This is the kind of thing that always happens to other people; the kind of thing you always get to listen to and then react in awe or amazement or pure melancholic understanding, depending on how the thing ends. The difference here, as you may have guessed by the predictability of these opening two lines, was that this kind of thing happened to us, namely Dolas, Athar, Naren and yours truly.
We were doing all we could to get out of the house in time to get hold of a rick that would take us from Aundh to Wanowrie without making too much of a fuss, the kind of fuss rick drivers normally make when they smell a meaty fare from a gullible customer. Thanks to the new 'badge rule', our industrious rickmen at the auto stand who always drip with the essence of honesty and have the sun shining out of their backsides didn't dare to risk a ride into the city, as they didn't have/couldn't get hold of any badges (and one would normally think these blighters were the pioneers of the practice of jugaad). We eventually had to flag down another passing rick and get down to brass tacks immediately. After a short, hurried mutual consultation regarding the distance to be travelled, the actual fare and the leniency to the rickman for breaking the cardinal law of ricks by seating four brats like us, we scrambled into the confined space, applying the back forth back forth principle of confined seating, with a bag and a guitar in tow.
We spent the next 45 minutes seated in akward positions. Naren squeezed in at the far corner, me squeezed in laterally opposite to him, Athar seated at the edge of the seat with the guitar in his hands, between Naren and Dolas, who was, of course, seated comfortably like he always is. When we finally reached Om's place in Wanowrie we tumbled out of the rick gratefully. It was quite like the relief you feel when you unbutton an agonizingly tight pair of trousers and collapse on the pot to take a well deserved dump. Another round of haggling issued between us and the rickman who bravely stood his ground despite being confronted by the four of us blokes. Ten minutes after the dust settled and the rickman had gone away fuming,:
"Give me the camera. "
"Who has it? "
"You took out the camera, no?"
"Where's the bag? "
"Oh Shit!!!!"
It's not rocket science. You guessed right.
Naren and Dolas immediately turned around and set off walking in hot pursuit of the rickman who was probably halfway back to wherever he had wanted to go next. To be fair, one could always hope against hope that the fellow hadn't gone more than thirty feet before stopping to refill his stock of beedis or gutka or whatever. But alas, that was not to be. The mutterings of expletives gained momentum, frequency and amplitude as the shock and the realization of the loss washed on to us, especially on to Naren whose camera it was, like a tidal wave.
Sense prevailed soon, and we got down to the task of doing whatever we could to figure out a way to get the bag back. Hopeless as it sounded, we left our phone numbers with the security at Om's place, just in case the rickman returned with the intention of returning the goods. I also mobilized Jd into action, calling him up and asking him to do the same at the rick stand from where we had caught the blasted rick. (This may not have worked either, as this rickman was not a member of that stand).
Well, what was done was done, and there was no point hanging around in the cold feeling sorry about the whole thing, hence we proceeded to A's place for the party which we were on our way to attend and become the soul of, albeit with a bit of a tropical cloud hanging over our moods. The party and the next couple of days passed with repeating the story to others and basking in the reactions and suggestions of the audiences, much like the kind described in the opening lines of this anecdote. Maybe it was my excessive reading of Sherlock Holmes stories, but I also had the idea of putting up an advertisement in a local Marathi daily, with the description and contents of the lost bag, requesting the finder to apply at 221b, Baker street, and tipping off inspector G. Lestrade too for good measure, so he could calmly step out of the shadows of the doorway at the last minute, arrest the culprit and take all the credit for the success of the investigation without any objection on my part. The master stroke of the plan, as the good Doctor might have written four years later.
But before any of this could happen, Dolas got a call from the virtuous rick stand where Jd had given his number, inquiring about a lost bag. Our honest rickman, all reasons for fuming forgotten, drove all the way to Infosys Hinjewadi armed with our goods and showed up smiling from ear to ear, as if he was in a Happy Dent advertisement. He also insisted on a reward for his honestly much higher than what Dolas had estimated, relieving him of a sizable wad, and offering his number and guaranteeing his unfailing services, whilst beaming all the time and overflowing with the milk of human kindness. Not that we ought to complain too much though, it was pretty good of him to do what he did. Needless to say, we were more than elated and amazed at this new development, and we sort of felt like how old Red Rakham might have felt had he stumbled upon his treasure in the cellar of Marlinspike Hall instead of getting stabbed and blown up in his boat!
Shit happens, like Forrest fleetingly said. But shit sometimes un-happens too. That blows away the rain clouds and replaces the scene with the lark on the wing and the bird on the song and God in his Heaven and all that. All’s well that ends well!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Of bags, logistics and rickmen of honour
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Societal Hypocrisy
Have you ever come across a bit of news that, when you first read it in a newspaper or an on-line news website, or in a link to it forwarded to you by a friend or acquaintance in a usual careless forwarding of an email which our generation so often does without a second thought, makes your eyelids fly open in disgust, aversive wonder and disbelief at the unbelievable sickness of itself? The kind of news that makes you wonder to yourself or aloud to your friends in turn, what the world and its madmen are coming to? Like, for example, the news about a father imprisoning his children for decades in his cellar to satisfy whatever his carnal needs are, delusional as they may be, or a report on the rape of a two year old girl and so forth; there's no dearth of such news these days. It is also a possibility that there's nothing new about these things; that they've been happening for decades and every generation comes across these bits of news and wonders what their times are coming to, and what times the generations to come will go through when it's their time to live.
Social networking has enhanced the spreading of news by leaps and bounds; and by this means I came across this horrible piece of news about how a man, apparently in a drunken stupor raped a stray female dog. (I use the phrase because the term used for female dogs has more than one denotation these days). Disbelief and disgust at the sickness of the act hits the reader first (in some cases maybe even amusement, but that's not on my mind). Rape in itself is terrible enough and committed in abandon despite what the right of mind would want to think about an improvement in social life, without it being committed on animals. I don't suppose I could ever describe the disgust and indignation I felt when reading it.
The news also mentioned that the dog was horribly traumatized after the incident, and was in a kind of unstoppable frenzy, with nothing anybody could that could calm her down. Such was the trauma of it all that she had stopped eating altogether. Street dogs in Indian mohallas, although stray normally have pseudo homes; they feed on leftovers from houses; they sleep on porches; and in most cases they do attain a slight attachment of sorts with the people in these mohallas. Naturally, the dog in this case had several to sympathize with her, and one of the families had volunteered to care for the dog post her trauma, and to try and get her to eat again. (A thought, aside from the context of the episode, which arose in my mind, was the completely contrasting meaning it gave to the commonly used phrase ‘treated like a dog’.)
While I do appreciate the kindness and sympathy of the family that did so, I cannot help but wonder at the hypocrisy of society, if I can call it that, which made itself evident in this very act. When a woman, a fellow human being, is subjected to such a crime, she immediately gets ostracized without a second thought; is boycotted by all other 'respectable' citizens; gets looked down upon in the same light as someone in the flesh trade or as someone to be avoided, if possible banished from social life altogether as though it was her fault for getting raped in the first place; her chances of getting married into a good family by the traditional arranged marriage system are as of that moment shattered for ever; and this is typical of majority of Indian society.
I know there are laws in place to deal with the criminals who commit these crimes, but I can’t say with conviction as to whether they are enforced to the full extent when it comes to bringing them to book.
I cannot help but wonder at the apathy when it comes to the woman's plight; that few would bother to care about the physical and mental trauma she inevitably has to go through; that she would become the object of ridicule and mental abuse when she needs, on the contrary, support and solidarity from the society in bringing the criminal or criminals, as the case may be, to justice; that she would find it next to impossible to find acceptance in society because a heinous crime was committed against her, as opposed to the sympathy which ought to be shown, like the kind being shown to the dog in the incident mentioned. I wonder what values and ideals of right and wrong we are imbibing in ourselves; what we in turn will imbibe in our future generations.
And while talking about the larger realm of right and wrong when it comes to the imbibing of the values, this is probably the tip of the iceberg.
Social networking has enhanced the spreading of news by leaps and bounds; and by this means I came across this horrible piece of news about how a man, apparently in a drunken stupor raped a stray female dog. (I use the phrase because the term used for female dogs has more than one denotation these days). Disbelief and disgust at the sickness of the act hits the reader first (in some cases maybe even amusement, but that's not on my mind). Rape in itself is terrible enough and committed in abandon despite what the right of mind would want to think about an improvement in social life, without it being committed on animals. I don't suppose I could ever describe the disgust and indignation I felt when reading it.
The news also mentioned that the dog was horribly traumatized after the incident, and was in a kind of unstoppable frenzy, with nothing anybody could that could calm her down. Such was the trauma of it all that she had stopped eating altogether. Street dogs in Indian mohallas, although stray normally have pseudo homes; they feed on leftovers from houses; they sleep on porches; and in most cases they do attain a slight attachment of sorts with the people in these mohallas. Naturally, the dog in this case had several to sympathize with her, and one of the families had volunteered to care for the dog post her trauma, and to try and get her to eat again. (A thought, aside from the context of the episode, which arose in my mind, was the completely contrasting meaning it gave to the commonly used phrase ‘treated like a dog’.)
While I do appreciate the kindness and sympathy of the family that did so, I cannot help but wonder at the hypocrisy of society, if I can call it that, which made itself evident in this very act. When a woman, a fellow human being, is subjected to such a crime, she immediately gets ostracized without a second thought; is boycotted by all other 'respectable' citizens; gets looked down upon in the same light as someone in the flesh trade or as someone to be avoided, if possible banished from social life altogether as though it was her fault for getting raped in the first place; her chances of getting married into a good family by the traditional arranged marriage system are as of that moment shattered for ever; and this is typical of majority of Indian society.
I know there are laws in place to deal with the criminals who commit these crimes, but I can’t say with conviction as to whether they are enforced to the full extent when it comes to bringing them to book.
I cannot help but wonder at the apathy when it comes to the woman's plight; that few would bother to care about the physical and mental trauma she inevitably has to go through; that she would become the object of ridicule and mental abuse when she needs, on the contrary, support and solidarity from the society in bringing the criminal or criminals, as the case may be, to justice; that she would find it next to impossible to find acceptance in society because a heinous crime was committed against her, as opposed to the sympathy which ought to be shown, like the kind being shown to the dog in the incident mentioned. I wonder what values and ideals of right and wrong we are imbibing in ourselves; what we in turn will imbibe in our future generations.
And while talking about the larger realm of right and wrong when it comes to the imbibing of the values, this is probably the tip of the iceberg.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
An amazing story
This is a forward I got in the mail, just got to share it with someone!
-----
This is an Incredible story!
In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee, inspected the elephants foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.
Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day. Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man. Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help wondering if this was the same elephant.Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing, and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.
Probably wasn't the same elephant.
This is for everyone who sends those heart-warming bullshit stories.
-----
This is an Incredible story!
In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee, inspected the elephants foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.
Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day. Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man. Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help wondering if this was the same elephant.Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing, and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.
Probably wasn't the same elephant.
This is for everyone who sends those heart-warming bullshit stories.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Goodbye, Moonwalker..
The moonwalks, the vocal hiccups, the mid-lyric hoots, the full bodied twist and 'POW' punches... Gone too soon...
My first real introduction to English music was Michael Jackson's 'Dangerous'; it was released in the mid nineties when both me and the brother were in school. Bro had borrowed an audio cassette of the album and had gone completely bonkers over it. The music was infectious, and I joined in the madness; slip in the cassette, close all the doors and windows of the bedroom, play the song at full volume! I remember 'Jam' being one of my favourite tracks. It was just a matter of time before I came to like more and more of his songs, and not long before I got completely taken by the man's dance moves.
Asianet's Rosebowl channel used to screen videos of MJ very often, and throughout my school life more and more people of my age began to try aping his dance style. Michael Jackson by now has probably become a household name everywhere in the world, despite all the reputation shattering controversies. I reckon almost everyone in the world across the continents at least knows the name of the man. From students to professionals to corporates to shopkeepers to autorikshaw drivers and so on. He had inspired a whole generation of performers, and his legacy will live on I guess.
It has been years now since I last heard his music, and was hoping that the 50 sold out concerts he was to perform at would begin a fresh lap for the king of pop. There was always a little thought at the back of my mind, a hope which believed he wasn't done yet, that he would return to enthrall the world once again. It was just utter shock I felt when I read the news of his death on the Internet. It seemed like a lie, a stupid dream at first, it almost seemed like a silly rumour. But then it sank in slowly, and every song that I've heard of his began to play and replay in my head. And now I find myself listening and re-listening to all those songs I had come to love and enjoy over a decade ago; just like I did when I first started listening to Michael Jackson.
I'm sure such is the case with millions of other fans across the continents. Perhaps that in itself is a tribute to his genius; all his music probably being played all over the world right now an indication of how much his music and performances were loved.
Thank you for the joy and the music MJ. May you find peace.
My first real introduction to English music was Michael Jackson's 'Dangerous'; it was released in the mid nineties when both me and the brother were in school. Bro had borrowed an audio cassette of the album and had gone completely bonkers over it. The music was infectious, and I joined in the madness; slip in the cassette, close all the doors and windows of the bedroom, play the song at full volume! I remember 'Jam' being one of my favourite tracks. It was just a matter of time before I came to like more and more of his songs, and not long before I got completely taken by the man's dance moves.
Asianet's Rosebowl channel used to screen videos of MJ very often, and throughout my school life more and more people of my age began to try aping his dance style. Michael Jackson by now has probably become a household name everywhere in the world, despite all the reputation shattering controversies. I reckon almost everyone in the world across the continents at least knows the name of the man. From students to professionals to corporates to shopkeepers to autorikshaw drivers and so on. He had inspired a whole generation of performers, and his legacy will live on I guess.
It has been years now since I last heard his music, and was hoping that the 50 sold out concerts he was to perform at would begin a fresh lap for the king of pop. There was always a little thought at the back of my mind, a hope which believed he wasn't done yet, that he would return to enthrall the world once again. It was just utter shock I felt when I read the news of his death on the Internet. It seemed like a lie, a stupid dream at first, it almost seemed like a silly rumour. But then it sank in slowly, and every song that I've heard of his began to play and replay in my head. And now I find myself listening and re-listening to all those songs I had come to love and enjoy over a decade ago; just like I did when I first started listening to Michael Jackson.
I'm sure such is the case with millions of other fans across the continents. Perhaps that in itself is a tribute to his genius; all his music probably being played all over the world right now an indication of how much his music and performances were loved.
Thank you for the joy and the music MJ. May you find peace.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Skid knot
The monsoon is here, and it has announced its 'pre-arrival' with a crash, if I may put it that way. You can never be too careful in these initial rainy times if you're on a two wheeler, and in the midst of the rainy times too for that matter. Though once you get used to it raining all around you, skids and wet concrete are much easier to negotiate.
I got off at the Mikon office on Dhole Patil road to pick up my faithful wheels this evening. Pretty pleasant evening it was too, lovely breeze blowing across the lands and I prepared for an enjoyable ride back through some mild traffic. And then it began to pour. Knowing that the first rainfall can be pretty dangerous for motorists, bikers in particular, I kept the speed pretty less, avoided any daring overtaking rushes, in fact avoided any overtaking I could help and all looked good for a wet but safe arrival back home. But that was until I got off the University fly-over and on to the Aundh main road.
The road here is concrete, and things get wildly slippery when it starts to rain. Anyway, a speed of 35 - 40 km per hour didn't matter at all, when this tempo traveler around ten meters ahead of me slowed down rapidly. I braked cautiously, but not cautiously enough I guess because the back wheel promptly locked up and slid away to the left at a shocking angle. Needless to say, I went down like a pin into the mixture of earth and concrete. Can't say I was a hundred percent aware of myself in that fraction of a second it took me to fall, but thankfully I had enough sense to let the bike go crashing across while I slid on to the road. I was extremely lucky (thank God) there weren't any vehicles close behind me, and that there were a bunch of helpful on lookers who darted across in a trice and helped me and the bike to the shoulder out of the highway. I'm also immensely thankful I had my helmet with me! (I came to know later that around 8 or 9 bikers had fallen on that very spot over the last five minutes)
Besides kicking myself for not being careful enough, I can take a few things away from the incident.
Avoid using a two wheeler when it has just started to rain after a dry spell. If you must, then
(a) wear a helmet, even if you need to bike to the next block
(b) stay in as low a gear as you can help. Use engine braking as much as possible, because your regular brakes are very likely to skid on the fresh mess of mud and concrete/tar
(c) Avoid concrete roads as much as possible (especially if you're driving in India). These roads are more durable than tarred roads alright, but they offer a pretty poor road grip especially when wet.
(d) Drive slowly. Let it take ages to go from point A to B even if they're a couple of miles apart. Like someone somewhere said, it's better to be late, than be 'the late'.
Despite taking all precautions, shit happens.
(a)If you find yourself skidding helplessly and falling, let the bike go. Your bike can be fixed in time no matter how banged up it gets, but not necessarily you. Let the bike slide/crash/go and do your best to fall in a rolling movement to minimize impact.
(b) If you don't feel up to it after the fall, do not drive again right then. Get yourself taken care of first, you can always pick up your bike later.
(c) If you decide you're fine and to continue driving, ensure first that everything on the bike is working perfectly. Test your brakes, front and rear, take a few test turns, make sure your handle bar alignment is fine.
(d) This is a handy precaution. Keep 'ICE' contacts in your mobile phone. In case you lose consciousness after an accident (or for some other reason), a passerby would use your mobile phone to contact someone you know. ICE stands for In Case of Emergency. Have more than one ICE contact, and ensure it's a family member or a friend you can trust.
If you witness an accident where you are a passer by, try and stop the traffic coming on. Common sense would suggest that oncoming vehicles would stop immediately when a mishap occurs in front of them, but common sense doesn't prevail for some. If the victim is not badly hurt, ensure that he or she has been moved to safety to the shoulder. Otherwise, try to get professional help to move the victim.
If the victim is unconscious, an ambulance or hospital and police immediately. Then use the victim's mobile phone to search for ICE contacts. If he does not have ICE contacts, look for numbers stored under 'Home', 'Dad', 'Papa','Pops', 'Mom', 'Ma' and so on. If you can't find any such contact, call the last dialled number and inform them of what has occurred. It might just save a life.
Everything said and done, prevention is better than cure. Be safe, drive responsibly. If you live in a place where helmets haven't been made compulsory, do not take the liberty of not wearing one. It may look or feel 'cool' to feel the wind in your hair and all that, but it's not worth it.
If you live in a place where helmets are compulsory, buy a good, standard one (this applies to the former too). Do not buy a cheap helmet to 'adhere' to the rule, and wear something which will offer as much protection as a flower pot will. Spend a little more on the helmet, it's to protect your head!
Then there is the other counter theory against the use of helmets that people who call themselves 'free spirits' often quote, that it causes whiplash. Well, consider a crick in the neck, and consider a crack in your skull. Then choose.
I got off at the Mikon office on Dhole Patil road to pick up my faithful wheels this evening. Pretty pleasant evening it was too, lovely breeze blowing across the lands and I prepared for an enjoyable ride back through some mild traffic. And then it began to pour. Knowing that the first rainfall can be pretty dangerous for motorists, bikers in particular, I kept the speed pretty less, avoided any daring overtaking rushes, in fact avoided any overtaking I could help and all looked good for a wet but safe arrival back home. But that was until I got off the University fly-over and on to the Aundh main road.
The road here is concrete, and things get wildly slippery when it starts to rain. Anyway, a speed of 35 - 40 km per hour didn't matter at all, when this tempo traveler around ten meters ahead of me slowed down rapidly. I braked cautiously, but not cautiously enough I guess because the back wheel promptly locked up and slid away to the left at a shocking angle. Needless to say, I went down like a pin into the mixture of earth and concrete. Can't say I was a hundred percent aware of myself in that fraction of a second it took me to fall, but thankfully I had enough sense to let the bike go crashing across while I slid on to the road. I was extremely lucky (thank God) there weren't any vehicles close behind me, and that there were a bunch of helpful on lookers who darted across in a trice and helped me and the bike to the shoulder out of the highway. I'm also immensely thankful I had my helmet with me! (I came to know later that around 8 or 9 bikers had fallen on that very spot over the last five minutes)
Besides kicking myself for not being careful enough, I can take a few things away from the incident.
Avoid using a two wheeler when it has just started to rain after a dry spell. If you must, then
(a) wear a helmet, even if you need to bike to the next block
(b) stay in as low a gear as you can help. Use engine braking as much as possible, because your regular brakes are very likely to skid on the fresh mess of mud and concrete/tar
(c) Avoid concrete roads as much as possible (especially if you're driving in India). These roads are more durable than tarred roads alright, but they offer a pretty poor road grip especially when wet.
(d) Drive slowly. Let it take ages to go from point A to B even if they're a couple of miles apart. Like someone somewhere said, it's better to be late, than be 'the late'.
Despite taking all precautions, shit happens.
(a)If you find yourself skidding helplessly and falling, let the bike go. Your bike can be fixed in time no matter how banged up it gets, but not necessarily you. Let the bike slide/crash/go and do your best to fall in a rolling movement to minimize impact.
(b) If you don't feel up to it after the fall, do not drive again right then. Get yourself taken care of first, you can always pick up your bike later.
(c) If you decide you're fine and to continue driving, ensure first that everything on the bike is working perfectly. Test your brakes, front and rear, take a few test turns, make sure your handle bar alignment is fine.
(d) This is a handy precaution. Keep 'ICE' contacts in your mobile phone. In case you lose consciousness after an accident (or for some other reason), a passerby would use your mobile phone to contact someone you know. ICE stands for In Case of Emergency. Have more than one ICE contact, and ensure it's a family member or a friend you can trust.
If you witness an accident where you are a passer by, try and stop the traffic coming on. Common sense would suggest that oncoming vehicles would stop immediately when a mishap occurs in front of them, but common sense doesn't prevail for some. If the victim is not badly hurt, ensure that he or she has been moved to safety to the shoulder. Otherwise, try to get professional help to move the victim.
If the victim is unconscious, an ambulance or hospital and police immediately. Then use the victim's mobile phone to search for ICE contacts. If he does not have ICE contacts, look for numbers stored under 'Home', 'Dad', 'Papa','Pops', 'Mom', 'Ma' and so on. If you can't find any such contact, call the last dialled number and inform them of what has occurred. It might just save a life.
Everything said and done, prevention is better than cure. Be safe, drive responsibly. If you live in a place where helmets haven't been made compulsory, do not take the liberty of not wearing one. It may look or feel 'cool' to feel the wind in your hair and all that, but it's not worth it.
If you live in a place where helmets are compulsory, buy a good, standard one (this applies to the former too). Do not buy a cheap helmet to 'adhere' to the rule, and wear something which will offer as much protection as a flower pot will. Spend a little more on the helmet, it's to protect your head!
Then there is the other counter theory against the use of helmets that people who call themselves 'free spirits' often quote, that it causes whiplash. Well, consider a crick in the neck, and consider a crack in your skull. Then choose.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Some Dave-il Matthews
While I sit making life easier for the International Transfers team, I have dave matthews singing 'Some Devil' in my ears. Borrowed Yogi's headphones, plugged into my cd player and well, it's quite awesome!
Will be extremely disappointed if the battery on this thing runs out before the end of the day, because there isn't a shop in the vicinity for miles which store batteries!
Will be extremely disappointed if the battery on this thing runs out before the end of the day, because there isn't a shop in the vicinity for miles which store batteries!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Even Flow - I
There really is very little point trying to drive on the roads of Pune while adhereing to traffic rules, signals, and right of ways. It's almost like the rule is exactly opposite of what it actually is/should be, of course, that is unless a traffic constable 'feels like' flagging you down for some palm scratching.
Those of us who make sure our vehicles are in proper condition are stopped regularly for checks, which is OK, but buses, ricks which make it impossible for anyone around them to breathe thanks to their colour defining exhaust fumes are apparently not expected to have their pollution levels under control.
Signals.. Try waiting at a signal for a red light to turn green, ten blokes in cars, bikes etc. are likely to honk their gonads off at you for not breaking the signal and 'saving time'.
You might see a really dignified looking gentleman driving a really expensive big luxurious car, and some part of you might just expect the blighter at the wheel to drive, well, at least responsibly. (You might even expect him to be educated, at least in the traffic laws) But be not surprised of the afore mentioned chappie veers dangerously across the highway from the left-most lane in order to take a right turn somewhere, thereby causing ten others to swerve for their lives for screech to a halt, in turn creating problems for vehicles coming up behind them. If given a piece of the mind, you can also expect the driver to dismissively justify himself - "But I had my indicator on."
Most vehicles seem to have some kind of built in device that prevents it from overtaking on the right side. It seems like a practice unheard of. Not only do most drivers overtake on the left, they generally don't let anyone overtake them on the right side either. Even ambulances and fire brigades have it rough out there, because people take their own sweet time to get out of the way rather than let the emergency vehicles go first. There ought to be a law which can throw you in jail if you obstruct an ambulance. (I think such laws do exist in some other countries)
The general mindset is even worse, because no one gives a rat's ass about road safety. The pedestrian gets it the worst I think. Gone are the days when you could safely tell your children to walk on the footpath; it is now used by scooterists and bikers who wish to by-pass a traffic jam or a red signal queue to get ahead, or used as a safe parking zone by cars, or used by hawkers to sell whatever it is, or is generally blocked by something or the other. The pedestrian crossings have been reduced to nothing but some random paint marks. It's no wonder you hardly see anyone using them! I heard a colleague of mine say to his friend - "If you stop at a signal over the pedestrian crossing stop line, the bloody cops act as if you've crossed the line of control!" Pity that such people are loose on the streets, with a license to drive.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
What a 'HUT'
I was walking back from the bus stop last evening on the way back from work, strolling at an easy pace to appease the sore toe I'm suffering from, and chanced to see an interesting looking signboard for a dhaba cum restaurant called 'HUT-K', and decided to give it a dinner try.
The place, at least visually lived up to its name, there were a few bamboo huts built inside. A part of me felt a little hopeful about there being a nice place close to home where we could get some quick meal in the future until the food arrived.
We'd ordered a mixed veg curry and chicken kolhapuri, the former turned out to be a heap of tastelessly cooked vegetables tossed in an overdose of various masalas, and the latter was nothing but boiled chicken mixed with lots of oil, chilli powder and added red colour. Quite tasteless, except for the heat of the chilli.
I don't think I'm going back there again.
The place, at least visually lived up to its name, there were a few bamboo huts built inside. A part of me felt a little hopeful about there being a nice place close to home where we could get some quick meal in the future until the food arrived.
We'd ordered a mixed veg curry and chicken kolhapuri, the former turned out to be a heap of tastelessly cooked vegetables tossed in an overdose of various masalas, and the latter was nothing but boiled chicken mixed with lots of oil, chilli powder and added red colour. Quite tasteless, except for the heat of the chilli.
I don't think I'm going back there again.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
In loo of writings on the walls
We've all heard of loo writings, haven't we? It can be pretty amusing at times, and sometimes plain offensive stuff written on the walls and doors of public toilets.
My dad once told me about a public toilet he went to when he was in Canada. While in the loo, he saw the following limerick on the wall: "Here I sit, broken hearted; Paid a dime, but only farted!"
Stuff like this in hostels can be amusing too. The loo on my floor in my college hostel had a few such poems written in chalk on the doors and walls, though I don't really remember what they said.
The cake, however goes to a loo in the MNREC hostel in Allahabad; that was the college my elder brother went to. The moment you closed the door of the toilet and sat down, you'd see - "You are about to witness a tennis match. Look Left." You'd look at the left wall and see - "Look Right."
You'd then look at the right wall and see the words: "Look Left. "
My dad once told me about a public toilet he went to when he was in Canada. While in the loo, he saw the following limerick on the wall: "Here I sit, broken hearted; Paid a dime, but only farted!"
Stuff like this in hostels can be amusing too. The loo on my floor in my college hostel had a few such poems written in chalk on the doors and walls, though I don't really remember what they said.
The cake, however goes to a loo in the MNREC hostel in Allahabad; that was the college my elder brother went to. The moment you closed the door of the toilet and sat down, you'd see - "You are about to witness a tennis match. Look Left." You'd look at the left wall and see - "Look Right."
You'd then look at the right wall and see the words: "Look Left. "
Sunday, December 14, 2008
What are we thinking?
What unimaginable crimes people commit. Really. Earlier, I had written a post in my blog wondering about mob fury. Mob violence doesn't always happen as a reaction to a crime. It sometimes happens of its own accord.
A news channel reported an incident of a youth being beaten up mercilessly because he fell in love and wanted to marry a girl of a different class or caste! There have been incidents where such young people have been murdered in the melee. In most of these incidents, the policemen turn out to be mere onlookers, possibly helpless when faced with a mob like that, or maybe out of sheer apathy. (Being a policeman is just another silly job, then?).
Another type of unspeakable crime, acid attacks. Why do we say that human beings are civilized? A bunch of young men or boys in the teens or early twenties throw acid on the faces of some girls, ruining them for life, sometimes even killing. What is the difference between such 'civilized' people from apparently good families and plain savages? Why do some people think that this is an acceptable thing to do, this throwing acid business. It makes the blood boil to even think that such youth have support in the society. Support from their families, from the politicians, from 'influential contacts', who would make sure that these criminals are not detained in jails.
I read about an incident in the papers where two such criminals, youths who had thrown acid on two young ladies (the condition of one of whom was said to be critical) were killed in a police encounter. Perhaps, just perhaps the police knew that these criminals had contacts in high places and would walk free again if they were alive. Maybe the shootout was justified.
The response of the people to this was mixed. Many lauded the fact that these criminals were removed from society; the father of the prime accused even refused to collect the body of his son because of the crimes he had committed.
On the other hand, another bunch of people are accusing the police of showing off their 'muscle power'. Well, I wonder if they did say at least something when these boys had thrown acid on the young victims! I wonder what their opinion was with respect to the fact that they had maimed two girls (perhaps many more in the past) for life. Why all this outrage, why all this public support for two mindless criminals? Well, too bad that they couldn't be tried and punished, or maybe put on death row by a court, but that's all the sympathy they should get. But that's just me.
A news channel reported an incident of a youth being beaten up mercilessly because he fell in love and wanted to marry a girl of a different class or caste! There have been incidents where such young people have been murdered in the melee. In most of these incidents, the policemen turn out to be mere onlookers, possibly helpless when faced with a mob like that, or maybe out of sheer apathy. (Being a policeman is just another silly job, then?).
Another type of unspeakable crime, acid attacks. Why do we say that human beings are civilized? A bunch of young men or boys in the teens or early twenties throw acid on the faces of some girls, ruining them for life, sometimes even killing. What is the difference between such 'civilized' people from apparently good families and plain savages? Why do some people think that this is an acceptable thing to do, this throwing acid business. It makes the blood boil to even think that such youth have support in the society. Support from their families, from the politicians, from 'influential contacts', who would make sure that these criminals are not detained in jails.
I read about an incident in the papers where two such criminals, youths who had thrown acid on two young ladies (the condition of one of whom was said to be critical) were killed in a police encounter. Perhaps, just perhaps the police knew that these criminals had contacts in high places and would walk free again if they were alive. Maybe the shootout was justified.
The response of the people to this was mixed. Many lauded the fact that these criminals were removed from society; the father of the prime accused even refused to collect the body of his son because of the crimes he had committed.
On the other hand, another bunch of people are accusing the police of showing off their 'muscle power'. Well, I wonder if they did say at least something when these boys had thrown acid on the young victims! I wonder what their opinion was with respect to the fact that they had maimed two girls (perhaps many more in the past) for life. Why all this outrage, why all this public support for two mindless criminals? Well, too bad that they couldn't be tried and punished, or maybe put on death row by a court, but that's all the sympathy they should get. But that's just me.
Justice confused
Justice seems to be a pretty confusing concept to me these days.
I keep hearing raves and rants about how our judicial system is flawed and how money and influence can get a criminal out of jail, and how cruelly manipulative the system is. Perhaps the flip side of this is the mob on the streets. Who is the mob? It is you, me, it is the people of our country, eventually. But what is the mob, is it plain hooliganism, rowdyism, vandalism or is it just swift and decisive justice?
The mob doesn't care what the crime is, an offender could be a pickpocket caught in the act, it could be someone misbehaving with women, it could be an errant driver involved in an accident, anything. The most common incidents of mob fury are road accident related ones. I was witness to two such incidents not too long ago. Avik had offered me a lift home from office in his car, and on the way we saw commotion on the street. Apparently a pedestrian had been knocked down by a lorry and had falled unconcious to the ground. It was pretty hard to guess whether it was the pedestrian's fault for arbitrarily strolling on to the main road or whether it was irresponsible driving from the lorry driver.
Avik seemed to be the only person in the area with any sense, he immediately asked the onlookers to get the injured man in his car and drove him to hospital. I got off the car to make room, and waited for him to come back to pick me up. While I was waiting, the crowd identified the driver who had hung around to see what had happened to the victim and started beating him up without mercy. I guess there were about 50 people beating up that one man. The anger of these men is not measured at all. Each has a varying intensity of beating; one of them may have fought with his family, one may have been fed up of dealing with the bureaucracy of state government officers, one may have a frustrating unsatisfying job, but all of them are angry for some reason or the other. And everything combined is taken out on the offender.
On another day, I was riding to office on my motorbike and noticed a gathering ahead on the way. A man driving a Tata Sumo had ventured on to the wrong side of the road and hit another biker side on. The biker had fallen and hurt himself a little bit, but thankfully not seriously. The sumo driver however, was extremely wary of stepping out of the car, knowing that if he did so, he would definitely be beaten up by an angry mob. In fact, a mob had gathered around the car threateningly, and the man inside had joined his hands and was pleading with the crowd to let him go.
Ideally, persons who cause accidents through negligient driving ought to be arrested and their licenses cancelled. But almost all such offenders run. And in most cases, the reason for running is not fear of the law, it is fear of the mob. I have read numerous reports of road accidents in the newspapers which mention that a truck or lorry had run over a pedestrian, the driver had managed to escape only to surrender later at a police station.
The example is just that of road accident culprits. However, not all criminals can be held in Indian police stations. One phone call from an influential person is all it takes for even a rape convict to walk free. So what is the right thing? It would probably take ages for a court to sentence a criminal for a crime; is it people's way of instant justice then, to thrash the offender at the scene of crime itself? If so, is it not a slap on the face of our country's judicial system, and does it not literally scream of the lack of faith that the people have in the law?
I'm sure it does, in some cases of mob fury I hear of on television, I see instances where maybe even the police are either fed up of the painfully slow procedures of the law and feel that the mob can give better justice, or are way too apathetic to make sure that the law is upheld.
I wonder what is right. Maybe it is another huge paradox we will never be able to solve.
I keep hearing raves and rants about how our judicial system is flawed and how money and influence can get a criminal out of jail, and how cruelly manipulative the system is. Perhaps the flip side of this is the mob on the streets. Who is the mob? It is you, me, it is the people of our country, eventually. But what is the mob, is it plain hooliganism, rowdyism, vandalism or is it just swift and decisive justice?
The mob doesn't care what the crime is, an offender could be a pickpocket caught in the act, it could be someone misbehaving with women, it could be an errant driver involved in an accident, anything. The most common incidents of mob fury are road accident related ones. I was witness to two such incidents not too long ago. Avik had offered me a lift home from office in his car, and on the way we saw commotion on the street. Apparently a pedestrian had been knocked down by a lorry and had falled unconcious to the ground. It was pretty hard to guess whether it was the pedestrian's fault for arbitrarily strolling on to the main road or whether it was irresponsible driving from the lorry driver.
Avik seemed to be the only person in the area with any sense, he immediately asked the onlookers to get the injured man in his car and drove him to hospital. I got off the car to make room, and waited for him to come back to pick me up. While I was waiting, the crowd identified the driver who had hung around to see what had happened to the victim and started beating him up without mercy. I guess there were about 50 people beating up that one man. The anger of these men is not measured at all. Each has a varying intensity of beating; one of them may have fought with his family, one may have been fed up of dealing with the bureaucracy of state government officers, one may have a frustrating unsatisfying job, but all of them are angry for some reason or the other. And everything combined is taken out on the offender.
On another day, I was riding to office on my motorbike and noticed a gathering ahead on the way. A man driving a Tata Sumo had ventured on to the wrong side of the road and hit another biker side on. The biker had fallen and hurt himself a little bit, but thankfully not seriously. The sumo driver however, was extremely wary of stepping out of the car, knowing that if he did so, he would definitely be beaten up by an angry mob. In fact, a mob had gathered around the car threateningly, and the man inside had joined his hands and was pleading with the crowd to let him go.
Ideally, persons who cause accidents through negligient driving ought to be arrested and their licenses cancelled. But almost all such offenders run. And in most cases, the reason for running is not fear of the law, it is fear of the mob. I have read numerous reports of road accidents in the newspapers which mention that a truck or lorry had run over a pedestrian, the driver had managed to escape only to surrender later at a police station.
The example is just that of road accident culprits. However, not all criminals can be held in Indian police stations. One phone call from an influential person is all it takes for even a rape convict to walk free. So what is the right thing? It would probably take ages for a court to sentence a criminal for a crime; is it people's way of instant justice then, to thrash the offender at the scene of crime itself? If so, is it not a slap on the face of our country's judicial system, and does it not literally scream of the lack of faith that the people have in the law?
I'm sure it does, in some cases of mob fury I hear of on television, I see instances where maybe even the police are either fed up of the painfully slow procedures of the law and feel that the mob can give better justice, or are way too apathetic to make sure that the law is upheld.
I wonder what is right. Maybe it is another huge paradox we will never be able to solve.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
A leader's ego
Yet another disgusting crapshow by our politicians:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kerala-cm-insults-nsg-commandos-family--comment/79504-3.html
These are the words of one of our leaders.
The country is in turmoil. The people are furious at the apathy and reactions (or lack of ) of our politicians to the repeated strikes on our lives. It would have been pretty big of VS Achuthanandan had he accepted or even tried to understand the reaction of Major Unnikrishnan's father when he tried to visit.
Politicians visiting the families of the heroes seems like a farce, even every child in the country has a negative opinion of them; what else could they be trying to gain from these visits, but political mileage?
But these are the words of a leader, perhaps there is absolutely nothing that sets him apart from a small and cheap minded man; insulting the family of a martyr just to satisfy his bruised ego. Is this the best that we have?
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kerala-cm-insults-nsg-commandos-family--comment/79504-3.html
These are the words of one of our leaders.
The country is in turmoil. The people are furious at the apathy and reactions (or lack of ) of our politicians to the repeated strikes on our lives. It would have been pretty big of VS Achuthanandan had he accepted or even tried to understand the reaction of Major Unnikrishnan's father when he tried to visit.
Politicians visiting the families of the heroes seems like a farce, even every child in the country has a negative opinion of them; what else could they be trying to gain from these visits, but political mileage?
But these are the words of a leader, perhaps there is absolutely nothing that sets him apart from a small and cheap minded man; insulting the family of a martyr just to satisfy his bruised ego. Is this the best that we have?
Monday, December 01, 2008
Moo point
LK Advani decided to bunk the all party meeting and go ahead with his election campaigning. Clearly power is more important than unity in troubled times like this. I sometimes wonder whether they are really interested in the job. Or whether they even comprehend the higher principle which they're supposed to serve.
Having said that, let me just write down here how the all party meeting which went on for 5 hours has been summarised, as said by Pranab Mukherjee. He stated that all the parties collectively condemn the attacks, and they they are deeply saddened by the loss of lives, and the loss of our heroes in the police, and the commando forces.
Well, that's an improvement. We didn't know that the other parties condemned the attacks too. We thought that they were of the opinion that the attacks were a good idea! Thanks for clearing that point, Mr Mukherjee. Amazing that it took you only 5 hours to decide that. Maybe you were merely voicing RR Patil's views during those 5 hours : "Chalta hai".
Having said that, let me just write down here how the all party meeting which went on for 5 hours has been summarised, as said by Pranab Mukherjee. He stated that all the parties collectively condemn the attacks, and they they are deeply saddened by the loss of lives, and the loss of our heroes in the police, and the commando forces.
Well, that's an improvement. We didn't know that the other parties condemned the attacks too. We thought that they were of the opinion that the attacks were a good idea! Thanks for clearing that point, Mr Mukherjee. Amazing that it took you only 5 hours to decide that. Maybe you were merely voicing RR Patil's views during those 5 hours : "Chalta hai".
Truth and violence
New, but somewhat expected turn of events then. Shivraj Patil finally decides the throw in the towel, and the rest of the party apparently realizes only now that "we can no longer sit back". I wonder what they're planning on doing to that effect.
The first strong message they could and should be sending out to the world is to not postpone the hanging of the terrorist Afzal Guru. Let's see, he masterminded the attack on India's very symbol of sovereignity, which is to say the parliament. He is undoubtedly the mastermind behind scores of other attacks as well. He planned the killing of hundreds and hundreds of people in the name of religion, but apparently doesn't care which religion his victims belong to (enhancing the fact that terrorists have no religion). All these charges against him are supported by overwhelming evidence as well. He was arrested in 2001, and was supposed to be hanged in 2003 I think, a judgement passed by the Supreme Court. But he still lives. All this while it ought to be India spearheading the war against terror.
It's about time that the strong statements started going out. Carry out the hanging, let it be known that India means business and that we're not just speech making benign old codgers.
Pakistan is repeatedly stating that they stand with India in the war against millitant groups. Lashkar e-Taiba, although banned on paper still thrives under a new name, their leaders come out and make anti-India threats at will, which are broadcast on TV. So if Pak is indeed with India, we ought to be asking them to arrest these millitant leaders and hand them over to India so they can be tried here. If India has to spearhead the war on terror, let us make this demand of Pakistan and set a deadline for this. Otherwise, they'd leave us with no choice but to go and arrest them ourselves, as illogical as that may sound.
Qureshi, the Pak foreign minister may say what he wants, he can grimmance and scowl and speak as forcefully as he likes, but the people of India are not likely to believe his words. How can we, after all our attempts at peace have resulted in the 1965 war, the Bangladesh war, the 1993 blasts, the Kargil war, the attack on India's parliament, the attacks in Mumbai and all over India and now, the full fledged carnage at the Taj and Oberoi hotels.
61 years ago we won our freedom from the British with the Mahatma's principles as our weapons. Sadly, now we are dealing with lies and violence.
The first strong message they could and should be sending out to the world is to not postpone the hanging of the terrorist Afzal Guru. Let's see, he masterminded the attack on India's very symbol of sovereignity, which is to say the parliament. He is undoubtedly the mastermind behind scores of other attacks as well. He planned the killing of hundreds and hundreds of people in the name of religion, but apparently doesn't care which religion his victims belong to (enhancing the fact that terrorists have no religion). All these charges against him are supported by overwhelming evidence as well. He was arrested in 2001, and was supposed to be hanged in 2003 I think, a judgement passed by the Supreme Court. But he still lives. All this while it ought to be India spearheading the war against terror.
It's about time that the strong statements started going out. Carry out the hanging, let it be known that India means business and that we're not just speech making benign old codgers.
Pakistan is repeatedly stating that they stand with India in the war against millitant groups. Lashkar e-Taiba, although banned on paper still thrives under a new name, their leaders come out and make anti-India threats at will, which are broadcast on TV. So if Pak is indeed with India, we ought to be asking them to arrest these millitant leaders and hand them over to India so they can be tried here. If India has to spearhead the war on terror, let us make this demand of Pakistan and set a deadline for this. Otherwise, they'd leave us with no choice but to go and arrest them ourselves, as illogical as that may sound.
Qureshi, the Pak foreign minister may say what he wants, he can grimmance and scowl and speak as forcefully as he likes, but the people of India are not likely to believe his words. How can we, after all our attempts at peace have resulted in the 1965 war, the Bangladesh war, the 1993 blasts, the Kargil war, the attack on India's parliament, the attacks in Mumbai and all over India and now, the full fledged carnage at the Taj and Oberoi hotels.
61 years ago we won our freedom from the British with the Mahatma's principles as our weapons. Sadly, now we are dealing with lies and violence.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Home Ministry? Are you joking?
I just saw this link http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Patil-goof-up--TV-cameras--compromise--rescue/391573 a while back and realized for sure that Shivraj Patil is in the wrong place. He has no business handling home ministrty and we are only doing the terrorists a HUGE favour by letting him continue in office.
Apart from making the painfully repetitive un-inspiring spineless statements and robotic promises he has not done anything at all except appear to 'call high crisis meetings' and other such hogwash. The real battle is being fought out by the commandos, the ministers can't do a thing about it now, we all know where the terrorists are and what is being done to secure the city; so what exactly is an incapable waste of space doing in the Home Minister's chair? I hope he goes back to Delhi and stops being such a burden, all he has done in this crisis is to "rush to mumbai", and in the process use up extra police and army protection for himself when we need all those personnel to protect our own people!
In addition to this waste of time and space, he's also gone and announced the "secret" timings of the NSG's departure from Delhi to Mumbai to handle the situation, and bawled out everything to the media, and subsequently the world. It would be unpardonably childish to assume that the terrorists inside the hotel wouldn't have heard it too, they're a handful of incredibly trained murderers who have held off the Indian Army, the ATS, the National Security Guard troops AND the Marine Commandos, the best in the country for nearly 3 whole days. I'm sure with their satellite phones and other such they'd come to know exactly what India is doing to hit them!
What is the point of a "surprise attack" if the highest authority of internal security goes on air and blurts out critical information as if to try and redeem his incapability? If you have any shame left, Mr Home Minister please, oh please do the country a favour and quit the post. You can't handle this one bit. We the people have more faith in the army and the national guard than we can ever have in you or your "promises".
Apart from making the painfully repetitive un-inspiring spineless statements and robotic promises he has not done anything at all except appear to 'call high crisis meetings' and other such hogwash. The real battle is being fought out by the commandos, the ministers can't do a thing about it now, we all know where the terrorists are and what is being done to secure the city; so what exactly is an incapable waste of space doing in the Home Minister's chair? I hope he goes back to Delhi and stops being such a burden, all he has done in this crisis is to "rush to mumbai", and in the process use up extra police and army protection for himself when we need all those personnel to protect our own people!
In addition to this waste of time and space, he's also gone and announced the "secret" timings of the NSG's departure from Delhi to Mumbai to handle the situation, and bawled out everything to the media, and subsequently the world. It would be unpardonably childish to assume that the terrorists inside the hotel wouldn't have heard it too, they're a handful of incredibly trained murderers who have held off the Indian Army, the ATS, the National Security Guard troops AND the Marine Commandos, the best in the country for nearly 3 whole days. I'm sure with their satellite phones and other such they'd come to know exactly what India is doing to hit them!
What is the point of a "surprise attack" if the highest authority of internal security goes on air and blurts out critical information as if to try and redeem his incapability? If you have any shame left, Mr Home Minister please, oh please do the country a favour and quit the post. You can't handle this one bit. We the people have more faith in the army and the national guard than we can ever have in you or your "promises".
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Mumbai attacked again, the walls shake.
Just gave this article a read, and I guess it's extremely disjointed, i guess because i've written this over a long time and that I myself am pretty shaken with all this crap happening around us.
..........................................
I had just finished watching the fifth ODI between India and England last night, and was about to turn in when I casually switched the channel to NDTV, and then realised that India was under attack; YET again. And this has been the worst attack as far as I can remember.
This time, the whole incident seems to have taken the life out of everything; terror attacks happen every few months in our country, it seems like a periodic thing that unfortunately is expected to happen. Despite feeling angry, shaken and living in a state of uncertainty I was somehow always able to push it to some corner of my mind and get on with my work as usual up to now. This time however, it seems to have taken the life out of everything. Every few minutes I was invariably checking google news, ndtv and whatever news websites I could find, I just couldn't pull myself together to get down to work seriously..
A bunch of godless bastards just barge into Mumbai and start killing people left right and centre, attack the pride of Mumbai and India, the Taj hotel. India TV is openly accusing Pakistan of these attacks, some others are saying that this is being done by some bunch of morons who call themselves Deccan Mujahideen, and NDTV has reported that the terrorists were overheard talking in Punjabi to someone in Pakistan itself, the link seems clear.
I wonder whether India will finally do something about all this. As expected, the home minister Shivraj Patil has gone and said on air what he has learnt by heart by now. Condemn the attacks, tell the public that he will take all necessary steps to bring the cowards to justice. Why doesn't he just shut the hell up and resign! Clearly he isn't doing a damn thing to handle "Home ministry". What's heartening to see, is that at least the BJP and UPA seem to be working together in this crisis; but the CPM sticks to the blame game and says the home minister is responsible for this. Well, if you just blame other people and don't even as much as burp a word of support, I for sure will never ever vote for you.
Rushi, meanwhile is sitting next to me asking in his trademark one liner way - "How on earth can Deccan Mujahideen be from Karachi?! Obviously Pak is involved, the terrorists clearly have international funding to be able to withstand a siege like this for over 24 hours!"
I am also watching some footage on NDTV showing Barkha Dutt interviewing a lady and her daughter who I think have lost a member of their family and Dutt is actually asking her on live TV how she feels. I have a lot of respect for NDTV, but that was disgusting. Otherwise their coverage has been quite good. At the same time, I can't help feeling admiration for Sreenivasan Jain of NDTV who has been at the Taj Hotel site from the early hours of the morning, and is still reporting and holding the telecast together till now, and it's nearly midnight!
Earlier today while watching the live coverage, I could not help noticing that the TV channels were showing commandos taking positions around the Taj Hotel, and it struck me instantly that showing such footage on live television was utter stupidity. What if one of the terrorists flicked on a news channel to see the reactions to the attack and saw everything been shown regarding positions of police personnel? A couple of commandos positioned on top of the Gateway of India could be seen on TV! I did send an email to NDTV voicing this concern, and I'm sure several others would have sent similar feedback as well, and they did stop showing live footage of the 'war zone', that was a relief!
Top ATS officers killed early in the battle, the countries best commando units all working together to tackle the situation, the Taj Hotel, a symbol in itself of the great city of Mumbai for over a hundred years burning, the city bleeding all over; all this is exceedingly disheartening. I sincerely hope this doesn't snowball into rioting in Mumbai and elsewhere, I sincerely hope and pray that extreme thinking maniacs don't suddenly decide that this has been done by Muslims and they should be punished and all that. The only way out of this is if we close our mind to such dividing hateful thoughts, and smoke out those bastards who are responsible, strangle the bloody necks of the mindless devils who fund and train these terrorists, and forget that peace and appeals for calm is NOT going to make things better. I like what Shobha De said to NDTV; she practically yelled out agaisnt the incapable politicians, saying 'stay out of this city, the army is doing what it should. We don't want to see your Z level security when hundreds are dying all around you, we could use that bloody security here!'
My heart also goes out to all the Taj hotel staff who are being praised for taking care and reassuring their guests throughout the ordeal. I wonder how many more Indians must die, how many more families must be shattered before we finally change our policies make sure no one ever dares to attack us again. How long before we have a system where a captured terrorist is sent to the gallows instead of being 'pardoned' when it is clear that they've killed and murdered in the name of religion! We are obviously in a state of war, goddamnit. No one attacks a countries parliament or repeatedly blasts bombs all over a country for an effing pastime! This is a war that is not happening at the borders but within our nation, on our mother land, who says you can retaliate only at the border? When will we finally stand firm and repel these bastards once and for ever instead of meekly making a robotic benign statement for the record and choosing to forget about it, as if to imagine that it never happened?
..........................................
I had just finished watching the fifth ODI between India and England last night, and was about to turn in when I casually switched the channel to NDTV, and then realised that India was under attack; YET again. And this has been the worst attack as far as I can remember.
This time, the whole incident seems to have taken the life out of everything; terror attacks happen every few months in our country, it seems like a periodic thing that unfortunately is expected to happen. Despite feeling angry, shaken and living in a state of uncertainty I was somehow always able to push it to some corner of my mind and get on with my work as usual up to now. This time however, it seems to have taken the life out of everything. Every few minutes I was invariably checking google news, ndtv and whatever news websites I could find, I just couldn't pull myself together to get down to work seriously..
A bunch of godless bastards just barge into Mumbai and start killing people left right and centre, attack the pride of Mumbai and India, the Taj hotel. India TV is openly accusing Pakistan of these attacks, some others are saying that this is being done by some bunch of morons who call themselves Deccan Mujahideen, and NDTV has reported that the terrorists were overheard talking in Punjabi to someone in Pakistan itself, the link seems clear.
I wonder whether India will finally do something about all this. As expected, the home minister Shivraj Patil has gone and said on air what he has learnt by heart by now. Condemn the attacks, tell the public that he will take all necessary steps to bring the cowards to justice. Why doesn't he just shut the hell up and resign! Clearly he isn't doing a damn thing to handle "Home ministry". What's heartening to see, is that at least the BJP and UPA seem to be working together in this crisis; but the CPM sticks to the blame game and says the home minister is responsible for this. Well, if you just blame other people and don't even as much as burp a word of support, I for sure will never ever vote for you.
Rushi, meanwhile is sitting next to me asking in his trademark one liner way - "How on earth can Deccan Mujahideen be from Karachi?! Obviously Pak is involved, the terrorists clearly have international funding to be able to withstand a siege like this for over 24 hours!"
I am also watching some footage on NDTV showing Barkha Dutt interviewing a lady and her daughter who I think have lost a member of their family and Dutt is actually asking her on live TV how she feels. I have a lot of respect for NDTV, but that was disgusting. Otherwise their coverage has been quite good. At the same time, I can't help feeling admiration for Sreenivasan Jain of NDTV who has been at the Taj Hotel site from the early hours of the morning, and is still reporting and holding the telecast together till now, and it's nearly midnight!
Earlier today while watching the live coverage, I could not help noticing that the TV channels were showing commandos taking positions around the Taj Hotel, and it struck me instantly that showing such footage on live television was utter stupidity. What if one of the terrorists flicked on a news channel to see the reactions to the attack and saw everything been shown regarding positions of police personnel? A couple of commandos positioned on top of the Gateway of India could be seen on TV! I did send an email to NDTV voicing this concern, and I'm sure several others would have sent similar feedback as well, and they did stop showing live footage of the 'war zone', that was a relief!
Top ATS officers killed early in the battle, the countries best commando units all working together to tackle the situation, the Taj Hotel, a symbol in itself of the great city of Mumbai for over a hundred years burning, the city bleeding all over; all this is exceedingly disheartening. I sincerely hope this doesn't snowball into rioting in Mumbai and elsewhere, I sincerely hope and pray that extreme thinking maniacs don't suddenly decide that this has been done by Muslims and they should be punished and all that. The only way out of this is if we close our mind to such dividing hateful thoughts, and smoke out those bastards who are responsible, strangle the bloody necks of the mindless devils who fund and train these terrorists, and forget that peace and appeals for calm is NOT going to make things better. I like what Shobha De said to NDTV; she practically yelled out agaisnt the incapable politicians, saying 'stay out of this city, the army is doing what it should. We don't want to see your Z level security when hundreds are dying all around you, we could use that bloody security here!'
My heart also goes out to all the Taj hotel staff who are being praised for taking care and reassuring their guests throughout the ordeal. I wonder how many more Indians must die, how many more families must be shattered before we finally change our policies make sure no one ever dares to attack us again. How long before we have a system where a captured terrorist is sent to the gallows instead of being 'pardoned' when it is clear that they've killed and murdered in the name of religion! We are obviously in a state of war, goddamnit. No one attacks a countries parliament or repeatedly blasts bombs all over a country for an effing pastime! This is a war that is not happening at the borders but within our nation, on our mother land, who says you can retaliate only at the border? When will we finally stand firm and repel these bastards once and for ever instead of meekly making a robotic benign statement for the record and choosing to forget about it, as if to imagine that it never happened?
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Turning the other cheek?
It has been fifteen years since the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai, hundreds of people have lost their lives in countless terror attacks since then, and when it comes to reacting to such incidents I think we can guess exactly what the reaction from our leaders is.
Every time something like this happens, the news channels announce that the prime minister has "condemned the blasts", sometimes in the "strongest words possible". And then he goes on to "appeal for peace and calm". Yes, that ought to make the terrorists feel guilty and ashamed of themselves and will probably make them walk to the nearest police station and turn themselves in. I guess that is the PM's general expectation from these terrorists who seem to be able to strike whenever and wherever they wish! And as if to strengthen the people's faith in the government, the home minister adds that these acts are committed by those who wish to "disturb the communal peace and harmony in the country" and that these people are cowards 'jo chup ke vaar karte hain'.
But hello, is that enough? From where I see it, these "cowards" are winning hands down. As I write this, I'm watching a news programme on NDTV, and they're showing the home minister Shivraj Patil's reactions to the countless blasts that have shaken the country for the last few months. Amid a host of cameramen, microphones, cameras and mobile phones, he screams out to the country, "We will find those responsible, we must take all possible measures to ensure that the people responsible for this are punished as per the law and that such incidents do not happen in the future!" And needless to say, he would invariably have done nothing but "condemn the blasts".
They're also pointing out that after the last terror attack in Delhi, the govt had installed CCTV cameras in many sensitive and crowded areas of the city. In fact, some of the areas where the bombs went of yesterday were covered by these cameras, and they could provide crucial evidence for an investigaton into these blasts. But as it turns out, the cameras don't work! They are just mounted on some pole or the other and are just there, benignly pretending to watch over everyone. After all these years of apparently fighting terrorism, we lack in even basic precautions like this!
I also came across a statement made by our PM in today's paper, where he mentions that prevention of terrorism is now the government's first priority. I mean, really, our people have been dying in bomb blasts throughout the country for so many years, even places that have so far been known to be peaceful like Bangalore for instance have been attacked, and that was over two months ago, and they've put terrorism on top priority only now? And for how long will it remain a top priority, I wonder. Perhaps until the next blast takes place and claims another fifty lives. (Then of course, the PM will condemn those blasts, appeal for peace, and the home minister will say that these people are cowards and must be brought to justice).
Well, occasionally we do hear about the two or three terrorists who have been gunned down over a hostage crisis, where a few civilians also lose their lives. But the real threat still roams around among us, they continue to run free, and the rest of the citizens continue to be sitting ducks. A bomb might just explode in the multiplex you have gone to watch a movie. Or a mall, or under a seat in a bus or local train, or as in the latest case, in a dustbin in a market. True, who is going ot go about checking dustbins every day to check for bombs? But something needs to be done. We are obviously at war with these terrorists, and if we can't smoke them out we a least need to make sure that we take precautions all the time. It could help to have a bomb squad constanly on the alert, making a quick scan of sensitive places like markets, malls and so on every two to three hours. It may not sound feasible but the other option is to start scanning the markets for bombs after five of them have already gone off and killed 20 people! (which is what happened yesterday too)
But it would help to see some change in security measures. When i walk into gold adlabs in pune, this security wala holds a metal detector to my shirt pocket and then tells me to go ahead. Really, he might as well go home and do his thing, what is the point in hanging about and doing something SO important with such utter callousness? There needs to be a blast somewhere in the country which kills a lot of people to make us aware that we need security; there will be stringent security measures in place for the next five days, and then "the city will limp back to normalcy". Basically, after these five days, we are sitting ducks again!
For God sake, the National Parliament was attacked by terrorists, and all that our leaders did was "condemn" the attacks! Which is as good as turning the other cheek. As good as saying "You attacked my parliament. Here, attack the India gate too. "
Every time something like this happens, the news channels announce that the prime minister has "condemned the blasts", sometimes in the "strongest words possible". And then he goes on to "appeal for peace and calm". Yes, that ought to make the terrorists feel guilty and ashamed of themselves and will probably make them walk to the nearest police station and turn themselves in. I guess that is the PM's general expectation from these terrorists who seem to be able to strike whenever and wherever they wish! And as if to strengthen the people's faith in the government, the home minister adds that these acts are committed by those who wish to "disturb the communal peace and harmony in the country" and that these people are cowards 'jo chup ke vaar karte hain'.
But hello, is that enough? From where I see it, these "cowards" are winning hands down. As I write this, I'm watching a news programme on NDTV, and they're showing the home minister Shivraj Patil's reactions to the countless blasts that have shaken the country for the last few months. Amid a host of cameramen, microphones, cameras and mobile phones, he screams out to the country, "We will find those responsible, we must take all possible measures to ensure that the people responsible for this are punished as per the law and that such incidents do not happen in the future!" And needless to say, he would invariably have done nothing but "condemn the blasts".
They're also pointing out that after the last terror attack in Delhi, the govt had installed CCTV cameras in many sensitive and crowded areas of the city. In fact, some of the areas where the bombs went of yesterday were covered by these cameras, and they could provide crucial evidence for an investigaton into these blasts. But as it turns out, the cameras don't work! They are just mounted on some pole or the other and are just there, benignly pretending to watch over everyone. After all these years of apparently fighting terrorism, we lack in even basic precautions like this!
I also came across a statement made by our PM in today's paper, where he mentions that prevention of terrorism is now the government's first priority. I mean, really, our people have been dying in bomb blasts throughout the country for so many years, even places that have so far been known to be peaceful like Bangalore for instance have been attacked, and that was over two months ago, and they've put terrorism on top priority only now? And for how long will it remain a top priority, I wonder. Perhaps until the next blast takes place and claims another fifty lives. (Then of course, the PM will condemn those blasts, appeal for peace, and the home minister will say that these people are cowards and must be brought to justice).
Well, occasionally we do hear about the two or three terrorists who have been gunned down over a hostage crisis, where a few civilians also lose their lives. But the real threat still roams around among us, they continue to run free, and the rest of the citizens continue to be sitting ducks. A bomb might just explode in the multiplex you have gone to watch a movie. Or a mall, or under a seat in a bus or local train, or as in the latest case, in a dustbin in a market. True, who is going ot go about checking dustbins every day to check for bombs? But something needs to be done. We are obviously at war with these terrorists, and if we can't smoke them out we a least need to make sure that we take precautions all the time. It could help to have a bomb squad constanly on the alert, making a quick scan of sensitive places like markets, malls and so on every two to three hours. It may not sound feasible but the other option is to start scanning the markets for bombs after five of them have already gone off and killed 20 people! (which is what happened yesterday too)
But it would help to see some change in security measures. When i walk into gold adlabs in pune, this security wala holds a metal detector to my shirt pocket and then tells me to go ahead. Really, he might as well go home and do his thing, what is the point in hanging about and doing something SO important with such utter callousness? There needs to be a blast somewhere in the country which kills a lot of people to make us aware that we need security; there will be stringent security measures in place for the next five days, and then "the city will limp back to normalcy". Basically, after these five days, we are sitting ducks again!
For God sake, the National Parliament was attacked by terrorists, and all that our leaders did was "condemn" the attacks! Which is as good as turning the other cheek. As good as saying "You attacked my parliament. Here, attack the India gate too. "
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Throwing the mind back, and a little forth..
Here we are again, what.. after yet another long gap of pure laziness, or lack of time to sit and tap in a few words into this little blog of mine, I finally drag my ass down in front of laz's vaio to sit and tap a few words into this little blog of mine :)
Not that I have anything to write about though, life has been quite hectic at work.. what with people getting others to do something for them for 6 gruelling months, and at the end of those 6 months, it turns out they have very little clue of what they want in the first place! :P The day and sometimes a lot of the night usually passes off listening to all sorts of songs on the player in my phone and setting different by-lines in my gmail chat thing :D those who know me decently well enough know that those bylines are just lines from some song I'm listening to at that moment, and that i like at the moment! Well, now you know too, since you just read this! :)
During the monsoon and in fact just before it as well, Naren and I (and laz on one occasion) decided to just leg it from the city and speed off on our respective bikes to some incredibly scenic places in and around Pune.. An apart from being incredibly scenic, the rides were simply amazing; mostly consisting of miles and miles of flawless road, cool breeze flapping at our jackets at seventy to ninety kms per hour, smooth and lovely curves on the ghats that lie en route, and also coming to realize how much my bike loves corners! :) Did a trip to Mulshi, Lavasa and Malshej ghats recently.. I've also put up the pics in my orkut album, so do click your way to my album there!
Still a few places I really want to bike off to, for starters I'd like to find out how much my bike loves the sea side and maybe some arabian sea water too! Naren and friend of ours did such a trip while i was away in coorg for a long weekend, where i was either doing absolutely nothing, or was playing the banjo with the bro and ze boud and joni, of course.. amid some good stuff and some simply delicious plates of coorg special pork!
Coming back to places to roar off too, there's matheran too which my insides are moaning out to go to.. Laz and naren have already been there in the middle of the monsoon.. i don't quite remember what i was doing that weekend, though :( I couldn't have been having that much fun i guess, since i don't remember!! ) In any case, I've heard Matheran is at its best in the winter, and that isn't too far awa, yaay!! So hello greenery/mules/ponies and fresh air; here I come!! :D
So much for now, the eyelids are begining to stick to each other as if they've seen the fevicol ad, and are making a strong statement to me about hitting the sack for a few hours of (hopefully) dreamless bliss! Am slowly building myself up to come up with a ranting post about traffic in pune, with stuff hinting at what i think of most of these blighters on the streets these days! hehe..
Watch this space (if you have the patience!! )
Not that I have anything to write about though, life has been quite hectic at work.. what with people getting others to do something for them for 6 gruelling months, and at the end of those 6 months, it turns out they have very little clue of what they want in the first place! :P The day and sometimes a lot of the night usually passes off listening to all sorts of songs on the player in my phone and setting different by-lines in my gmail chat thing :D those who know me decently well enough know that those bylines are just lines from some song I'm listening to at that moment, and that i like at the moment! Well, now you know too, since you just read this! :)
During the monsoon and in fact just before it as well, Naren and I (and laz on one occasion) decided to just leg it from the city and speed off on our respective bikes to some incredibly scenic places in and around Pune.. An apart from being incredibly scenic, the rides were simply amazing; mostly consisting of miles and miles of flawless road, cool breeze flapping at our jackets at seventy to ninety kms per hour, smooth and lovely curves on the ghats that lie en route, and also coming to realize how much my bike loves corners! :) Did a trip to Mulshi, Lavasa and Malshej ghats recently.. I've also put up the pics in my orkut album, so do click your way to my album there!
Still a few places I really want to bike off to, for starters I'd like to find out how much my bike loves the sea side and maybe some arabian sea water too! Naren and friend of ours did such a trip while i was away in coorg for a long weekend, where i was either doing absolutely nothing, or was playing the banjo with the bro and ze boud and joni, of course.. amid some good stuff and some simply delicious plates of coorg special pork!
Coming back to places to roar off too, there's matheran too which my insides are moaning out to go to.. Laz and naren have already been there in the middle of the monsoon.. i don't quite remember what i was doing that weekend, though :( I couldn't have been having that much fun i guess, since i don't remember!! ) In any case, I've heard Matheran is at its best in the winter, and that isn't too far awa, yaay!! So hello greenery/mules/ponies and fresh air; here I come!! :D
So much for now, the eyelids are begining to stick to each other as if they've seen the fevicol ad, and are making a strong statement to me about hitting the sack for a few hours of (hopefully) dreamless bliss! Am slowly building myself up to come up with a ranting post about traffic in pune, with stuff hinting at what i think of most of these blighters on the streets these days! hehe..
Watch this space (if you have the patience!! )
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
MVX 9027
About a couple of years ago, there was this phase of around four to five months when I had to suffer this blasted back problem... brought about my myself, thanks to an hour and a half of head banging :P
Once I realized that this niggle wasn't going to go away by itself I decided to get help, and consulted this doc, whose clinic was some 25 kms away! Quite crazy, but then I was new in town, and lived way out of the city, etc etc...
My usual mode of transport to bajirao road (doc's clinic) consisted of one six seater from nigdi naaka to nigdi flyover, then a grinding wait for PCMT bus to the city corporation, and then an auto to the clinic doorstep.. used to take a bally hour and half on most days to get there... Well, got to learn a few routes in the heart of the city (was difficult to do that much, back then since I lived that far away from the city heh...)
On one such day, the going got tough while going to the clinic. This is to say an endless wait for a bus! So I decided to get myself to Chinchwad, which is a major square on the way to the city, and hope for better luck from there. Well, I got myself to C, and presently this really old private autorikshaw came coughing along, with a middle aged bloke in the passenger seat, holding together a large heap of vessels(!), and an elderly chap driving the coughing tin can contraption, and hollering
'Caarporation Caarporation!!'. The rick then coughed away again, with me on the other side of the vessel heap, doing a little holding together too!
A nice old man the driver was, kept chatting about this and that, almost all of which I don't remember now though.. By the time we reached Khadki(roughly halfway to 'Caarporation') the old rick began to splutter like someone choking on a glass of cola, and the cola going up the nose. The middle aged blighter stepped out and peered into the rear engine, and hollered something about something loose in the works. I figured this was going to be a while, and so stepped out to peer in as well. That's when the old man stepped out to have a look too, and that's when I noticed the crutches.
The man driving the auto ('kaka', he was called) didn't have a leg! I couldn't help feeling taken aback, I didn't realize this until then. Well, not that the old man seemed to need them much; he hopped out on his one leg, and hopped back to the rear, and promptly announced that the cable connecting the accelerator to the throttle had snapped! Holy hell, went the cerebrum. How the devil would these people get back now, or at least get to some mechanic who could fix it? And how would I get myself to yonder bajirao road in time for my appointment?! But 'kaka' seemed to realize that my mind was ticking over, and told me to have no fear! He calmly reached into the hot engine box and pulled out the entire length of the throttle cable, and carried the free end round the side and into the cockpit. And my mind was ticking over even more, and then I saw light. He handed the free end to the man with the vessels.
"Main jab bolun 'KHAINCH', to khainchne ka, aur main jab bolun kamm karne ko to kamm kar!". The man with the vessels uttered a few startled exclamations, but seemed to be reassured by the calm confidence exuded by 'kaka'.
"KHAINCH!!!"
The vessel man pulled the thin cable for all he was worth, kaka clacked the rick into gear, released the clutch and lo! the rick began to cough forwards, as good as it had been! :D
"KAMM KAR!!"
Vessel man released the cable a bit, and kaka clacked the rick into second gear, and so on to top gear! And I, back in my place was filled with a sort of wonder. Here was this chap, obviously handicapped, faced with a situation and hopped out of it, beaming all over the face! While I sat admiring these two and wondering about the sudden turn of events, we reached shivajinagar and continued moving forward. The poor blighter, the vessel man, the one with the thin sharp cable kept pulling with enthusiasm.
"KHAINCHH!!"
'Vroooommmmm..splutter...vroooommmmm!!'
"KAMM KARR!!"
splutter splutter.. vroommm.. VROOOMMMMMM!!!!
"ABBE KAMM KAR KAMM KAR!!!!"
"Oye khainchte khaichte haat ki m* **** gayi!!"
Both kaka and throttle man burst into laughter, and the laughter was infectious.. I began to guffaw away too.. By and by the corporation bridge loomed up in the distance, and it was time for me to get off. Kaka then asked me where I had to go, and gave me explicit directions and where to take another rick from etc. "Idhar se riksha nahin lene ka, idhar sab haraaami hain.. Pul par karke riksha lena!".. and then they went on their way, and I walked the way pointed out by kaka, and I suddenly began feeling really great. Well, I had thought the going was tough while waiting for a bus. But, I had a first hand experience of how the really tough get going. I suddenly forgot that I was tired, a spring appeared out of nowhere in my step, as I reached the clinic in good time.
Some small experiences do bring a whiff of fresh air into the mind; they make you feel wonderful, even if it's for a little bit. Experiences like this tend to come and bite you in the ass :) and it's wonderful when they do... A tiny lesson perhaps, to not let turns of events bog you down; there's a way out, if you'll just look.
Once I realized that this niggle wasn't going to go away by itself I decided to get help, and consulted this doc, whose clinic was some 25 kms away! Quite crazy, but then I was new in town, and lived way out of the city, etc etc...
My usual mode of transport to bajirao road (doc's clinic) consisted of one six seater from nigdi naaka to nigdi flyover, then a grinding wait for PCMT bus to the city corporation, and then an auto to the clinic doorstep.. used to take a bally hour and half on most days to get there... Well, got to learn a few routes in the heart of the city (was difficult to do that much, back then since I lived that far away from the city heh...)
On one such day, the going got tough while going to the clinic. This is to say an endless wait for a bus! So I decided to get myself to Chinchwad, which is a major square on the way to the city, and hope for better luck from there. Well, I got myself to C, and presently this really old private autorikshaw came coughing along, with a middle aged bloke in the passenger seat, holding together a large heap of vessels(!), and an elderly chap driving the coughing tin can contraption, and hollering
'Caarporation Caarporation!!'. The rick then coughed away again, with me on the other side of the vessel heap, doing a little holding together too!
A nice old man the driver was, kept chatting about this and that, almost all of which I don't remember now though.. By the time we reached Khadki(roughly halfway to 'Caarporation') the old rick began to splutter like someone choking on a glass of cola, and the cola going up the nose. The middle aged blighter stepped out and peered into the rear engine, and hollered something about something loose in the works. I figured this was going to be a while, and so stepped out to peer in as well. That's when the old man stepped out to have a look too, and that's when I noticed the crutches.
The man driving the auto ('kaka', he was called) didn't have a leg! I couldn't help feeling taken aback, I didn't realize this until then. Well, not that the old man seemed to need them much; he hopped out on his one leg, and hopped back to the rear, and promptly announced that the cable connecting the accelerator to the throttle had snapped! Holy hell, went the cerebrum. How the devil would these people get back now, or at least get to some mechanic who could fix it? And how would I get myself to yonder bajirao road in time for my appointment?! But 'kaka' seemed to realize that my mind was ticking over, and told me to have no fear! He calmly reached into the hot engine box and pulled out the entire length of the throttle cable, and carried the free end round the side and into the cockpit. And my mind was ticking over even more, and then I saw light. He handed the free end to the man with the vessels.
"Main jab bolun 'KHAINCH', to khainchne ka, aur main jab bolun kamm karne ko to kamm kar!". The man with the vessels uttered a few startled exclamations, but seemed to be reassured by the calm confidence exuded by 'kaka'.
"KHAINCH!!!"
The vessel man pulled the thin cable for all he was worth, kaka clacked the rick into gear, released the clutch and lo! the rick began to cough forwards, as good as it had been! :D
"KAMM KAR!!"
Vessel man released the cable a bit, and kaka clacked the rick into second gear, and so on to top gear! And I, back in my place was filled with a sort of wonder. Here was this chap, obviously handicapped, faced with a situation and hopped out of it, beaming all over the face! While I sat admiring these two and wondering about the sudden turn of events, we reached shivajinagar and continued moving forward. The poor blighter, the vessel man, the one with the thin sharp cable kept pulling with enthusiasm.
"KHAINCHH!!"
'Vroooommmmm..splutter...vroooommmmm!!'
"KAMM KARR!!"
splutter splutter.. vroommm.. VROOOMMMMMM!!!!
"ABBE KAMM KAR KAMM KAR!!!!"
"Oye khainchte khaichte haat ki m* **** gayi!!"
Both kaka and throttle man burst into laughter, and the laughter was infectious.. I began to guffaw away too.. By and by the corporation bridge loomed up in the distance, and it was time for me to get off. Kaka then asked me where I had to go, and gave me explicit directions and where to take another rick from etc. "Idhar se riksha nahin lene ka, idhar sab haraaami hain.. Pul par karke riksha lena!".. and then they went on their way, and I walked the way pointed out by kaka, and I suddenly began feeling really great. Well, I had thought the going was tough while waiting for a bus. But, I had a first hand experience of how the really tough get going. I suddenly forgot that I was tired, a spring appeared out of nowhere in my step, as I reached the clinic in good time.
Some small experiences do bring a whiff of fresh air into the mind; they make you feel wonderful, even if it's for a little bit. Experiences like this tend to come and bite you in the ass :) and it's wonderful when they do... A tiny lesson perhaps, to not let turns of events bog you down; there's a way out, if you'll just look.
Friday, September 07, 2007
arthurford
What a lovely friday, not only does the weekend beckon with smiling face and outstretched arm, ford and dent have finally realized their life's aim!!!
A new blog which, dear reader is linked to the beside of this blog...is what i refer to. A collections of ramblings of Mj and Self, which is one of the new things happening these days...
Some repeats, and hopefully the writing skills shall be excercised till our trained senses tell us that we have excercised enough!
Here goes - http://www.deathlyhellos.blogspot.com
And that, is how the chocolate melts!
*Clink!*
A new blog which, dear reader is linked to the beside of this blog...is what i refer to. A collections of ramblings of Mj and Self, which is one of the new things happening these days...
Some repeats, and hopefully the writing skills shall be excercised till our trained senses tell us that we have excercised enough!
Here goes - http://www.deathlyhellos.blogspot.com
And that, is how the chocolate melts!
*Clink!*
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