Saturday, July 26, 2014

Transferring a car's registration from Goa to Karnataka

In Goa, get CID clearance from their office in Ribander. That takes about 10 days. Copy of RC book.

Then Form 28 from RTO office to get a No Objection Certificate.

 In Karnataka, take these forms to your RTO. Form 27, Form 30 You need to pay tax on the depreciated value of your car. The only way to prove the deprecated value is to get the original sales invoice which may be very difficult depending upon where you bought the vehicle.

 Then you need to give the following 1. SDRC clearance - the Karnataka equivalent of Crime Branch clearance. 2. Proof of address 3. PAN card 4. Proof of current insurance. 5. Current Emission Certificate 6. Self addressed stamped envelope Take the forms and everything else to an assigned RTO inspector. 

Remove any plastic tints and make an impression of the car chassis number with a pencil on Form 30 Get another 2-3 signatures from the Assistant RTO and other officers Submit form with the envelope.

You will get an ack form which must be kept very very carefully or you could be in trouble if you get caught. 

You should get the new registration in a week.

All this sounds straightforward but it can take MONTHS.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Goodreads data

Vasudev Murthy's books on Goodreads
Sherlock Holmes in Japan Sherlock Holmes in Japan
reviews: 9
ratings: 19 (avg rating 4.21)

The Time Merchants and other strange tales The Time Merchants and other strange tales
reviews: 2
ratings: 8 (avg rating 4.50)

What the Raags told me What the Raags told me
ratings: 6 (avg rating 4.67)

Effective Proposal Writing Effective Proposal Writing
ratings: 3 (avg rating 4.67)


Monday, February 03, 2014

A review in the District Messenger, the official newsletter of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London.

A review in the District Messenger, the official newsletter of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London.

Sherlock Holmes in Japan by Vasudev Murthy , writing as Akira Yamashita (HarperCollins Publishers India; www.harpercollins.co.in ; 350.00 rupees) also has a foreword by Calvert Markham. In June 1893 Dr Watson receives an envelope from Japan. Inside are a first class ticket from Liverpool to Yokohama and a note in a familiar hand: ‘Watson, I need you. My violin, please. S.H.’ Before the ship reaches Alexandria, a quiet, scholarly Japanese passenger is murdered, and shortly Watson learns that his friend is a fellow-passenger – and they are both in deadly danger. Moriarty survived the fight at Reichenbach and knows that only Holmes can thwart his plans to destroy international diplomacy and flood the world with opium. The novel is a cracking good read, witty, learned and desperately exciting.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Times Literary Carnival - my sessions

THE TIMES OF INDIA LITERARY CARNIVAL
Bangalore
 
Friday, 24th January, 2014
Jan 24th  1145

WHO CALLS THE SHOTS? Dynamics of Publisher-Author Relationships – Amrita Chowdhury (Harlequin), Akash Shah (Jaico), Vaishali Mathur (Penguin) & Ravi Subramanian. Moderated by Vasudev Murthy


 1315
CRIME WRITING: Does it really pay? Manreet Sodhi Someshwar, Manjiri Prabhu, Barun Chandra & Zac O Yeah. Moderator: Vasudev Murthy

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Traveling from Margao, Goa to Bangalore and back

I travel a lot between these two places using a variety of means.

Air: Dabolim airport to bangalore airport is about 55 minutes. Dabolim airport is small (recently expanded) and fairly easy to get to. Bangalore airport is considered modern and large but getting to and from the city is really painful.

Car:  From Bangalore, you take a major highway called NH4 up to Hubli. That would be about 425 kms. It has plenty of tollgates, so have plenty of money. But the road is excellent and there are several places where you can stop and grab something to eat. You will pass Tumkur and Davangere, at least.   When you reach the outskirts of Hubli, you will hit a large roundabout. Take the road INTO the town and ask for the Hubli-Karwar road.  That would be on your left.  Hubli to Karwar, on the coast would be about 165 kms and the road is quite nice and smooth. You will hit a town called Yellapur. Stop there for lunch at the simple Shanbhag Hotel next to a Petrol station. Don't forget to get some amazing Mango pickle from the store in the restaurant.

As you continue, you will hit the coastal highway. Hit a right to Karwar.

Karwar to Margao is about 73 kms along a very scenic route next to the sea and along hills and plenty of greenery.  Pay 250 toll to get into Goa.

Buses: I have traveled only once between Ankola (near Karwar) and Bangalore. It was uncomfortable, but cheap and I guess safe. I reached on time. Auto rickshaw drivers in Bangalore are waiting to pounce on you. So be careful and don't get cheated.

Train:  You can get a Margao to Bangalore train or a Karwar to Bangalore train. Margao -Bangalore isn't as frequent as it could be. Karwar-Bangalore is more frequent but passes through Mangalore and so the journey is longer.  Plus you would then need to travel from Margao to Karwar by road (plenty of local buses). Use www.irctc.co.in to book your tickets. 3A or 2A is most comfortable.

Let me know if this was useful.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Sherlock Holmes in Japan Book review by © Aleš Kolodrubec, president of the Czech Society of Sherlock Holmes


Book review by © Aleš Kolodrubec, president of the Czech Society of Sherlock Holmes www.sherlockholmessociety.in/2013/10/sherlock-holmes-in-japan-book-review.html

here

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Projects I am working on

1. Two novels based on Classical Music

2. The Collected Works of the famous Japanese writer Akira Yamashita

3. Non-fiction: The Art of Consensus Building

4. Non-fiction:  Sales Process Management

5. Non-Fiction: Proposal Writing (the next edition of my book with major enhancements including a workbook and video)

6. A top-secret satire on the literary world

Thursday, October 24, 2013

The Congress and the Gandhis

The very essence of democracy precludes the concept of any single family controlling the political system of a country. We are well within our rights to ask about the education, experience and intellectual depth of this man. What is his source of livelihood? What educational degree does he possess? What are his religious beliefs and how does he apply them? (No problem if he is an atheist). Does he have only an Indian passport or an Italian one as well? All are important to me in deciding whether he has the qualities I look forward to in a leader. No single family can continue contributing to the 'polity ' of  any nation unquestioned and uninterrupted. Otherwise, how different is  this from a new kind of caste system and a monarchy?

It is in the interest of the Congress and the Gandhis to keep a substantial segment of the population of India poor, uneducated and uninformed. This segment will, without question, be affected by emotion because their
lives are driven by the sheer daily need to survive and they cannot think for long periods of time on strategic matters, not because they are stupid, but because their circumstances do not give them time, access to information and the right kind of exposure to make considered decisions. Maslow's theory does matter. Therefore talking about generations past helps his case, though it is shallow and has no meaning  in the present context. And therefore, Rahul Gandhi will not engage with an educated audience who will have tough questions and cannot be bulldozed by tears about his Grandma.

There is no governance on the ground in India. We watch our 'rulers' (what does this mean? How dare they deign to 'rule' us? ) zip around in cars with  shaded windows, creating systems that are useful for them in looting us  unquestioned, generation after generation.

Rahul Gandhi and the Congress do not have the right to rule us for ever.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Twitter

Follow me on Twitter too, if you like

@dracula99



Monday, October 21, 2013

My review of Neeta Iyer's book on Goodreads

Find_Love.comFind_Love.com by Neeta Iyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm supposed to be too old to read such books, since I am a pompous old man.

So why did I like it?

Its fresh, original and fun. There is nothing pretentious or forced. Humour, a chirpy way of bouncing back from disappointments that might have made someone else feel rather bad - it makes you want to keep reading.

The end was a shade abrupt but then again, maybe I felt that way because I wanted to read more. haha!

I could whine about the Hindi phrases a bit, but that would be unfair. They work very well and add some zing.

Well done Neeta! I hope you become a best-selling and critically acclaimed author but I also hope it doesn't go to your head; such fresh happy writing shouldn't be tainted with the weight of experience!! haha!



View all my reviews
My review of Sriramana Muliya's book

Frankly SpookingFrankly Spooking by Sriramana Muliya
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hey, this is a really cool book. good literature doesn't have to be miserable to be considered great! Ramana has written a book that I have thoroughly enjoyed! The man's mind is fertile, evil and we need to watch out for him. My only complaint is that it is only 192 pages! I bet he has many more tales. The style is fluid and easy and not pretentious in the least. Discard those sorry "elegantly written deep insights into the human condition" books and read stuff that will keep you engaged and scare the daylights out of you - and acknowledge that this is what is meant as good reading!!!! Congrats Ramana and my best wishes for many more horrifying tales. Unsure if I will live to read them! hahaha!

View all my reviews
Read some reviews of Sherlock Holmes in Japan here

Reviews on goodreads

Sunday, June 02, 2013

Playing the violin for Chunnu


Here is a nice video of me strumming the violin playing for Chunnu, one of my dogs.

Take by Jagdish Keshav on June 1 2013