve tried to quieten this kiddo also, but my iPod won over

Till the next visit then… adios!

Air Arabia special offer – Round trip to Sharjah

Atul Karmarkar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:40:37 +0000

Air Arabia seems to have made a habit of launching special schemes and offers during this time each year.

Unlike last year, when the airline turned five and offered a free flight on Air Arabia, this time they’re offering round trip tickets to Sharjah with a one-month UAE tourist visa for Rs.12,919 from any of it’s thirteen locations in India.

The visa would be valid for thirty days from date of entry, subject to approval from the General Directorate of Naturalisation and Residence.

The offer is inclusive of surcharges and exclusive of airport taxes and can be availed for bookings made before December 15 for travel to / from Sharjah till December 31 2009. A passenger availing the offer would also be entitled to additional benefit of free baggage allowance of up to 30 kilos and a hand baggage allowance of 7 kilos.

Sounds pretty decent, huh.. but do check out the airport taxes before you rush to book !

Au Revoir, Bangalore

Atul Karmarkar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:01:00 +0000

Just got back yesterday from another quick visit to Bangalore and as always it was a fun filled one. This time though, it was more of a gastronomical delight, with a superb lunch at Caperberry and a hearty breakfast at The Egg Factory.

One thing I noticed was that both airlines I used on this trip, Kingfisher Red and then Indigo, seem to have put in place some cost cutting measures like keeping the air conditioning switched off right till take off. Though their point of view is appreciated, spare a thought for all the junta packed together like sardines in a can, everyone using newspapers and the in-flight magazines to fan themselves and provide some respite from the stifling heat and BO.

Couldn’t help recalling Shashi Tharoor’s remark of some days ago about travelling “cattle class”… Created a furore then, but seemed so apt in this scenario.

Oh and another thing… managed to pack in a case of Belgian beer, selected and gifted by bro-in-law. Of course, in the hurry, I forgot to have my check in baggage marked “Fragile”, so was hoping nothing was amiss as I unpacked my stuff. Luckily, everything was fine and obviously, a photo of the magnificent eight had to be taken !

Some pretty interesting times ahead.. Cheers !!! hic..

Lunch at Caperberry

Atul Karmarkar — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:12:00 +0000

Yay ! Back in Bangalore after my last visit in June.

Flew Kingfisher Red this time, and I was informed before that there would be no in-flight entertainment, no blankets or pillows, and no choice of cuisine. Well… the person telling me this was out of touch with reality coz I watched the Autocar show and a bit of ‘Luck by Chance’ on the in-flight telly. The food was pure veg and while I don’t have any problems with that at all, the upma was orange in colour… something I’ve never had before. Also got a crumpled croissant and a bowl of fruits… mostly loaded with papaya, not really my favourite ! :-p

The initial plan as usual was for my sis, bro-in-law and nephew to come to the airport, but as B-I-L had driven to Chennai and back yesterday, he was a bit tired. We agreed to meet somewhere midway and as I had a bag plus my backpack, Koshy’s seemed the ideal meeting point, being nice and spacious, as well as centrally located.

The cab took almost 2 hours to reach there from the airport, but considering it was a weekday, this was to be expected I guess. I really love the old world charm and ambience at Koshy’s and once I parked my bag, I decided to dig into a plate of chicken sandwiches followed by hot bournvita. It was a while before the family arrived, and I had wolfed down a second plate of sandwiches by then.

Today being my bro-in-law’s birthday, we headed to our next rendezvous – lunch at Caperberry.

This is a restaurant and tapas lounge, located near Manipal Centre on Dickenson Road, in the same building as the Tanishq showroom. The timings are 12.30 pm – 3 pm and 5.30 pm – 11.30 pm, so we were a bit early. This, combined with the fact that we were the only ones till then, gave me an opportunity to check out the place.

From outside, the entry to Caperberry isn’t all that great, but once you enter, there is a lounge, and a pretty impressive bar, which you need to pass as you move on to the restaurant. The seating is comfortable though it could have been more well spaced out, and the presence of bottles and glass stuff in general meant we had to constantly keep an eye on my nephew, who seemed intent on grabbing everything within reach.

One of the reasons for our coming here was also to sample the “molecular cooking” which uses liquid nitrogen and other techniques. However, we were informed that was done only at night. As we were served the complimentary breads, butter and dip, we had a Carlsberg each and took a look at the menu that was on offer for the afternoon, and it was lip smacking to say the least. We chose the 4 course menu, which at Rs.550 each, seemed quite reasonable.

We then decided to dig into the starters, and oh boy… what starters !! We headed over to help ourselves from the spread laid out, and as you can see, the starters seemed to be a meal in itself. I had chicken with pineapple, some lettuce, roasted potatoes in mayonnaise, several types of cheese, noodles, mushrooms, marinated olives and a glass of Gazpacho… Simply mouth watering stuff !

The next item on the agenda for me was pasta with chicken, which was again yummy ! Just as we were all sitting there like content cats, the stewards then arrived with the next dish(es), veg for bro-in-law, chicken sausages for sis, and fish (White Mullet)for me.

We were pretty much done and as they had been informed it was bro-in-law’s birthday, they played the happy b’day song and brought in a complimentary chocolate cake, which was actually more mousse and less cake !

There was also dessert after all this, but I was too stuffed to even think about it… and regretfully, let it pass, as we headed out to our next destination, almost 3 hours since we arrived at Caperberry.

Caperberry is a pretty good place, serves good food, the stewards are attentive without being obtrusive and the prices seem a tad on the higher side, but overall, I’d say worth it ! Do check it out.

Caperberry Restaurant and Tapas Lounge (web site under construction)
48/1 Ground Floor, The Estate, No 121, Dickenson Road, Bangalore
Tel: 080-2559 4567

Jet Airways set to fly again, offers 50% discount for 5 days

Atul Karmarkar — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:42:01 +0000

Yes, that’s right… Jet Airways is offering a discount of 50% for the next 5 days !!

The airline, suffering heavily since the past five days, finally returned to work mode as their pilots finally called off their agitation. On their part, Jet agreed to reinstate the four pilots besides deciding not to initiate any disciplinary action against the pilots who reported sick, throwing flight schedules into a tizzy.

But wait, what about the discount? And yes, before you start thinking this discount is only applicable on the basic fare, it isn’t. The discount would also cover the fuel surchage cost, and will be valid for all bookings from this Monday to Friday in the economy class on all domestic sectors.

So what are you waiting for? Go and book your Jet Airways ticket now !!

An eventful week at Bangalore

Atul Karmarkar — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:01:56 +0000

Just returned to Pune… and already feeling like taking the first flight back to Bangalore !!

It was a fun filled lazy week, what with the idyllic weather. No rain, however. Got to meet several friends who are now based here, including an old friend I last met some 13-14 years ago. Unfortunately, some other friends were out of town in the same week I was there, so a meet-up couldn’t happen.

Most of the evening activity was in the Forum area, as it was central and easy for everyone to reach. Also went to a place called Terrace Nation, situated in the National Games Village, Koramangala. Fantastic ambience and location, but the major sore point was with the pace of the service. Each order had to be repeated a minimum of two times, whether it was the food or even ice cubes and soda, and yes… we even had to remind the steward to get the bill !!

We went to the Bannerghatta National Park on Friday, mainly to acquaint my nephew with the animals that he’d seen so far only in his picture books. Yep, he was suitably impressed, though he couldn’t say so yet. He even touched the trunk of an elephant !

Saturday was again a lazy day, and we all went to have breakfast at A2B, followed by a visit to Cubbon Park, where we played a bit of frisbee n stuff. From there, we moved on to the Taj Residency for a spot of lunch. The coffee shop was full as Bosch had given their employees some vouchers, so they had all chosen that day to land up there. We went to the restaurant beside it, and the food was pretty good, the preparation and presentation even more so.

Come evening time and it was decided that we’d have coffee at a place called Cafe Pascucci on MG Road. The place has a nice ambience, good decor and a nice menu. The crowd is also pretty good, and the place attracts a lot of foreigners too.

I had a look at the menu, and though there were several yummy items on offer, I chose one called ‘Sorbetto Al Caffe’.

The contents seemed mouthwatering; coffee powder, coffee beans, coffee liqueur… the works !! In short, absolutely lip smacking stuff !

As it so happened, a short while later, a friend and I also decided to meet up at MG Road as it was closer to his house, and no prizes for guessing which venue I chose.

I had no qualms in ordering the sorbetto all over again, and felt like a really content cat after downing it for the second time.

Come Sunday and it was time to leave. The trip to the airport was routine enough and once there, I had to shell out some dough for the stupid UDF which only seems to be charged at the airport here.

Once I boarded the Indigo flight, the names of the crew were announced and I think this was the first time I was flying in an airline where the Captain was a lady, a far cry from Roberto Carlos !

Riding with a drunk driver means jail for you too

Atul Karmarkar — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:11:57 +0000

The cops are now cracking down not just on people who drive when drunk, but even co-passengers, regardless of whether they are drunk or not.

An example was set recently in Mulund, Mumbai. The driver was booked for drunken driving, and his friend was charged with abetting the offence, a crime under Section 188 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

Though laudable, am wondering what happens if one is travelling in a rented cab or a taxi / autorickshaw?

Atul Karmarkar.Com» Travel

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