Yelläks /ˈyæl•eks/

FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany. At that time something happened that could not have been imagined: The Germans were proud of being German. A wave of euphoria and support for the German soccer team rolls through the country. A proud nation attaches small German plastic flags to the car windows which continue to decorate the sides of the highways after being ripped of while traveling at high speed. Though costing millions of Euro to make the German taxpayer feeling some patriotism and to achieve some positive thinking in the usual pessimistic seen world, no campaign (such as “Du bist Deutschland” – “You are Germany”) achieved, what a simple 22-players-running-after-a-ball game did.

German Patriotism is a difficult game to play. Not only the unforgettable and unforgivable crimes committed against humanity in the German history, but also a confrontation with Hitler and the national socialism reminds me as German about the debt that we still owe the world. Being German means to be ashamed at the same time. In the end Germany lost the world cup and after a few weeks the wave become a weak memory about old times. Back to normality means that conversations going like

Indian: “From where are you?”
Me: “I am from Germany.”
Indian: “Ah, Germany, nice country. Nice cars and …. Hitler”.

leave behind an uneasy feeling. Since school we learn that the years between 1933 and 1945 is the worst chapter in time period ever happened. Hitler and his closest followers become an impersonated evil. Achievements like the invention of radar, rocket technology (V-2), or jet engines or Hitler’s ability to reach, unite and fascinate millions of people (for whatever cause) fall silently below the table/syllabus and hence out of sight.

Patriotism in India is different. No cricket match like the ICC CWC last week, is played without enthusiastic fans waving the Indian flag shouting “India, India” in unison. Saying something negative about India to an Indian is often taken as a personal insult. Indians love their country. Many go abroad for studies and work, but most of them return having a feeling that they owe something to their home country. And that is definitely one thing the Germans who have everything what they can think of, should learn.

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Yesterday emotions could not be controlled anymore. The Indian cricket team won the world championship. Actually the team won the championship 3 times in the last 2 weeks: Once versus Australia in the quarter-finals, another one against Pakistan in the semifinals and now against Sri Lanka in the last and final match. The latter matches were screened in a fully packed Gymkhana Main Hall of IISc to witness the event when the Tiger fought against the Lion.

And that is the sound of India becoming world champion: ICC CWC India WorldChampion (Ogg file).

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There is a saying: “Never trust any statistics which you is not forged by yourself”. Unfortunately this is not known to an author who published an article in “The Hindu” newspaper captioned “Alcohol consumption starts at the age of 18” today. As usual the consumption of alcohol and its side effects (read: results of consumption of unhealthy quantities of alcohol) is discussed again in great detail as many times before. However this time the author wants to show, how deteriorated the situation actually is by citing from several studies.

From the article (first sentence): “Nearly 30 to 35 per cent of adult men and five per cent of women are regular consumers of alcohol in India.” Let’s do a little bit math, shall we? Based on the latest census (which coincidentally got published today as well), there are 1.210.193.422 people in India of which 623.724.248 are males and 586.469.174 are females. If I am polite towards the cited study, I will take only 30% of the males and 5% of the females, which are 187.117.274 and 29.323.458 respectively. So in the end around 215 million citizens of India drink alcohol regularly.

Somewhere later in the article: “It quoted the data from the International Wine and Spirits Record and said the sale of alcohol litre cases went up from 72,000 in 2000 to 200 million in 2009.” If I make an assumption greatly in favor of the author and the study, the sale of alcohol liter cases/bottles doubled between 2009 and 2011. That means, you have to distribute 400 million liters among 215 million people. So everybody gets a little bit less than 2 one liter bottles for a whole year (assuming there are only regular drinkers here). I think, many have crossed that limit already long time ago and hence abstinence must be strictly maintained till the end of this year.

That raises another question: How many bottles are sold which have a capacity less than 1 liter? Many Vodka, Rum and wine bottles come in 750ml bottles. In fact the question is: What liquor is sold in 1 liter bottles at all? So these numbers do not tell anything. It would have been more informative to get to know, how many liters of hard and soft liquor is sold and not how many bottles.

Another issue: What means “regular consumers of alcohol”? If somebody drinks once in a year on 1st of January, is it regular? If the same guy drinks randomly one day, then has 2 days break, drinks again, has 5 days break, drinks again, has 3 days break and so on is this irregular?

Finally in the text there is only one sentence that honors the huge title given to the article and here it is: “The earliest age at which alcohol is consumed has changed significantly – from 28 years in 1980 to 18 years in 2010″. To figure out the reasons for that statement would have meant some investigation work that is apparently missing here. Instead the results of hazardous drinking is elaborated in great detail.

I am hoping that the author finds this blog entry. If I want to read that kind of articles, I would have ordered Deccan Herald or the Bangalore Mirror. But to let the quality of your article sink even lower, here is one tip: Please check out, how much alcohol contains anti-cough sirup. Then the time, in which somebody gets in touch with alcohol is at the age of an infant. How does this look? I am hoping that this is dramatic enough.

“The Hindu” was a lot better some time ago. Nowadays it is filled with commercials which are so big that there is no space left for text on the front, first, last, second last page and not to forget, some pages in between. What a waste of resources to advertise Eco friendly cars.

I think to digest the newspaper, I need something to drink now. Cheers!

PS: If the reader finds any sarcasm in this article, you are hereby unconditionally allowed to keep it.

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Currently the Indian Institute of Science suffers from a power outage heavily. For the whole day there was no power for 2 hours followed by one hour, in which power was provided. Since mail facilities are down and the life of research came to a halt for many departments, nobody knows the exact cause for the power problems. It ranges from the start of summer till the damage of a cable during digging work. Since there are so many digging sites in Bangalore (it seems, digging came into vogue) I would assume that the latter one is correct. It is expected that the situation will be the same for the next few days. Till then I can finally study from the books or enjoy the unexpected holidays.

Mast majja, maaDi

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We were supposed to meet at 5:15am at our usual meeting point to be ready to leave at 5:30am However also as usual we left around 6:00am for our trip to Magadi and Maddur. A practice ride for the Brevets held in Bangalore. After a few warm-up climbs on Pipeline road, we joined Magadi Road which was relatively empty and we could keep up a good pace till Magadi. In between the group was split up into 2 and while we had breakfast in Magadi where we tucked in the pizza-sized idlis with really spicy chutney, the others had it in Thippa Godnahalli (T.G. Halli).

From Magadi we went towards Hullyurdurga on nicely paved roads with very less traffic and mostly downhill. Shortly after Hullyurdurga we entered a village and had some snacks. There we did the mistake asking for directions to Koppa. Since there were 2 alternative ways, the question was which one had the better surface. The villagers recommended to take the shorter one. We told them to direct the riders of the second group into the same direction and left.

For the next 20km which felt like 50km, we experienced very bad roads with lot of cobble stones making it difficult to ride. Fortunately we came back onto paved roads near Koppa and we could keep a nice pace until Maddur, where we had an excellent lunch. While we had lunch, the second group caught up. Asking them about the hints we left behind for them, they said that the villagers who send us onto the bad road, told them to go the other alternative way and that they were wondering, why we went onto the recommended road. So, again one thing learned: Do not listen to and recommendations. Anyway there was no loss nor gain, since it seems that the alternative way was as bad as the way we took.

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After Maddur we went on the Bangalore-Mysore Road towards Channapatna and from there to Ramanagara. Riding on the highway is one of the most boring things to do (one reason, why I do not like to ride the Brevets). The 20km on the highway felt like the longest one so far and it was literally never ending. From Ramanagara we went side roads towards Manchanabele through very beautiful scenery and less traffic. The climb at the Manchanabele dam was short and painful, but immediately rewarded with a steep descent. Passing the radio telescope and the Big Banyan Tree we went through the fields and villages to be welcomed back in Bangalorean traffic at the Magadi Road/NICE Ring Road junction. After a short stretch on Magadi Road we turned left to follow Pipeline Road in the same way back that we went in the morning. By now the Pipeline Road was crowded with traders, stalls and lot’s of people which was a unfamiliar sight, since I never took this road in the evening. The up and down hills of Pipeline Road were interesting, especially after riding for almost 200km on that day. The best comes last

At around 6pm we reached ISKCON temple and we had some ice creams. While the second group was still riding. They continued on the highway and experienced heavy traffic. It seems that everybody who visits his/her family or goes on a trip during the weekends, returns on Sunday night and congests the roads.

Distance of the tour: 204km

GPX files

• Magadi_Maddur.gpx

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The FRRO/FRO of Bangalore has been shifted to Double Road, No. 55 in Indira Nagar (see map below). Now it is situated in proximity to E.S.I. Hospital. It is a nice office and not that overcrowded like the place on Infantry Road. To ensure fairness an electronic token system has been introduced. It is advisable not to loose the token as this is your number for the entire day and the clerks ask multiple times for it.

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Actually I wanted to participate at the BSA Cyclothon held in Bangalore by the last week of January 2011. So happy I started to fill out the registration form. But then I got stuck in surprise by reading this section:

The question is: What does a company called “Sport18″, which is a “division of Network18 Media and Investments Limited” (recited from the Terms and Conditions) which has been founded as “SGA Finance and Management Services Private Limited” in 1956 (see this PDF), doing with that data? It does not seem they have a lot to do with sports.

The answer is hidden in the Terms and Conditions:

1. First: “In consideration of the Participant’s use of the Event’s Website, the Participant agrees to: (i) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about the Participant contained in any registration form (such information being the ‘Registration Data’)”
2. And here it comes: “The Organizer reserves the right to use any photographs (including those of participants), motion pictures, recordings, or any other media records (remark: that also includes the registration data) of the Event, for any legitimate purpose including commercial advertising and distribution to the Sponsors.”

And the best thing: For the processing of your data for marketing purposes (“Hey, this guy does not have an insurance, so let’s call him/her!” or “Hey, this guy has an insurance, but let’s call him/her anyway, maybe we can change the policy!”), for that service you pay a registration fee of only Rs. 300. Although and to be truthfully, some of that money might be diverted into the actual race event.

However for absolutely no charge, I can cycle in the BBC races and sometimes a contribution of some money into the vitamin M box is considered to be nice.

Enjoy the ride! I have better things to do!

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First one remark: This trip was one of the best so far. The landscape and countryside was remarkable, the roads in an excellent condition (at least 95% of the trip). Unfortunately nobody had a camera to capture some snaps. Maybe next time…

Ride report:
We, Sartaj and I, started at 4:20am in the morning for our journey to Hogenakkal in the south of Bangalore. At that time there was not much traffic on the roads of Bangalore, so we reached the long flyover leading from Bommanahalli to Electronics City along NH-7 very fast. We did not know that this flyover is so long and we assumed just another normal one. After we entered it, there was no way to get down from it, since there were no entry or exit points. However we enjoyed riding on it. It gave us the feeling as if we were flying over the houses. The only concern was that the flyover should end before we have to take the right turn towards Anekal. At the end of the flyover we saw the toll booths and while we approached them, the security guys started to run towards us. We got some scoldings saying that bicycles are prohibited on the flyover and we argued that they should put a sign at the beginning of the flyover and not to tell us at the end. They insisted that there is a sign. If there was one, then I must be blind, the sign is very small or they simply lied. We did not see anything.

After we entered the road to Anekal, fog started and the visibility (it was still dark) went down to a few meters in front of the cycle. In the meantime Sartaj’s front light ran out of batteries and could only emit some green light by 4 normal LEDs, which was barely visible, not to mention not able to lit the road at all. Around Anekal the sun came up and the fog dissolved in the warm sun rays. So far the roads were in medium till good condition with very less traffic. But that might also be due to the early hours.

From Anekal we went to Denkanikottai through village roads. As usual the roads are sometimes very good and sometimes very pathetic. After loading Idlis in Denkanikottai, we cycled further south to Anchetty. Starting from Denkanikottai the road goes mainly downhill and is in a very good condition with no traffic at all. After reaching Anchetty we stopped at a road shop to have some snacks that were prepared there. After taking some fried chips, a man came and told us that these things that we took, were not for sale and that this is not a road shop. If we want to eat something, we have to go to the hotel across the road. But we were still loaded with Idlis, so we simply left that place (even without paying).

From Anchetty we went to Billgundala and further to Hogenakkal where we had lunch at around 12pm. Mainly due to the downhill we could keep a nice pace and we were very enthusiastic to know that we are going to have dinner in the mess of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). However this enthusiasm was damped shortly after we left Hogenakkal at 2pm towards Dharmapuri.

After the first major climb to Pennagaram we took a forest road back to Anchetty. There is a barrier so no car can enter that area and the road is in a very good condition. First there was a long descent, which helped us to raise our average speed. We had to cross rivers at 3 places, one river crossing was around 10m wide, but not very deep. However the river bed was filled with sand so it was impossible to cycle through that. Instead we had a bath to refresh. Shortly after the river crossing the ascent started towards Anchetty, which was a long and painful one with an excellent scenery. Many traces of elephants could be found so we needed to hurry up to leave that area before nightfall. At 6:30pm and round 45km from Hogenakkal we reached Anchetty (after more than 4hrs riding). Here we tried to find the road leading to Thally, but in the darkness we were not sure that we found the right one. In addition this road showed up only at specific low zoom levels on Google Maps and it was hard to see, if we were right. After talking to some locals, we dropped the idea and went on the known main road back to Denkanikottai.

Around 8km before Denkanikottai, Sartaj was at the end of his stamina and fortunately a milk van stopped, so we could load the cycle onto the truck. From now onwards I was alone in the pitch black night (no moon on that day) and the torch light has been proven to be very useful. With around another 100km to go to Bangalore, it was only a question of how fast can I cover that distance without cramping or getting tired. I reached Denkanikottai at 9:00pm and had some biscuits and refilled my water bottles.

The original plan was to go to Thally and from there back to Bangalore. However locals and police had warned us of elephants, so I wanted to cut short the dark, rarely used roads through villages. Hence I went straight to Hosur which I reached at 22:30pm. NH7 was heavily crowded and in a huge contrast to the roads that I had seen till now on this trip. However, it helped a lot to cover the distance back to IISc, which I reached at 1am (after approximately 18.5 hours of riding time and around 300km from the starting point). Actually the exact distance is unknown, since I had to save power to have GPS and maps available at critical intersections.

That was my first 300km ride and regarding the scenery it was very nice (one of the best rides so far). In my experience, it is a huge difference riding 300km on a highway or through the country side. I really appreciate Sartaj’s effort to stay with me for such a long time. If he had not shown up in the morning, I might have been tempted to ride alone. But 300km solo would have been very tough. Maybe next time…

Distance of the tour: 300km

GPX files

• Hogenakkal.gpx

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