Indian Railways’ poorly-managed trains and stations

Posted on September 11, 2011
Filed Under India | 8 Comments

I get so psyched every time I have to take a train journey. Although less middle class Indians seem to travel on a train these days, for people like me who still fall “below poverty line” (no jokes) train journeys are inevitable.

indian-trains-stationsIt is a pretty long travel from Delhi to Bangalore (full 2 days). And every time I step in to the New Delhi Railway Station, I so crave to see a little of a lot difference. Sadly, it just keeps getting worse. We just seem to take delight with facts such as our railways is the largest rail network in Asia and runs around 11,000 trains each day. The ground reality is our trains and stations continue to be managed in putrid conditions. We are talking about the central station of India’s capital!!

Thanks to Laluji, he turned the railways from loss to success. That’s why international business schools like Harvard are studying the network and success mantra of Indian Railways. What were they studying? The tracks that the British meticulously planned for us? Or Laluji’s eccentric style of having MBA grads walk with the paan crate? The bottom line is our trains continue to stink; food seems substandard; stations and tracks are full of exposed, untreated excrement. Who is to be blamed?

The stations (some exceptional though not NDRS) seem so unattended with clueless people all around, some squatting, some sleeping and some even openly defecating on the tracks. There is cargo all around, disorganised counters that have labels called “help desk”, uncovered food, stinking toilets, trains inhabited by rats and what not. I am not so fastidious about things, but these little displeasures are absolutely vexing. If you are a frequent flight traveller, forget about understanding even a percent of the discomfiture I am describing here.

Wonder what these guys are doing in management schools? We boast of having some of the best management schools in the world and yet we don’t have guys to bring out initiatives that make our life comfortable. We have the best IT brains and yet our own railway website is down 12 hours a day.

It is very encouraging to see politicos like Rahul Gandhi take a train. Unless our bureaucrats who travel on private jets and business class flights experience what it is to travel on a train in India nothing is going to change. And they need to take no elegant steps. Just some elemental measures like more managed toilets, stone slabs, decent restaurants, organised ticket counters etc..Would this require arduous work? Dint our railways earn close to a thousand crore last year?

India keeps promoting itself as an emerging global economic power. Not just IT hubs and metros that they need to keep clean, but should also give more attention to trains, stations and lot of such areas where westerners tend to explore. It is funny…every time am waiting for my train, bearing all the stink at NDLS…I see a humble English traveller sitting on the floor wearing a saffron coloured robe with painted face and reading Lonely Planet’s travel guide on India or Rohinton Mistry’s ‘A Fine Balance’…looking at the scuzzy tracks and gutkha-stained station floors and gleefully assuming it to be all part of the great ‘Incredible India’. Should we call it another stereotype on India like the Slumdog Millionaire?

Listen, may be we should ask Anna Hazare to start a campaign on this? After all his activist life began at a train station. The story goes that one day at the New Delhi Railway Station, he chanced upon a book on Swami Vivekananda. Drawn by Vivekananda’s photograph, he is quoted as saying that he read the book and found his answer — that the motive of his life lay in service to his fellow humans.

C’mon guys someone should also speak on such matters. Ill quote here Okhil Babu’s letter to the Railway Department in 1909 which is on display at the Railway Museum in New Delhi. It was also reproduced under the caption “Travellers’ Tales” in the Far Eastern Economic Review. Dont laugh reading, it is of historic value as it led to the INTRODUCTION of toilets in trains!! You will have to read it twice by the way ;-)

“I am arrive by passenger train Ahmedpur station and my belly is too much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. Just I doing the nuisance that guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with ‘lotah’ in one hand and ‘dhoti’ in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shocking to man and female women on plateform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station. This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung that dam guard not wait train five minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honour to make big fine on that guard for public sake. Otherwise I am making big report to papers.”

What say? Any Hazare’s or Babu’s to take on the current railway management? Someone soon should cuz our trains carry about 20 million people across the country each day and am one of them! That is something, aint it?

Adios ~

Anna, Gandhi and me – dialogue on corruption

Posted on August 25, 2011
Filed Under India | 7 Comments

Suddenly it seems am living in Gandhi time. Flags everywhere, chants of Vande Matram and people clad in white kurta pajamas. A revolution eh? Just cant see the Gandhi yet.

anna hazareOvernight Anna Hazare has become a media phenomenon. Thanks to Facebook, online petitions, sensation-hungry media and jingoistic opposition parties. Under the leadership of Hazare, India is going to weed out corruption by forcing the government to pass a bill. And that bill is the solution. The last thing that this country lacks is a bill!

On a positive note, yes this campaign has galvanized millions and has drawn attention around the world. For a while, our corrupt bureaucrats would go hiding for fear of being milled. People can follow their routines without bribes or delays.

Now talking on Hazare and his demands, it very ostensible that this is more a peril than an elixir to the problem. Like rightly pointed by Arundhati Roy and few others conversant with the issue, the solution lies in cleaning up the root causes and not undermining India’s time-honored Constitution that we proudly hold on to.

Many questions need to be answered. Who gave this 25000 odd people the right to represent the entire civil society? Who selected members of Team Anna? What if the institution of Lokpal that is supposed to administer a giant bureaucracy turn in to another corrupt organisation? Where was Anna when Gujarat riots and Bhopal gas leak occur? And are we living in British age that Anna needs to blackmail a democratically-elected government by the people for the people?

It is funny, one could only laugh at this. It was Anna who first took up the issue and began fasting…then the opportunists joined him, then came the youths who are so revolutionary that even school-going children began talking of corruption. Read closely, with the movement getting nationwide support, the next joining the mass is politicians, those of all colors and parties. So even the culprits and looters have also joined the agitation, so where is this anti-corruption voice? Corrupt clamouring against the corrupt? I don’t see now who is to be blamed as every bribable crooked bureaucrat known for their nefarious activities is part of the Anna campaign holding flags and shouting anti-govt slogans.  So who is the target? The Prime Minister and his Office?

Forget about it, another serious objection is how many have read the Lokpal Bill they want passed? We Indians are icon worshippers. In this country where even cricket captain Dhoni is a God, such a movement is possible..but nothing independent of itself. Yes, there is fear…a fear rightly pointed by Arundhati that the campaign for the Lokpal has gathered steam around the same time as embarrassing revelations by Wikileaks and a series of scams, including the 2G spectrum scam, broke, in which major corporations, senior journalists, and government ministers and politicians from the Congress as well as the BJP seem to have colluded. So could this be a game played by big corporations supporting the campaign to bring down the government and save their face? What a timing!!

“Who is he really, this new saint, this Voice of the People? Oddly enough we’ve heard him say nothing about things of urgent concern. Nothing about the farmer’s suicides in his neighbourhood, or about Operation Green Hunt further away,” asks Arundhati.

“Will the 830 million people living on Rs.20 a day really benefit from the strengthening of a set of policies that is impoverishing them and driving this country to civil war?”

Ok, now to introduce a little religion and culture here. Like Aakar Patel says, to know why Indians are corrupt one should look elsewhere. What patterns and practices distinguish us?

“Indians think God accepts cash from us, not good work, for which there is no reward. Why does the wealthy Indian give not cash to temples, but gold crowns and such baubles? To ensure his gift isn’t squandered on feeding the poor.

When God accepts money in return for his favours, what is wrong with my doing the same thing? Nothing. This is why Indians are so easily corruptible. Our culture accommodates such transactions morally. This is key.”

Religion and culture hold majority space in India. Indians are super religious. They listen to God and his people (all saffron-clad swamis), whether they are asked to do a special pooja to destroy their foe or donating a diamond-studded crown…they do it. Our religion and its practices itself promote being corrupt, liberation should start from it. It might be a slow process, but it can be obtained. And education can break barriers of inequality (poor rich difference), bring sweeping changes to corruption seeped into our culture.

Clearly, the septuagenarian activist’s movement has failed to understand why corruption happens. I like how Prashant Panday has put it: “The real truth is that Anna is a good man who has been hijacked by a poor quality team. This is the difference between Gandhi and Anna. Gandhi had a great team with him in the form of Nehru, Patel and many others – who would negotiate with the British in a language they understood. Never giving up on their demands; yet doing things the appropriate way. Anna’s team is no comparison to Nehru and Patel. They all want to be Annas. But what Anna needs is not more Annas in his team; but more Nehrus and Patels. That’s what is sadly missing. And that’s why, while even I want to root out corruption as much as anyone else, I cannot support Anna’s movement beyond a point…..”

Apparently, some dozens of corrupt ministers were arrested in one single day when a similar Lokpal bill was implemented in Singapore. MAY be this could be a reality in India? I don’t know…may be wait and watch. For now, it seems am part of a history making…this blog post is the record :D . Surely, I AM not ANNA, but am a concerned patriotic Indian. God bless this country!

Adios ~

Pictures of Japanese recovery

Posted on July 13, 2011
Filed Under General | Leave a Comment

I’ve always admired the unity and resilience of Japanese people. Check out these cool pictures of recovery in the wake of Asia’s recent devastating tsunami and earthquake.


 

Thoughts on an interfaith marriage..

Posted on June 25, 2011
Filed Under Religion | 4 Comments

Oh yea, time really flies. Some heavy travel of late. Well…tired of asking pardon, by now my lovely readers should be so used with my unpunctual blogging. Lot of interesting things have transpired last two months. The 2G scam, Lokpal Bill, Baba Ramdev fast, anti-Posco protests and much more. But the most significant of them all for me is my big brother’s wedding. Well, I am still to come out of that bro-bro aura even as he marries the girl of his dream, or wait..umm..dream?..oh yea, sort of!

This was really one big fat Indian wedding. And it had all the masala you get to see in a Bollywood flick. Pain, Comedy, Tears, Joy and what not. The girl is from a Hindu background while the boy is from a traditional Christian family which proudly traces its roots to St Thomas who first landed the shores of Kerala. Well if you asked me my stand on interfaith marriage, you would probably hear a big NO! Is it because interfaith marriages are still considered a stigma in Indian society? Not really, its just because I see many interfaith marriages going down the drain after the initial rapturous devotedness. I have always recommended friends against it, cuz sometime later regret creeps in for all the misadventures….not always though.

Anyways, who knew I would have to witness a cross religion marriage within my family. My brother wedded his heartthrob at a unique ceremony that you could say was embroiled in some sort of “holy” mess. It was after a lot of convincing that the family agreed for their union. Unlike the UK, US or even China, such marriages in India are often regular although is considered a taboo.

Well, you cant talk religion to two lovers who are so filled with ecstasy. They could turn you into an atheist by their philosophical questions. “Isnt God love? Why should religion come in between? Marriage is sacred. We are first humans and then Christian/Hindu. Life is to live.” The list goes on. I now understand the saying love is blind better. I am really not as philosophical as my brother, kinda fall in the ‘dumbers’ category. That is why may be I had questions like. Will we have a church wedding or a mixed wedding? Who will bless the marriage? What will they call their son…wait this is gender discrimination! so lets visualise a female..what will they call their daughter? Mary or Seetha? or may be even something neutral like Janet or Sweety could do? To which God will they pray during the family prayer (this is a must for most families in/from Kerala)? Officially what religion will the child be associated with? and a lot of other questions.

When elders of family intervene and warn against such unions, our youngsters hardly care. And you have these modern love gurus who write columns saying understanding and compatibility is all you need, encouraging families to consider interfaith marriages. I dont really buy these talks as I dont see how a “marriage made in heaven” as often written on wedding cards can be successful without considering faith paramount for marital bliss. The least these love gurus could do is create websites and forums encouraging interfaith marriage, but would be great if they drop their personal emails on the forums so couples could reach them when life hits the hard rock!

Without question…when persons of two religions decide to get married, they open a Pandora’s box. Forget the loss of reputation, cultural differences and societal norms that families often think during such unions. But what about the differences in faith, ideals and practices. It is not a minor hump to ignore. Faith is a significant component for a long-lasting union. As the old adage goes “the family who prays together stays together”.

I have been myself a witness to many interfaith marriages which after the initial outpour of passion start to experience confusion and pain. Not only do they deviate from God, their children also have no faith or religion to follow. Please dont listen to those shackle-the-chains-of-religion talks. These inspirational gurus never have married out of their religion, serious, check if you want. All couples go through the rough road…a lonely road…when nobody seems to be around. That is where the role of God and one’s faith come to work.

In fact experience has shown that interreligious marriages fail at more than three times the rate of marriages where couples share the same faith. But not always that can be the case…sometimes there has been compromises, conversions and a good ending. My bro’s case made me realise the pain and depression families across India face when a couple decide love is all they need and nothing else matters. Well time can only say what matters and what doesnt.

Ok enough, my lovely bro must be reading this..poor chap..lets give him a break. Interestingly, one pastor was quoting 2 Corinthians 6:14 to warn my bro on his wedding. But excuse me…my bro anyways is not a church-going Christian, so should he really care for the verse? Uff..it took me a lot of time to digest their coming together, but then marriage is sacred yet beautiful. Let me for now just look at it as two souls coming together. I do believe love is the manifestation of God, but then the other way, even sometimes church-going Christians dont really follow the book, as for them love is always in the air and not in practice. So what do you expect the secular generation to follow?

Everything seems to have ended fine…the girl is happy, bro is ecstatic (obviously ;-) he got that dowry..or whatever you call it) and family seems to have overcome the discomfort. Well, I am not that a very less understanding person you see. When my brother broke the news of his marriage over phone, there were some initial admonitions from my side but after that I did support and speak on his behalf to my really tradionalist family. Dude you owe me! Cmon guys, after all he is my brother, could I have ignored his happiness. What if the lack of support from family turns him into a Greek thinker with big beard..I will have to then look for him in the Himalayan mountains where he has gone in search of peace and tranquillity. Really, you could go any extent to see your dear ones’ happiness. Yea bro, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, your sweetheart will be there, but a mile ahead or wait..a mile behind..I might be there (don’t forget the bribe)..just to give you those harsh warnings and those sweet fixes. For now my advice for your successful marriage is: do the dishes, talk less and lose weight (source: spousonomics ;-) ). So guys, that’s the end of the story. What? Did I hear a question? The secret of a happy marriage? umm..well friends, like the comedian Henry Youngman would put it..the secret of a happy marriage remains a secret! :D

Adios ~

Publicity during the catastrophic Japan Tsunami

Posted on April 13, 2011
Filed Under Religion | 6 Comments

The doctrinal distinctives of the Charismatic movement has many a time made me crestfallen. The latest is the theological explanation and the credit modern “prophets” have been taking after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last month.

Several Christian pastors, including from India have gone on TV declaring how their prophesy came true. They are now marketing their ministry on Youtube with clips of their prophesy on a great catastrophic disaster to strike Japan.

This one pastor was speaking to a large crowd over TV saying “God had revealed this. They were doomed to die for their sins.” I could hear people cheering all his half-baked lines that were delivered like a dialogue in a movie.

The recent earthquake in Japan have left 13, 392 people dead and 15,133 others unaccounted. About 139,000 survivors are staying in 2,300 shelters across the country. Makes me wonder how our preachers could use such an event for cheap marketing of their ministry despite the suffering resulting from the disaster being incomprehensible.

Well, not that I hate prophesies. But at this time of pain it is comfort what people need. May be if God had revealed them about the impending disaster they should have taken a flight…gone to Japan and announced it on TV. At least some lives could have been saved. But doing nothing to help the situation and besmirching and bringing disgrace to God by such cheap antics is very unpleasant.

The pastor takes verses from here and there, substantiates his prophesy, and makes it sound relevant. It is very dangerous when someone delivers Scriptures like he needs, whenever and wherever he wants. I think that is why it is important for a preacher to live a life of example. It is so scary when someone stands on a precious place, holds the Bible and speaks as a representative of God while leading a mucky life in the backdrop. The same preachers I have seen on TV before…but not on a Gospel program…but a news piece on swindling and corruption charges.

However, am so grateful many good Revs opened their Bible..and at least for once..in a graceful manner began to comfort the heartbroken and grieving. Many who did not believe in God consequently did a U-Turn. I really hope we can see more TV programs that encourage people to pray for those affected by the Tsunami. People in Japan are going through one of the most difficult times…at this juncture only God could comfort them..May be if we put ourselves in their shoes, we might grasp the scene better. For me, personally, this event is another reminder of how small we are in this world. In a fraction of second your entire world of money, wealth, fame and everything you have earned might go upside down. Better to have God than none of those that can be so temporary…after all we are just travelers in this world…like this chapter in Bible.

Pray God comforts those going through such an ordeal in Japan!

Adios ~

Video: Working in Google office..

Posted on April 13, 2011
Filed Under Blogging | Leave a Comment

Ever wondered how it is working in Google? May be you should check out this video below :) No wonder they have some of the best and creative engineers..eh? ;-)

 

World cup victory brings out the unified India

Posted on April 4, 2011
Filed Under India | 11 Comments

What a win. Could we have asked for more? The Indian team after 28 years have got the World Cup home. Cricket fans setting off fireworks and partying on the streets have not yet stopped. The sense of euphoria and elation that has engulfed the entire nation seems rare. Rewards in the form of cash and plot now lay waiting for our Indian team and all those involved in the WC success. Not just that, euphoric fans are organising free food and discounts like never before. Hello? Are you reading?

A record 67.6 million people watched the final between India and Sri Lanka. Have no doubt, cricket is a religion here! In fact before the beginning of the match, I forced myself to believe that India wont win. Well, that is what my good mate said seem to work. Some sort of superstition? Well you could say that, but dint it work? Without question, India winning the world cup itself is the result of a superstition. Dint they always get us too close and finally crumble and tumble? It is like a fairy tale, they have always kept us on tenterhooks. This win should help us forget and forgive all the past failures.

The best part of this WC match to me was witnessing India’s “unity in diversity” which we have read since our childhood, but rarely have got to witness. For once all people irrespective of religion, color, caste, stature, culture, from north to south, east to west, celebrating India’s success was a super sweet sight. You don’t get to see it always. It is such events that help us to see how unified we are in a multi-religious and multi-ethnic setting like India, seen nowhere else in the world. It is certain fringe jingoistic groups that play party politics and plant communalism in the good hearts of our people. Now, let us hope this spirit of brotherhood and camaraderie continues even when we are not on top of the world. Imagine, if the same enthusiasm and heart was shown to patronize the social needs of our society, including India’s staggering poverty, inequalities and regional separatism…where would we be!

Ok, now enough of lionizing our players and Indian cricket team. Have time for some bitter talks? Are we just going to hold on to this victory and our men in blue, giving no space and thought for other sports in India? On a lighter vein, should we blame the British? It was the British soldiers that popularised cricket in India. If they played some football by now we would have had some Industan United…JuhuPool or something ;-) . And moreover football is a very healthy game. Everyone should run unlike cricket. Dont expect someone in Canada or Brazil to understand India just won the WC 2011! Many hardly have heard of a game called cricket. It is only some “very highly intelligent” Americans who can tell you what cricket is – “a shorter form of Baseball” ;-) . You would find the game only popular among the Commonwealth of Nations. Well lets hope ICC does its best to make it a global sport.

The other problem of our government, private groups and media popularising cricket is that many sports in India including our national game Hockey gets less significance. Sports like hockey, kabbadi, and boxing can soon vanish to just be part of our history books. Seriously, how many gold medals did we win for Olympics? Just one? What about our friend China that went on to win dozens of gold medals. Our parents hesitate to encourage children who love any game other than cricket. Since our childhood, we only read and talk about cricket, that is why even those who have never understood cricket’s 22 yards so  love the game. My dada, mama likes it, so do I! Let’s hope we mature and think broadly, even clapping and dancing for players like Viswanathan Anand, our current World Chess Champion, who defended his title against Veselin Topalov last year. If you dint know, Anand was at the top of the world rankings five out of six times holding the number-one ranking for a total of 15 months.

Before signing off, deep inside I so wished our cricket team, including the captain Dhoni who received huge amounts of cash as gift, set up a small fund or charity to help the needy or those families whose children needed education. Dhoni himself came from nothing…first as a TTE to become the most popular cinderella man overnight. This is the right time to cash in on his success. This would be the very apt time to lead way by setting an example. It would result in a paradigm shift of Indians who have always hesitated to do charity. After all we are an idol crazy country. We are fans who are fanatical about our idols and do exactly what they do!

Adios ~

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