[Inpycon] Fwd: PyCon 2011 (Raji's mail to ChennaiPy)

[Kenneth Gonsalves]

On Mon, 2010-10-25 at 12:36 +0545, ॥ स्वक्ष ॥ wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 11:56, Kenneth Gonsalves <lawgon at au-kbc.org>
> wrote:
> > there are three rules regarding autos in chennai:
> >
> > 1. if you do not know tamil - do not use autos in chennai
> > 2. if you do not know tamil - do not use autos in chennai
> > 3. if you do not know tamil - do not use autos in chennai
> 
> hmm...Despite speaking in Tamil creepy behavior abounds, so nothing to
> do with language or Tamil per se.  Everything to do with individual
> attitudes.

as far as I know (my daughter has been using autos in Chennai for 4-5
years now) auto drivers are treat both men and women the same - their
only interest is to gouge money.

> 
> > use call taxis with meters - they are cheaper than autos. If coming
> from
> > the airport or railway station, there are prepaid taxis. For both
> > airport and railway station the suburban electric train station is
> > within walking distance. That has ladies compartments and is safe.
> And
> > cheap.
> 
> Public transport is usually the safest bet and while its true that the
> trains and buses (i've travelled by both in Chennai) are better modes
> of transport, are the train stations and bus routes well connected and
> easily accessible to the colleges shortlisted, viz. Rajalakshmi
> Engineering College, Jaya Engineering College and SRM City / Main
> campus? Do these three colleges have good hotels nearby or accessible
> B&B type accommodation within a 2-3km range? Please do consider that
> before deciding the final venue.

that is what we are investigating now - as for Rajalakshmi and Jaya,
they have a fleet of buses each which they will probably put at our
disposal. And given the excellent train system in Chennai this is not a
big issue.

> 
> Long commutes would impact city residents too, so rejecting centrally
> located institutes (because they are government-run?) seems odd. If
> this list does not have any volunteers from IIT/Anna/MIT it would be
> nicer if the locals pinged them offlist to get their feedback.
> 
> 

government institutions are a huge pain to work with. And without local
volunteers, it is very difficult to conduct an event. As for IIT, it
could be a good bet - if we have local volunteers. Otherwise it will be
difficult - I know last year in IISc, there was no local input - even
the flies and mosquitoes had a superiority complex and ignored us.
-- 
regards
Kenneth Gonsalves
Senior Associate
NRC-FOSS at AU-KBC