Buying Malayalam Books Online

During each of my vacations in India, I have spent at least a day visiting book stores. I usually have a list of books that I want to buy and most often I won't be able to find all of them even after visiting three or four book stores.

Indulekha.com has been making my life easier. They are the amazon.com for Malayalam books. However, it works a little different from the usual amazon experience.

1. You identify the books you want to buy. You can do that from Indulekha site or DC Books site or referrals from friends.
2. List the books in an email and send it to the Indulekha customer support: support@indulekha.com
3. They will identify the books that they can get and will email you the price and total cost including shipping. Shipping in India is free if the order is for more than Rs. 1000. They can do the shipping to other countries too, but note that the shipping cost will be more than the cost of the books.
   
4. There are many different payment options. The payment option I prefer is online payment from my NRI account to the Indulekha account (South Indian bank, Kottayam).
5. Once they receive the payment, usually, in a day or two, they will send the books by registered mail to the address in India. I usually give my sister's address so that she can either keep the books for me until my next Kerala trip or send it over here through someone visiting Kerala one or two books at a time. (You shouldn't ask someone to carry a bag full of books from India to the U.S. for you, unless you are ready to end that friendship. :))

Indulekha customer service is really superb. They found that one of the books that I ordered was missing some pages before mailing it out and so they were able to contact the publisher to get a replacement copy. If I bought that book from a bookstore directly, I would notice the missing pages only when I read the book, and by then, I am already in Washington, and not in a position to get a replacement copy.

By the way, the Indulekha site has movie reviews, that I found useful too. Now, I can decide what movies to avoid when I go to Shivam or Malabar to rent one.

Give Indulekha.com a try, especially if you have the habit of book store visiting during your Kerala vacations. You will save time and the hazzle of local travel.

Check Engine, Trac Off on Lexus ES 300

A week ago, on my Lexus ES 300 (2001), "Check Engine" and "Trac Off" lights came on. This coincided with me filling the gas tank to the brim to round the dollar to be paid. Some websites suggested that the "Trac Off" is related to the gas tank cap not being tight. I cleaned the gas tank cap and the tank opening. However, both lights persisted. On the same day, when I turned on the car again, there was a hesitance, a stuttering to come on, like the battery was going down. Both "Check Engine" and "Trac Off" lights were still on.

If you take the car to a shop at this point, their computer check can cost you hundreds of dollars. I have seen many advices posted on the internet with conflicting diagnosis, but none conclusive. So, I decided to research further.

The next day, the car wouldn't come on at all. It sounded as the battery was dead. I couldn't even jump start the car. Usually, if the battery is completely drained, jump starting will not work. So, I got a new battery from Costco ($56.99) and put it in. (There is a $9 fee if you do not turn in the old battery).

It took 15-20 seconds of cranking to get the car started. Once it was started, the engine sounded fine and the RPM was normal. The "Check Engine" light was off. However, the "Trac Off" was still on. I cleaned the gas tank cap one more time.

The next morning, when I turned the car on, there was no problem at all. It came on instantly as it used to be, didn't have any warning lights, and drove smoothly.

The gas tank cap getting dirty and the battery being down are unrelated things, which just happened on the same day. I do not know which one caused which warning light to come on though.