Travelogue: Patna Junction Railway Station

Happened to see Patna Junction railway station from a closer distance and was highly impressed by its makeover. I don't know when this change happened, and I don't remember when and if I boarded any trains from here. And I wonder if it is as beautiful also from the inside. The big displayed national flag is certainly the initiative of current govt led by Narendra Modi after coming to power [news]. 

The makeover is a proof of how small changes can make our world more beautiful and interesting place to live in.

Hats off to government of India and ministry of Railways.  

- Rahul 

Travelogue: Mahavir Mandir, Patna

Mahavir Mandir, Patna is one of the most famous Hanuman temples in Bihar. Not sure about other places, but in Bihar Hanuman Ji is also known as Mahavir, meaning great warrior, or the bravest.

Mahavir Temple is situated near to Patna Junction railway station, and it is a beautiful, well managed temple. Besides Hanuman ji, we have idols of Shri Ram, Sita Mata being worshipped, and Shivling of Bhagwan Shiv is also housed in the temple for worship. 

I could also see a model of proposed Viraat Ramayan Mandir on display inside the temple. Situated in East Champaran district of Bihar, Viraat Ramayan Mandir will be world's biggest temple once it is built. 

Mahavir Mandir, Patna is a must visit for all devotees and I am sure visitors will feel better and happy with the visit. 

(C) Rahul 

A Faceless Freak

During my stay at our native village, once I attended cremation of one of my relatives. Cremation happened in the evening and next morning we needed to visit the site again for some ritual. The place is near a beautiful temple and a pond which is made over land donated by our ancestors. There was plenty of time to spend and someone was telling stories about a guy who was living near the temple and being a matter of great controversy. 

The guy was actually the "son-in-law" of someone who lived near the place. He lost his mind, and not sure if after or before he lost his mind, his family threw him out of their house. He was poor, perhaps uneducated and had nowhere to go. So, he selected a small area near the temple and started living there permanently. Someone pointed out to us where he lived, and I could see a small enclosure made by a saree or dhoti supported by four wooden sticks at corners, with no roof on its top. He ate by begging whenever he felt hungry. We were informed that the mad man was dangerous and many times he had suddenly "slapped" men and boys and fled by swimming after jumping in the pond. 

While we were being told about this interesting story, we saw the very same guy coming the same way. We got careful while he was coming towards us. Out of curiosity, I tried to look at his face while he came towards us. He had put a towel around his face, and he must have some black beard on his face because his face was not being visible at all. He kept coming nearer and I kept looking into his face to get a glimpse. But I was shocked that he came and went past us, but his face did not become visible at all! How was that possible? I ran the images several times in my mind, trying to remember if I had noticed anything in his face, but I could not. He had towel around his face and there was just darkness instead of a face. I could not see his eyes or teeth or beard or moustache or forehead - nothing. 

It was a really strange experience, and I did not see him anytime afterwards. But I could not understand how his face was "invisible". The man telling us stories about him had never mentioned about his face being invisible to anyone, so I understood that it had not happened before. Although I can't understand why even his eyes were not visible, the only logical explanation I can think of is that he was a dark-skinned man and due to his face being surrounded by a towel, his face became invisible for me. Maybe he was closing or lowering his eyes while he walked. Otherwise, what else could be an explanation for the "magic"?

- Rahul 

Telecom Regulation, OTT regulation, and now need for AI Regulation

TRAI messed up telecom industry leading to duopoly; regulators were not even able to regulate OTT yet; and now Artificial Intelligence has come and needs regulation! Certainly, challenging time to be regulators in India. And price will be paid by customers/society.

One reason why telecom operators failed and shut shops in India was TRAI/govt allowing mobile Messenger Apps like WhatsApp to allow customers to make "free calls" to anyone, even overseas, at zero fee to telecoms. It was highly unfair to telecoms and resulted in "data" driven business model which only new operators like Jio were designed for. Old operators failed miserably and closed shop. It resulted in duopoly and bad deal for customers can be easily seen in telecoms cancelling billing model and forcing customers to buy "unlimited plans" which not everyone needs. An entire industry ecosystem was disrupted, and this is not even discussed in a free economy.

Telecom regulator TRAI should make policies 'inclusive' which promotes multiple operators since competition is good for consumers; make policies which also allows telecoms to be able to charge customers enough to be able to make profits; and during auctions, do not just focus on raising as much money as possible since once of the reasons telecoms went bankrupt was higher spectrum prices they had to pay during auction. 

More than telecom regulation, it is OTT regulation which is critical. Absolutely bad language is being used and indecency is shown in OTT content just because there is no censor board reviewing the shows. Last OTT show I watched is Shahid Kapoor starrer 'Bloody Daddy' and it had absurd level of foul language used. 

It is high time Indian regulators should fix the telecom industry policies immediately, bring OTT under regulation urgently and then explore ways to regulate/restrict AI. 

- Rahul 

Psychology: Some rules for life