24x7

I wish it were 100x7 instead of 24x7. I have never felt such shortage of the number of hours in a day. I really want them to increase. I have been planning to write a post on a small incident that happened a couple of days ago on the road when I was returning home from somewhere, and I haven't had the time to even open the blogger page.

Anyways. This particular incident caught my attention and I was moved by it to a certain extent- may not be an emotional feeling but still some kind of a trigger that pinched me inside. I was on my bike going home at around 8:30P.M. and I saw an auto-rickshaw trying to pull itself slowly along the road. I used the horn twice or thrice and then decided to overtake it quickly. I managed to move closer to it and a slight pressure on the accelerator would have put me ahead of the three wheeler, but a casual glance at it changed all that was going on in my mind at that moment. The auto rickshaw was carrying ten people in all. By the appearance of the commuters, I understood that the driver was taking few children home from school. The driver's seat accomodated three persons including the driver, of whom the other two (boys) had their feet dangling in the air. The back seat (the main seat) was too crowded and accomodated nearly eight girls with two of them almost hanging out from the side of the auto.

I slowed my bike and stopped it in front of the auto. I got down from my bike and asked the driver, "Is this enough? Or shall I get in too? Are you crazy? There are ten people in your auto and none of them would be younger than ten years, when in reality, an auto rickshaw can carry only four at a time including the driver. This can lead to accidents. Just look at the way the kids are trying to hold on to the side rods to prevent themselves from falling down. Why are you doing this?" I couldn't say anything more than that. I just gave a sympathetic look at those kids and left the place.

The boy sitting beside the driver felt amused at the way I posed this question to the driver, and I won't blame him nor any other kid in that auto rickshaw for their plight. For the next few hours, even at dinner, I thought about the different reasons that could have led to it.

The conclusion is that the auto was on hire on a monthly basis to carry children from home to school and back. Now, who's responsible for this? Who is to be made guilty for this situation?

• The driver who wants to earn as much as he can in just a two-way journey apart from his regular fares?
• The parents of the kids who just think of sending their children to school as their responsibility and overlook the different good and bad consequences that may occur in the process?
• The traffic police who inspite of coming across such autos, fail to impose any restrictions and unfortunately either take bribes or let them go unnoticed?

Good Sign

Finally, I get to see some sincere government officials/ sectors in the country - a positive sign showing that there is still something left in the country to feel happy about. The topic under discussion is the power cut 'issue' at the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh's residence in Nagpur. The electricity department disconnected the power supply to the CM's residence for non-payment of dues of nearly Rs. 1.2 lakh.

It is good to see the sectors targeting even dignitaries like chief ministers and other powerful political people along with the common man.

The whole story can be read here.

d' Name game

If my previous post, The Lost Strangers is adapted for a short play, what title would you suggest for it? You have the freedom to dub the play into any language (only the title would be sufficient) and name it accordingly, but please translate the title in a language other than Hindi or Telugu into English because I still have to learn the remaining 21 languages spoken in India. :D

Let there be someone to test your creativity sometimes. :)

I am not an Indian... but I am called so

Just read the article that appeared in the Rediff today titled I am an Assamese not an Indian. This was said by the ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom which was banned by the government) leader, Anup Chetia who was arrested in 1997 at Dhaka.

Not an Indian but an Assamese. Ok, how does this sound? Hello, I am not from India. I am from a part of India, and I do not want this part to be a part of India. I really don't think the government should sit down and have talks with such people.

Mobile Analyst

Endless analysis of online reviews on different mobiles has made me a good specialist. It has become something like a hobby to me - comparing the features and prices of different cell phone gizmos and choosing the best one amongst the whole range of the product. So, I was just wondering if this could be made into a profession. I mean when one can consult professional consultants prior to investing in stock market, then why can't one use the same kind of services when investing in a mobile. Both cost money and both can be risky. That's because you shouldn't repent after spending some thousands of bucks on a gizmo. And, just imagine what would be the case if you spend around 12K-15K on a mobile gadget and end up cursing the poor sound quality or the cam quality after a week or two. This is a risky investment too just like the volatile stock market.

I have infact started advising few of my friends regarding their best bet. They give me the list of features they would like to have in their mobile and I nail down a few phones for them to decide. So, don't you think this can be a good profession to get into?

Are you planning to get yourself a new mobile? Why risk your money without proper research? You can always consult someone who knows how it can be done. You know, right? :D