The rise and fall of DOSA PLAZA

No, this blog doesn’t talk about success or failure of Dosa Plaza (speciality food chain, which serve over 106 types of Dosa).... I am not an expert to write on such issue.   This blog is just an expression of a loyal customer, who is now more than disappointed with distorting services of this potential food chain.

In 2006-07, I first got chance to try dosa of Dosa plaza; when its Kothrud outlet had just opened.  I became fan of this place, in my very first visit.  Good interior (not luxurious, but definitely trendy and hygienic), well mannered and uniformed service staffs, competitive price, wide range of dosas in menu card, and biggest thing – ultimate taste.   It was sure winner, so it did.   In subsequent visit, I tried almost all of them, from traditional to experimental one (Mexican and American stuffing dosa); but Garlic roast is my favourite, and it was a consistent order in my all visits to all its outlets (they had couple of, at Mumbai-Pune expressway as well).    With time, somehow I could not visit any Dosa plaza outlet for few years. I can think of two reasons; first, I moved to pimple Saudagar, where it does not have any outlet nearby, second, now a day’s new entrepreneurs keep on starting new food chain – so I was busy trying them.  

On 28^th July (Saturday), I along with couple of my friends was going to Mumbai; as usual, we stopped at food court near khapoli.   We hungry souls were desperately checking out food outlets to decide what to eat, and guess what – Dosa plaza ....   a momentarily happiness in heart, which fade away by  looking at the condition of outlet, extremely ill managed and dirty, torn posters, poor lighting... looking like roadside food stall.   Ignoring its state, and rude (read not so polite) behaviour of service staff, we decided to go with it, off course Garlic roast was in order list.    In next 10 min, we were served with one of the worst dosa I ever had, partly burned, no taste, it was somewhere between yuk and thhuuu..... anything but eatable.     I got the reasoning of ill state of its existing outlets, and no new outlet in any new area........

Now, this is not going off my mind, once it was so good and... only in few years time.. it’s nothing but a disappointment.   I wish it bounced back and control its quality and may manage its expansion; but first thing first, Dosa plaza may survive.

Boulevard – visit at your risk and with expectation as low as possible

The Orchid five star ecotel hotel at Pune is unique in its own way;  its probably only star hotel where you find – mosquitoes and loud music in coffee bar, cooler instead of AC, and so on.... while missing items are valet parking, coffee menu in menu card of coffee bar and off course hospitality.  In one word this place can be best described as “Sarkari”- good infrastructure with pathetic service.

I love late night coffee at 24 hour cafes, mostly in star hotels, and being an entrepreneur, I have to do it frequently and have visited various star hotels and their cafes in almost every major tier I & II cities of India.    Common thing in all such cafes is their relaxed ambience (perfect temperature AC, no loud music and well mannered service) and they all serve coffee in coffee jar with ceramic cups – so that one can enjoy hot coffee for quite long time and chit chat.  

As I said “The Orchid” is unique in its own way.   We (me along with some friends) entered its well decorated coffee bar “Boulevard” and surprised to see that in place of AC there was air-cooler with constant annoying sound. Soon they start playing music – as laud as CCDs.  No mention of any coffee related product in menu card, surprised us further – when  I enquired about same with service staff – he simply (read rudely) said – what if it is not in menu, you ask, we will serve coffee...

They off course served it – but again in their own unique way – cold coffee was anything but cold.  Hot coffee too was served in cup and saucer, no coffee jar to keep it hot, hint was very clear “finish it ASAP”.   This time we were not surprised to find that coffee was steamed, the one that usually served in parties for huge gathering – “Fatafat coffee”. A birthday party was going on in conference hall of hotel, so it might be outsourced.   And then final nail in coffin, soon some mosquitoes joined us.

You can visit “Boulevard”, but definitely on your own risk and keep expectation as low as possible.

Travel time sucks…. I almost missed my flight, because of them

Preface -

My flight to Delhi from Pune was scheduled at 10:20 pm; as airlines wisely request travelers to be present at least 45 min prior to schedule departure, I planned to be there by 9:30.  Keeping in mind the 35-40 minute commute time from my flat to airport, I decided to book a cab at 8:45.   I called travel time traveling service around quarter to eight and booked my cab accordingly.  A polite call executive confirmed my booking and assured that driver will call me by 8:15 pm (30 before booked time), I will also get a SMS confirming my booking along with driver name, number and cab details.  

Actual Drama

All my bags were packed and I was fully prepared well before time.   By 8:20, I neither get call from driver nor any SMS,  I called them, and they assured me that driver will call by 8:30, he didn’t.  I called them again, and they said driver is on the way, very near to my flat and will call in next 5 min, he didn’t.    Frustrated me, called them again , and they again assured me driver will be there by 8:45 (in next 5 minute) and will call you up, he didn’t.   Finally I call my friend ‘SOS’, help me to reach airport; in no time he was in my society, and I was sitting next to him in his car, watch was showing 9:02.  Just to check, I called travel time again and said – “I had a booking at 8:45, and cab never came ” , in response, call executive politely said – “sir, your booking is still there, and driver is about to reach your place and will next 5 minutes driver will call you” he didn’t J.   

At the end

Finally, somehow I reached airport exactly at 9:40, and with pleasant surprise, they allow me to check-in without any exchange of words.  Since at the end I was able to catch my flight, I was about to forget travel time experience, but out of curiosity I check their review on yahoo local (http://in.local.yahoo.com/pune/traveltime-car-rental-pvt-ltd-e1f56f17e433cddac69e3f5e04914bc1/ ) and happy to know that I am not the sole victim of their pathetic service.  They are constant travel maker to many customers.  Thanks to God, I am on board.

I really appreciate extreme politeness of call executive, every time I called them, sometimes it seems like shamelessness (smiling even after screwing up everything); they must be feeling same way about me as well.  I wish I should called them up around 10 and check if drive is still on the way, I am sure they had responded that – driver will call in next 5 minute. J

एक ख्वाहिश अनेक ख्वाहिश

एक नजम जड़ सकू, बस इतनी ख्वाहिश है |

एक नब्ज जुड़ जाएगी, खुद-ब-खुद ख्वाहिशो के ||

दिल के शीशे में कोई, यो ही उतर आती है - Ghazal

दिल के शीशे में कोई, यो ही उतर आती है |

बन के परछाई मेरी, बात लिख के जाती है ||

कोशिशे करता हूँ फिर भी न चला, एक भी अक्षर उसका |

लगता शब्दों को स्वयं आँक, गजले गुनगुनाती है ||

चाहता हूँ की पकड़ पूछ लू, वह धुंध में आने का सबब |

जब थम - कदम बढाता हूँ, वो घूम के नट जाती है ||

मैं इधर चैन को बैचेन रहा, कौन क्या जाना क्या आना है |

देखते - देखते वह छाया, झट से मुकर जाती है ||

The rescuer of Life

They save life for charity; in the last 10 years they have carried out over 300 rescue operation around Lonavala and Khandala valley, saved hundreds of lives, they are God sent for the people who get stuck in Valley, Lake & dam due to an accident or natural disaster. They also rescue reptiles (catch snakes, rescue them and then send them back to deep forest). They do it out of passion and interest, free of cost, a purely for charity. The members of Shivadurga Mitra adventure club are real life heroes. This inside story is D2I’s salute to them, their act of bravery and unique charity of saving life.

Shivadurga Mitra adventure club was founded in the year 1980 by Mr. Sunil Gaikwad; with the vision and aim of promoting trekking, rappelling and other adventure sports for people in Lonavala. From the very beginning the club used to teach adventure sports to the school children at no cost and they are still doing so in schools. In mid 90s, the next generation of the club started participating actively in various other activities. And over the time activity list of Shivadurga club grew from Trekking, repelling, rock climbing, valley crossing etc. to survival camping, archery, shooting to special & customised training programs for corporate and government agencies.

Young and energetic members like Sunil Gaikwad and Ashok mate, completed basic courses from NIM, further added new horizon to this club.

In 2000 out of interest and passion, they started rescuing the accident victims in and around Lonavala- Khandala valley. On an average every year they do around 30-35 rescue operations in dense forest, to deep valley and under water (Dam & Lakes).

The valley in the Lonavala-Khandala is around 3000 feet deep and quite accident prone especially in the rainy season. After an accident if someone gets stuck in the valley then the rescue team either comes from Mumbai or Pune; the major damages occurs prior to their arrival, immediate help is needed in most of the accidents. Sunil, Ashok and few more like minded youngsters decided to start rescuing operation by then. With very little resource and equipment, in the year 2000 they started rescuing the accident victims in and around Lonavala Ghat. They do not charge anything for it, they even bought all the equipments and gears required for such rescue operations themselves. All the earnings of Shivdurga Mitra Adventure Club are being spent for these purposes, they even put their saving. It was shear passion and feeling to help, keeps them going. By 2005 Shivdurga Mitra became a reliable and famous entity. Even the Police started to contact them for rescue operations. They became top choice for cops and life saver for victims. On an average every year they carry out around 30-35 rescue operation.

After 2005, they started to maintain the record of operations and related activity. Now they are a 200 member strong team. The rescue horizon too expands from valley to lakes and dams. From dense forest, to deep valley to under water, they started rescuing everywhere. It was not only geographical horizon of Shivdurga which was expanding, they also started rescuing snakes.

They catch snakes, rescue them from people and later let them free into the deep forest. To promote it, they have started courses on identifying snake, their poisonous characteristic and how to catch them, and how to survive if a poisonous snake bites you, etc.

They also train the cadets of Force One, for repelling, valley crossing and rock climbing. On 26^th November 2009, on the mark on one year of terror attack on Mumbai, the cadets of Force One demonstrated their preparation to fight terror. An important portion of this drill was trained by Shivadurga club.

From members count to rescue operations to activities and their passion to their popularity, everything is growing up. The only thing which is still in bad shape, are their finances. Members are running this noble organisation on their own; its parent club which organises various adventure sports too is less of a business establishment and more of a charitable institution. Their most of programs are to promote the activity and free training for locals and the underprivileged; very few camps and activities earn them the much needed money. Time to time they get support from local business houses, but still they are way behind what they should be in terms of the finances.

Finance has never been their vision, idea and aim, and they continue rescuing people while betting on their own life out of passion and will. They not only conduct adventure games, and rescue work, they are also promoting sports and culture among youth in a big way. Shivadurga Mitra Mandal is in true sense serving the society.

Doors2India salute the brave hearts of Maharashtra.

“This blog was originally published in blog.d2i.in as inside story of Shivadurga mitra mandal, Lonavala; republishing here with permission from D2i team”

Pune's journey back to being - City of Bicycles

Everything has its own cost, so did Pune paid, for its growth. From pensioners paradise to paradise lost; from city of bicycle to city of motorcycle, Pune kept changing its identity with industrial & IT development.

Back in the late nineties, a health & environment friendly group of visionary Puneties formed a group “Pune Cycle Prathisthan” to promote cycling and regain its lost identity. Started with 15 - 20 people; this group has now over 3000 members. On 5^th June 2010, Pune’s Pedal Power had organised a cycle ride to celebrate world environment day and over 1200 people turned up for it. It’s a strong evident of growing passion among Puneites for cycling. Especially in the last few months (After opening of Life Cycle, India’s largest cycle mall) cycling has become a movement in Pune.

This inside story is an attempt to salute the passionate cyclists, who are pursuing rides which are in real sense healthy, adventurous as well as environment friendly. Our pre-investigation finds that Mr. Nachiket Joshi (of Life cycle and Zen of cycling, a cyclists group) is one of the main contributors who are helping achieve Pune its lost identity of ‘City of Bicycles’; and for this reason we contacted him for more inside scoop on the same. This inside story is based on the conversation of D2I-Mag team with him.

Young, energetic and dynamic entrepreneur Nachiket is a passionate cyclist. This passion is in his blood, his father Mr. Ulhas joshi (he is founder of Life cycle) is a big time cyclist and has organised & participated in numerous cycling ride in India and abroad and go to Himalaya on cycle ride almost every year. Nachiket’s interest in cycling goes back to his childhood, but like many other youngsters his first love too was motor-bike. In 2007, he was in a group of four riders who went to Goa from Pune on Bike (for biking adventure) and unfortunately they met with an accident. With no major physical damage, it was a close shave for him. His father Ulhas said – “If you really want to enjoy riding adventure, try a ride with us”. Ulhas along with Dr. Dilip Dhawan had formed “Cycle Premi Group” in 2006 which Nachiket join. Started with 2 members, the group has now grown to over 1400 members and is known as Zen of cycling (to know more about it, visit www.zenofcycling.com). In 2010 only over 700 people joined it.

Turning Point

In Early 2008, cycle Premi group had organised a Konkan cycle ride, and around 60 people participated, most of them were first timers and coming from the IT sector. This event got huge mouth to mouth publicity over the mail, social networking sites and blogs. Nachiket realised the power of IT; with this media he can effectively promote the message of cycling and its event to the masses. And from then onwards Zen of cycling is organising frequent cycle rides and with effective promotion of events more and more people are joining.

Frequent rides

Zen of cycle organises cycle ride almost every week. On first Sunday of every month a cycle ride from Deccan gymkhana to city area, aims to convey the message to the PMC that cyclist exist and they need a dedicated road for them. A special ride on third Sunday of every month is normally a long distance (40 – 60 KM) ride around Pune. It also organises many similar rides and practice rides for Himalaya or tough expeditions. Breakfast, support vehicle and thing for all the safety measures are provided by members only. If you have never been to any such ride, then one must attend one, it is highly recommended by Doors2India.

Many Groups one destination

Ride 2026, Pedal Power, NIBM Cycle Group, Zen of cycling, etc; when we asked why so many cycle groups. Nachiket explains (with a gentle smile, which he always posses) actually there is only one group “Pune cycle Prathisthan (PCP)” and all these group are part of it. We can say sub group of main organisation to promote and organise cycling ride in a particular region. Like NIBM cycle group is active in Kondarwa, Hadapsar area, Zen of cycling is active in Peth, Swardate, Kothrud, Katraj area, Ride 2026 in Aundh area and so on. There are many more groups of 4-5 people, who enjoy their cycling in their group but all are under PCP, and actively participated in PCP events. It’s like there may be many religions, with their own set of rules, but all are in union with God. Here too there are many cycling group and all are part of the PCP only.

Life cycle

On 26^th January 2010, Life cycle (India’s largest cycle mall) opened its first mall at Tilak road, Pune. With over 6000 sq. foot of area, it sells imported cycle and cycling gears of all major brands. It has cycles of ranges start from INR 6,500 to 5.5 lakhs. From common man, to politicians to Bollywood stars; cycling lover from all sector are its client. Life cycle does numerous things to promote cycling along with many social activities. Keep following inside story segment of Doors2India, we are very soon going to Publish a dedicated inside story of Life Cycle.

Cycling movement after life cycle

Life cycle sells around 150 cycles a month which in turn is actually addition of 150 more cycling enthusiasts. He promotes the upcoming events among them, and most of them turn up for the ride; after all cycling is probably only ride which is healthy, adventurous and environmental friendly too. Since Life Cycle’s inception, it has become the main catalyst for increase in the cycling activity in and around Pune. With frequent events, region wise small group, availability of world class cycle & required gears/equipment, along with workshops and free consultation; the whole cycling movement in Pune is break free now. And once again Pune may soon be known as City of Bicycles.

“This blog was originally published in blog.d2i.in as inside story of Zen of Cycling; republishing here with permission from D2i team”