Conversation with a Delhi Traffic Cop!

Disclaimer: This is merely a narration of an incident that happened. Therefore, the language is colloquial and the author's views are not reflected in this. He is NOT a sexist(At least not any more) :)

"Hamaare Laayak koi sewa ho to bataiye"(If there is some service that I can perform for you then please tell me.)

"Pata Nahi. Spark Plug mein current nahi aa raha."(Don't Know. There is no current in the Spark Plug.)

We were headed home when the engine of the scooter died down all of a sudden. It's a trusted Bajaj Chetak(remember Hamara Bajaj, that mellifluous song?). Not a single problem in the past two years, my father was to tell me later.

I was standing guard next to it. That's when I saw two motorcycles headed towards me. They stopped just next to 'Hamara Bajaj'. The Traffic Cop was challan-ing the men because the pillion rider wasn't wearing a helmet. It took him around 7 minutes to complete the process - checking licence, vehicle documents etc and then making the challan slip.

And then... "Hamaare..." he asked me. It is rare to find a Traffic Cop in Delhi who is pleasant and nice to talk to, most are grumpy. And this guy seemed fit as well, no protruding belly. And, most importantly, I didn't see him pocketing money without a receipt!

"Helmet ka challan tha?(The challan was for the helmet?)", I asked him.

"Haan(Yes)".

"Wo nikli bina helmet ke...(That woman who just passed wasn't wearing a helmet)", I looked at him, as I asked him.

"Ladies hai na(It's a lady)".

He further went on to help improve my GK. Women don't need helmets-their heads are accident proof. Well, seriously, he told me that a couple of years back the ruling had been modified so it wasn't mandatory for women to wear helmets now. It is sad that in this country even courts go for populist decisions. That's what it was - a populist decision, I see no logical reason why women around the world can wear  helmets but Indian women can't. Are Parachute Oil and Dabur Vatika repulsive to helmets?

"Wo gayee ek lady bina seat belt ke.(There went a lady without a seat belt)", he said.

OK. Now, I was facing the traffic, he was looking in the opposite direction, and he still noticed this with the traffic moving at at least 40kph. He was damn good at the job. The girl seemed to be in her early twenties and from an upper-middle class family.

"Toh challan nahi karenge?(Wouldn't you challan her?)", I asked.

"Nahi yaar bahut dangerous maamla hai ladies ka.(No, my friend, it is very dangerous to challan the ladies)".

"Kyun(Why)?", I was curious.

"Ro deti hain yaar(They start crying).", he said. I nodded. "Kuch to m*** bhi deti hain(Some even wet their clothing)", he continued.

"Hmmm"

So all my female friends who boast about never getting challaned - well, this may well be the reason why :P The Traffic Cops are scared of you!

On a serious note, we all know that Delhi Police and Delhi Traffic Police or for that matter police in any state of this country are quite famous for harassment so it is quite easy for clever and mean female offenders to cry foul and get away. And the poor cop (assuming he is innocent) ends up jeopardising his job. So, the Traffic Police Dept to please take note - it is high time you increase the number of female cops in the force so that gender equity may be restored!

"Wo gaye Sardaarji bina belt ke(There goes a Sikh man without a seat belt)", again I had missed and he had seen. He was on his bike even before he had completed the statement and off he went.

This small conversation isn't enough for me to judge the character of that person or his competence-level in the job. But, considering that our interaction with policemen or any other public servant(on the road) is not more than a few minutes, I strongly believe that if we had more such people in the police and other departments, their image would dramatically improve.

Indi-Paki Bhai-Bhai

Today I uploaded the final batch of the designing work that I had done in college to DA(http://visualcerebration.blogspot.com) . And some of them were fav'd by people. While going through the comments I came across this man who is a Paki and had fav'd one of my works. Now, what is the problem with a Pakistani fav'ing an Indian's work, that's what you are thinking right? Ask the fundamentalists. They will tell you.

Anyhow, the big deal is not that. The point is that the particular piece was patriotic in nature. The event for which I had designed the stuff had the theme 'Iceberg India'. So, I'm feeling great, because one of my works which was mildly patriotic in nature has been liked by someone belonging to our neighbouring country with whom we have not been on good terms, and that person openly expressed it. The person must be appreciated for being objective enough to appreciate the Art.

These are signs(I know I'm extrapolating, and, a lot) that changes in technology and new communication media in the future may improve the relationship between the two countries. So we may have a day when we can say Indi-Paki Bhai-Bhai :)

One of my friends recently told me, "Man, you really do live in a world of fiction." I hope that is not the case at least as far as this is concerned.

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Ironically, today itself, in a similar fashion, I had a conversation with another Pakistani. A teenaged girl who is a brilliant photographer and aspiring to be a novelist. She's from Karachi, a city far from the Talibanised areas of Pakistan. I asked her about the situation there. "everyone's alive!", she wrote, followed  by a Big Grin emoticon. I wonder whether that grin represented a sigh of relief or sarcasm!

Age Unlimited

I started working full-time when I was 17. The average age of the people around was 26. So, I never thought I'd ever feel odd working with people elder to me. But, today when I went to the office to complete the formalities I had that feeling. People at the same level as me around 15 years elder. The feeling surfaced probably because I'm returning to working with older people after a long time.

Wonder how my peers who don't have similar experience feel. And most of all I wonder how the older people will feel about the newbies joining them!

Love of the Rat Race

Being someone who isn't quite interested in the rat race that everyone around seems to be deeply engorged in can be difficult. The major problem being that most people refuse to understand your stand. "It sounds philosophical, sounds good, sounds interesting.", they say, "But is not practical." I've often tried to explain to them that I don't advocate living a wastrel's life. That would be straight against the tenets of Sikhism. The point is lead a life where you work for just enough materialistic comfort to meet whatever your needs and desires are and not for the desire of earning money! Enjoy life, be good to others as much as you can be, and be good to yourself :)

Anyway, this post is about the problem that I may face if I choose to stay out of the rat race. And I'm not in a mood to talk serious right now... the problem is that I've spent the past 5-6 years with people having high aspirations, both at office and in college. Most of the people I met during the past two years are a part of what is called the rat race. And all this while I've been a person sitting on the footpath watching the people in cars and bikes rush by. I've enjoyed the show and am missing the feeling. It's like that feeling of standing on the terrace in a crowded place like Chandni Chowk and looking down at the activity that is on in the market and on the roads. I'm missing that feeling in just 20 days... time to get back inside the rat race. For the best view is there. Should I run the race, not for that elusive victory, but for the fun of the race and that close-up view?

Congress (R)

Elections are a historical event. Whatever be the level, the time, the people involved. Though, their importance varies. This year's elections came at a point when the country was starting to show the ill-effect that the global recession has had on it. The UPA government, even under such an able person as Dr. Manmohan Singh, was unable to take any consequential steps in any direction. Most of its time went in appeasing its allies, specially, the left. That's over. The results are out.

India is back in the hands of the Nehru-Gandhi family, or well, we can use the word Dynasty.

Did you just sit up straight and start to say, "But Manmohan Singh is the PM..."?

If that is the case, think again. The electorate has not voted for Manmohan Singh. As much as the educated class may want to believe, that is not the case. It has also not voted for governance. Was that even discussed during the pre-poll rallies in earnest? The mandate is quite clearly to the Congress because of two main factors.

The first factor is pro-incumbency. Which, at the scale at which it has happened, is a surprise. Except probably in the case of Bihar and Gujarat, good governance cannot be single out as a reason for this pro-incumbency, and Congress(or UPA) is not in power in either of the two! The reason probably is that the non-incumbent leaders were not up to the mark. Like Advani vs. Manmohan Singh(or, should one say Sonia Gandhi).

The second factor which is clearly coming to the fore is Rahul Gandhi. Even though a lot of us believe and publicly state that he is not competent enough, that is probably not what the electorate, in general, thinks. Indians wanted a demi-god. And who is better to be accorded that status than someone who belongs to a family of demi-gods! His age and 'charm'(and that of Mrs Vadra) also helped him to win the youth over, at least that's what the political punditry has to say, that he won over the youth vote for the Congress.

Sonia Gandhi is going to hold her promise and we'll have Manmohan Singh as the PM. But for how long? It won't be a surprise if somewhere in the middle of the term Manmohan Singh, directed by 10 Janpath, takes retirement citing something like health(he'll be an octogenarian in about 2 years) and clears the way for Rahul Gandhi. And it won't be surprising if soon after we have the Congress(I) renamed to Congress(R). My suggestion to Rahul would be to take some time and learn the tricks of the trade. He has some brilliant people around to learn from. If he has the patience, he may end up doing something good not only for himself, but also for the country. The country which has put it's faith in him.

If only the Gandhis, who are any how in power and everyone knows that, decide to be generous and let able men take the official designations(at least), one and one is sure a lot of his friends also would be quite grateful to them. And this brings us to P Chidambaram. He almost lost his MP status thanks to wrong counting. It was hilarious to know that he had lost, it was worse to know that the counting went wrong even with the EVMs. If this could happen to political stalwarts like Maneka Gandhi and P Chidambaram, one can only wonder at how many other places the same has happened and the mistake remains uncorrected.

Hail the Gandhis! They are back in power, and in style.

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Apart from the return of the Gandhis there are other reasons which make these elections and the results historical.

The first and the foremost is the use of EVMs all over. This is the first major step taken by the election commission towards bringing technological advancement into the elections process. Though, at the same time, it is quite disheartening to know that even with EVMs there were mistakes in the counting process. One is not a conspiracy theorist but this is clearly a sign of something wrong somewhere.

Second is the participation of the youth. Both as candidates and as voters. It is encouraging to know that the youth of the country is finally becoming actively involved in the matters of the country.

Third would be the unprecedented defeat suffered by the left. They have virtually been routed in West Bengal. This was a shocker for everyone. Something that no one had predicted. Though this is good for the country in the sense that the UPA does not need them anymore. This may actually turn out to be quite bad because, as one of the panelists in some discussion on some news channel pointed out, the left is probably the only party which seriously discusses Economy.

Fourth would be the defeat suffered by Laloo, Paswan, and others of the 'prime-ministerial aspirants' category.

Then, the UPA getting 260 odd votes. A single figure is not being quoted because even now different channels are showing different figures. What this means that no one would be in a position to blackmail the UPA. After a long time we have a government with such a strong mandate. And that being the case the expectations are also pretty high. The market is already Circuited out for the day showing the emphatic reaction of the traders. And if the news channels are to be believed that Montek Singh Ahluwalia is being appointed the Finance Minister and that Laloo has been refused a ministry than these are steps in the right direction by the PM, and indicates the occurrence of some serious governance in the years to come. This is what the country needs and, hopefully, will get.

And, of course, Manmohan Singh becomes the first Prime Minister after Jawahar Lal Nehru to serve successive terms. Hopefully, he will complete his term.

In the end we can just hope that the UPA uses this opportunity to do some good to the country and not fall prey to sycophants. Something that the Congress led governments have been particularly prone to.

ASI: Destroying in the name of restoration

Went to the Old Fort today to attend a 'Heritage Walk' organised by ASI with support from an NGO (INTACH, if I remember correctly). The idea of the walk was wonderful. And even though the person because of whom I went somehow didn't turn up, I decided to stick with the group.

I wasn't interested in the historical stuff too much... having visited the place a number of times I already know enough about it. The intention was just to refresh the memories.

The experience as such was good, and the initiative is also appreciable.

But, there is one issue. A major one. Not related to the walk but to the restoration of monuments. The ASI is not restoring but reconstructing monuments. And that too using cheap material. The issue has been raised in the press but not enough has been written. And, because this is not an issue of much importance to anyone (though it should be) the matter dies down.

Every morning that I go for a walk to Deer Park and from there to the District Park of SJE I see monuments being destroyed by the 'restoration' work being carried out by the ASI. The material is not only low quality but is also totally different, even in colour and texture, from the material which the original monuments are made of.

And the 'restoration' work or should I use 'reconstruction' work is being done using plans which have been prepared by the incompetent ASI officials. So I wouldn't be surprised to find the mosque at Old Fort with bells some time from now. The idea is that under the influence of RSS this is probably going to be the next thing that they are going to do - turning a mosque into a temple. Even today a serious chunk of the discussion was dedicated to Indraprastha and Hastinapur, instead of Humayun and Akbar. The ASI officials were particularly gung-ho about an excavation that is going on, and speculations are rife that they have found the remains of what was once Hastinapur.

Unfortunately, there are two major problems with what ASI is doing. And these problems are even bigger than the issue of ASI's incompetent methods.

First, is the restoration work which is a step towards destroying the monuments, rather than preservation. Thanks mostly to the way in which it is being carried out. And this because there is a lot of money involved in the contracts being doled out. To give you an idea of the scale of 'restoration' work that is on. There is construction on in my neighbourhood. The construction material that they are using is one-third of the construction material that I saw at the Old Fort today. And that was only for a small section of the boundary wall of the fort.

Second, is the mutilation of the Indian culture and history that is on due to undue influences on the ASI. Pakistan is an example of a country where the majority of the population has been brainwashed when it comes to history. I hope and pray that, that is not repeated in India.

About the walk. These walks often have celebrated personalities as guides. So if you are lucky you might just bump into a celebrity!

What has happened to our Indian-ness?

Due to situational contingencies I somehow ended up travelling in the Delhi Metro today. And to my surprise I found it as spick as it was a year ago, or well, when it started. It is hard to spot any scratches, spots, cracks, marks or the like that are hard to miss in any other form of state controlled public transport. On top of it, the security measures on the Metro are as tight as they've ever been. Physical frisking of every passenger. And this when the last major terrorist attack was more than five months back. The stations are as clean as they were back then. The only difference that is visible is on the floor of the trains which isn't as shiny thanks to the heavy passenger load. What has happened to our Indian-ness?

 

For those who haven't travelled in Delhi Metro, this is how it looked, looks and, hopefully, will continue to look.

 

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The Indian-ness that we are habitually inclined to rant about/criticize day-in day-out. All those reasons why a lot of us hate this country- Insensibility towards everything public, and taking these things for granted, tendency of spoiling them by spitting, littering, leaving marks on walls, stealing whatever can be stolen, and other issues such as general lack of hygiene, red-tapism, bureaucracy, criminal politicians, roads, climate, pollution, corrupt traffic hawaldaars and stupid bylaws and even not using Deos and many many other reasons. And, of course, the lackadaisical attitude and apathy of the authorities towards everything.

But considering today's experience I wonder what happened to the Games Indians Play? Prof Raghunathan attempted to explain the above behavioural characteristics of Indians using Game Theory. Are his postulations all useless now? Or, is there a change in the proportion of payoffs for Temptation and Punishment that has caused this behavioural shift? And, if so is the case, can this change be brought about in other places so that what Delhi Metro is today, India may become tomorrow?

And then, I found myself in front of Uphaar. Those stories - some of horror* others of bravery**. That place is almost a Bhoot-Bungalow now. In limbo the case will apparently remain till the perpetrators die their natural deaths, after which the files will be disposed off. And the same will happen with several cases pertaining to the pocketing of tax-payers' money by politicians and bureaucrats, or of the riot cases whether it be '84 or Godhra or any other.

As the oft-repeated cliche goes, "India is a diverse country." Diversity exists even in the extent of Indian-ness.

 

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*His wife, two daughters, sister, two nieces and a nephew died because they went to see Border. When smoke started filling the hall, Raman's wife, Sonika, had the presence of mind to call him and tell him exactly what happened. For several minutes she spoke to him describing the pitch blackness, the smoke, the milling, terrified crowds, the fact that they were holding on to each other.... lost. Then she began to tell him of those who were dying. Before she died herself she said, 'They're all dead.'  (From: Uphaar's Villains  by Tavleen Singh //Published in India Today and Political and Incorrect: The Real India, Warts and All)

**There were a number of people who first got their families to safety, and then helped others. Some of these brave people survived. Others didn't.

Daal diya? Daal diya :)

In case you haven't guessed already, elections is what this is about. Today is May 7th 2009 and the Delhi phase of Lok Sabha elections is on. A whopping 40 candidates from the South Delhi constituency to which one belongs. Only three major parties: Congress, BJP, BSP... the rest belong to small parties, social groups(NGOs, Women Empowerment Groups etc) or are independent.

The kind of enthusiasm that was there in the voters was amazing. Educated people from well-to-do families seem to have realised the importance of their vote as they turned out in droves at the polling booths. The kind of enthusiasm about the elections that is there amongst one's peers, most of whom are young professionals(MBAs, Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers), is also quite amazing. People are using FaceBook, Orkut and other such sites to convey to their friends that they have voted and are proud of it! One has voted too and is proud of it :)

And the new trend of casting negative votes has also begun. Though the usefulness of that option in the present day scenario is debatable, it is still good to know that people are freely voicing the fact that none of the candidates in their constituency is deserving enough to be voted for.