0 Kumbhakarna

We used to see this unique creation (while under construction) on the way to Kurnool. It was located between three hillocks, next to the highway just before Anantapur. We stopped out of curiosity and were amazed at the sight.

This is an attempt to create the scene from the mythological story Ramayana; awakening of Kumbhakarna, the brother of the powerful demon king Ravana. According to the story, he was huge and was cursed to fall asleep immediately after a meal. Demon soldiers are trying to from his deep slumber using all possible ways… drumming into his ears, elephant prodding his head, pulling hair, poking with spears, tickling his sole, pulling hair, trying to get the aroma of food into his nose… The imagination is just too good.

We learnt from one of the workers that this is would be a restaurant under Andhra tourism department’s management.

This was the only visit to the place. Hope to see the restaurant some day.

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Detail: Kumbhakarna

0 Ramagundam

Some time 2003.

Praveen and I had come to Ramagundam to try an experiment on Volvo tippers operating in one of the coal mines of Sengareni Colleries. We got a chance to ride in one of the tippers...


...empty when we went down into the open-pit mine and loaded as we climbed up. While we waited for the tipper to be loaded, I looked up at the walls of the pit, 100m high, it was scary when a couple of pebbles rolled down. The tipper was loaded in a couple of minutes- quick job by a Volvo backhoe loader.


In the below image, the black strips are coal deposits.



We went up a man made hill created by dumping the OB (over burden). The tipper has to reverse very carefully, stop at the edge and lift the bucket... a very risky job.


During the three day stay, we took off few hours to see Godavari. The water, as you see was less flowingly sparsely creating tiny sandy islands. We waded through the thigh deep waters and reached one of the islands. To my surprise I saw a Shiva Linga made of sand... the day before it was Maha Shivaratri. As a kid, I always wanted to make one... I was so happy to see this.


It was a great feeling to be walking halfway through a might river like Godavari!


I picked small white pebbles unique to this river... smooth surface, white and light. I noticed my shadow under water... it had a ghostly aura. If you observe it, you can see part of me, my reflection and my shadow......

Our experiment was not a successful one but the trip was not a waste.

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Detail: Ramagundam

0 Lesson learnt at Kakinada

Few years into my electronic weighing career, I had learnt little about making load cells and weigh scales. Late 70s dad started off the business as EFGE Load Cells (EFGE > FG > Foil Gauge > Strain Gauge) at our first home in Bangalore at a rented house in Banashankari II stage. Business grew and moved to bigger place in Jayanagar II block and then to Peenya Industrial Estate mid 80s. Then came the downward slide ....crash! Our business was back in Banashankari II stage but a different place this time. Now I was in charge of managing the business; production, sales & service, research & development and commercial aspects. Dad took care of marketing & sales and R&D.

Product/price inquiries still kept coming to the first address. One of the inquiries was for a hermetically sealed 100kg load cell from GFCL, Kakinada. GFCL had sent a drawing of the load cell. This load cell was not a part of our product range, it was not available in Indian market. We decided to develop it. The challenge lay in sealing it hermetically ...neither did we have the facility nor it was available anywhere in Bangalore. We sent our quotation and to our surprise we got the purchase order in matter of days.

The load cell was similar to HBM Z6. We made 10 elements of which 2 or 3 did not survive heat-treatment. Finally we made 5 load cells and calibrated the output- 100kg ~ 20mV ~ 2mV/V, 350 ohms impedance. We needed a bellow to seal the load cell. The only solution in sight was a fabric bellow and we got some samples made and tried them. The load cell was functionally OK but aesthetically it was ugly, and scary too.

We got on call from GFCL, they wanted the load cells badly. We decided to deliver the load cells personally. Praveen and I reserved berths in Coramandel Express. The train left sometime evening and we were enjoying journey ...seeing new landscapes. One of the co-passengers spoke business nonstop; it seems he was running a garment manufacturing unit and created employment opportunities for several 100s of people. Impressive. He would look at anything and everything in the business perspective. A teenage boy selling ready-made paan came by and was thoroughly interviewed. Not just interview ...his trade secrets were thoroughly dissected. The paan leaf stayed fresh for 3 days. Of any remaining stock, the leaves were replaced with fresh leaves and sold again. I cannot remember the number of times the supari inside got recycled. Better not to think about it. The hawker was cool enough and endured the interview. He would be seeing these people for few hours and chances of seeing them again was slim. The bridge across river Godavari was really long. The train ran considerably slow on the bridge. The river was full and flowing with good speed. We could see 3 or 4 more bridges spanning the massive river. I think we reached Kakinada late afternoon. We checked into Hotel Tourist, the street was a busy one but one feature did make it unique; two wheeler parking was in the middle which acted like a road divider also! A portable road divider, it's there when it's actually needed. Surely this would be local people's idea.

Next morning we went to GFCL. We saw heaps and heaps of sand around the factory. That's when we learnt that sand is the basic raw material for Urea. We went to the stores, we got directed to instrumentation department where we met the chief. As expected, he was not very happy with the load cells' appearance but he had our load cells replace the damaged original load cells in the UK made automatic packing machine. The engineer had trouble calibrating the system. That's when we looked into the specifications; electrical specifications just did not match. Impedance requirement was some 120 ohms, excitation voltage was 12V and full scale output was something else. That's when it flashed that we never bothered to go through the PO properly. Praveen and I were embarrassed. Since the Chief was senior to us in age he knew a solution could be found. Finally, the load cells were accepted, invoice was presented to the purchase department and we left the factory back to the hotel.

We reserved our tickets for our return journey, settled hotel bills and we were all set to travel back home. Our carelessness bothered me; how could we not read the PO before taking up the work. Frankly speaking I did not enjoy the return journey.

Back at office dad did some calculations and drew a Wheatstone bridge with shunt resistors in place which would help match customer's specifications. We purchased specified MFRs and dispatched them to GFCL. Finally the problem was solved and the load cells were functioning ...may not be exactly as required but near enough to keep the packing machine running. We received the payment without delay.

This was a big lesson for me and Komal Process Controls. Ever since, we changed the way we worked, not that we did not make mistakes but we tried never to repeat mistakes. Thanks to the Chief for dealing with us patiently and placing trust in us.

Coming back to the load cell, we named it KPC T6 just like HBM Z6. We discovered there was a great demand for T6. Over the years, with minor changes on the element and fabric bellow being replaced with aluminium bellow, the load cell looked good and worked even better. We did not have to worry about prospects getting scared. As an Industrial Engineer, I played my role in streamlining production activities; right from procuring material to production planning & control to inventory control. I also learnt that customer satisfaction was extremely important and the most easy way sustain the business. Deepak joined the team. Dad introduced Kaizen. I tried Honda philosophy- Stay close to your customers, Understand their needs, Exceed their expectations. We could implement it to an extent. We took up bigger projects, executed them smoothly, and most cases kept up to the delivery schedule. As a result we got more business from word of mouth. I thoroughly enjoyed working in weighing field. I learnt so much- 1991 to 2004 was an adventure packed working holiday.

...for some strange reasons I had to come out of our business. Now I work in a completely different field which has it's own set of demands. I do enjoy my present job but I miss load cells & electronic weighing. Hope to get back to them in a big way...

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Detail: Lesson learnt at Kakinada

0 Gandi and Devunikadapa

Some time 1992 to 1994.

During one of the many trips to Chilamkur Cement Works, I got an opportunity to visit Gandi an important pilgrim place in Kadapa region of Andhrapradesh. Mr.Pulla Rao, one of the company employees with whom we worked closely wanted to visit Gandi on particular day which was supposed to be auspicious. Our visit coincided and dad offered to take our van ...which meant I had go. I was expecting one family 2 adults + 2 kids. Next morning ...the van was packed, 7 adults and 2 kids.

I think we left by 8AM ...it was pretty warm by then. Roads in Kadapa region were terrible as it is. After an hour's journey, we had to leave the main road and took smaller roads. The roads got worse, I remember a kilometer or two stretch of road under repair had cricket ball sized stones spread out. I had no choice but to drive over them. SUVs are the right vehicles for these roads. Anyway we ploughed way deep into the country. The van's battery terminal was loose, I had to fiddle with the cable to close the circuit ...and because of bad roads the terminal would get loose more often. What a a journey- driving in hot weather on terrible roads with a loose connection which killed the engine when it felt like.

I was getting impatient. The terrain was changing, we could see hills now. Also the traffic was increasing ...people visiting Gandi. We were close to the first destination of the day- Gandi. Interior Andhra roads barely have bridges across major streams and even some minor rivers. Roads actually pass over just a few feet above the stream/river beds. One storm these streams flow rapidly. There's a saying in Kannada- nadi nambabohudu aadare halla nambabaradu -which roughly translates to "rivers are predictable but streams are unpredictable." It's true. Gandi is on a stream bank and road passing through the stream bed was under repairs. It was loose soil and I had a tough time driving this short stretch.


Wikimapia screenshot

pic by cvsharibabu

At last were reached. I'm not the type to go into crowded temples, while my passengers went to the temple, I hung around near the van looking at the hill rising above the temple. Monkey population was considerable. Pilgrims kept them busy by feeding them coconuts and banana. I could see people walk across the dry stream bed to another hill. It seems there was another temple. I liked this place, it would be fun to visit during rainy season. Mr. Pulla Rao et al were done with their pooja & prayers and ready to leave. While we had pooja prasada Mr.Pulla Rao told me that monkeys here turn taps to let out water, drink water and turn it back. Some humans need to learn from monkeys here.

Our second destination for the day was the Devunikadapa Venkateswara temple on the outskirts of Kadapa town. Mr.Pulla Rao told me this temple is considered as the gateway to Tirumala temple and pilgrims visit this temple before going to Tirumala. The word 'Kadapa' is supposed to have been derived from Gadapa- threshold in Telugu. This temple was peaceful with just few people. I remember seeing a man totally sloshed and rolling on the floor ...combined effect of alcohol and sun is something else. We had lunch, typical Andhra dishes- rice, dal, pickles and chatnis. We rested for a while and headed back towards Chilamkur. Back at ICL staff colony my passengers thanked me for the safe journey.

Research shows that there are many places of historical importance around Kadapa such as Gandi Fort, Ameen Peer Durgah, Masjid e Azam, Khajpeta, Bagwan Mahaveer Museum, Chand Peera Gumbadh, Sri Lanka Malleswara Wild Life Sanctury and many more.

Even though we have passed through Kadiri several times never once did we visit the ancient temple. Some where between Kadiri and Chilamkur I remember seeing an ancient well with steps leading into it. These must have been made to make journeys comfortable for travelers of those days. The view from top of Kadiri hills is lovely ...not much greener around but it has it's own beauty. During one of our night journeys we had stopped at the top. It was silent, clear sky full of stars sans moon, fresh cool air ...we just stood there taking in the wonderful feeling.

I want to tour Andhrapradesh once ...starting with Belum Caves.

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Detail: Gandi and Devunikadapa

0 Journey in a truck

Some time 2001

Of all my journeys, this one was very unique. Praveen and I traveled in a truck along with our consignment of weigh bridge parts being shipped to SRAACL's coal based (co-generation) power plant at Gondiparla, Kurnool. It was a 375 kilometer overnight journey. The road was good. The truck was in good running condition even though it was pretty old. The driver was a soft-spoken person but highly experienced and his assistant (what we commonly refer to as cleaner), also a soft-spoken person, was a simple character who would just do what his boss told him. They were a great team, very dedicated to truck and their profession.

The weigh bridge was fabricated by E Shashikumar & team at a nondescript workshop in Peenya Industrial Area ...it was more an open plot which is much more suited for fabricating a 9m x 3m weigh bridge weighing around 7 tonnes. The longest items were two 9m ISMB400 beams. Shashi & team loaded the items into the truck in about two hours and I prepared necessary papers. An advance was paid to the driver. We were all set to go.




A 6-wheeler truck cargo area measures about 4.5m. The two 9m beams had to be placed length-wise with remaining things placed over them. The beams were projecting 4.5m behind the truck! Totally illegal and seriously dangerous but in this business it was not economically feasible to hire a trailer to transport these items. Our truck driver assured that it was his responsibility to transport them safely. I kept my fingers crossed and my mind would not rest till these beams were unloaded. To warn other drivers we tied a piece of red cloth ...this was mandatory for any load sticking out from the back side of a goods vehicle.

We left Peenya round about 5pm. We were four of us in the cabin. Praveen and I had to share one bench with the cleaner. And like any other cleaner his favorite spot was next to the left door. Every now and then he would check the cargo area, especially the beams. There were few known hurdles, 2 or 3 RTO check-posts. Apart from the check-posts, RTO squads would be prowling the highway. I was little worried but our driver was cool and composed. We sailed past all check posts ...unbelievable! As we pulled away from Bangalore, we were cruising between 40 and 50 kmph ...that's when we felt cool breeze blowing in from under the seat. There was a gap in the floor and no possible way to close it. As the journey wore deeper into the night the air was getting colder and my blanket did not help much.

We had 3 or 4 stops; one for dinner and rest for tea. Around midnight, some where between Penukonda and Anantapur we saw trucks being stopped by a RTO squad. Our driver carefully parked the truck such that none of the squad members would notice the beams sticking out. I was calculating how much we might have to cough up ...the driver gave a twenty rupee note to the cleaner and told him to hand it over to one particular squad member and come back. The cleaner took the money and hesitated, the driver told him not to speak anything and asked him to hurry up ...the timing was crucial I guess. As told cleaner gave the money and was back in the truck in no time. In the mean time, our driver had engaged the first gear and ready to take off ...I was skeptical if twenty rupees would work for 4.5m of load sticking out from the back of this truck. We started moving and that's when the guy who took the money noticed the beams and pointed it to his superior who was busy booking cases and collecting fines. We picked up speed as the guy was shouting at us to stop but the driver did not. He kept checking the rear-view mirror for few minutes, nobody chasing us. That's it, we were cruising as though nothing had happened. Praveen and I admired our drivers skill in handling the situation. Very smart indeed.

Neither Praveen nor me could sleep because of the cold air blowing into the cabin. That served our intention of being on this journey ...we had to stay awake. We were on Kurnool by-pass by dawn. Praveen and I went to Kurnool town, checked into Mourya Inn, freshened up and wen back the truck. A 20 km drive and soon we were at the factory gates. Material was inspected and cleared to be unloaded at site. As were waiting at the gates to exit some confusion ccreated by one of the security guards caused our driver to reverse the truck and the beams damaged a truck parked behind. We wasted an hour sorting out the problem ...I guess we paid some 200 rupees to the driver which would be his pocket money for the day. Finally, the consignment was unloaded at weigh bridge site and we were relieved. We paid the balance as agreed and gave a small tip for the good service rendered.

Dealing with truck drivers is not something one can like but this was different. It was an experience to remember.

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Detail: Journey in a truck

0 Lepaksi revisited

Dec 26 2008

This was my third visit to Lepaksi. The last one was in 2002 with Dad and Praveen. This time I was with Durga, Mom and Deepi. We left early but the journey was slow because of ongoing road work. Breakfast was on the go and Durga kept us busy with her games and riddles. One of her questions ask "what is green outside and yellow inside and has thorns" and I replied back jack-fruit. One of my question was "what is yellow outside and white inside" and she was struggling ...I gave her a hint as we passed by a shop with bunch banana hanging but that did not help her. Instead Deepi told her the answer.

The 22km drive from the NH7 to Lepaksi brought back lot of memories about Dad. During our visit -his last visit- he had given some money to a small Shiva temple. He was a staunch Shiva-bhakta.

We stopped to see the Nandi first...





At the temple, we paid respect to the Gods inside and then our guide showed us around starting with how the name 'Lepaksi' came into existence as a result of an incident from Ramayana. Then he told us many stories about around the temple ...I can't recall all the things he told.



This is the corridor from the temple entrance to the front-left corner



and this is the left side corridor. The temple is situated on rock and hence elevated from the ground level.



This is one of the five Shivalingas within this temple.



That's Deepi next to the natural spring shaped like a human foot. It's supposed to be a foot print from one of the mythological stories ...I think it's Hanuman's foot-print.



According to our guides, these circular shallow pits are supposed to be lunch plates used by the artists but the 've also heard that these were the palettes used to mix vegetable colors for paintings made on the ceiling.



Its evident that the temple construction was abandoned before the completion. In the background is the Kalyan Mantap which has 60+ pillars with unique designs which are used for Sari borders.



This is another view of the Kalyan Mantap.



Art-lovers could spend hours studying these lovely creations ...every pillar is unique with all types of creatures.



We spent lot of time taking pictures and studying the temple construction. By 1pm it was very warm and Durga was hungry and we decided to head back ...stopped at a dhaba for lunch near Devanahalli and stopped by to take a picture of Devanahalli Fort.



We were back home before sunset.

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Detail: Lepaksi revisited

0 Nandi and Shiva Linga at Lepakshi

Lepakshi is where you can see the world's largest Nandi. According to our guide at Lepakshi, this bull is supposed to have been carved by Jakanachari in just one day - from dawn to dusk. This Nandi, like all other Nandi, is a calf. It faces a big Shiva Linga about half a kilomater away.



That's my dad, S Rajendra Prasad, his last picture shot by me sometime July 2002.


He passed away on November 2, 2002.

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Detail: Nandi and Shiva Linga at Lepakshi

0 Golconda Fort

The pictures are in the order of a guide's tour...

This is the entrance to the garrison.

That's Praveen trying to lift the metallic block. According to our guide this block was used to test strength... army recruits had to lift this block off the ground to pass the test. Praveen could not budge it. It managed to shift it little bit. But three local boys all aged around 12 years, jointly lifted it one inch from the ground. Amazing!

Estimated weight of the block: 250kg.

These are the step leading the way to the prison

...and those are images of Gods carved by a royal prisoner on one of the prison walls. When the prison door is shut, the only source of light and air is from a foot square hole high up in the ceiling.

Now we are at the summit of the rocky hillock and below that rock are two small temples.

That's the summer palace and the highest point in Golconda Fort.

Below picture, to the right, are the palace ruins. The walls and floors still have water pipelines. It seems water was pumped to the palace from another hillock about 2km from here. Of course, those days there were no motors... gravitational force was used to it's best.

Looking back at the summer palace on the way down. We took the other stairs which is much steeper than the one we climbed up.


The climb looks daunting. Our guide told us that some guides would bring tourists to this stairs and the tourists looking up would refuse to go up. The guide saves times for more tourists!

That's a fountain head in the palace courtyard.

I've visited this place two times; first with dad and then with Praveen sometime 2003. Both times, to my bad luck I could not see the museum close by.

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Detail: Golconda Fort

0 Koyagudem - Kothagudem

Done with the work on the weight bridge in the Koyagudem mines, Vijay and I were riding back on his bike when I noticed this hillock. Vijay told me that it's man-made, it's a huge heap of OB that's over-burden. OB is the earth moved to reach the coal buried deep inside. Most mines in this area are open-pit.


These guys had run out of petrol. Vijay gave them some petrol from his bike, the nearest bunk was 10km.


I'd never seen a temple 'gopura' like this ever before... horse, eagle, monkey, boar and lion. And look at the colors!



That's a dam which supplies water to Kothagudem Thermal Power Station near by. Vijay told me that the reservoir when full has enough water for two years supply to the power station.


The dam's guest house is situated in a woody and hilly part right next to the reservoir. The place is no longer used, ever since the place was bombed by Naxalites. You can catch a glimpse of KTPS in the top left corner of the picture below.



That was my last visit to Kothagudem. I'm not sure if Vijay is still operating the weigh bridge... it was a 120T 12m by 3m concrete deck supported on six double ended shear beam load cells supplied some time 2002.

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Detail: Koyagudem - Kothagudem

0 SriKalaHasti

'Sri' stands for spider
'Kala' for snake and
'Hasti' for elephant.


This stone sculpture is at Lepakshi Temple. Srikalahasti one of the important holy places in South India.

Praveen, Gulli and I took a night bus... I remember a suitcase falling on my head from the overhead luggage rack in the bus. Not once, two times, same suitcase. The owner finally kept it on the floor board. We reached quite early, it was still dark.


We found a low priced lodging, slept for some time and got ready early. We visited the main temple first, it's quite big and was a busy place for a temple. The guide tried to explain us the invisible force which keeps... (not getting the word, ok let me call it shaking) shaking the flame in the Deepa but could never catch his explanation. The temple is a very interesting place, we spent some time looking around. Then we had tasty idli, vada and dosas from one of the many carts.


Just behind the temple is a rocky hillock. From the top we could see part of the town. That's Gulli and me and behind us is a scene from the story of Bedara Kannappa in which Kannappa gouges out his eye for Lord Shiva.


Done with the main temple, we explore the town streets. We climbed another hill in the middle of the town, much taller than the one we had climbed earlier. From here we could see the entire town and beyond it also.


That's river Swarnamuhki. The uniqueness of this part of the river is that it flows South-North direction. This is a rare occurrence. All rivers flow in the general direction of North South... at least in India. It's a Hindu belief that this spot frees one from some kind of sin... cannot recall what was told by our guide.


The town is crowded, streets are narrow and hums with activity.

Done with seeing the place, we had lunch, slept for a while and Praveen suggested we head back home. We boarded a Bangalore bound KSRTC bus. The driver drove like a maniac, mostly one handed. He would either be smoking beedis or chewing tobacco and spitting. He honked whenever he saw something moving and would go past pedestrians real close. It was a real tense journey... sitting in the very first row with a full view of the road. We reached Bangalore by 9 30 or so, without any incident.

It was a memorable little trip for the three of us.

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Detail: SriKalaHasti