Porvorim Elevated Highway - How about the left lane must exit?

A couple of  months ago, I found a road-closure on the highway near Pedem Sports Complex. The initial irritation turned to a relief as I realised that after years, the highway authorities have decided to build a flyover over the road between the District Hospital and the Sports Complex. The need for this was obvious for anyone in Mapusa from the day one of the highway opening. Well, better late than the continuing chaos.

I was reminded of this by the recent fiasco of the elevated road through Porvorim and more and still more. I was now  wondering if I should take the old route to go to Panaji or take the elevated road and try my luck at taking a U-turn after crossing the Atal Setu. As it is, even merging from Atal Setu with the  road going towards South is far too often a scary experience! One can understand why there have been frequent changes to the flow of traffic as one exits the Atal Setu bridge.

I can't recall a single instance of a well designed entry and exit lane on our highways. I haven't driven much so my experience is not all that much.

In the case of the Porvorim Elevated Highway, however, the  solution should  not  be that hard. The following steps should make it comparatively safe and it should apply to both directions.

• The left lane of the three lanes must exit.
• The highway should be two lane until
• the merging traffic becomes the third lane.

Obviously, modifying the existing internal roads may require substantial effort but that in any case is needed.

But we will have to wait till the team from Nagpur offers a solution. I wonder if they have ever seen the rain in Goa.

 

 

Freedom to Cycle and Growing Old

 I am a little envious  of people of my age cycling. I see so many in Dusseldorf and that pales in comparison to the Netherlands.

I recall that I had decided to bike to work on Sundays. I rarely went on weekends but occasionally I wanted to write some code or expecriment with some software. 

During the  normal time, I did not get enough undisturbed time given my role. It wasn't that my managerial role was so  busy. I was idle (far too) often but not for long enough stretches. 

The roads in Mapusa were not so crowded on Sundays in the 1990's; so, bicycling felt safe enough. There were ups and downs and I did not even think of a bike with gears at the time. I presumed that they would  be imported and very expensive in those years. I just walked when riding was tough.

It must have been only my third such trip that a truck rushed passed and terrified me. I lost my courage and stopped. A risk averse person, obviously. 

I no longer have the courage to rent a bike and try in Europe where it is safe - what if I fall and break  a bone. Have to accept my age even if with regret 😐 

I will be back in India in a week and will no longer be reminded of what could have been :)

 

Thanks CJP. Suddenly There is Hope - How to use tech in selection not just exams

The idea of centralised exams has always baffled me. Do they really measure merrit or test for understanding? To me the answer has obviously been a No.

For recruitment and placement, they seem like a claim on a food package - "Untouched by hands". It is absurdly simplistic to even imagine that this makes the system fair. It would be hard to even prove that the results are even fairer than ANY system. Consider the example of the elitist Ivy League universities - they give preference to children of alumni, children of large donors, children of highly influential people. The system may be blamed for providing unfair advantage to some but never that the system itself is unfair. In fact, it might be argued that this system provides an opportunity for people from my class to make contacts that can provide opportunities, which may otherwise be hard to come by in our capitalistic society.   

Our problem is different in that there are so many aspirants and so few opportunities. Hence, the first recognition has to be that far too many people who could be admitted will not be. In NEET, we are talking not of the elite institutions but all. We need to accept that the results of an exam are a lottery. They may be a test of competence but not an absolute one. The results will vary with the exam. The results may even vary depending upon when or where the exams are held.. This is true even if there is no leakage!

Solution:

1. Accept uncertainty in the merit list. Perfect list is impossible.
2. Do  not take one exam as the only one to determine a list
3. Choose as many criterion as you believe are useful even if the value assigned is hard to quantify. E.g. to be a doctor, I would like to know if a candidate is 'empathetic'.  
4.  Assign weightages to each category based on social need and values. These weightages may be changed. In fact, each institution could be free to select its own weightages.
5. Finally, DO NOT create an ordered list. 
6. So, far all the above are determined by HUMANS. Now technology can be used to compute a consolidated score for each. 
7. The consolidtaed score is a probability weight, which can be used by the system to create the selected list.
8. In fact as many customised lists can be created as there are institutions based on the weightages for that instituion. 
9. It is easy for a student to apply on one site and specify the preferences for the  institutions.
10. A side benefit - fixed quotas for various categories could  be replaced by weightages and the stigma of being from a quota removed. 
11. How about adding a negative weight for those attending tution factories 😁 or a positive one for those who haven't! 

My earnest hope is that the system will leave out so many children of the priveleged society that there will be an accelerated development of more institutions of learning and the improvement and expansion of the existing ones. 

 

 

Bad Planning or an Indifference to People?

 I have had to travel through Porvorim more often than I would have liked. Each time I am struck by the chaos and wondering does it have to be this way.

Do we plan for the fastest completion time or as fast as possible while minimizing the inconvenience during construction? 

Do we even consider the inconvenience and implicit costs caused by the chaos during construction?

Does the planning even include the impact on the people who need to use these roads and have no alternate option during the construction? I think we are invisible to the planners. Just a group to be tolerated while a great and bright future opens up to us.

I am certain that after the flyover is completed, I will again be able to reach the Dabolim airport from Mapusa in 50 minutes, like I used to do when I moved to Goa 25 years ago.

Meanwhile I crave for a future paradise where I can walk without fear or looking over my shoulder keeping track of traffic behind me. Travel by  public transport and not have to worry about where to park.

Oh, well. If I had money, I could have moved to Europe.... 

 

The Age of Sanyas, the trivial hope of fixing an issue with EPS and how to live a worthwhile life after rejecting Sanyas

 I certainly have no plans for a sanyas or leaving for the Himalayas! 

Yet a couple of days before the d-day, I could sense a heaviness in the head which lasts even a day after. Since I am indifferent to religion, it has to be the social importance of turning 75.

I have no plans to change the course my life but a fogginess in the head persists.

I wanted to have a cozy house in a quiet area - started just before Covid, which delayed it. But we are now in it for the last two years. I am finally installing solar panels - not for economic reasons and not even to save the planet as we continue to consume and pollute more. 

It is more for the selfish reason of being off-grid in case of grid collapses. If California can now experience them, Goa is of course an easy and likely victim. Hence, it again doesn't give me happiness of doing something useful.

We also were able to dispose parental property on our terms of no cash, in spite of advice that we are losing money and paying more tax. Again it was for the selfish motive of peace of mind. I have no expectation that it will make any dent in the economics of sale of properties.

My investments are passive and not requiring much effort except occasional reorganisation of funds to minimize risk. A necessity in light of the absurd pension I get for Employee Pension Scheme.

I do need to continue to fight the EPFO - not for my pension but in the hope to help others less literate facing the same issue. In shifting my pension from Chandigarh to Goa, my date of birth has been incorrectly entered. The digital life certificate is rejected as the date of birth on the Aadhaar card does not match the record of the employee pension scheme. Their solution defies reasonableness - provide a certificate from the bank each year as they inform me verbally that they can't change the date in their records. I wonder how they will deal with my death certificate! I keep hoping that my occasional pestering will result in some internal escalation and fixing my birthdate. 

I can recommend to them that if they can't change the field, create another field the database 'Legal Birth Date' and use that instead. I doubt if they will listen. Even if I succeed, I can at best feel a tiny and momentary sense of achievement even after the age of sanyas.

The satisfaction from this achievement, if at all it happens, is hardly enough to clear the mental fog.

Grandchildren are also too old to be needing or wanting our advice or input. 

I am trying to convince myself that it is not being 75 years old, but I need to find something to work on which keeps me occupied and in principle could be useful even if it is never actually used.

So, time to meditate on what next!

 

Why I wish I could be Superman

 As I started to cross the road, I noticed that a car had speeded up. I wished I had been Superman. I would have fearlessly crossed the road and enjoyed watching the car get crushed.

Instead, I waited  and waited. And waited but lived to tell the tale.

Random walk and thoughts around cars parked on the sidewalks and roads where there are no usable sidewalk

 As I walk past and around cars parked on the sidewalk and the road in front of houses, I find it ironic that the very people who feel entitled to use the public space for their private comfort are horrified at the thought of homeless people using the same type of space for their shelter.

My thoughts of irony are disturbed by a car which wants me to move aside so that it can drive on the road.