Side Middle Birth

Side Middle Birth is hitherto completely unknown seat in the India famous Sleeper class coaches. So where did this come from? From Lalu's cost cutting - money making mind!

It is true that the sleeper class fares have not been increased and on the contrary AC class coache fares have been reduced Then how does Lalu ji make money? Through the other smart advances, or some call 'bad ideas'.

> Change usual express trains into Super Fast category -
Outcome - additional charge levied through the reservation charge comes to IR :-)

> Increase the seating capacity of the Sleeper class and third AC coaches
Outcome - More revenue per square seat for IR :-)




Both the plans have been given a thumbs down by passengers. The first plan does not necessarily mean a faster moving train. The second plan has left many unsatisfied passengers. The side upper and the side lower births adjacent to the passage are undoubtedly the most liked seats in the sleeper class coaches. However, the introduction of a side middle seat, quite difficult to even imagine, has caused a lot of discomfort. The passenger in the middle seat does not have a backrest and s/he tries to take support at the back, s/he is going to be hurt by the bottle holder and the switches. The SU and SL were not seats meant to have another seat in between. The guy who thought of this trip should be made to sit on that sit for the Jammu Tawi - Kanyakumari or the Guwahiati - Trivandrum train. The usual 72 seater Sleeper class is now a 84 seater coach.

And the icing is the numbering confusion. Apparently, the reservation system has not been updated about this system and the LB on your reservation ticket may not translate into a LB in the train. The numbers on the seats are cut out and I could see the numbering system changed thrice and this means, you have to really fall on luck on your fellow passenger's brains to understand which is your actual seat. Or wait for the Ticket Examiner to show your seat and until then you are bound to have a good time with the fellow passengers.

The coaches are being mass manufactured and they are being introduced in many trains. Yesvantpur - Kannur express train no. 6527 is the one among the first trains to try this.

Since the SUB and SLB were the usual face to face seats with a nice seating angles that can be changed especially if both the passengers are known to each other. But now, it will be another passenger who will be sitting in between! Eeks!

Pax| ^ |Pax Pax Pax|
Pax| ^ |...................|
Pax| ^ |Pax Pax Pax|

See?

Delayed government reaction (Mumbai Terror Attack)

Sometimes, calling our country, a place known for variety is a shame. Amidst the brave acts of hotel staff to save lives and the good work that the NSGs did to get some control over the entire situation, we cannot forget the prime points:

Why did the government take so long to come to a consensus to take a decision. Decision to bring in armed forces should have happened long before. In fact, such decisions take be taken in minutes. But that's the least of the problem; look at the other quesionable points:

1. NSGs took almost 3 hours to scramble and come to Mumbai
2. They were brought to ground zero in BEST buses (The choppers were used much later)
3. The NSGs were not given any hotel layout for the first few moments and they had to act on their own



Where do these points take us to? It takes us to believe that we are not well equipped to handle such impromptu terror attacks.

Kannur, a terrorist hub?

It is rather unfortunate to see Kerala, one of the most beautiful places planet earth, turning into a place terrorist hub. While the state in general is peaceful but the recent findings from Kannur and the Kerala connection with the recent Kashimiri militant deaths is quite scary.

Over a 100 hundred boms were found just two weeks ago in a raid in Kannur. The terrorist game plan is rather simple. Lure impoverished youth into these activities in exchange of money. This is where the whole world comes in full circle.

> Had all the economies around the world be good, unemployement wouldn't have been a problem.
> Had India had a poupluation that was under control, unemployement wouldn't have been a problem.

So what need to do is act like global citizens and encourage family planning. The outcome won't be seen today or tomorrow. It will take times, may be decades. But that shouldn't be surprising as we won't be able to see terrorism being wiped out completely. It's just not possible.

Mumbai Taj Hotel Terrorist Attack - Nov 26, 2008

In what can be said as one of the worst attacks ever in India, Mumbai was brought to a stand-still due to a terrorist attack that happened in the wee-hours. The photographs of the terror attack are terrifying. The youngter murderers (terrorists) looked relentless in their pursuit to kill. Police officers lay dead, journalists take bullets and all this is happening in the country's one of the best hotels.



A lot can be said about what the politicians are doing/trying to do and what will be the future. However, this is one attack that might actually help in the anti-terror war. Until now, all attacks that happened were aimed at the middle class society. They get the financial help to a certain extent, some amount of media coverage a lot of public sympathy. Period. 1 week, may be another and the news is over!


This time, the attack happened in a 5 star hotel, The Taj, in Mumbai. This means, the people were killed over 100 of them can be expected to be the big shots in their respective fields. Amidst all Indians who were killed in terror attacks, if we have a few big names who were in the list this time, the impact on the anti-terror war is going to be much higher. Well, will we be able to wipe-out terrorists? No, but the changes in policy or the changes in handling terror attacks is bound to ge a major face-lift now. Wait and watch.