cool codes........

Open any of your fav site. paste this on the url location and hit enter

java-script:R=0; x1=.1; y1=.05; x2=.25; y2=.24; x3=1.6; y3=.24; x4=300; y4=200; x5=300; y5=200; DI=document.images ; DIL=DI.length; function A(){for(i=0;

Telnet to pop3 and Smtp.

Using telnet to check if the SMTP and pop3 service is running on a server.

TELNET.
=======
Telnet - SMTP Commands (sending mail using telnet)
In order to access your mailbox you will need 3 things:
An active internet connection (an embarrasing stage to miss sometimes!)
The address of a mail server capable of relaying for you - usually provided by your dialup provider (e.g. mail.domain.ext)
A valid email address (e.g. mail@domain.ext)
The first thing to do is to open a connection from your computer to your mail server.
telnet mail.domain.ext 25
You should receive a reply like:
Trying ???.???.???.???...
Connected to mail.domain.ext.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 mail.domain.ext ESMTP Sendmail ?version-number?; ?date+time+gmtoffset?

You will then need to delcare where you are sending the email from:
HELO local.domain.name
Dont worry too much about your local domain name although you really should use your exact fully qualified domain name as seen by the outside world the mail server has no choice but to take your word for it as of RFC822-RFC1123.
This should give you:
250 mail.domain.ext Hello local.domain.name [loc.al.i.p], pleased to meet you

Now give your email address:
MAIL FROM: mail@domain.ext
Should yeild:
250 2.1.0 mail@domain.ext... Sender ok
If it doesn't please see possible problems.

Now give the recipients address:
RCPT TO: mail@otherdomain.ext
Should yeild:
250 2.1.0 mail@otherdomain.ext... Recipient ok
If it doesn't please see possible problems.

To start composing the message issue the command
DATA

If you want a subject for your email type Subject:-type subject here- then press enter twice (these are needed to conform to RFC 882)

You may now proceed to type the body of your message (e.g. hello mail@otherdomain.ext from mail@domain.ext)

To tell the mail server that you have completed the message enter a single "." on a line on it's own.
The mail server should reply with: 250 2.0.0 ???????? Message accepted for delivery

You can close the connection by issuing the QUIT command.
The mailserver should reply with something like:221 2.0.0 mail.domain.ext closing connection
Connection closed by foreign host.



Here are a list of problems I've encountered and their fixes
501 nouser@nosuchplace.here... Sender domain must exist
The domain that you are sending from must exist

503 Need MAIL before RCPT
A recipient has been specified before a sender.

550 mail@domain.ext... Relaying Denied
The mail server has refused to relay mail for you, this may be for any number of reasons but typical resons include:
Not using this provider for an internet connection and/or
Not using an email address provided by the owner of the server.

Some things to watch out for:
1. If you type too quickly, sometimes it won't recognise your text (weird!)
2. The backspace key sometimes does not work with some telnet clients (even though it may seem as though it does)

I'll be putting more as and when I get them and figure out how to fix each problem.

POP3
====
Telnet - POP Commands (retrieving mail using telnet)
In order to access your mailbox you will need 4 things:
An active internet connection (an embarrasing stage to miss sometimes!)
The address of your pop mail server (e.g. mail.domain.ext)
Your username (e.g. userName)
Your password (e.g. passW0rd)
The first thing to do is to open a connection from your computer to your mail server.
telnet mail.domain.ext 110You should receive a reply like:
Trying ???.???.???.???...
Connected to mail.domain.ext.
Escape character is '^]'.
+OK ready

Then log in:
USER userName
This should give you:
+OK Password required for userName.

Now give your password:
PASS passW0rd
Should yeild:
+OK userName has ? visible messages (? hidden) in ????? octets.
If it doesn't please see possible problems.

To see a list of your emails awaiting collection use the LIST command, this will also show you the id number of your messages (e.g. 1 or 2 etc.)
To view the contents of an email type RETR + the id number of the message (e.g RETR 1).
To delete a message use DELE + the id number of the message (e.g DELE 1).
To leave your mailbox and close the connection use QUIT

Here are a list of problems I've encountered and their fixes
-ERR [AUTH] Password supplied for "userName" is incorrect.
The password supplied was not the one expected by the server, retype the password, failing that find out if you've got the correct password.

-ERR [AUTH] PAM authentication failed for user "userName": Authentication failure (7)
Your mailbox could not be broken down into seperate emails correctly, there may be a remnant of a message left - Ask your ISP to edit the mailbox manually and look for free lines above the headers.

452 4.4.5 Insufficient disk space; try again later
The mailserver cannot write the temporary files needed to allow you to collect your mail - ask your ISP to check disk useage and allocation on the server

-ERR [SYS/TEMP] Unable to copy mail spool file, quota exceeded (122)
The mailserver cannot create a temporary file needed to allow you access to your mailbox as you've run out of your space allocation - Try to reduce the amount of disk space you are using on that server (this quota may be shared between your mail, web and userspace), alternatively contact your ISP to increase your quota.

-ERR [IN-USE] /???/???/.userName.pop lock busy! Is another session active? (11)
The mailbox is currently in use by another connection or an old connection has terminated uncleanly - This will deal with itself

Overquota locking file '/???/???/???/userName.lock'; lock proceeding anyway


Unable to process From lines (envelopes) in /???/???/???/userName; change recognition mode or check for corrupted mail drop.
The mailbox cannot be split into seperate messages because the pop server cannot recognise distinct boundaries or the boundaries do not include the whole mailbox

Some things to watch out for:
1. If you type too quickly, sometimes it won't recognise your text (weird!)
2. The backspace key sometimes does not work with some telnet clients (even though it may seem as though it does)

I'll be putting more as and when I get them and figure out how to fix each problem.

You can find the document on using this URL. http://www.yuki-onna.co.uk/email/

Shreya - My Neice photographs. [Click here]

Retrieving Hardware Information on linux

Retrieving Hardware Information
If you need information on system's hardware like vendor, manufacturer, product, S/N, etc. you can use:

dmidecode
lshw
hwbrowser (graphical)
sysreport - Will collect all hardware information

The dmidecode command reads the information from the system BIOS, see also http://www.nongnu.org/dmidecode/.

There are a few other commands you might want to check out which list installed hardware components etc.:

lsdev
lshal
lspci
lsusb
lsscsi

Starting with the 2.6 kernel you can now get lots of information from /sys. For example, to get information on an Emulex HBA:

# ls /sys/class/scsi_host/host1/

board_mode lpfc_cr_delay lpfc_poll option_rom_version
board_online lpfc_drvr_version lpfc_poll_tmo portnum
cmd_per_lun lpfc_fcp_class lpfc_scan_down proc_name
ctlreg lpfc_fdmi_on lpfc_topology programtype
device lpfc_hba_queue_depth lpfc_use_adisc scan
fwrev lpfc_link_speed management_version serialnum
hdw lpfc_log_verbose mbox sg_tablesize
host_busy lpfc_lun_queue_depth modeldesc state
info lpfc_max_luns modelname uevent
lpfc_ack0 lpfc_multi_ring_support nport_evt_cnt unchecked_isa_dma
lpfc_cr_count lpfc_nodev_tmo num_discovered_ports unique_id
#

Nandhi Hills Trip - Photographs [Click Here]

Nandhi Hill Trip - with Microland Colleagues.
Anand and Jayaprakash's treat....

Dated : 14th October 2006

Unix - VCS - VxFS - Shell commands - Many more tips [Click Here]

Unix - All the Informations for a Unix System Administrator

Cool lines...

# A diplomatic husband said to his wife, "How do you expect me to remember your birthday when you never look any older?"
# A clean tie attracts the soup of the day.
# A cigarette is a pinch of tobacco, wrapped in paper, fire at one end, fool at the other
# A baby sitter is a teenager acting like an adult while the adults are out acting like teenagers.
# A dog thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me... They must be Gods!
A cat thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me... I must be a God!
# A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.
# A drop of ink may make a million think.
# A fair face may fade, but a beautiful soul last forever.
# A Dutchman was explaining the red, white, and blue Netherlands flag to an American.
"Our flag is symbolic of our taxes.
We get red when we talk about them, white when we get our tax bills, and blue after we pay them."
The American nodded. "It's the same in the USA only we see stars too!"

Linux Snippets.

Linux command tips ******
http://www.pixelbeat.org/cmdline.html


http://www.felixgers.de/teaching/emacs/vi_search_replace.html

Vi: Search and Replace
Change to normal mode with .

Search (Wraped around at end of file):

Search STRING forward : / STRING.
Search STRING backward: ? STRING.

Repeat search: n
Repeat search in opposite direction: N (SHIFT-n)

Replace: Same as with sed, Replace OLD with NEW:

First occurrence on current line: :s/OLD/NEW
Globally (all) on current line: :s/OLD/NEW/g
Between two lines #,#: :#,#s/OLD/NEW/g
Every occurrence in file: :%s/OLD/NEW/g
Command for commenting out N number of lines (N = number of lines) :.,+N s/^/#/g
-----------------------------------
awk and sed commands

file test.txt content is retheesh kumar R
to view kumar R use
#cat test.txtawk '{print $2 $3}'

or you can use sed command and remove retheesh
#cat test.txtsed 's/retheesh//'
this switches retheesh with blank //

vi +5 filename.txt # This will open the filename.txt with the cursor on the 5th line
vi +$ filename.txt # This will open the filename.txt with the cursor on the last line

=========================
Edit Multiple files at one go.
==========================

vi file1 file2 file3
Will open file1
:wnext to move to file2 by saving changes to file1
:next! to move to file2 without saving changes on file1

To move to previous file
:wprevious - To move to previous file by saving changes to the current.
:previous! - To move to pervious file without saving changes to the current

To see the list of file that is being edit and to know the current edite
:args

========================================
Viewing mulitple file on the same vim window
======================================

To split multiple files for easy editing. (Horizontal Split)
vim fileone #original file from the original file type
:split /path/to/filetwo # Another file
Will open up 2 different files you can toggle between both the files using CTRL + W
To save changes type
:wclose - Will save changes to the file
:close! - Will exit without any changes

To split multiple files for easy editing. (Vertical Split)
im fileone #original file from the original file type
:vsplit /path/to/filetwo # Another file
Will open up 2 different files you can toggle between both the files using CTRL + W
To save changes type
:wclose - Will save changes to the file
:close! - Will exit without any changes

================================
New file from existing vim window
===============================
Creat a new txt file from vi console
:new - Will create a new file for edition
Note while saving ensure to use :w filename to save the file
======================
Command to manually set date on the redhat system.

#date -s "MM/DD/yyyy hh:mm:ss"
Example -
#date -s "03/17/2006 02:01:39"
-----------------------------------
For better graphical display during bootup and on command line mode edit grub and
add " rhgb quite vga=0x317"

eg: kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-5.EL ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet vga=0x317
---------------------------------

Procedure to register and up2date your machine.

#cat /etc/redhat-release -----------> will show the redhat version you are using

up2date-nox --config
httpProxy :
enableProxy Yes

#up2date-nox -l
This will connect to the server using the proxy details mentioned, and sent the server details to the rhn.redhat.com site. (tab systems).
#run the rpm -keyXXSSXXSSSS
execute command to start updating the packages to the latest
#up2date-nox -u -----------> will start updating all the packages with the latest packages available on redhat site.

Using up2date command to update kernel.
Note: Kernel update will not actually upgrade the kernel but install a new version of kernel and make relevent entries on the /etc/grub.conf file and set the boot parameter to boot with the new kernel.
#up2date-nox -f kernel -----------> either enter kernel* or manually give all the kernel-smp, kernel-Highmem etc to install.

#cat /etc/redhat-release -----------> will show the updated redhat version
--------------------------------------

mke2fs -j -b 4096 / will specifiy 4KB blocksize, this will help in faster fsck.

bonding network card on linux.

1. Add entires on /etc/module.conf file
alias bond0 bonding
options bond0 miimon=100 mode=1
--------------------------------------
2. lsmod should detect module.
bonding 25220 1
-------------------------------------
3. cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-bond0
DEVICE=bond0
BOOTPROTO=none
BROADCAST=3.159.19.255
IPADDR=3.159.17.80
NETMASK=255.255.252.0
NETWORK=3.159.16.0
ONBOOT=yes

cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=static
ONBOOT=yes
TYPE=Ethernet
MASTER=bond0
SLAVE=yes
ETHTOOL_OPTS="autoneg off speed 100 duplex full"

cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth1
DEVICE=eth1
BOOTPROTO=static
TYPE=Ethernet
ONBOOT=no

cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth2
DEVICE=eth2
BOOTPROTO=static
ONBOOT=yes
TYPE=Ethernet
MASTER=bond0
SLAVE=yes
ETHTOOL_OPTS="autoneg off speed 100 duplex full"

cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth3
DEVICE=eth3
BOOTPROTO=static
TYPE=Ethernet
ONBOOT=no
==========================================

Enable full duplex and disabling autonegotiation for nic cards,

Modifying network settings

Add the following line in
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifconfig-eth0 &
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifconfig-eth2

ETHTOOL_OPTS="autoneg off speed 100 duplex full"

Restart network service
#service network restart

This will set network settings to full duplex, Speed: 100Mb/s & auto-negotiation: No

Run following commands to confirm network settings
#ethtool eth0
#ethtool eth1

Words.. The ever Lasting Words.

Words without thought are dead sounds; thoughts without words are nothing.
To think is to speak low; to speak is to think aloud.
--Max Muller

It is with words as with sunbeams, the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.
--Southey

Words are things; and a small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a
thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
--Byron

Oracle & VMware installation procedure

Walk down by the River.

Lazily walking by the river side,ear tunes to the gurgles of water beside, each step leaving the behind a trailing path on the white river bank.Letting out the little shiver of winter, mist masking the view far ahead. Trees dance to the tunes of the wind, early morning birds get more chirpy with each early find.

Sun shined far away, painting the sky with enchanting colours adding a tinge pigment of red to everything the eye could set upon. The early winter sun feels like the comfort of a warm blanket on a chill winter night.

The giant rocks by the bank of the river project out of flowing water, creating ripples and belting out the soul filling melody. The greater rock beneath that braved for centureis the fury of the river, yet stands tall smiling like a buddha bringing scenerity to the surrounding.

New leaves of the season sprout the bare branches, soft and subtle, colours so vibrant that tempt to fondle them, the morning mist droplets wet the tender green grass blades, the droplets on them sparkle like a sprawling diamond field all around waiting to be picked up.

The early wind carrying the scent of the nilgiries and the music of the nature, with it moisture of the river and the wetness of mist,caresing the body bringing it alive with glee,

God said "Adam & Eve, Wasn't this, what i left you as world" ;-)

Booting stops at GRUB

Was trying to something crazy on the system. Did a small change of setting the default boot to windows instead of linux on /etc/grub/grub.conf file.

Problem:
Rebooted the machine. Machine boots up after the BIOS checks, when the sytem needs to boot up from the MBR. It says the work "GRUB" and stops there.

Solution:
As i was not able to load the MBR, could not load to the single user mode. Booted up the machine using the 1st Installation disk. Followed the normal resuce mode parameters. Set the partition /boot to read/write using command
"#mount -o loop rw /dev/hdx /boot"
"#cat /etc/grub.conf" below entry shows in which drive is the MBR Loaded.
#boot=/dev/hda

ran "#grub-install /dev/hda" to reinstall the grub configuration files. It was taking a very long time, and after sometime i failed.

ran "#grub-install --recheck" This command will take quite sometime to run but finally it checks the device.map file and correct if any error. Rebooted the machine and Violaaaaaa my linux was alive and kicking...:)

Refered http://docs.redhat.com for help.

http://virtualthreads.blogspot.com/ - Good Linux Explaination

Linux - Info......

Command to check if the Machine is 32bit or 64bit architecture.
#file /sbin/init
/sbin/init: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, Intel 80386, version 1 (SYSV),
for GNU/Linux 2.2.5, dynamically linked (uses shared libs), stripped

==========================================================
In apache u can configure to know the apaches cpu usage, memory, hits etc and the apache configuration i.e., modules loaded and configured for apache by editing the following entries.

#
# ExtendedStatus controls whether Apache will generate "full" status
# information (ExtendedStatus On) or just basic information (ExtendedStatus
# Off) when the "server-status" handler is called. The default is Off.
#
ExtendedStatus On

# Allow server status reports generated by mod_status,
# with the URL of http://servername/server-status
# Change the ".example.com" to match your domain to enable.
#

SetHandler server-status
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
Allow from x.x.x.x


#
# Allow remote server configuration reports, with the URL of
# http://servername/server-info (requires that mod_info.c be loaded).
# Change the ".example.com" to match your domain to enable.
#

SetHandler server-info
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
Allow from x.x.x.x


System Performance checking utilities in linux.
free(1) man page - Displays free and used memory statistics.
top(1) man page - Displays CPU utilization and process-level statistics.
watch(1) man page - Periodically executes the specified program, displaying fullscreen output.
GNOME System Monitor Help menu entry - Graphically displays process, CPU, memory, and
disk space utilization statistics.
vmstat(8) man page - Displays a concise overview of process, memory, swap, I/O, system, and
CPU utilization.
iostat(1) man page - Displays CPU and I/O statistics.
mpstat(1) man page - Displays individual CPU statistics on multiprocessor systems.
sadc(8) man page - Collects system utilization data.
sa1(8) man page - A script that runs sadc periodically.
sar(1) man page - Produces system resource utilization reports.
sa2(8) man page - Produces daily system resource utilization report files.
nice(1) man page - Changes process scheduling priority.
oprofile(1) man page - Profiles system performance.
op_visualise(1) man page - Graphically displays OProfile data.

Driving in Bangalore / India

This hilarious article was written by a Dutchman who spent two years in Bangalore, India, as a visiting expert. A little long article but worth reading it

For the benefit of every Tom, Dick and Harry visiting India and daring to drive on Indian roads, I am offering a few hints for survival. They are applicable to every place in India except Bihar, where life outside a vehicle is only marginally safer.


Indian road rules broadly operate within the domain of karma where you do your best, and leave the results to your insurance company. The hints are as follows: Do we drive on the left or right of the road? The answer is "both". Basically you start on the left of the road, unless it is occupied. In that case, go to the right, unless that is also occupied. Then proceed by occupying the next available gap, as in chess. Just trust your instincts, ascertain the direction, and proceed. Adherence to road rules leads to much misery and occasional fatality. Most drivers don't drive, but just aim their vehicles in the generally intended direction.


Don't you get discouraged or underestimate yourself except for a belief in reincarnation; the other drivers are not in any better position. Don't stop at pedestrian crossings just because some fool wants to cross the road. You may do so only if you enjoy being bumped in the back.


Pedestrians have been strictly instructed to cross only when traffic is moving slowly or has come to a dead stop because some minister is in town. Still some idiot may try to wade across, but then, let us not talk ill of the dead.


Blowing your horn is not a sign of protest as in some countries. We horn to express joy, resentment, frustration, romance and bare lust (two brisk blasts),or just mobilize a dozing cow in the middle of the bazaar. Keep informative books in the glove compartment. You may read them during traffic jams, while awaiting the chief minister's motorcade, or waiting for the rainwater to recede when over ground traffic meets underground drainage.

Occasionally you might see what looks like a UFO with blinking colored lights and weird sounds emanating from within. This is an illuminated bus, full of happy pilgrims singing bhajans. These pilgrims go at breakneck speed, seeking contact with the Almighty,often meeting with success.

Auto Rickshaw (Baby Taxi): The result of a collision between a rickshaw and an automobile, this three-wheeled vehicle works on an external combustion engine that runs on a mixture of kerosene oil and creosote. This triangular vehicle carries iron rods, gas cylinders or passengers three times its weight and dimension, at an unspecified fare. After careful geometric calculations, children are folded and packed into these auto rickshaws until some children in the periphery are not in contact with the vehicle at all. Then their school bags are pushed into the microscopic gaps all round so those minor collisions with other vehicles on the road cause no permanent damage. Of course, the peripheral children are charged half the fare and also learn Newton's laws of motion enroute to school. Auto-rickshaw drivers follow the road rules depicted in the film Ben Hur, and are licensed to irritate.

Mopeds: The moped looks like an oil tin on wheels and makes noise like an electric shaver. It runs 30 miles on a teaspoon of petrol and travels at break-bottom speed. As the sides of the road are too rough for a ride, the moped drivers tend to drive in the middle of the road; they would rather drive under heavier vehicles instead of around them and are often moppedoff the tarmac.

Leaning Tower of Passes: Most bus passengers are given free passes and during rush hours, there is absolute mayhem. There are passengers hanging off other passengers, who in turn hang off the railings and the overloaded bus leans dangerously, defying laws of gravity but obeying laws of surface tension. As drivers get paid for overload (so many Rupees per kg of passenger), no questions are ever asked. Steer clear of these buses by a width of three passengers.

Occasionally you might see what looks like a UFO with blinking colored lights and weird sounds emanating from within. This is an illuminated bus, full of happy pilgrims singing bhajans. These pilgrims go at breakneck speed, seeking contact with the Almighty,often meeting with success.


Auto Rickshaw (Baby Taxi): The result of a collision between a rickshaw and an automobile, this three-wheeled vehicle works on an external combustion engine that runs on a mixture of kerosene oil and creosote. This triangular vehicle carries iron rods, gas cylinders or passengers three times its weight and dimension, at an unspecified fare. After careful geometric calculations, children are folded and packed into these auto rickshaws until some children in the periphery are not in contact with the vehicle at all. Then their school bags are pushed into the microscopic gaps all round so those minor collisions with other vehicles on the road cause no permanent damage. Of course, the peripheral children are charged half the fare and also learn Newton's laws of motion enroute to school. Auto-rickshaw drivers follow the road rules depicted in the film Ben Hur, and are licensed to irritate.


Mopeds: The moped looks like an oil tin on wheels and makes noise like an electric shaver. It runs 30 miles on a teaspoon of petrol and travels at break-bottom speed. As the sides of the road are too rough for a ride, the moped drivers tend to drive in the middle of the road; they would rather drive under heavier vehicles instead of around them and are often "mopped" off the tarmac.


Leaning Tower of Passes: Most bus passengers are given free passes and during rush hours, there is absolute mayhem. There are passengers hanging off other passengers, who in turn hang off the railings and the overloaded bus leans dangerously, defying laws of gravity but obeying laws of surface tension. As drivers get paid for overload (so many Rupees per kg of passenger), no questions are ever asked. Steer clear of these buses by a width of three passengers.
One-way Street: These boards are put up by traffic people to add jest in their otherwise drab lives. Don't stick to the literal meaning and proceed in one direction. In metaphysical terms, it means that you cannot proceed in two directions at once. So drive as you like, in nreverse throughout, if you are the fussy type. Least I sound hypercritical, I must add a positive point also. Rash and fast driving in residential areas has been prevented by providing a "speed breaker"; two for each house. This mound, incidentally, covers the water and drainage pipes for that residence and is left untarred for easy identification by the corporation authorities, should they want to recover the pipe for year-end accounting. Night driving on Indian roads can be an exhilarating experience for those with the mental make up of Genghis Khan. In a way, it is like playing Russian roulette, because you do not know who amongst the drivers is loaded. What looks like premature dawn on the horizon turns out to be a truck attempting a speed record. On encountering it, just pull partly into the field adjoining the road until the phenomenon passes.Our roads do not have shoulders, but occasional boulders. Do not blink your lights expecting reciprocation. The only dim thing in the truck is the driver, and with the peg of illicit arrack (alcohol) he has had at the last stop, his total cerebral functions add up to little more than a naught. Truck drivers are the James Bonds of India, and are licensed to kill. Often you may encounter a single powerful beam of light about six feet above the ground. This is not a super motorbike, but a truck approaching you with a single light on, usually the left one. It could be the right one, but never get too close to investigate. You may prove your point

One-way Street: These boards are put up by traffic people to add jest in their otherwise drab lives. Don't stick to the literal meaning and proceed in one direction. In metaphysical terms, it means that you cannot proceed in two directions at once. So drive as you like, in reverse throughout, if you are the fussy type. Least I sound hypercritical, I must add a positive point also. Rash and fast driving in residential areas has been prevented by providing a "speed breaker"; two for each house. This mound, incidentally, covers the water and drainage pipes for that residence and is left untarred for easy identification by the corporation authorities, should they want to recover the pipe for year-end accounting.


Night driving on Indian roads can be an exhilarating experience for those with the mental make up of Genghis Khan. In a way, it is like playing Russian roulette, because you do not know who amongst the drivers is loaded. What looks like premature dawn on the horizon turns out to be a truck attempting a speed record. On encountering it, just pull partly into the field adjoining the road until the phenomenon passes.


Our roads do not have shoulders, but occasional boulders. Do not blink your lights expecting reciprocation. The only dim thing in the truck is the driver, and with the peg of illicit arrack (alcohol) he has had at the last stop, his total cerebral functions add up to little more than a naught. Truck drivers are the James Bonds of India, and are licensed to kill. Often you may encounter a single powerful beam of light about six feet above the ground. This is not a super motorbike, but a truck approaching you with a single light on, usually the left one. It could be the right one, but never get too close to investigate. You may prove your point