Friday, October 1, 2010

What's UP???

So, I am back to the blog after a long time, I guess. Many historic and long awaited events have happened during this time and lots of things have come up for never ending discussions.
My office- Finally, after months of delay we have shifted to a new office premise this Monday. All the separate offices of Bangalore have now been consolidated at one place only and so, we, who have got used to meeting just 40 co-workers, are now surrounded by almost 100 more people and one more office is yet to shift. The office premise houses almost 5-6 more companies and so is properly maintained, which means that I can proudly show my relatives that THAT is my office J
Side effects of this new office are that no cabs have been provided and the office timings have also shifted which means board the crowded BMTC buses and reach office on your own; no TT table and so we are bound to grow much more lethargic than we were in our old office. But that's okay. Some positive aspects and few negatives won't make much difference.
Commonwealth Games (CWG)- The latest topic for numerous jokes, cartoons, forwarded mails, debates, criticisms, discussions by any and everyone, national pride at stake, last minute preparations, frantic appeals, blame game, view point of every prominent personality etc etc. I am planning to dig myself into Internet and know how India won the title as the Host of CWG 2010. I want to know the person responsible to propose the name of India to host this mega sports event knowing that how united we Indians (read: politicians) are when it comes to host such an event, how aggressive we are in preparations and how honest (non-corrupt) we are  when hosting an event of such magnitude. Constructing Metro train network was the only visible preparation for CWG until late last year.
The main idea behind awarding such responsibility to a developing country is that they will take up an unprivileged area and build a games village to bring attention to that area and later on maintain it. But WE decided the heart of the nation Delhi as the venue and changed the already messy place to worsen the situation. Agreed that Metro has come as a boon to Delhi but we have not thought about the consequences of the fact that we have impaired the national capital to prepare for CWG and the inconvenience that would be caused to local population and others while the games take place. Oh, by the way, when I say WE, I mean the respective people responsible for this mess. Somehow I still remember the meaning of the word WE, even when these great politicians don't. Many countries (rather many unknown countries till now) and athletes have withdrawn their names from the participations on the grounds of hygiene and safety and security. Replying to the concerns raised by our guests, our honorable in-charges blame it on the difference in the meaning of hygiene of Indians and the guest countries. Mr./Ms. Ministers, stray dog paw stains and faeces on beds, washrooms with paan stains, waterlogged corridors, faulty electric fittings- none of them are OUR (Indian) standard of hygiene, they might be YOUR personal standard- don't pull US (Indians) into this. Now time has come when everyone has understood that CWG is more of a burden for us now and praying that they get over ASAP without any further hiccups. This was not how it was meant to end. We should have been proud to host them and now… no further comments.
Ayodhya- Without putting in the exact year when the crises started, I can say that this case has been the longest running case in the history of India's legal system. Hindus claim that Lord Rama was born on this piece of land- mind it- not 1 inch here, not 1 inch there- exactly on that piece of land and so this land belongs to Hindus. Babar invaded India and constructed a mosque there. Someone from Hindu community put the idol of Lord Rama there, even when the court has put the stay orders on that disputed land. Then Babri masjid was illegally and violently demolished leading to clashes among the communities. Ever since that incident, the usage of the word "Ayodhya" in public has kind of become an outrageous act. Yesterday was the day when High court was to pass the legendary and most awaited verdict. Most of us decided to remain indoors and those who had to attend offices chose to leave their workplaces much before the verdict time. The judges have divided the land equally in three parts- One for Lord Rama (temple), one for Muslims (Mosque) and the last for an akhara. I was kind of amused as well as irritated by the Headline of today's TOI – 2 parts for Hindus and 1 for Muslims, which is sure to ignite a flame of inequality in the decision in Muslims.
Few questions to our secular leaders-
1. Can you please prove that Lord Rama was born exactly there? Even if he was, can you build a temple in Ayodhya only but not on that disputed land? I know the answer will be a big NO.
2. Can both the communities come forward and donate the land for charity purpose-like build a hospital or school or orphanage? I again know the answer. A Big NO. Because they love their religion more than charity or society.
3. Can both the communities build their temple and mosque and pray silently now? NO. Because they don't believe in this settlement. If one community is happy or satisfied, the other want to disturb it.
After 60 years the judgment had come and again they will go to Supreme Court, which means another 60 years of animosity.
Apart from these national and personal events, I want to share a small incident. I was going somewhere in an auto 2 days back. It was 12:30 P.M. and sun was shining really bright and it was hot, pollution adding further to this hotness. On one of the signals, there were many vendors selling key chains, flowers, plastic airplanes, rubix cubes etc. I spotted one young handsome boy from a well to do family carrying a dustbin and he came upto me and asked politely in fluent English- "Ma'am, if you have any waste that you want to dispose off, kindly put in this bin. Help save us the environment". I had no waste to dispose off. Then he turned to my auto driver and asked the same thing in Kanadda. He too refused. I was kind of amazed by this drive. This young man was followed by few others, including children. On going ahead, my driver puked his tobacco on the road without even looking if someone was coming on his side or not. I asked him why he did not do that in that bin and he smiled and said- "Madam, ye sab show off hai, ye log khud bhi kachra failate hai". To this I replied that don't compare but you do your own bit to maintain cleanliness and greenery and he smiled at me as if he was making fun of me and saying- "Madam, this is India. This is how we are and we not ready or willing to change. Let everything remain as bad as it is now".
I may not volunteer to carry such bins but I do my bit to save electricity and water and maintain cleanliness which each one of us can do. Please do that. CHEERS!!!

2 comments:

  1. excellent post on ayodhya.. totally agreed... u must join politics in future..

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  2. So true.... Indeed games are an opportunity to usher in development and infrastructure into a less developed place...but what they did with Delhi is just a veneer...almost like a botox shot and heavy make up which might look great under the arclights, but soon will get washed off...

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