RTI Success Stories - First

The plan here is to Share my success / failure stories with RTI 2005 . FYI , I am not a RTI activist. I do Not belong to any party .  The timing of this has nothing to do with AAP . I have minimal knowledge on RTI . I do have basic ideas about RTI and of course I will share my experiences here .

Introduction
What is RTI : I am not going to lecture on this . There are umteen sites telling us what is RTI . How you can file them , etc.  Some of the links I like 

http://rtionline.gov.in/

http://www.rtiindia.org

Story 1 :  Did my EPF get transferred ?

I had to make a couple of Job changes  in 2008 . When I Joined the new organization , I did not want to close out my PF account as my other friends had suggested . I chose to transfer and wait for the transfers to happen . Although I submitted my transfer application as soon as I joined the new Organization in May 2009 , my new Org took its own time to consolidate and Send it to EPFO office . I believe they did it in Sept 2009 . I forgot abt my PF transfer and I was engrossed at my new work . Time flew ..2010..2011 , .. I did not even know my PF had gone into a black hole . Where to go..Whom to approach . At the max , I would follow up with my PF dept and ask them if my PF has got transferred for which they would have the same ans as I did . I was just hoping for the best .
   Thanks to one of my colleagues , he suggested to file a RTI to get the status . I spoke with him in length . I was never convinced that it would work . Ok..so what next .. I was researching a lot of sites to know about RTI , etc.  I had drafted the letter several times . My laziness always overtook me and I never posted any of the letters to the PIO , EPF dept . For some reason , in late 2012 , I thought let me fire a print out and speed post the letter . Done . Keeping my fingers crossed to get the reply . 
 Oof .. Sharp 20 days , I did get a reply from the PIO , EPFO Bangalore saying my EPF from  both the organizations have been transferred . Infact it was transferred by 2011 . I had no idea abt the transfer otherwise . But my mission was met to get to know that EPF had got successfully transferred .
Although I was not completely convinced that RTI enabled my transfer , I was atleast happy that my PF was transferred .  Thanks RTI .
Rating :  7 on 10 . 
Why not 10 on 10 ?  First RTI , being cautious abt the success . It did help me in achieve my goal . But I didnt still know how to use this effectively to get my job done . 

Good Job Mate .

"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind".. That One small step has more success stories to follow . Keep coming back . 

Madhu
Right or wrong to information ? 

Another year passes ...

A long year passed ...A lot of ups and downs as usual ..Lot of stuff happened .Interesting and uninteresting . The future is always exciting . Let me see whats in store for me in 2010 .

Madhu
- Eagerly entering 2010

Maiden English

Rani has been our servant maid for over a year now . She talks very little and finishes her work very sincerely . The problem is language. I and my amma cannot speak kannada and Rani cant speak Tamil. Mode of communication is then Tannada . English was a taboo. She couldnt understand a word in English .
She doesnt bunk and her work is decent. But I have only one complain. She comes very late for work . She comes at 11:00 Am. Well I have asked her to report at about 7:00 am , so that she can clean the house even when I am there. Every time I have asked her to come early , she said she was working in homes where the couples were working for a fraud hit software company . Both the couples had to leave before 9:00 and it was next to impossible for Rani to come to my house at 7:00 . Point agreed . But on Sundays , she used to be at 7:00 . What ? Why do you take me for granted and disturb me at 7:00 on sundays. Am I not a office goer? Come on..

We have got used to her timings and she has got used to ours. I have stopped complaining about her weird timings to my house . Time has passed . Suddenly one fine day she starts coming at 7:00 am in the morning . We thought initially that this was a temporary arrangement and she would get back to her normal timings. After a week , amma slowly asked Rani why she was coming early these days. For which she silently replied , she was affected by "RECESSION" and carried on her with work.

Madhu
-Awed by effects of recession

Bus bookings

This might be old news .There are some sites that allow booking of buses online.
You might want to try this site .

KSRTC has this feature . But TNSTC doesnt .. Come on TamilNadu transport ,lon way to go ..Come out of stone age .

Madhu

Naatyam ...

Last friday one of my kalpakkam friends had invited me for a dance performance. His wife who is an eminent Bharatnatyam exponent was performing in Yavanika state youth center , Nrupatunga Road , bangalore at 6:30 PM . For whatever reasons,my inclination towards music is much
more than towards dance .I wanted to break this barrier and grabbed this
oppurtunity .
On dot 6:30 , the program started with an invocation to the dance Lord Shiva ,
in Revathy . The first thing I realised was the phenomenal stamina one needs to
have while dancing. A humble suggestion audience , pl do not pick up your mobiles while an artiste is performing . Would also appreciate if you can remain silent all through the performance .
mmm.. dance soodu pudika arambitchidhu . Right after the invocation the central piece the Varnam began . Unlike in a music concert where varnam is the starter in dance it is the core . Its like the RTP where the exponent can show all his/her talent . Madhu why do u have to compare Apples and Oranges ?
The Varnam was set to RitiGowlai ( for new comers listen to Azhagana Rakshashi, kangal Irundal ) .Sri Krishna vasudeva depicted lord Krishna leela . How beautifully the lady depcited Putana vada and shakatasura vada ( please read it as destruction not as an eatable vada :) ) . Lord Krishna becoming the
parthasarathy...Now I came to understand the dance is no less than music .
Certainly there is a visual appeal . Thanks to the lady performing .
Having done with the varnam , the track moved on to the Padam in Chinna jiru
kilyeah set to Ragamalika by Subby ( Thillu mullu style ) . The bhava of
mother child relation was just amazing. Good Job done again .
The lady singing to synchronise with the performer needs a noteworthy mention here . In all the renditions she brought abt the emotions to help the lady performing . Just a small suggestion madam , 'N', 'n' ,Gna in songs need to be relooked upon . Yeah I understand that diff lang have diff pronounciations ,but meanings differ if a wrong syllable is used .
If chinna chiru kilyeah was superb , The devar nama by Purandara Dasa
was a step further . This piece was the best rather I liked it the most .
Reason , because there was a posture of Lord Nrsimha my fav which the artist
brought about realistically .
I was just thinking , probably the theme today is only Lord Vishnu . Just as my
thought went through she started a performance in a Javali which depicted
a beautiful husband wife relation . Isnt this Raghava Prema ?
Dance without a thillana is a lunch without a desserrt . The dessert was
was in AmritaVarshini . Ok guys lets go home after such a wonderful evening.
On the whole it was a brilliant performance by the lady .Certainly appreciations to the singer , the natuvangini , the flautist and the mrindangist as well .
Great job done . My appreciation is minimal here as my knowledge in dance is
zero . I would have certainly appreciated the perf if I had known better .
Certainly the seed is sown , and I would get back with some more understanding
of the art .
Venaktesh , this academy has perfomances on every weekend on diff art forms.
Next week polama ?

Madhu
Thandava Koney

yet again..

I have got tired of writing abt terror . Past 3 days have really been tramautic for me as it has been for anyone in India .seeing the stupid idiots firing at innocent people ..These terrorists are just cowards . they do not know what they want . i have no words to abuse them .
certainly the NSG, police , Army , the hotel staff have to be appreciated . No words of praise can be sufficient .
aftermath , i saw ppl shouting and finger pointing at politicians , intelligence failure ..all of them said they want a better system in place. My point is out of the 20-25 ppl who wud have got interviewed , I am assuming 10 wudnt have voted.. 10 wud have tried to evade taxes .Now each of us are corrupt and ahve a systemic failure ..but expect the system to be perfect .the only way to correct the system is by correcting oneselve.Each one of us shd do our duties sincerely and then if we demand something is going wrong ..then nothing like it..But here each one of us are corrupt to the core including me ..But we want the system to be perfect..
My heart cries ...

madhu
- the warrior

Marana Kadi

I went to my cousin's marriage when my small little nieces and nephews were all over me to share them with kadi jokes(Poor Jokes). In my school days these kadi jokes used to be really popular. Let me see if I can recollect some of them and post them. Please do post your answers . Most of them are old jokes and really common ones. You need to understand Tamil to answer them.

1. The most famous one - Bus Pinnala thallina enna agum
-- Pin Valayum
2. Oru Naal enga amma Murukku panina . After week we found that they were dead .Why ?
-- Adhula Thookula potuirundanga
3. Thayir( Curd) en velai (white) a irukku
-- Pala thothca(wash) thayir varum
4. Whats the opposite of STD ?
-- No Coffee Da
5. Palvalikku mukiyaman Karanan enna theriyuma?
--Pal daan
6. Patient: Neenga oru "Pal Doctor" a ?
Doctor. Illai Naan " Muppathirendu pallukkum Doctor".
7. Oru girl veettukku late aa vara. odane antha ponnu appa "yen lattu" appadinraru. amma asked her "why are you late?" annan "thum late kya karum(hindi )" appadi nnu ketaru akka "enthukku lattuka uchchavu (telugu)" what can you infer from this.
--Oru Ponnu Late a vanda , 4 peru 4 vidama kepanga
8. What is the similarity between short circuit and poramai?
--Wire eriyardhu
9. LEO coffee a yaen kalyanam pannikka mudiyaadhu?
--Leo coffee manamana coffee
10. LIC oda 14th floorla sandhanam poosi yirukkanga. Yaen?
11. yen manaivi vayil pudavai dhan kattuva (aachariyamaga)yellarum iduppula dhane pudavai kattuvanga
12. Mylapore-kkum, Mandaveli-kkum sandai vandha edhu win-pannum?
--Mylapore , enna dhu kitta daan tank irukku
13. Russia-la yen kosu-ve illai?
--Ena anga kosukkku vera peru
14. Ramar Sithaiyai thedindu Lankai kalambumbodhu kadal ai thaandarathukku varar.Appo enna aschariyam! Kadal avarukku appadiye vazhi vittuduthu. Yein?
-- Enna avarukku kitta "will" irundhadhu. where there is a will there is a way
15. Mickey Mouse , Donald Duck and pluto were playing. Suddenly Mickey's tail started growing long. It grew very long .It went to a corner and Started writing Ramayan ? Yean?
-- Enna adhu valmiki ayiditchu :(

I can see all of you running towards me for hitting me..Naan abscond ........

Cheers,
Madhu
Kadi Kadi

Volunteering

This weekend was pretty hectic for most of us from the organization. Not because we had to fix bugs but some of us had volunteered for community service. Some of the activities were enjoying with Specially privileged children, old aged ppl , helping out thalasemia patients ,etc. I decided to volunteer to for a couple of activities.
Chord was one such event. This was the one for helping out bringing in scientific temper among the under priveleged children who had been child labors and who were being taken care a NGO called Chord. We meticulously planned the various activities beforehand so that nothing crashes on the day of event . Ppl were assigned various responsibilities, food committees, science committees , etc were formed to take various roles. Leads took care of the overall arrangements .
Why should I participate in this event , Is it because I didnt want fix bugs on a Sat , was I getting a free T-Shirt , was it that I wanted a change or was it a small step from me to do a small service to humanity in my own small way ..Thinking and contemplating I boarded the bus which took us to the school ( I am not sure if I could call it a school). It was a faraway from Hyd about 25 Kms . We played a lot of games with the children . Musical chairs, some cultural activites with the kids made both us and the children enjoy the event. "Breakfast guys"..called the lead and all of us broke our fast .
After the breakfast , the main event took place.

Science Exhibition.

Volunteers went around the exhibits prepared before hand by the students with the help of their teachers. The main idea for around was to help them understand the basic science concepts and their real life implications. Rain water harvesting , Capillary action , Water pressure expts, Salt water synthesis , Electrical circuits , Optics .All parts of the science was touched. We went around each of the exhibits to help them . This was the toughest part. They were not able to communicate with us..And our Telugu was terrible. In our toota foota telugu we managed to tell them whatever we knew and they understood things in their own way (Hope we havent taught anything wrong) .
After this the children demonstrated the same to their school mates and explained them. The children did their work with a great deal of enjoyment and involvement . As we were showing the exhibits , Lunch was being taken by other children keeping in mind of the small kitchen. Biriyani ..Curd Rice ..Kids thought it was festival time ..this was the most relishable time for the kids .
Post lunch was devoted to origami classes. With Papers it was amazing to see of some of our volunteering to teach making elephants, birds..mmmm. God I also tore a lot of papers !..Kids got them correct and I presume they would possess these pieces pf papers as really valuable pieces of their creativity .
Day was coming to a close when we decided to share way the prizes to winners of events whihc we conducted all thru the day like memory game, art competitions ,etc . The kids also performed their part in singing songs, dancing etc to entertain us . Good Show guys... "Tata , bye Bye ..please come again sir/Madams", said the kids as we parted way after a long anjd memorable day.
I boarded the bus with a heavy heart again thinking if I had got the answer ..I believe I got the answer .

Cheers,
Madhu
Volunteer.

Hyder "Bombed"

"Hyderabad Explode ".. "Twin Cities twin Blasts " .."Terror Strikes Hyderabad again" ..Who would have imagined they would have to read the morning newspaper with these headlines .
Would the relatives of the people who had gone to see the Laser Show at Lumbini Park in their wildest of dreams dreamt that they would be victims themselves . 42 lives were just plucked away by a cowardice terror act . Such a brutal act by some silly stupid people who do not know want they want should be condemned .
Call it Intelligence failure , Govt mismanagement , anything.. at the end of day the fact of the matter is , innocent people t their lives . We would have certainly not missed the clipping of the various news channel covering this 24 * 7 since the blast took effect . I have once seen a bomb blast in front of my eyes in Srinagar in 1999 . I tell you its really scary and I realized how much value human life has on that day. I would post that another day .
Now we might need to attack the root cause of the problem . Terrorism . First and foremost these idiots must realise that they are not going to achieve anything by victimizing innocent public. Probably a 5 min sadistic pleasure . Are you not a human . Dont you have any values ? If you have any problems talk it out with the govt , instead of taking to such incorrigible acts.
If you people could suggest some ways that would abolish terrorism it would be a great value add from we citizens . The first and foremost is Poverty . If we could reduce poverty , I tell you half the problem is solved. Mostly in almost all cases the people who execute the action is a very poor uneducated guy who is puppeted by a rich business man.
Education . Moral education should be imparted to every human. Gandhism should be propagandized. People should made to realize that Peace harvests Peace and Violence sprouts Violence.
We at this hour should stand united and see to it that we wade this crisis as effectively as possible. Our heart felt condolences to all those who lost their lives. In a way they are Martyrs too fighting against an unknown enemy .

Madhu
- Lover of Gandhism

Whats in my name ?

As a student of class 5 , all of us must have heard of the story of Rumpelstiltskin . The dwarf challenges the queen to guess his name to let her child of free. The story goes on wherein the queen discovers this uncommon name of the dwarf.
I dont think Madhusoodhanan is anywhere close to Rumpel . This is a very much common name in India , especially south India . Names are really close to one's heart as it marks the identity of a person. In India , we have the habit of naming the children with a God's Name so that the child inherits all the qualities of the name . Each name has a meaning as does mine. In the epic Mahabharata , lord krsna's name was Madhusoodhanan as he killed a demon by name Madhu. Madhu (demon)+ soodhanan ( Killed ) .
Now , from my memory I have heard people call my name in whatever they like . In my school , there used to be my friend who called me "Madu". I guess he couldnt pronounce the "DH". Moving to college, some of my friends jocularly said my name contained all the vices one should not possess. Madhu in Tamil means whisky...Extend madhu to Maadhu , the meaning is ladies and Soodhu from Soodhanan reflects gambling . Good that my parents didn't hear these guys definition of my name . They would have got my name changed in the gazette right away . They would have never wanted their kid to get any of these :(
Some more weird pronunciations , Muddy , Maad , Maadu ( cow) , and what not . People of have played with my name to their convenience . In my office when I interact with my US counterparts , they started with Mad U , improved to Made U ..Oh GoD , please teach them how shd I be called. Finally they settled for madwho ? thats much better . One day when we were in a meeting , my US colleague said that my name is a complicated tongue twister!! You know what his name was Xing Xang Xhu... Now you people tell me which is a twister ?
Most of the guys around me call me Madhu . In fact, I prefer calling myself Madhu . I hope by the virtue of the same old theory of the character getting inherited by name, I don't become the demon . I would rather be a docile , nice hearted person as Madhusoodhanan .

Now guys can you go and count back how many Mads are there in this post. I hope you don't get Mad counting.

Cheers,
Madhu the Mandu ( as some call me )

MMTS Timings again

Ppl have been asking MMTS timings. SO I thought let me upload this jpg file and increase the traffice to my page ..

2 Extra dosais

This happened to me when I was in the first semester of MCA. We just finished what I would call the toughest practical examinations in my life. Ask my MCA classmates, they would agree that the first semester electronics lab exam was more a theory exam than a practical exam. Myself , Maha and Kums were the 3 lucky people who got the kind of qn which one would have never expected. All the 3 of us were fuming when the exam was finally over. It was not that the qn was tuf but it was monotonous and it cudnt have been completed in 3 hrs by anyone and there were not enuf chips in our labs to execute the circuit.
I was dead tired and frustrated with the exam and walked after a long 3 hour exam . I was hungry . I wanted to eat as much as possible and walked to one of the best restraunts in TPK . As I was walking towards the restraunt, KK another calssmate joined me . He wanted to know how the exam was and I had to narrate him the whole story and that I was going to have my fill. He wanted to join me and we started walking.
We were close to the bus stop as Muthu another of my classmate was walking and he was also interested to join us for the snack. We were all hungry and went to a small restraunt near the TPK temple to have our fill.
Each one of us were hungry and were ordering gulping the snacks as if we hadnt seen those food items at all. Each finished our idlies and next came the set dosais , gulped a few chapatis and finally the coffee to refresh ourselves.. Each of were full and could not have anything more for the rest of the day.
"Bill Please", said Muthu. The waiter gave the bill and the bill was Rs.82 .I was having Rs 50 and asked KK to pay the rest.I was always of the opinion that as my classmates joined me one by one they would be having enuf cash with them. Now KK didnt have money nor did Muthu. KK and Muthu were thinking that others wud be having enuf cash to pay out the bill. Each of us were looking at each other's face not knowing know this embarassing situation. The waiter was walking up and down around us with accusing look.
Luckily for us Muthu's house was close to the restraunt and he said that he would get the money. 5 mins passed after Muthu left , myself andKK were in unknown waters. KK hit an idea . He called up the waiter and ordered for another 2 dosais for each of us.I was confused and got his idea. KKs idea was simple. By the time Muthu came back, we would slowly munch the extra dosais so that the owner didnt think bad of us . But then we were already full . Still , we slowly munched the extra dosais and thank God by the time we finished the extra dosais, Muthu came back with enuf cash frm his house.
If Muthu had not been in time this blog would have been 10 extra dosais . Myself and KK would have gone in an infinite loop for sure. What say KK ?

Madhu
- Dosai eater

Lot to write

I have a lot to write .. But stuck with some work .
Please wait for

• Ahobila - Nava Nrsimha stalam
• Bangolrean traffic
• Home Alone

Just have got a few of them ready ..but need to post it

Ciao Soon

Madhu

Indru Oru thagaval

"Inrou oru thagaval", was a popular AIR program on weekdays at 7:40 am during my school days. I am not sure if the program is being aired even today . its a 5 min program and the agenda was pretty straight forward. A small story with a big message and the program ended with a small joke.
Initially I started listening to the program to keep up my time. The broadcast was my breakfast time during school days. During the course of the time , I became a big fan of the program for its short and sweet stories. The hero of the program was Thenkachi Ko swaminathan whoz there in the foto right above. His voice suits a grandfather's voice who tells bedtime stories to his grand children. the morals and teachings in the program come a long way in ones life.Mr Swaminathan, seems to have retired from AIR and seems to have joined SUN TV . I just happened to see him in the morning show during my breakfast at 9:00 AM the other day and I was reminded of some of the stories narrated by him.

One of the nice stories that I still remember goes like this .

" There were 2 buddhists monks . They were crossing a river. They saw a beautiful woman who was struggling to cross the river. She asked the monks to help her cross the river by carrying her in their shoulder. One of the monks said it was a sin to carry woman. but the other monk carried her along and helped her cross the river. The woman thanked the monk and lleft on her own way. After abt 10 mins , the monk didnt help the female told the other."Our Guru has asked us not carry woman".
For this the monk just replied , "I have left the woman in the bank, but it seems you have carried all until here ". This monk realised his folly .

Sucha small story with a huge meaning aint it..

Madhu

Hair cutter...

Today is sunday. Enakku thalaikku melai velai irukku. adhu thaan ba hair cut pannanum. I have a lot of sentiments about choosing my saloons. Dont know how I picked up this habit. Barbers are unique and have a philosophical aspect . They are the ones who reduce your headweight :-) with your consent .
The first vivid memory of mine when ,I was taken to barber was in Kalpakkam wa "MADURAI Saloon" in the shopping store complex with my appa. The barber placed me in a swinging chair. Iwas small and hence he put a small wooden plank so that he was ok with settings.
He took out his pair of scissors and booooo... i started crying . I was thinking he was going to cut my head :-( and that cudnt happen . I didnt know what was happening , a couple of other barbers with my father tied me up and finished the act.
From then on I tell you till I came out of my town, I dont remember having got a hair cut from any other barber. Any Sunday , i went to the saloon , I would be given priority over others as I have been one of the regular customers. Even in my college days, I used to wait for my trip to kalpakkam to have a hair cut. the charges were special for me. The barber charged 5 rupees lesser for me . Its another matter that i would tip the barber wth the same 5 rupee.
I picked up the habit of reading sindbad in dinathanthi , varamalar ,etc in my wait for my turn. I have seen several small kids cry like what i did. I used to laugh at myself. Now I miss all the dinamalars adn the tunukkus . All i get to read is the telugu newspaper ...I dont read them , I just see the jalebis printed in the newspaper thinking if these are to be eaten.
i dont remember having a single freak incident with my barber. he was careful inhandling me . All that he wud ask me was "long" or "short". When I was introduced to C datatypes , iwas thinking kerninghan and Ritchie would have had a barber like mine. He just waited for my reply and started his artistic task of cutting the 60 adi koondhal of his highness. Poittu vaanga sir .
mission completed ..I would walk back home or drive in my champ as a victorious gladiator . After every hair cut Amma would say, innum konjam kooda cut panni irukalamay .."Amma idhukku mela cut panina mottai thaan adikanum " was my regular reply.
i was dictated to walk to the bathroom straight and poured water as if i had attended a funeral. After a quick bath my coffee and The hindu are ready and thalikku melai velai slowly accumlates till my next hair cut.

Madhu

Slice of Life

It defies the laws of nature if you are a Tamilian and you dont read "THE HINDU". I Love the paper, dont know why .. esp with the morning coffee in a davara tumbler. Sipping Coffee slowly is like drinking the divine ambrosia, with the newspaper of course. Now dont ask me whihc one is better , the newspaper or the coffee. both complement each other and i cant leave out the other.
Infact I feel the day is lost if I miss either of the two.
The newspaper comes out with a lot of great journalists penning different speicailised articles. notably a few of them are R.Mohan (hez not longer with the Paper I guess) , Malini Parthasarathy( I always thought it was she , but never could guess it was he until I saw him in my cozins marriage) , Nirmal Sekhar ( another sports editor). Somehow these guys are serious in their columns . they ought to be for the content they are publishing . They give detailed analysis of the economic and socio political scenraios.
But one of them several of us who wouldnt have noticed at all is One Mr V.Gangadhar. I love his style of writing. i dont see him write off late ( probably hez not being paid enuf due to cost cutting ) . he used to write on alternate weekends in the Sunday Magazines.
Most of his works were on food esp palakad food. I am a connoisseur of food myself . I vivildly remember that he used to give a detailed descriptions of the cuisines that he used to write about. mmm..My mouth used to water. he had a mumbaiya attitude which were clear in his writings. his subtle humor reminded me of the great RK. When other articles on were on Education , Tourism etc , his slice of life with a cartoon by keshav used to increase my hunger on a weekend.
There were times in college , I used to discuss about the food that he wrote with one other roommate of mine. We used to have lengthy discussions on various food items and of course the proper combinations that need to be served without which it wouldnt go well.
I am not sure if he has stopped free lancing as I dont see any articles from him these days. But I continue to enjoy my food and try out various dishes ( courtesy my mom ) and relinquish my weekend lunches.

After all my motto is " YOU EARN AND FIGHT ALL ONLY TO EAT and SLEEP" if you cant do either the whole purpose of struggle goes for a toss .

Madhu

Madhu's First blog

It took me so long to convince myself that blogging could be interesting as well..Now that I am convinced you would see a lot of my blogs very soon.

Welcome to the world of blogss!!!

-Madhu