Tiger eats Man at New Delhi Zoo.

This may be a disturbing video but I'm still uploading it on my blog only to illustrate how cruel animals can be if you aren't at your own safety.

Kindly do read the instructions given at Zoo and follow them. They are given for some reason.

See the man fighting for his life with demon right in front of his face, what could have been  him being in the place where the person who is recording could have been at.

See the tiger take charge of the person and see how it runs.

Love animals, care for them, but do it in a way it must be done.

Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCy73kt0p4w

Ten Most Memorable Pictures.

I've decided to write a post with the ten most memorable pictures I've managed to capture.

1) Double Decker Express, Gadwal, Telangana.

2) Satyamshu Aariketh on his third day in this world (Unnamed when this was clicked), Ukkunagaram, Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

3) Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, JB Institute of Engineering & Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana.

4) Marine Drive, Mumbai, Maharastra.

5) Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh.

6) Raichur Thermal Power Station, Shaktinagar, Karnataka. 

7) A View at Kufri Valley, Kufri, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.

8) Mahatma Gandhi's Statue in Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

9) Victoria Memorial, Kolkata, West Bengal/Paschim Banga.

10)Sunset, Colva Beach, Goa.

Probably ten memorable images of mine all at one page.

Karnataka Express.

A strenuous day at the capital at a fairly sultry climate made sure I was overworked and I needed some rest. Having confirmed it by my friend, I decided to post pone my "India Gate at Night" to next visit to New Delhi. However, I decided to wander around the Capital Station of India. Not because I was fit enough to roam around, but it was only due to the love for the railways. I knew I may not get a chance to experience New Delhi Railway Station again in my life so I decided to take wee bit of risk by pushing my limits just to see late evening departures.

Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani Express bound for Ahmedabad, followed by a quick inspection of Prayagraj Express bound for Allahabad. Moved onto platform 5 to check the power of Uttar Sampark Kranti Express bound to Udhampur and then the departure of Jammu Tawi bound Rajdhani Express.

Then came the announcements for the Bangalore City bound Karnataka Express. PA system announced that it will depart platform 3. There was a cold shiver running down the spine as soon as I heard it.

Kerala Express, departure 11:25- platform 3.

Andhra Pradesh Express, departure 17:25- platform 3.

Karnataka Express, departure 21:15- platform 3.

Tamil Nadu Express, departure 22:30- platform 3.

Platform 3 of New Delhi Railway Station could probably be tagged as a platform which serves the Peninsular India or the foundation of India. No sooner I heard the announcement, than I rushed to see the departure of Bangalore City bound Karnataka Express.

For some reasons, I'm emotionally attracted towards the state of Karnataka. May be it is because it is where I leanrt to walk, speak or may be because it is from where my ancestors hail from, or may be because it is the state which gave me my favorite food (Bisi Bele Bath, Set Dosa), or may be because I really like the heritage sites like Hampi, Badami, Sravanabelagaula, Sonda, Gokarna, Aihole, Pattadakal, Srirangapattana, the mighty Western Ghats and Udupi. I honest do not know why I am so attracted towards Karnataka.

All in all, I momentarily realized that I'm a big fan of Karnataka and I involuntarily decided that I will watch the train depart and then go and have my dinner.Having reached the power of Bangalore City bound Karnataka Express. I gazed at the destination board of Karnataka Express. It had the name written in Kannada. It read the following with pictures of Vidhan Soudha and India gate on the either side of "Karnataka Express" with yellow background:

ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಎಕ್ಸ್‌ಪ್ರೆಸ್

कर्नाटका एक्सप्रेस

Karnataka Express

Bangalore City<-> New Delhi

The elated feeling in mine went up to sky as soon as I saw the words written in Kannada because I had experienced both ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్ ఎక్స్‌ప్రెస్ & ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಎಕ್ಸ್‌ಪ್ರೆಸ್ on the very same day. Yes, I had many discussions regarding these trains with my father. He told me many stories about his sojourns in Karnataka Express, the different livery it had and all I wished at that time was I could live that. May be he isn't with me currently or maybe it wasn't something what he experienced, however I was witnessing something which was very close to what he narrated me and it was moments like that which sometimes lets us feel free with an odd tear.

I read the destination board over a million times in my mind, and then checked the loco. GZB WAP 4. A quick call to my friend based at Bangalore just to share few moments and to keep myself engaged in something else.

It was 21:10 and I finished up my call. The chief and his assistant were ready. Assistant performed all the checks and he gives a nod to the chief. The chief gets in touch with the guard and makes sure everything is set fine, three minutes before the departure. All formalities done, now the chief and the assistant await for the signal to turn yellow.

21:15- the starter turns yellow. Loud whistle blown to alert all the passengers. Assistant comes out with walkie talkie in one hand and torch in the other. I was so close that I could hear the guards voice from walkie talkie "Loco pilot 2628- Everything set sir, please move ahead." Yes the red beast started moving.

Unknown anguish in me started, for the obvious reasons. I am not on board a train which is in my bucket list. "ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಎಕ್ಸ್‌ಪ್ರೆಸ್ कर्नाटका एक्सप्रेस Karnataka Express; Bangalore City<-> New Delhi" The destination board which I read over million times now is moving towards Bengaluru. I could read it two times and then it went out of my sight. Military coach was full. So were the general coaches.

As the train started moving, my anguish started reaching to its peaks. AC coaches went past. Now the sleeper coaches started passing by. Few of them has the charging points. Few of them didn't. Pantry Car passed by, giving me a gentle remembrance of Bisi Bele Bath.

Train suddenly slowed down. Yes there was a chain pulling. I could confirm it as the chief blew the trademark chain pull whistle. However, the pressure wasn't built fully, which prevented the train from being stopped. The chief accelerated with a whistle and the train moved more confidently. The second time, there is no stopping. Gradually, the last coach turned up and I felt temporarily happy as I had a chance to see the destination board once again.

ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಎಕ್ಸ್‌ಪ್ರೆಸ್

कर्नाटका एक्सप्रेस

Karnataka Express

Bangalore City<-> New Delhi

This time, it was pretty quick, I could read it just once and all I found after a moment was empty tracks. I turned my gaze towards the X Mark. This time, there were two red lights, one blinking and the other steady.

Only thing that kept running in my mind was a line by my dear friend, AKY.

"I felt my eyes moisten and I fought back the tears. The cross on the back of the last coach of a train had never been more heart wrenching."

What I want?

"You still blast music into your ears, but you are not really listening. Your body is in the present but that’s about all. Your mind is wandering in search of the intangible. Something that probably doesn’t even exist. And then you blame yourself for not finding it."
- Anil Kumar Y,
www.shayanyaan.com

Tirupati Double Decker Express.

A lot of people have written, at length, on how the name Double Decker is just a façade to mask what is quite plainly a train that will promise you no more than an uncomfortable ride. So when such a service was introduced between Kacheguda and Tirupati I had written it off as just another train introduced by ministerial whim. I knew not, of course, at the time, that this very train would later cause me to experience happiness in its purest form, if ever there was such a thing.

India is full of unpretentious locations by the trackside that often pass by as blurs whilst on the trains to more important destinations and of late I have been keeping my eyes wide open for such spots. After all where’s the thrill in visiting a popular picnic spot with dozens of gawking tourists to contend with.

Needless to say, on an earlier journey to Kurnool, on the same double decker, I was attracted by a bridge over the River Krishna not too far shy of Gadwal. Attracted enough to dream up a bordering on mad plan to drive all 190km up to the bridge, just to photograph the Tirupati bound Double Decker passing over.

So, one Saturday morning, whilst everyone else is going about their dull and monotonous routines, I am barreling down the highway on a Honda CBR, with my partner in crime, VK, on the way to the bridge.

I guess every rail fan has one thing about the railway that forms a connection down memory lane to their younger days when they first realized that the passing of a train is more than just a few tonnes of metal moving from A to B. And my connection is the River Krishna. A few hundred kilometers further north, at the Krishna station itself, as a child, I would watch the trains go by with that typical five year old’s excitement. Cut to 2014. Whenever I see a train, I still become that same five year old all over again.

I arrive on the banks of the river and size up the challenge. The world often looks very rosy from the confines of an AC coach of a train. Not so, once you really get off your backside and out amidst the elements. My mind has been imagining what the perfect shot would look like. It is soon evident that, in order to get that shot, I would have to wade into the river itself.

No matter, as my childhood experience from doing just that, kicks in and I am soon comfortably positioned for the dream photograph. VK chooses to remain on the banks but between the two of us we have all angles covered. Now it is just a matter of waiting. The irony of it all is striking. We as rail fans, spend hours in waiting for the passing of a train and at the end of it, all the drama finishes in all but a few seconds.

Alone in the river, having found a rock to take support from and prevent most of my body from getting wet, I begin to take stock of how quiet the whole place is. So quiet that I can hear my own breathing. So quiet that after a while it is scary. So quiet that the silence is deafening. All I do every day is blunder around, feeling my way through the humdrum of the city. Here, there’s not a soul around for miles. For a while my brain finds it difficult to take it all in. The profundity of being in close proximity to such silence is something that is hard to be put into words.

My ponderings are interrupted by the sound of a horn in the distance. I snap to attention. I am about to be witness to a train rumbling over the Krishna, of all rivers. There is a flurry of déjà vu. The coldest of shivers shoots down my spine. It is a Saturday, and I could be in a movie theater or some posh restaurant. Yet I find myself right in the middle of a river at the most obscure of locations, waiting for a train to pass. It is moments like this that I live for.

The horn gets louder. As does the chugging from the loco. I clutch my camera all the tighter. The last few seconds of waiting are more agonizing than the first hour. I feel my body go cold with excitement. My breaths become heavier. I glance at my camera screen one last time to ensure the settings are correct and take aim.

The Kacheguda-Tirupati Double Decker bursts onto the scene. With another blast of the horn, the train is on the bridge. As it passes, I notice how the blue of the locomotive pales in comparison to the bright red and yellow of the coaches behind it. The humming of the generator cars competes with the chugging of the loco. My finger holding the camera shutter is sweating, itching for me to press it further. But I force myself to hold on for a few extra seconds. The tension is electric. The train is now straight in front of me in the middle of the bridge. I can even see the people inside, silhouetted.

Click.

Even before the image comes up on my screen, I know I have shot an absolute cracker of a photograph. All the muscles in my body can now relax as I watch the last of the coaches disappear from view.

VK turns to look at me and gives me the thumbs up. I acknowledge. No words need be exchanged.

The apartment on wheels, as it were, had never been more beautiful.

__

Perhaps it would be appropriate to mention that while I have experienced all this, on the other side of world, my dear friend, AKY, who actually wrote this mind blowing report only based on the text messages I've sent.

Freezing the moment of lifetime, getting it portrayed by your favorite writer, I think I am one lucky soul.

HD: https://www.flickr.com/photos/85992756@N05/14614493953/

Of Pains, Compromises, CBC Jerks and Triumphs!

Having seen off by Chennai based Railfans at Chennai Central, I put my rucksack at the place where it is supposed to be kept. The chief already showed his intentions of being aggressive by imposing strong jerks right from Basin Bridge, we were asked to crawl at least up to Ennore. I had to stand at the door despite being allotted a window seat at the time of booking. My seat was allotted right beside a 20 year old girl in a two seat composition, which automatically meant I had to give up my window seat to her father, who had no seat reserved. Thankfully, he consulted the TTE before others did so that he could get one for himself, which would be my seat. Welcome on board "unreserved" AC Chair Car, Pinakini Superfast Express bound for Vijayawada.

This image may not be the one I experienced, but the Lallaguda WAP 4 and the CBC rake based at Vijayawada were same. Thankyou Vinoth sir, for the image.

Being totally bored with the crawl, I decided enter into the coach and the pantry vendors had nothing to offer except Tomato soup. Quick call to Jayakar Sunakara, Vijayawada based veteran member of IRFCA. As he already made plan long ago, he confirms- if train is on time, dinner with him. I decided to sleep as soon as the train was crossing Ennore, and with a heavy jerk sent down by the chief, I got up at Sullurupeta. A track side window was empty and I head to it. I recollect the Gudur outer halt without any signal, right at the zone changing. Going by people who're frequent travelers of that section, it is said that the train would halt at no man’s land or will be halted at Gudur outer because of zone changing formalities. To my surprise, none of that has happened. We halted right at Gudur station, and the owner of the Window place turns up. I give a stern look to that father- and then I head to door. We were 10 minutes early into Gudur and we started bang on time from Gudur.

A call to the local friend of mine- Goutham, who stays at Bengaluru now. He asks me to stay out at the door up to Nellore as there were 7 back to back bridges right after Gudur. So I made up my mind- at the door up to Singarayakonda and after that, it didn’t actually matter considering nothing is visible after dusk. Slingshot out of Gudur, as narrated by my friend, seven bridges back to back, all taken in at 60+ KMPH. Added to that, they all have Ferric girders which meant the track sounds were at their peak.

Although that experience kept my mind diverted for some time, no sooner had the chief slammed on the brake at an unscheduled station right after Gudur, sending strong jerks back into my coaches, than my anguish due to my inability to sit at my designated place reached its peak. At one point, I even had thoughts of repeating a Luis Suarez to that fatty bloke, who was traveling ticketless- and still being in a position to eject me from my designated seat. There was total silence. It was 17:04 and the maximum I could enjoy the window was for another one and half hour. I somehow satisfied myself that the door was much better place and continued to be at the door.

Venkatachalam.  More track sounds with greater intensity than usual.

Shock and awe.

And needless to mention, Venkatachalam was taken at full tilt. I observe the points at the Chennai bound line. Yes- they had much more fish plates than what actually were supposed to be. Added to it, a girder bridge between two points.

Goosebumps.

Steel clashing steel at points itself was something which could give me strong goosebumps and consider a hollow ferric girder between two of them. Consequently, Venkatachalam was added into bucket list of mine, without a second thought.

Vedayapalem. One hundred and ten kilometers per hour. Sweet spot on the speed-o-meter.

Nellore South. Braking. Speed comes down at rapid pace and exactly inverse happens to the diffusion of smell of braking. Curve and centripetal force come into action. Goutham had mentioned it on the call earlier.

Nellore-

Two missed calls. One from Goutham and the other unknown. Called up Goutham from his home town.

River Penna, which is also called Pinakini.

Bass filled track sounds constant for a long period of time. And there it comes. Jerk! Jerk and one more jerk! All of them on the bridge. Holding the door handles tighter than ever, I observe the train with CBC couplers accelerate on ferric girder itself tremendous goosebumps. And imagine if the train's name is Pinakini itself!

A gentle voice comes from behind. "Do you study in SRM?" It was the same girl who was responsible for me standing at the door comes to door. My mind gets relaxed. Nerves get released. Mental battle won.

I respond "Nope. I study at Hyderabad." Information about colleges exchanged. She belongs to SRM Kattankulatur, final year now. She asks me- why was I so particular about a window. I explain why exactly I was traveling in two trains from Chennai to Hyderabad when I had option of choosing the direct one. And conveyed her that my sadness was obvious. She apologizes! "Oh, so kill a person and apologize" I thought of telling her, but it would be truly harsh on her part. She says her father was getting down at Kavali and I would be given my allotted seat. "I won the battle" said my mind.

Bitragunta halt and accelerate. A scheduled one. Chennai bound Rajdhani Express shows up with a white stallion at its helm. LGD WAP 7 #30337. I update my friends via WhatsApp.

She stayed with me at the door, simply talking about various topics which ranged between assignments to the fare hike in Indian Railways. She was awestruck at my hobby, a general reaction of people when they hear about it. Finally Kavali arrives. Just like winning runs are scored in a test match on session 3, day 5, I finally entered the coach, at around 18:00- and I noticed that we were running behind schedule.

Jerk indicated we were out of Kavali, and sweet spot on the speedo was touched as I could observe tremendous vibrations and shakes the coach started giving. Vendors who were all shouting "Tomato soup" now had many things to sell. The shouts now varied from Tomato Soup to Mirchi Bhajji. And yes- it included Veg Cutlet, for which the pantry car is famous for. No sooner I heard them shout Veg Cutlet- than I ordered one. Yes it was delicious as expected. One more plate!

And now- nothing except my own reflection was visible at the window. I try to darken my background by entering into curtain. I do watch the most I could. Finally at Ongole, I decide to stop peeping out because already half of the coach started looking at me like a mentally handicapped. She bids bye at Ongole.

A call from Jayakar sir, about my current status.

Chirala- I head to platform for a cool drink and by the time I enter coach, somebody has already occupied my seat. Yes they don't have reservation. I eject them from my seat and they give a stern look. "If you are staying at the place where you are allotted to, you are given a stern look. Great!" I thought.

Same episode repeats. Location Batpatla though. This time she convince me "I have a baby." I questioned them about what ticket they had. General ticket. Directly reported to TTE. They are thrown out of coach. I win!

And guess what- same episode repeats, again! Location changes to Nidubrolu. This time, it was a guy who was having a unreserved ticket too. He occupies the seat right beside me. Not even a single damn given.

High speed run. Tenali brake and accelerate, just for a minute. Thankfully no one occupied my seat giving me ecstasy, as I thought I had to sing the very same song again.

Krishna Canal Junction- skipped. I decide to pack my bag. Hit the door for one last time. I choose to be on the side which allows me to have a good glimpse of Indrakeeladri Hill, Prakasam Barrage and Durga Temple. They looked mesmerizing and the train hissed to halt, right on bridge. Call from Jayakar sir. Tells me where to meet him. I update my status "On bridge." I enquire about the platform number. Platform was on the other door. I decide to stay there till we enter Vijayawada.

The guy who took up my seat was standing right behind me. He started bugging "This ain't the side of platform, go away." "You will fall down in Krishna River if you slip." This train has disc brakes" etc etc. I kept my calm. Not even single damn given. 15 KMPH speed restriction and chief decides to give strong jerks to slow down the train and that guy ends up in the vestibule absolutely flat! My turn now- "Ahahahahahahahahahahaha." I laugh loud enough to insult him and his stupidity- who showed off he had all railway knowledge in the world. I win, again!

Finally I hit my destination-a good 20 minutes behind schedule.

A big thank you if you have read it up to here. I would like to thank my friend Anil for doing the editing job. I would also like to thank Dpa, who did a pre-read this and suggested title. Finally, I'd like to conclude this report by thanking Mr. Vinoth Thambidurai for allowing him to use his wonderful photograph. Thank you all.

Best Photo Till Date!

Everyone has one photo which they consider as their best photo. And now, I guess I too got one one surpassed my previous best.

22120 Kacheguda Tirupathi Double Decker Express cruises on Bridge over river Krishna with a Gooty WDM3D at its helm.

I honestly do not know how far the 22120 Kacheguda Tirupathi Double Decker is successful, but as long as giving me a shot to remember for ever, it has done its part.

Special thanks to Vamsi Krishna and his CBR, which towed me all the way to Gadwal, a whooping 190 KMs away from where I live, just for clicking this shot. Special thanks to Pramath Sb, for doing the honors of post processing this picture.

Click on the image for high definition version.