Notary (Affidavit) in Bangalore

I was preparing documents to submit for a job I'd landed. One of them was a notary (Affidavit). It's to declare that I reside at a so-and-so place, time, period, etc.

It's to be done by an advocate - he or she needs to endorse the above on a stamp paper with their legal stamp, signature, etc. So, how did I go about it?

Started off near our place at Indranagar to find any place who does notary. Didn't find anything. Tried hunting for a few places as indicated by Google & its Maps. After a couple of hours of searching, gave up & started off towards Mayo Hall since that's the hub. Asked at a couple of places on the way near Ulsoor, but they either didn't understand what I wanted, or were demanding way too much amount. All they needed to do was write something, put their stamp & sign. The stamp paper itself costs about Rs. 100. They were quoting Rs. 500. I thought it was too high & kept going ahead. Finally ended up at Mayo hall.

While parking he bike at Mayo hall, like hyenas attack prey, several advocates saw a fresh face in me & rushed to find out what I'd come for to offer their services. I told the one who was closest about the notary. He quoted Rs. 240. Although it was high, it wasn't too high, so agreed. I could've saved Rs. 70 if I'd got the stamp paper myself & got the typing done. However, I didn't want to make mistakes since it was my first time. So, although a loss, let the advocate do all the work.

He made me stroll around the complex along with him as he got a pre-bought stamp paper, got the typing done, stamped, etc. After all was done, I'd to give him Rs. 10 extra, as is usual custom in India, for "tea". But my work was done.

Broken Teeth

January 2012 didn't end too well for me. Around end of that month, I had met with an accident. Took about 3 months for the wounds to heal and another month or so for the scars to "disappear". Given majority of the damage was to the face, including a few chipped teeth, the accident wasn't a minor one. So what really happened?

My sis & I were going to our cousin's engagement. I don't remember why, but we were going on different vehicles. I was driving a scooter, Bajaj Chetak.

Yeah, old-fashioned vehicle. But it has some merits over any other vehicle I know, ever. For example, absolutely low on maintenance. I give it for service less than once a year! Also, if I take it out after 6 months of dormancy, it still roars into action within a few seconds. My other bike, Bajaj Pulsar, struggles if idle for even a week!

Getting back to our journey, I was going at a good speed, probably 50kmph. I was focused looking far ahead, at my sister since she was going too fast & was probably 1 km away already.

However, just a short distance ahead of me, an old man on a scooter with a kid pillion rider was slowly coming near the divider gap from other side of the road to cut cross the road. I slowed down a bit, but not much really, as is the usual reaction to such scenarios on Indian roads. The general interpretation of slowing down is to indicate to the other person that "yeah, I acknowledge you are trying to cross. If you go fast, please do. Otherwise wait for me to pass". I suppose the old man thought that I'd not slow down, but totally stop for him, and he cut across very slowly and was straight ahead of me by the time I was just a few feet from him! Such a stupid idiot he was, & so unfortunate I was.

I wasn't going slow enough & the road was slippery! Since I didn't want to bang into him, I swerved sideways to the left a little and braked hard. The vehicle, probably going at 30kmph, skidded & in less than a couple of seconds later the inertia dragged me on the ground & left me badly injured.

I could feel the pain instantly, in the teeth, face, knees, hands,... Almost everything on the right side of the body started aching. I don't know whether the old man felt remorseful at all looking at what happened to me. I didn't see him. Probably he fled the scene. But I was in no mood to fight. Only thing I was happy about was that it wasn't fatal. I could stand up on my feet. I was worried about the next worse thing, fractures.

Called up my sis & informed her about the incident. Meanwhile, a Good Samaritan nearby offered some drinking water to wash the wounds, especially lips & teeth. The scooter was a bit damaged (dented, bent, scratched, etc.) but could still run! Started it up and drove home slowly, escorted by my sis. This time she stayed within a few  meters.

At home, put some learning from "First-Aid training" into practice by cleaning the wounds. Then went to a nearby hospital to get TT injection & a proper dressing. Next, back to our main agenda of going to the engagement. It wasn't pleasant at all. Later realized that I shouldn't have gone there since my wounds caused grief for most of the people. Not just that, experienced some stabbing pain in the teeth while having lunch. Probably due to my high-pain-tolerance, it didn't really show.  However, the bigger problem now was how damaged were the teeth!

I know of some people's experiences where they'd lost teeth & had to replace them completely. I didn't know whether that would be necessary in my case. I didn't want to get my broken teeth pulled out & replaced with artificial ones!

Irrespective, a visit to the dentist was a must to decide the fate of the broken teeth. So while coming back from the engagement went to a dentist close to our home. It was a lady doctor. She seemed friendly enough. But later realized there was a devil in her heart.

She first took an X-Ray of the teeth. Examined the report & deduced that a root canal operation must be performed so that the neighboring teeth don't get infected too and eventually die. The procedure involves pulling out the 2 broken tooth which are presumed "dead" and replace with 2 artificial ones. Luckily, the artificial teeth aren't immediately available since they are made to order. Otherwise she might have put me in the operating theater & performed the procedure then and there. Also if I had opted for the operation, she'd take the measurements, specifications, etc. and get the teeth prepared in a day. The projected bill amount was at least Rs. 20,000.

She might have convinced me if she had told that one of the tooth that only got chipped by a millimeter didn't need to be pulled out. I didn't understand why such a minor damage to that tooth warrant such destructive action. Realized, she wants to make money of my misery. Such a crook she turned out to be. Decided to go to our regular dentist after taking an appointment.

He was lot more reasonable. After assuring me that the teeth might not have died, applied a hard glue (in my words, "fevikwik", since it was over within a minute!) on the sharp edges of broken teeth. The teeth would be in observation for a few days. If they show signs of death by turning black, then root canal would be the way. If not dead, we may then look at some options that could be discussed later.

Pain in the teeth reduced gradually over next few days as they recovered from the shock. Most importantly they didn't die. Such a relief! However, the glue wasn't permanent and came off. Now the teeth were as sharp as a razor. So had to go to the dentist again to save my gums from tearing.

After examining, the dentist gave me 3 options: 1. Replace the broken teeth completely with artificial ones (effectively, a root canal) 2. Keep the teeth, but put on caps for them, but that'd mean a little bit of grinding of the already traumatized teeth 3. Try sticking the glue again, hoping it'll stick longer this time. I was suggested option #2. I wondered why all these options. Realized that the assumption was I should have proper looking teeth.

Ah, I didn't mind how my teeth look! I'm happy with broken teeth too. I just didn't want to tinker with something that was doing fine now. The dentist didn't mind either. Just ground the sharp edges of the broken teeth off & it was done. So there I've ended up with broken, but natural, teeth.

Western Ghats Drive

We had been thinking for a while about going for a long drive, since more than 2 years actually! I'd mentioned it in one of my previous blog. This year as well, we had the possibility of a long vacation for almost 10 days by taking just 4 days off - thanks to Ramzan and Independence day falling close by. The initial plan was as before, i.e., places in and around Kurnool. However, due to the Telangana agitations, we had to think of a plan B. This time though, we start from Hyderabad itself. And in a better vehicle - Ford Figo, the car I'd bought almost an year ago.

After closely observing Telangana developments around the time, we decided just the day before we depart that we cancel original plan & pick plan B, i.e., go to western ghats. I had roughly prepared the itinerary for Plan B in less than couple of hours, which we were to follow for the trip of a week! I had prior experience of several tours, drives & trips so I was confident it'd work out. I just had to make sure the night stays weren't risky or at impossible places.

Day 1 - August 9

We (my mom & I) started from home with odometer at 11217 at about 9 am. Had breakfast at Susheel's place (cousin). We left there at about 10 am after having breakfast.

The first place was Pillalamarri at Mahbubnagar. We reached at around 12.30, stayed for about half-an-hour. The place wasn't great, we were a bit disappointed. I thought the tree would span a huge area, but it didn't.

We moved on, stopped at some place roadside at around 2.30 for about half-an-hour for lunch that we brought packed from home.

Next stop was Raichur Fort. This was a disappointment as well. We just saw the lake beside the fort. Took some pictures of the dilapidated fort as well. Didn't take much long. We drove on to our next destination.

On the way we stopped at the Tungabhadra bridge, built by Karnataka govt after the recent (few years ago) floods washed away the old bridge.

Mantralayam. Took a room at Punnami guest house, wore bathing suits for a bath in Tungabhadra river. Stayed in the waters for about half-an-hour. Got out, had dinner, took some pictures & back to room to get some sleep.

Overall the roads were awful. There's a speed breaker before a village, one in between, and another after we cross the village. Somehow, a house on the side of the road also seems to be a village, now imagine the number of speed breakers! Also, the ground clearance of Figo ain't great, so we were scraping the bottom several times! In addition to these concrete speed breakers, there were a several natural speed breakers on the roads as well, i.e., cattle (cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep and horses!).

Day 2 - August 10

Odometer was 11502. Susheel driving today. Filled diesel. We were very frustrated all morning with the road condition. The first place to visit was Kudala Sangama. After a quick breakfast at around 9 am in a small town, Sirvur, we reached Kudala Sangama at noon. Spent about an hour, along with lunch at a dhaba.

Next, at around 3.30, reached Aihole (to be spelt as I-hoe-lay). The place was a bunch of temples scattered throughout the town, some of the temples a kilometer away sometimes. We visited a few big ones that were open and accessible.

The weather was very nice.

Next was Pattadakal, which we reached at around 4.30. After what we had seen at Aihole, we didn't really expect much. However, we were quite blown away. We had no idea it was a world heritage site. One of the 15 in India! After a long photo session, we had to leave. We spent more than an hour and a half, much longer than I expected. I wondered whether we'll make it to a good place for the night stay.

On the way we stopped at Banashankari temple for about half-an-hour. It was 7 pm already. There weren't any rooms at this place. So our only option was the next place.

Badami. Fortunately it wasn't too far away, we reached within 15 minutes. First found a place to stay, then went for dinner at some dhaba.

Day 3 - August 11

Odometer was 11802.
My day didn't begin too well. The dinner wasn't great & had upset my stomach. I was alright after having some buttermilk & curd.

We explored the Badami caves, took pictures, checked out of the room & moved on to next place. Left Badami at around 9 am.

Filled Diesel at Hubli, odometer at 11911. I took over driving. We were stopped by a traffic policeman, asked for documents. I had everything in order. However, I wondered whether they'd object to our AP registered car in Karnataka without paying road tax. But there wasn't any issue, we moved on.

Next destination was Magod Falls, which we reached around 2 pm. After spending about half-an-hour, had lunch at a dhaba on the way to next place.

Karwar. Reached by around 5 pm. First went to the Warship museum, then the Sunset beach, saw the sunset, took several pictures. Took a room at Navratna Deluxe hotel as suggested by a traffic cop. Then, as suggested by the hotelier, had dinner at Swetha Home. The fish delicacies were quite good. We don't get these in Hyderabad or Bangalore.

Day 4 - August 12

Odometer was 12121.
First went to Mahamaya temple at Ankola. It was quite deserted, although Google Maps indicated it as a popular tourist destination in that region. We moved on within 10 minutes.

Next was Gokarna, reached around 9 am. First the Bhadrakali temple and then paet-puja at a nearby Udipi hotel. The dosas were quite good, so we had a heavy breakfast. Then drove to Mahabaleshwara temple. Susheel lost his goggles in the Vinayaka temple. This temple too seemed a bit hyped up. Then we went to Om beach around 10.30. Unfortunately, the beach also seemed hyped up. The water was black, full of ashes - probably because of night fires by fishermen on the beach. So far the day was drab.

Next was Mirjan Fort, reached around 11.30. It wasn't hyped, and lived up to the reputation. It was completely covered in moss. The fort, from a distance, looked like it was painted green! There weren't any other visitors, so the watchman suspected us to have come to shoot some film, because we were carrying super-duper cameras :)

After spending about half-an-hour, we started for the next place on our itinerary, Jog Falls! One of the highlights of our trip. The drive was awesome. We reached around 3 pm, stayed for about an hour and a half. Had lunch too.

Susheel took over driving from now, odometer was 12323. On the way back, we stopped at a roadside tiny waterfall. The water was cold, but clean & clear. So spent some time in the water. Also stopped at another place which had a good view of the valley & the dam on river Sharavathi.

Next stop was Apsara konda at 6.30. The waterfall there was great. Unfortunately I slipped my phone into the waters & it was out-of-order for rest of the trip! We stayed on the hill until after sunset, i.e., about 7 pm.

We thought we'd go to Murudeshwara next but saw that Idigunji was a very slight deviation on the way there. So thought we'd try finding a place to stay there. However, they didn't provide hot water in the mornings, so we had to move on, skipping the temple's free dinner (anna-daana).

We went ahead to Murudeshwara, got a room to stay in RNS Residency, overlooking the sea. Had dinner at Nayak Fishland. It wasn't as good as the one we had at Karwar. We didn't realize how good it was at Karwar until we experienced inferior quality here :) After an hour long photo shoot trying to capture the tall gopuram, we went back to room for rest.

Day 5 - August 13

Odometer was 12415.
We went to the nearby beach by walk hoping we could have some fun. However it was quite dirty, the fishermen did a lot of stuff on the beach! So we turned back, got ready, visited the temple, checked out, had breakfast at Kamat & left. The weather changed drastically, there was rain all day, since the time we visited the temple.

On the way to next place, at around 11 am, we stopped at a beach adjoining the highway between Mavanthe and Trasi. This was the only place where the beach was right beside the highway.

Hattiangadi was the next place, which we reached at noon. It wasn't a big temple, so spent just about 10 minutes.

Then went to the Aneguddi Vinayaka Temple around 12.30. This wasn't big either.

Next was Udipi. First saw Manipal University. Then the famous Krishna Temple. It was quite difficult to get to it because of the rain, and more importantly Google Maps didn't show the route correctly! We had to resort to stone-age methods of asking the locals for directions! Finally reached the temple in a convoluted route at around 2 pm. Had lunch at the temple itself. Started for the next place, after spending more than an hour in Udipi. Due to the rain we thought it may not be a good idea to visit the Maple beach, so skipped it.

I drove from here, odometer was 12545.

Next destination was Mangalore. We didn't have much to see here, except a couple of temples. One of those I knew wasn't great, so we skipped it. Just went to Kadri temple. Reached around 5 pm, stayed for about half-an-hour.

Then set course to Dharmasthala. On the way, saw Sri Rama Kshetra. This was lot bigger than most of the other hyped temples we'd visited earlier.

Finally reached Dharmasthala at around 7 pm. Visited the temple first, had dinner in temple (anna-daana) & took lodging at the temple accommodation (Netravathi) itself. The water here was the softest I've encountered ever. I had to wash for a very long time to rid the soap on hands, it was fun! Dharmasthala seemed like a much larger pilgrimage & worth the hype, compared to all the other temples we'd visited in our trip. Maybe we could count Udipi as the second largest, but no other temple comes anywhere close deserving such hype. It's a stupendous job by the Karnataka Tourism department to showcase so many small destinations as such popular tourist places. I suppose any temple that serves free food (anna-daana) is deemed to be a popular tourist destination.

Day 6 - August 14

Odometer was 12677.

Started at around 7 am for next place, Kukke Subramanya. It was raining on and off. The drive (minus the road quality) was great. That is, we drove through the clouds' fog, in the ghats (curved roads, overlooking valleys, streams of water, etc.), with visibility at times within just few meters ahead, also it rained a minute and in the next minute it's all dry. We reached Kukke in a couple of hours. After visiting the temple & having breakfast, left for the next place.

Belur. Reached around 2 pm. We had stopped in between for a few minutes at Sakleshpur to buy spices. We visited the Belur temple, and took a lot of pictures. They had a huge flashlight inside the temple, for its operation they took Rs.20 each so that they flash on the several of the finely carved pillars which we could take photos of. The artwork on the pillars was very good, and was obvious it must've taken the sculptors a very long time to complete. After having lunch at a hotel close to the temple itself, we went ahead for our next destination.

Halebeedu. We reached around 4 pm. This was as beautifully sculpted as the temple at Belur. The difference, in my perspective though, was that the temple at Belur was beautiful inside & this one was beautiful from outside. After spending about half-an-hour exploring and taking pictures, we left the place.

Susheel took over driving from now, odometer was 12846.

Original plan was to visit Shravanabelagola, but due to some rumors that the route has a bad road & personal experience of going through Karnataka's state highways (read as horrible roads), we skipped it and set course directly to Bangalore. We stayed at our sister's place for the night.

Day 7 - August 15

Odometer was 13063.
I took over driving. The plan was simple for the day. Drive to Hyderabad, no stops in between, except for food, of course. Just stick to the National Highway. Filled diesel, full tank & kicked off around 10 am. We were stopped on the National Highway for a short while, 30 minutes I think, due to a Raasta-Roko just before reaching Anantapur. Had lunch at New Royal Dhaba just after crossing Anantapur. The food was pathetic, it caused serious illness for all of us the next day and beyond. However, we were okay till we reached the city that evening. Susheel took over driving at Tungabhadra river bridge at Kurnool, odometer was 13424. We took a short tea-break near Jadcherla. Otherwise, we were just driving all day (there were a few short breaks at the toll booths too).

We reached Hyderabad at around 7 pm. Odometer in the end, at home was 13659.

Summary

We had driven a total of 2442 km.
Of which, if you do the math, I drove about 1350 km and Susheel 1100 km.

The roads in Uttar Kannada district are very good.
However, the roads in Dakshin Kannada were deplorable. At most stretches, National Highways were worse than village mud roads.
Raichur roads were full of speed breakers and equally bad.

Overall, the trip was a mix of good and bad, but definitely a memorable one.