Have Money, Will Spend it

Mayavati came up with yet another way to put Tax payers money to some fruitless use. You wake up, you take up The Hindu to read, you look at the front page and then the last, and there she is. She runs a full page colour advertisement titled "WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CURRENT POWER CRISIS IN UP? Let people decide themselves.. " And the whole page contains a white paper issued by Deportment of Power, UP. All this, in The Hindu which comes here from Kolkata!

I am not telling that governments never highlight their achievement, but somehow, the politics in UP is based on besmirching of the opponent, by showing they didnt work, instead of highlighting what the current govt has worked upon. And btw, a full page ad in a newspaper meant for Kolkata!! What did she plan to achieve. I mean it made sense if she had ran this ad in newspapers of UP, but is she still clinging to her PM dream and trying to generate public opinion?

Well, all she could do was think of another ingenious way of wasting public money. After erecting her statues all over UP by laying to waste crores of rupees immortalising herself (and God, how shameless she is in doing it), she is now trying to hold on to her people desperately. All the money could have been used for so much good things, helping poor, feeding the hungry, improving the infrastructure. As many pointed out, constructing park would have been so much better, if she had "beautification"on her mind. But no!! Indian politicians have their own whims and fancies and they are so happy to fulfill it using the money they get from the tax-payers.

And given the trend of politics, when the goverment in UP would change, I suppose the new government would again spend crores undoing the wrongs of the previous govt. When would they understand, working for the people is the only way to get re-elected and getting "immortalised". Look at Nitish Singh. He is working towards developing a better Bihar and he is receiving all the praise. But as it turns out, the situation only gets from bad to worse and people have little option in UP, where the other main party is of Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had promised to remove English from the UP board curriculum for students. Anyone else has any better ideas to push India back some 50- 60 yrs?

But the scene is not restricted to UP. West Bengal is another perfect example of bad and worse. We have the Left parties on one hand, who have ruled the state for over 30 yrs now. During this tenure, they turned Bengal from a prosperous Industrial state to a state known for "BAndh Holidays". Yes, if u observe carefully, u would find that the bandhs are always called either on Fridays or Mondays to give an extended holiday so that they may go out to move their relatives during the weekend. And they were so happy closing the Mills and Industries initially in the name of socialism, that now they remain locked, without any hope of revival. But the recent Lalgarh incident has gone on to show their apathy towards the people.

Finally, when it dawned upon Buddhadeb how Kolkata had been turned into a sick industrial place, he did everything to attract the Nano, which would have surely turned the tide. But, our dear Mamta Didi wouldn't let Bengal progress. The whole of Bengal frowned upon, but she stuck to her ground and Tata said bye- bye. Things are turning towards her favour now, and there seems some real possibilty of the Left being overthrown. But would she follow what she propagated while in opposition, or like all other opposition parties, shun those theories, being fully aware how stupid they were. Well, I guess we have no other option but to wait and watch.

Living in Oblivion- Freedom Untamed

When you move into a new city, where hardly anyone knows you, there can be two ways you handle the situation- you feel lonely, bored, and home sick; or; you could see it as an opportunity of freedom. Freedom to try new things, things you would normally never do, because of all the social pressure or because you might be made fun of, or for any other reason.

 Well, I fall into this second category of people. Being a no one in a city had excited me from the beginning, and so I decided to try things I never did till now.

 As a kid, whenever I would catch cold, as a household remedy, I would be given slight alcohol (whisky i guess), and God, it would taste so bitter,I would mix more and more water, to no avail. Now, I always had this curiosity to "taste" beer. Never did it in college, so I decided to break the barrier here, more so cause

 liquor here is so cheap (beer for RS 35!). The low cost had always attracted my attention, until one day I gave in, taking Karthik into my side, who btw wasn't new to drinking. So I had the assurance that at least I won’t have to throw it all if I am unable to drink it. Now, the big question was- Who will go and buy it, since none of us had bought it before and it felt “odd” (Oh God! How will I ever buy a pack of condoms?). But then again, being unknown gave us confidence and both of us went and Mr. knowledgeable Karthik asked for Haywarts 500.

All done, we sat down to drink, and the plastic cup of Verka (in which curd is sold here) that we had kept became my glass, while Karthik chose to drink from the bottle directly.

The first sip taken in, and my reaction- “Oh God!!!! What have I drunk??? Its like the most bitter homeopathic med!!” The whole of my body shook after that first sip. And to think of it, I had the whole 250 ml left to finish. Karthik provided “moral support”, advising how to gulp it down without holding it long in the mouth. But nothing helped, and I realized why people have snacks while drinking. I somehow managed to drink almost all of it (along with some bhujia that was there in the room, thanx to Nasir). But as they say, your patience thins away when you are close to the end. Just when the last sip was left, I decided to throw it away, as I cudnt tolerate the bitter taste anymore. And that’s when I decided not to drink it ever in the future (hopefully).But I also realized that it provided the warmth from inside, and that in cold climates, it could help fight the chill.

But the worst was yet to come. No sooner had I finished the drink that I started belching, and it had that taste of beer that I just hated so much now. Oh man! The belching continued at varied intervals till I went to sleep. Geeeshh…. I hate it when belches are full of the taste of food u have eaten (even if I love the food), and here I was, belching out with the taste of something I had just begun hating. That gave me another strong reason not to touch Beer again. Though, my list still has wine, vodka and champagne left to ‘taste’. And the next day, a very strange thing happened. Wherever I went, it smelt like beer. The soap inside the CSIO’s lab, the lunch, pretty much everything that emanates scent smelled that awful smell of Beer.

I wasn’t successful in the next thing I targeted. Sheer bad luck. I guess 1 month’s time was just too short for that.

The third thing that I cud do was set the most sexy desktop wallpaper of my choice, without having to bother about others and their questions, since each one of us used their lappy on their lap, and hardly anyone ever meddled with your lappy or sat beside you while u

were operating your laptop. So, one of the first sign of my freedom was my changed wallpapers, from some decent  shirtless actors to semi-nude models. Some real eye- candy for over a month. Oh! I loved it.

Success or failure, whatever may be the case, I loved living in anonymity here. It just gave me a chance to be myself, without any botherations. And with all this ghumna- phirna, I achieved what I had in my mind when I chose Chandigarh for training .

Problems with the beautifully planned city of Chandigarh!

Enough good things have been said by everyone about the planned city of Chandigarh. The architect of the city was dumb, I would say. You must be wondering what made me say so? Go through the rest of the blog, and you would also probably appreciate this fact.

1)  The biggest problem with the city is that it is all the same! Yes, each sector, each market is of the same construction. For a new person, there is no way to differentiate between two sectors. Imagine going to a place where everyone looks alike! How would you tell apart one person from another? What I mean to say is that in any new place, you tend to look for some unique places or landmarks so that you dont get lost. But here, you would be in a helpless situation as each sector has a park, a market, a chawnk, all identical in construction. So, you are bound to get lost. It is really boring walking along the streets here.

2)    For the first five days until we got accomodation inside CSIO, I stayed in Mohali with a cousin. Without doubt, I used to get lost while returning back. Its then that I realized the second problem that a visitor will face. You would die walking here. People here are extremely helpful. I would ask them for directions and they would guide me, and point towards the next chawnk.The distance between two chawnks here is 1 km. Now here's the thing. From one chawnk, the next chawnk is easily visible. So you tend to think, ' Its close by, why should I waste Rs 5 for such a small distance'. You start walking, and realize that its a long walk. You reach the chawnk, and then you would again be guided to the next chawnk. The same thoughts run through your mind again, and you give in to them. Each day I used to walk 3 chawnks in this manner while returning back to Mohali. Exhausted, I would then decide to sit in an auto finally, only to realize that I was so close to my destination. All this when I would already be tired, as inside CSIO too, the buildings are far away. As mentioned before, each sector has a market. Now, this market covers the whole sector lengthwise. So, it runs from one chawnk to another. Even when we got rooms inside, in the evening we would go out for dinner, and come back tired and exhausted as we had to go from one end of the market to the other for the Dhaba(which was damn expensive, doesnt deserve being called a Dhaba). In short, you need to have a motorised vehicle in this city, else you would die walking.

3)  Now, the best thing about an unplanned city is that you would find every kind of shop at any stretch of the road. Most of the cities in India are unplanned, and I now realize, how friendly these cities are for a commuter. While on those long expeditions, I would so often have my throat parched. But, being a planned city, you wont even find a small stall to have something to drink. You must have enough energy left in yourself to reach the next market, else you are doomed. Interestingly though, at many places, I found liquor shops in the mid of two chawnks at various places, though there was never a shop  ot stall where you could find drinking water. 

4) The city sleeps early. As the clock strikes 8 pm, shops start downing their shutters, and it would be hard to find an auto that will take you to your destination without telling," Reserve karna hoga". If you ask them to pick up more passengers on the route, pat comes the reply,"8 baj gaye hain, ab kahan koi milta hai". With buses plying at half an hour service, you are left with little choice.

     For someone who comes on a short trip to this city, these are the biggest problems he/she would face. I can't explain the relief we would have on days we wouldn't have anywhere to go in the evening. We would be so happy to be in the room, as there wouldn't be tiring away of our legs.

 It would be gross injustice on my part if I dont mention the things that impressed me, and would impress anyone on a visit to this beautiful city.

1) People here are extremely helpful. Be it inside CSIO or outside. One instance I would like to mention is when we hadnt been confirmed accomodation inside. We were resting in a park, and decided to ask a person on an evening walk for any cheap dharmshala or hotels nearby. The person took us to another jogger, who detailed us on such cheap hotels in the nearby area, while the other person even offered to give his phone number, lest we face any difficulty. Now, need any more thing be said regarding the hospitality of people here?

2) Yes, the city is beautiful. What makes it beautiful are the well maintained park that you would find in every sector and are full of activity in the evening. Some parks even had fountains. This coupled with the greenery all around, has a soothing effect on your mind and body.

3) It is heaven for booze lovers. No where in India would you find liquor as cheap as this place. Each market has 3-4 liquor shops, which are always bustling with customers in the evening. Too bad, none of us drink. Beer starts at Rs 35 here!!

From the eyes of a Tourist

With nothing much to do, I was killing time by browsing through the net, one of my favorite pass time, when I stumbled upon this article. It's been written by some foreigner who came to visit India. Its about some of the observations that the author made in India. Titled "Prepare for Culture Shock in India", the author seemed to be a great observer, like me for the things noticed. Though all the points mentione are very true, but it is not the kind of image you would like a traveler to take with him/her. Here's the link to the article, do go through it before proceeding further : http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09123/966790-37.stm/

Now, there are a few things that even I have observed, and I have often chuckled inside.
The first one- "Holding Hands" that the author mentions. Well, its so rampant here, men holding each other's hand while walking etc. I read about it in newspaper that in the west, men holding hands implies they are gay lovers. Its a universally accepted gesture there, surpassing the borders.
So each time I see two men holding hands here (and as she points out, its rampant), I just think- how is it that they aren't aware of it? ANd I can only chuckle in my mind.

The other point- "Colour", is another thing that we all must have observed. Its really disgusting to see how Indians ogle at white skinned people, at the same time, make insensible comments on dark skinned. When a person comes to visit your country, the least he/ she could expect is proper treatment at the hands of the native people. Equally disappointing is the fact that the government has hardly done anything to wipe out such discrimination, though it exists on paper. You make some insensible comment based on their skin colour in the west, and you are dealt with strongly. While such jibes are common here, I have never heard of any action being taken. We have got used to tha fact I guess. But, it is a really shameful thing.

After reading the article, I mailed the author, countering each point of hers, trying to explain why she noticed it. But the one thing for which I couldn't provide any explanation was the fixation of Indians with skin colour. I simply wrote- My apologies for what you went through.

So please go through the article, at least you will realize how inconvenient we make others, and how these small things leave a bad impression on foreigners. Surely, you wont like someone to go back with a bad image of your beloved country.

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(And if you were too lazy that you didnt click on the link, or if the page didnt open up owing to the pathetic net speed of ISM, I am copy- pasting it here too)

Prepare for culture shock in India

Sunday, May 03, 2009

By Katy Buchanan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

India packs a big culture-shock punch for first-time Western visitors. Some of what I observed -- begging, extraordinary poverty -- surprised me by being so extensive. Other things I was unprepared for:

Hand holding

Indian men and boys hold hands, or sometimes just clasp pinkie fingers together, in public. It is not a gay thing, apparently, and I'm not sure it even connotes affection, since PDAs are frowned on in India. It was weird the first time I saw it, but I got a lot more used to that than the habit of public urination and public adjustment. This is seen all over the place.

Of all the people out and about on a daily basis, 90 percent seemed to be men who are not working. There are still arranged marriages and boys are coddled. This is from an article in the Hindustan Times by a writer named Samar Halarnkar:

"How do you get your children interested in cooking, especially your sons?

"It isn't easy, given the legion of kitchen-illiterate males our middle class produces. Sons always were -- and continue to be -- willing victims of the mera-raja-beta (my precious son) syndrome of adoring mothers who indulgently serve their sons and watch them eat."

Head waggle

The head waggle is kind of a shoulder shrug, but with the head. It usually follows a request and the closest translation I could figure is "whatever."

I had seen this early on in my trip, but it didn't crystallize until one morning in Jaipur, when we went for a rooftop breakfast at our hotel. My friend Kim, my hostess in India, went to the buffet to ask for cereal for her daughters. The unsmiling young man behind the buffet waggled his head, left-right left-right. And didn't move. (Although we eventually got the cereal.)

Begging

Non-Indians are the preferred targets for beggars. Kim said she has seen India natives reach out and smack panhandlers. Travelers are advised not to give, because the result will be more beggars or simply the same one with another hand out (which happened to us in Jaipur).

Many beggars did not seem to be destitute. Firm fleshy cheeks, healthy-looking babies, good teeth. But the deformities are dreadful and rarely seen in the United States.

Only once did I see a beggar get a handout. On the way home with Kim and her daughters one night, at a big intersection, a bearded man with one whole leg and the other amputated halfway up, wearing a thick loincloth, a shirt and a turban, was dragging himself along on his rear end, banging on car doors. Finally, a window rolled down, a hand came out and offered a bill. The beggar stared at it, then showed it around, before dragging himself off as the light changed.

Color

It's clear from the beautiful saris, brightly decorated trucks and ubiquitous flower garlands that Indians love color. The poorest beggar-women wore vivid saris and had jewels in their nostrils.

Skin color is another matter. Our pleasant afternoon at the park-like tomb of Moghul ruler Humayun in Delhi was marred by two incidents.

As we entered the grounds, a group of teenage boys stared and giggled at Kim's black skin. Later, two bearded, toothless old men, turbaned, wearing long flowing clothes and walking with sticks, pointed at her and whispered. These things happened almost every day, and Kim rarely missed an opportunity to call people on it -- especially to remind people that the president of the United States has black skin, too.

When I walked about by myself, I felt stares as well, I could only guess it was because of my white skin. But no one outwardly laughed. It happens to Kim all the time.

Food

Western travelers are advised not to eat fruit unless you wash it in bottled water and peel it yourself. Oh, the temptation is everywhere, though! When traffic stops at intersections, the coconut and watermelon vendors swarm out with delicious-looking wedges. In Paraganj, one man had a cart piled with the most gorgeous mangoes I had ever seen. Finally, on the plane home, I surrendered and ate the rather tired pineapple accompanying breakfast. And a few hours later was rather sorry.

Personal space

Indians seem to have few issues with personal space. One afternoon after shopping, we had stopped at a Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch so Kim could get dinner for her daughters. (The chicken tastes exactly as it does here!)

When we were done eating, Kim went to use the restroom. As I waited for her, an Indian couple sat down at our table as if I, our trays and drinks were not there.

It was a little awkward.

For me, that is.

Katy Buchanan can be reached at kbuchanan@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1523.

First published on May 3, 2009 at 12:00 am

Interesting Things @ Delhi

Finally, am back from Delhi, with one promise- I would go back again next year to visit the places I couldn't see this time (if given a chance again). After all, you don't get such opportunity again and again where the company pays for your AC fares and you go sight-seeing the whole city!!

However, this post isn't going to be about what I visited, but as the title suggests, some of the interesting stuff that happened (rather I observed).

Day 0:

That is 8th April, the day we were to board our train. The only reason I mention it here is because we went to DVC(Damodar Vally Corp) on that day, and the trip had a lasting effect on my whole Delhi tour. How?? Well, we drank plenty of water that was so readily available there. Even inside the plant, we drank water from a cooler (which wasn't working). Just as I finished drinking, a worker asked us not to drink from there, as its not fit for drinking. The damage done, from the next day, it was sheer test of my endurance level against Nature's call at various odd moments. Often, I failed the test and had to go searching for toilets. I even broke my record of not relieving myself in Train. And, I overcame my hesitation of using the "Western Style". What and where were those odd moments? Please don't ask, coz they continued throughout those 4 days.

Day 1:

I went to my cousin's house to stay. He has a son of 5 yrs and a daughter studying in 2. His son was as inquisitive as any child of his age. And I learned, how hard it can be to explain things to a child, and that telling them lies is probably the best thing to do. Earlier, I was staunch supporter of the theory that the curious questions of children should be correctly answered. I never liked it when my questions were not properly answered by my elders. But, now I know how hard it can get. He would often put me in such situations where I had no choice, but to make up an answer.

Day 2:

This was the D-day. I arrived just in time for the test. (It took me more that 2 and half hrs to reach noida from the place where I was staying !). The aptitude test was pure test of speed (otherwise it was chutiyap)and when I came out and heard others' performance, I knew how miserably I had performed. But the really interesting thing.

At 3 o clock, they brought out the list. People were happy to find their names on the list, others disappointed. Then suddenly someone looked above the list. It was written "List of Not qualified candidates." There was a change in the mood in the two camps. People started cursing the company for playing this joke, coz generally, its the list of successful candidates. Whatever, it left everyone wiser.

The next intersting observation was about a person- Siddhant, our CR. Once we were reimbursed the money, we set out for The Great Eastern Place. There, I noticed that as soon as he stepped in, his mode of communication changed to English. Even when he reverted to Hindi, he would switch back to English as soon as he would spot a girl. Though I am the most wrong person to comment on this, but still, I don't think that speaking English would attract anyone to you, or enable you to hook up. The story continued the next day, when we entered Delhi Metro, or, India Gate or Lotus Temple. May be, I am absolutely wrong on this. But ...every time I think about it, I cant stop laughing.

Day 3

Nothing interesting as such. But the high point of the day (and the whole trip) was visiting Lotus Temple. Though I was inside the temple for a few minutes, but the peaceful environment did give a sort of mental peace. I had experienced a similar feeling in Shantiniketan too, early in the morning amidst nature's beauty. I took the pamphlet being distributed, which enlightened about the principles of Bahai community. The very principles on which the faith is based is something that I believe in strongly, if harmony needs to be restored on this Earth. It was great to know that such a faith already exists, and I whole heartedly endorse it. I just hope it is able to spread its message among others too.

Reasons of our own

Its so funny how we try to satisfy ourselves with our own reasons for situations that are totally out of our control. This post gets written after the reactions of some of my friends to the news that 5 of us had got a call for appearing in the summer intern interview of HLS Asia.

Though a Petroleum Company, each year it takes 1-2 student from elex for training and pays them too. In this dry season, you can imagine how coveted this training had been for everyone. But finally the call was received by just 5 of us.

Now, as has been the trend, toppers were no where in the scene except one. Rest 4 of us have GPAs hovering around 7.70. Now there were two people in my room when I was checking my e-mail, and their discussion sent me thinking a lot of things.

The first observation was that all were freshers. To this, I pointed out that I had dropped a year. Certainly like a science theory, this flaw had to be modified and replaced with a new theory. Promptly my roomy replied-" Teri MD kaam aai hogi. Tune form mein pakka kuch aisa likha hoga jo unhe pasand aa gaya hoga."

I tried explaining that I had filled the form hurriedly at the last moment and sections where you had to deliberate about ' why you want to join HLS' etc were copied from others. That a section in the form asked-'Are you capable of perfroming heavy manual work'. But I soon realised how useless it was. Had I been on the opposite side, probably I would also have been formulating such theories because after all, as one of my Gtalk message went- We are satisfied by our own reasons more than any other. Isn't it something we have been doing since first year upon learning such and such person got selected.

PM Mayawati!! God save India

Elections are nearing up and I just can't keep my mind from straying on the various possibilities. However, the scariest of them all to me is the emergence of Third Front. Suddenly, Left is now aspiring about forming govt. at the centre. They have already ruined Bengal (don't have much info about Kerala), held UPA back on various issues until it decide to go without them, and now they seem to be eager to unleash their wrath over the whole of country. And yes, they are choosing the best possible parties, who have the maximim capacity of doing damage to the country (as if they themselves were any less). The fact that BJP hasn't been able to put a united face ahead of elections is a cause of worry. They have already lost BJD, Chandrababu Naidu Jayalalitha, and at this rate, NDA is going to break soon. UPA also seems to be in disarray, with dissidents happy being under the dynasty rule.

Amidst all this uncertainties, to me, the fact that Third Front is growing each day is scary. And if anyhow, they garner votes, Mayawati is sure going to provide support contingent that she be made PM. Her MPs vote would be crucial for govt formation and so there's a realistic probability that she would become a PM. She has already started making statements to this end- 'If I become PM, I would bring in reservation for Upper Castes'. As if this country has less divisions on the basis of other things that she is bringing in one more criteria.

Just like when Manmohan Singh became PM there was a joke going around to the change of national song etc that would be made since the country had got a Sardar PM, here's what I think Mayawati would do. Given the eccentric woman that she is, who knows they might be enforced actually!!

1) Her birthday would be declared a National Holiday and declared as Dalit Liberation Day or something similar. I see a high probability of this happening since she is so fond of grandiose celebrations of her Bday.

2) PM's Relief Fund would be done away with. Instead, a new - Behenji's Bday Bash Fund would be established. People making contributions to it would be altogether exempted of taxes. Those making contributions in crores, or gifting her diamond necklaces would be able to count on her for any favour (remember the sparkling diamond necklace she wore in one of her Bday bashes).
Again a high probability of this happening for the above said reason.

3) She would try her best to banish Amitabh Bachaan and his family from the country. Even a small complaint and he would be seen packing his bags out of the country. Mulayam and Amar Singh would have been wise to leave the country beforehand fearing for their life.

4) Special offices would be opened in every district to deal with the heavy rush of people to issue caste certificates. And no! I am not talking about forged SC/ST/OBC certificates. If upper caste reservations would be introduced, surely you would require certificates to that effect too.

If you are now wondering what would Left be doing. I have an answer. They would keep themselves busy by making sure that every US- made thing remains outside India and then there would be the Herculean task of keeping two heavy weights- Jayalalitha and Mayavati together. After all women have traditionally found it hard to remain friends when they are at par.