Protect Your Heritage

My Web Resources

Every person has certain internet surfing habits.In this post I am going to talk about mine.

For Travel research and planning
-www.indiarailinfo.com
I keep trying different combinations to nearby places to check out the best possible route and trains.For that purpose this site is a lifesaver.
-www.wikitravel.com
Why?- See,do,sleep and other sections this site offers.
-www.lonelyplanet.in
Why?-Because Lonely Planet.Enough said.
www.Indiamike.com
-A very big Forum for discussing almost anything about travel in India.I am a senior member myself.

For Timepass/gyan
www.9gag.com
-Brings out the latest happenings in the world in a humorous forms.Also you can find out which all important memes are trending worldwide.
www.listverse.com
-One of the earliest sites that I used to visit.It had lists long before it became cool.Has many sections including books,mysteries(my favorite),science and Technology etc
www.cracked.com
-Humorous articles that will have you laugh out loud.
www.quora.com
-Very good question and answer website where I give and take information

For cricket updates
www.cricinfo.com
-No other website offers the quality of writing this site does.

For my blog related stuff
www.indiblogger.in
-A community of bloggers of India
www.blogger.com
-Platform of my various blogs

For movie reviews,recommendations and lists
www.tasteofcinema.com
-Very high quality lists about world cinema

For Restaurants Reviews and Menu cards
www.zomato.com
-Gives good recommendations and mainly I can find the menus before I visit a particular restaurant

Visit to an Underground coal mine.

A few days back I had the opportunity to visit an underground coal mine thanks to my friend Abhishek. He is an Engineer in Singareni Collieries in Ramagundam and through proper permissions he arranged a visit for us(two more friends bhanu and swat) on a Sunday.

      When we reached the site abhishek led us to a work room where we were provided with helmets,shoes and overcoats.A battery operated fully charged headlamp was also provided to each one of us.From here we boarded a small train that stood on an inclined pathway which descended into the mine.As the train started its rickety descent into the mine all I could think of was the game 'Half Life' which I used to play in my childhood.The walls shone as the light of our headlamps fell on them.Here and there there were huge gaps in the wall.I asked abhishek what these gaps were and he explained that those were the gaps left after all the extraction of coal from there was over.

      We soon reached a level from where we left this train and took another one.It went still deeper into the mine and somewhere around 250 meters from the land surface level we stopped.From here,abhishek informed us,we needed to walk in thick sludge to reach the actual boring machine.We walked along the brightly lit bore of the mine.Along the side of the mine there was a conveyor to remove the coal from the boring machine.Also there was a huge pipeline running along the wall for creating a draft.The walls were wet in places with small streams of water running down along them.This water was mixing with the mud in the ground to create a very slippery and dangerous ground to walk on.We trudged along carefully,our headlights shining their lights ahead.There were overhead bulbs in some places and it some places they weren't. As we continued our progress into the mine we came across a compressor, its loud noise filling the whole mine with a doleful sound.We moved along and ventured deeper into the mine.Since it was a Sunday no usual work was going on and we met only a handful of people while going in.At one point we were the only ones in a long section and we stopped. Abhishek suggested we all turn off our headlights just to see how it will be.We did so.Everything was pitch black.Nothing could be seen.Here I asked what happens if a miner's headlight's battery charge empties before he gets out? He said all he could do is wait for someone to come or maybe get over to a nearest phone and make a call to the surface.

    We resumed our walk after this brief stop.We reached the end where we saw the boring machine.It reminded me of the movie 'Total recall' We looked around here fro sometime.There were two technicians working on it. Abhishek engaged in some conversation with them regarding a problem they were having.This gave us an excuse to see the machine in action.After spending some time here we started to go back.We had a bus to catch in the night so we were in a bit of a hurry to go back.Along we went through the passages and again passed that sombre compressor and reached the train station.All that walking took us 4 hours.We took the train and rode to the top where fresh air greeted us.A miners job is one of the toughest and we all could personally see why.

Close encounters of the annoying kind.Part 1.Snoring chacha.

                 Travelling in a train in India can be quite an affair.It depends on one's luck.If you are lucky you will have an uneventful journey and maybe meet some good co passengers.But when your unlucky stars have aligned and the force is not with you,expect to have some close encounters of the annoying kind.

                  On one of my most horrible train journeys yet,I happened to meet an uncle who I think had a jet engine in his nose.While he was flying his jet plane in the dark skies of his mind,the sound of the engine was traversing into the real world through his nose.He was sleeping in the upper berth and I was the unfortunate one sleeping in the alongside upper berth.I tried everything to wake him including coughing loudly and making a few 'hmm' noises.But to no avail.I looked around at the other passengers trying to gauge how they were feeling but in the darkness I couldn't make out anything.There were a few restless silhouettes changing their sleeping positions now and then.I greatly regretted not bringing my Industrial ear plugs with me.I couldn't sleep the whole night and the next morning at 5 am I reached my destination.Showering my thanks to the god almighty above who did not make the train reach late,I left that jet-plane-in-the-form-of-human being to himself and said a few prayers too for the next person to occupy my berth.

                From then onwards I always carry a pair of industrial grade ear plugs with me whenever I travel.