Curious case of girl in the back seat: A Story

Today, I was on board a Volvo Bus, coming back to Haridwar from Delhi. It must've been years, since the last time I used ISBT (good trains, you see). I was skeptical to see it in its new avatar till the moment I saw some buses, for anybody could mistake it for a Metro Station, if not an Airport itself. What a makeover! 

Go check.

Anyways, ISBT's not the issue here. 

Whenever I visit Delhi/Mumbai the most common difference with a smaller town is in its Womenfolk. Outward, large in numbers, publicly socializing, shopping, engaging in all those works, which in smaller towns you'll find only the men occupied with. A peculiar thing and which is on rise these days is their display of love or rather indifference towards the public at large , while doing so. Most of the times we might pay little or no attention and perhaps acts like these can as well be considered the seeds of an open and progressive Indian society. But where do we draw the line? 

A case exemplifies my concern. 

While I was discussing the stops and route of the Bus with the Bus-Conductor, stood beside me a couple. The girl had to leave and her boyfriend was seeing her off. Usual things, no big deal. 

She took(got) a window seat exactly behind me and the windows were all sealed. Another guy sitting next to me, took his copy of Hindustan Times out and got immersed with no signs of being perturbed. Nice, I had a book in hand and it was good to see him reading too. Random partners, cool! The engine fired and the bus started to roll back, making a u turn and then heading on its course out of The Kashmere Gate. 

A phone rang but the girl was doing her bags on the upper shelf. Moments later, settled, she picked up the phone and started off! The journey for me was then to become not mine but a narration of hers.

Bus journey, a collective responsibility.

"Anil, where are you? I cant see you, ohk dont worry, you must head back to office now. And how much money have you put into my purse? You! Ohk. Lets talk after sometime and hey! don't forget to eat something. You know one thing which I like coming here about is the fact that you eat properly because of me, else you stay like a log only. Yeah Yeah. Hang up! Love you!"

Just 10 mins later, "Hey where are you, I am crossing Shahadra Metro Station, 5 mins later I am crossing that big pile of filth, now in a Traffic Jam, not in Jam, are you in Jam? You ate something? I'll come back on 9th. Shilpa's ring ceremony na! Even if I dont come, atleast we have an excuse na. NoNo, please dont stand on the terrace, go to office instead, I dont want to see you (Wait a minute! House visible from the road, and a plan for that too? Incredible)! What! your promotion is due? Perhaps it'll surely happen if we marry. Thanks for the Wrist watch and Volvo tickets too. Love you!"

She was not to stop, like forever. Shrill voice, all over.  

I kept my book, The Clash of Civilizations by Samuel P Huntington, inside my backpack and took out the Tablet to watch its documentary instead. However, Sun played the rest of the part and I dozed off. Meanwhile the back-lady said something really good, her battery was dying off. For a moment, I thought isn't it great that Samsung gives only 6 hours of Talk time? For a moment I thanked them for this technical barrier they haven't been able work on, which I used to crib about (in college days). 

The Hindustan times was now all read (Editorials including) and the next-seat-guy joined me in the siesta. Midway through our journey the fallacy broke the hell out, when I was awaken with the back-girl still lingering on with her dismal battery over matters she was most dear to. 

"I'll eat na, I'll eat at McDonalds once it stops. Though it didnt. It was Gupta Ji resorts, she(we all) finally had to resort to, in case she did. You haven't eaten since then!? Go, or I'll hang up. Hang up? Really? Perhaps only the battery would've done the wonderful thing. But it dint. So she kept on.. I have my SSC exam day after tommorrow and then we'll catch up again in Delhi ohk ?(SSC exam? This girl is plan-marrying @ 22(say)? Great!), Hey listen I'm so sorry for this months expenditure of yours, you could have bought a Bed instead. 'Arey my company pays na!' Hey when are you buying Gas Connection? We've never had Dal-Roti in Delhi! Ohk I am sorry na! Love you!"

Then there was sudden calm. Her parents called and she talked for 2 mins! like a real sensible ward, updated her route, the interview she had come for, before the wonder actually happened and I took the book out, again. Gupta ji Resorts wasnt that bad too. 

I was a forced on-looker. It was Anil, whom I was forced to think again and again. Down faced, in his cubicle with a pile of work brushed aside trying to weave his future and the present, unknowingly, in public. Who was to blame? Was she right on her part of not giving a damn about anything else. What about the guy who sat next to her? Perhaps he was poorer than me too? Where do we draw the line? What is sensible, if nothing is insensible? The fact that, for now, she only wanted to be a Girlfriend and then very soon a Wife, was it at all connected to the expectations with which her parents had brought her up and the interview from which she was returning, back into the lap of her big eyed parents? Is this new-age-love , with technology defining intimacy, also holding the capacity to define us as an individual? And what if I had asked her to stay put for a while? Would that have worked as a solution or an irritant, to the things so dear to her? 

Oh girl!

PS: No names have been changed as luckily, she never called her own name out loud thus keeping the entire narration, practically anonymous. 

New Age Relationships

There are very few ads which you like at the first instance you see them. They are slightly ahead of their time, if not a real portrayal of the present. It then gets even better when they get discussed by masses (become newspaper articles or long social threads), while you thought you were the only one who subtly and quietly liked them. 

              A new Airtel commercial has come up with a fresh idea of betting on the Woman Boss. 

The ad portrays, how these days, couples are handling life and relationship together. Girl, here, has been shown having an upper hand, being the boss, has brought out the issue of woman empowerment (an issue I was dealing with in my previous Job, though in rural India). The times now are such, that a woman can no longer just work but can even be a boss, a breadwinner, not just craving for an equal footing. Education has done wonders. Who would've thought of it a hundred years ago in India? The pallu/duppatta clad aunties and didis which were there a generation prior to mine, have now been, in fair amount, taken over by Jeans or Suited screen scrolling ants, busy doing something. Take no offence, reader, this doesn't meant the earlier ones weren't good or something. I am only stating the observations on the social metamorphosis I see. On second thoughts, it wont be wrong to ask whether if, the Boy were to get back home first, would be have done the same? How easy it is for the boy to welcome this change of status quo, of him being the Junior? Has our society been overburdened/altered by professionalism? How do we actually see 'time-for-each-other' as an issue these days? What about the Work Life balance?   

The ad entails a realistic optimism and brings out a fresh take on relationships these days! I wonder, who was the first person who really came up with this and what the team presentation discussion it would have generated.. 

Let us ask ourselves

The set, here, has a tinge of grave satire if not outright criticism towards a lot which is going on around us and which includes us. While we, as individuals, live and make all sorts of behavioral perceptions about the world and live to justify them, we fail to understand that these perceptions live on, even after we are dead. What importance do we give to the implications of our thoughts and mindsets can have a lot to answer about the problems we face today, as a race. I hereby attempt to figure out few fundamental questions we can ask ourselves, answers to which will generate nothing less than credos for a better world. 

Non-Philosophical (More likely to be implemented by this generation):

1. What/(Who) drives the world? Is it the Government or the Industrialists? Also, who makes the bigger impact?  

2. Why are people, in their respective firms or professions so excessively proud about their justifications to be where they are and what they do? 

3. Why do we love someone, even, if required, at the cost to hate(or kill) someone else? How then is the whole definition of love justified?

4. Why do most of the people depend on others for their live's progression and at times survival? What stops them from realizing their potential and their duty to solve their own problems? 

5. How do people believe in the claims of the 'History of Religion'? Is it this easy to be-fool humans or keep them organized under one specific belief-system, which will usually refuse to believe in other such systems? 

6. If every one is taught the ideals of honesty,love and integrity in schools why do people end up blasting airplanes, raping young girls and crucifying ordinary souls? What use is such a schooling system of? How can we match the wrong people with right ones?

Philosophical (Less likely to be implemented by this generation):

1. What is our Cosmic Context? It appears Physics is far away from providing validated answers, only axioms run the show. 

2. Is there any account of the problems humanity has created vs the solutions it has to offer? A road-map which shows where we are heading?   

3. If our birth is everything which defines us, what can be in store through our death? What if someone refuses to live altogether? Will he be any different from the best man(or perhaps the best raccoon) alive?

4. Why do people prefer ignorance over knowledge? 

5. If the only thing which Wars justify over the destruction they entail, is the protection of national sovereignty, then why can't we just get rid of borders altogether? Isn't there a tremendous possibility that such a trivial justification can pop up every now and then?

6. How can we have such a persisting inequality? Justifications aside. 

At the heart of The Capitalist(Growth driven/Wealth creation) Economy lies a fundamental worry, that which asks everyone to be concerned just about themselves(their self interest). Is Capitalist Economy, perhaps the best theory (ever) which actually explains animal behavior? 

While I ponder, the merciless killings, the exploitation behind the veil of economics, border shelling, majoritarian outrage and unfathomable resource usage across the globe will only continue to be a normal occurrence. 

The flip side of Justice : Lessons from what "She" suffered

I was talking to a friend of mine, who lives in Delhi, about how she felt of the decision the Special Court brought forward on the 13^th Sept. She said, this was the best that could have been done to them of what they did (instant death, no sufferings). She said, ‘Try walking in a girl’s shoes in Delhi, you’ll get to know’. She wasn't wrong in her place and I advised her to make a habit of keeping chilly powder with her, whenever she moves out. Though I wondered, with the old quote in mind, ‘We kill people, who kill people, because killing people is wrong’. 

Why was it that she was so stubbornly satisfied by what she said? In fact, why was the whole country euphoric over the same judgment? Where actually was the whole world, when she was actually ‘suffering’? Why is it that our pseudo-wisdom keeps revenge the only way to get justice?

I don’t have words to describe how Nirbhaya was tormented. Maybe, Inhumane, Irrational I would term it. Inhumane for her, Irrational for them. Why Inhumane? Because we don’t see cannibals around. We don’t eat humans, we don’t kill them by slicing them into pieces. But then we do see people kill other beings (Animals), equally horrendously, eat them, cook them and in our hypocrisy prefer to over look the issue, saying its our food. As has been said very famously, ‘We call ourselves civilized but behave no less than barbarians, when it comes to self-interest’. Why Irrational to them? Because rape is one thing, killing is another. Rape isn’t inhuman, its one form of sex, brutally per se. It was irrational of them to have sufficed the rape in that manner.  

Jyoti(Damini), who lit a lamp for us all.

Unfortunately, whenever such an incident happens it results in such a societal rage, for once, questing then our reactionary conscience as well. Notably, whenever someone suffers such an atrocity, all s/he wants is the perpetrator of the crime to be punished. Why? So that the revenge is over. Where do we see justice in this, when all bad that had to happen has happened. And in the name of justice, all we self correcting puritans are doing is to commit more atrocities with a majority will. That’s inhuman again. Is such punishment a self correcting mechanism for society to reach Utopian echelons Or is it something else? Cannot we see that humanity breeds humanity? Cannot we actually make a man out of a beast? Cannot we, for once, remember what ‘He’ told us all? Ahimsa. What exactly is the euphoria for, when she is dead? How is it that, we have just accepted that rapes are perpetual epidemics? and that the rapists should be punished with no cap to severity? Why cant we talk it over with the vulnerable rapists? Yes, rapists are also vulnerable. They don’t rise up from underneath to just rape around. They are people like us, mostly uneducated, idol, trying to figure out cheap ways of having pleasure in this costly lifestyle. Its not that easy to just equate our upbringing with theirs. As has been said, ‘Every man is a product of his own society’. Remember the schools you went to, the restaurants your family took you to, the clubs, the functions, the morning prayers, the festivals. All that made you what you are today. Back to them, I think they missed it all. They missed the chance of walking on the sensibly civilized way. As a society, lets us tackle the problem down-up rather that top down. That can help reach the utopia. Revenge wont. There would be no lessons learnt, as we have no idea, who is having a chance right now, to rape whom. We simply don’t. Lets fix it the noble way, the Indian way. Amen.

The curious case of Patna porter.

Equality, Poverty, Needs, Resources. These are very important words we seldom use in our daily lives. The younger generation, my generation rather prefer to use Cool, No Yaa, TLDR, Cya, Hiking, Damn-it etc instead. No offense to the smartphone generation. But lets see how our indifference towards not referring to the former set of words (in our daily lives) have made us hugely ignorant towards the other side of India.
 

Somewhere in Motihari, Bihar

I got down at Patna Station few weeks back. There is some sort of heat, something closely associated with sweating which lingers in such areas. Its hard to describe it, maybe it is psychological but it exists. I was greeted by a set of minion porters (will be calling them Coolie now onward) , while getting down the train. I made myself to overlook their shouting, dropped down my heavy suitcase and started rolling it, my eyes fixed at the nearest over-bridge on the platform, wondering, how will I lift the rolling baggage. K. Meanwhile, the Coolie(s) followed me and I increased my speed. I knew, sparing, say 200 bucks, which usually is the charge everywhere wont make much sense. I hurried. He hurried and said, “Saab bas bees rupaye dedijiega.”  

I stopped and looked at him. He was frail, around 65 plus. I reached the over-bridge by then and had to decide now, at a snap. Couple of questions broiled up in mind, What do you get in 20 rupees? What could have made him work this hard for this less? Is there no market for him? Inspite of huge population, is this what the purchasing power is?Do Biharis prefer to be weightlifters when it comes to saving their 20 bucks? I thought of giving away 20 bucks to him, just like that. But then that would have left him being a beggar, inspite of his readiness to work. No, I had to hire him and I said yes, amused and saddened by this cheap price of being a real Saab.  

Are we 67 years old? Wait. No.

It is not just confusing for erudite(s) but equally heart-rendering for the people in general, to accept India as 67 years old. Isn't it similar to calling a 60 year-old, who went into coma, at 48, a 12 year old? What sanctity would such a baseless claim hold to the conscience of the 60 year-old, grey-haired, wise retiree?

Bharatvarsha 

India isn't like the Americas, which were cut off from the known, progressive world till the end of 15th century. We were visibly existing, doing almost 1/4th the world trade, increasing our exploratory, contemplative wisdom on logic and reason, embracing life with ever expanding arts and infrastructure. Just because a fairly recent World-Order expects maximum countries to have emerged from the colonial womb of Britons and French, would be accept our true definition? Are we Indians, so out-flawed with this new western gimmick, that we would bury our historic ubiquitous presence which has given this world three religions and numerous languages? If we are Sovereign in true sense then who are others to define us, christen us? Let others have their own thoughts but its our duty and in our national interest to not allow others for righteously defining us. It hits our conscience (if at all there is some left).
It is high time that we define India holistically, broadly, keeping all our contributions and golden periods markedly above this brief stint of servile and communal fall out.
I don't imply not to celebrate 15th of August but to realize that it can be given a little less impetus, keeping India's 5-millennium long history. Just think, of all India ever was, who is called the father of nation? Someone who came 100 generations after the nation was born? (not talking about Gandhi as character and instead have very high regards for him, its about how we are looking back that is being argued here). Going a step further, India should should immediately shed its Commonwealth-tag for it is more of a grim reminder of its subservient fall for a ruthless, self interested, clan of travelers-turned-rulers. Whats the point in honoring defeat?  
So should be stop celebrating 15th of August 1947 now?
Absolutely not! But rather celebrate with far more holistic, better claims of togetherness, achievements and and impeccable history. Lets re-scale 'Indianess'. Nobody else will.

PS: With full regards to what Nehru remarked that generations to come won't understand the ture meaning of freedom and would consider it for granted, here, I might have hurted the sentiments attached with freedom struggle (and the people who gave their lives) but now that we are free, our thoughts should be free in true sense, allowing us to go back deep into what India was and how has it fared since inception. Also, with India having found this newer world-order identity so all-pervasive with this generation of ours I had little to stop myself to express, a bit broadly. Amen. 

For further readings, 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_India
2. India Unbound by Gurcharan Dad
3. The Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen
     

But Television is more important than Food

Read this piece by Orwell referenced in Poor Economics. How true. :-/

"Instead of raging against their destiny, they have made things tolerable by reducing their standards. But they don't necessarily reduce their standards by cutting out luxuries and concentrating on necessities; more often its is the other way round- the more natural way, if you think of it- hence the fact that in a decade of unparalleled depression, the consumption of all cheap luxuries have increased."

See: Though written at the time of depression, this thought process underlines the mentality of poor people till today. 'They' above refer to the poor people.

Aakash or AahKaash :-/

How real are the things at consumer level.Lets take a look at some recent moves and whats in it for us.

I have been following up the Aakash issue since its inception as an idea. The recent move to bring up an all-in-one cheap I-Pad, by Govt. backed by its present manufacturerData-Wind, UK has now be blown up out of proportion in its reach and possibleoutcomes. The design has been tested for more than 2 years now with far less changes inits evolution. How can and How much can you innovate in a 3000 Rs Tablet? You have to compromise! You have use cheaper things! You need to break down the no.of products while assembling.

Until recently everything was going fine, we at NIT were asked for final consent for buying Aakash. Now everything is clung on a thin stick. The Govt. has taken up almost everything into its hand and is now planning to distribute it entirely free to all students across various Universities (…Heard?). The order no. is as high as 15,00,000 and is expected to double up in next phase.

Now the concern is, Why should all this money be paid by TaxPayer, unnecessarily, when a student can easily afford it? and anyways,Its not a must! not everybody requires it.

In my batch strength of 700 students, hardly 5% don't have a laptop and I am sure the no. will be higher in lower batches. This last moment decision is mere procrastination on our Govt.’s part and seemingly touted by Govt.’s Secretaries who fail to understand the gadget’s real requirement by targeting IITs and NITs as priority.

The gadget should be distributed for free in our Primary Education sector and not here. It can be sold under subsidy at Premier Institutions (Alrite Govt. definitely can afford that much). Also there are various gadgets already available, which targets basic education, I recently came across one(www.edutor.in) which provided much better and much needed technical advancement for our basic education needs. The Govt. has also taken entire matter into its own hands and the manufacturer has almost no say in the next and said-to-be the final version of the Tablet. Oh common! They(DW) came to you(Govt.) with this idea, let themhave their say!

As such I am not criticizing the Technical Buildup ofAakash. Its pretty awesome at the price tag it comes up. But the lacklasidalapproach of the govt. towards the bringing it up needs timely criticism by thetech-people.

Hope this rings up some bells and the sound reaches theJanpath.

-Parker

Govt to Invest 18K Crore in Broadband Connectivity

Review:
The Global Innovation Index has seen India falling another 13 places, & one of the reasons cited is lack of availability of broadband. It actually is an irony that internet penetration is so limited and of mere speed in a country that prides itself on its IT prowess and that its telecom success stories. Broadband internet has the capacity to accelerate growth and facilitate socio-economic change by improving service delivery to the people.

What is being done?
The govt plans to spend Rs18K crore in the span of next three years in laying five lakh fibre-optic cables and reach every gram panchayat. The infrastructure company will be carved out BSNL, PGCIL, and RailTel all three PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings)

So what’s wrong in it?
This plan may be, needlessly expensive. Laying fibre optic cable across country is both time consuming and costly. The better alternative is to pursue wireless broadband connectivity.
According to the International Telecommunications Union, there are more mobile than fixed broadband users in the world already. It would be wise to invest in developing wireless internet networks, with cellular penetration crossing 50% marks globally and in India.