Morning arrives....inspite of protests... ah the inevitability of it all....
I come down to the dining room and see a small flyer (famplet...as some folks call it)...It urges people to exercise their franchise....yaaaawn....nothing new. So I toss it aside. But wait a minute, the contents are in the form of questions and answers. I decide to give it a second glance
It talks about terror attacks in the past five years, about 25000 temples closing down in Andhra Pradesh, price rise in the last 5 years, madrasas being given CBSE status and thus discouraging muslim kids from obtaining a secular education, etc.etc.
Well well, this is not an innocent NGO-driven campaign asking people to vote. It is a neatly disguised campaign rhetoric by A particular political party !
The drama that is Indian elections continues.....
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Voter awareness - but where?
In today's TOI (Bangalore edition) I saw an article about a group of people holding placards about voting awareness (exercise your right, vote now to make a difference etc..) walking down MG Road..
MG Road???
Yes. MG Road. This road probably has 20 votes in total. Why MG Road? What were they thinking? The time for symoblism is over. If they are really concerned about getting the people out to vote, they should prowl the gallis of Shivajinagar, Sampangiramnagar, Bharathinagar, frazer town, cox town, this-palya, that-palya...where the people live in squalor regardless of who wins the elections. Provide them information about candidates and help them to make the right choice.
But are you ready to get you Nike's and Gucci's in the gutter water to do this? Are you ready to bear the stench of uncollected garbage to speak to the voters?
No point walking up and down MG Road holding up placards for the cameras and going back to your air conditioned homes and secure lifestyles post-elections.
MG Road???
Yes. MG Road. This road probably has 20 votes in total. Why MG Road? What were they thinking? The time for symoblism is over. If they are really concerned about getting the people out to vote, they should prowl the gallis of Shivajinagar, Sampangiramnagar, Bharathinagar, frazer town, cox town, this-palya, that-palya...where the people live in squalor regardless of who wins the elections. Provide them information about candidates and help them to make the right choice.
But are you ready to get you Nike's and Gucci's in the gutter water to do this? Are you ready to bear the stench of uncollected garbage to speak to the voters?
No point walking up and down MG Road holding up placards for the cameras and going back to your air conditioned homes and secure lifestyles post-elections.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Do 5 seconds matter?
Scene 1: a typical traffic signal in Bangalore.
The countdown meter below the lights seems to be moving agonizingly slow as it goes below the 10 sec mark. A few rickshaws startup, the two-wheelers hit the first gear and surge, cabbies honk impatiently, the roadside "genvin raybon" seller moves towards the median.
As the clock reaches the 5 second mark, all hell breaks loose. It does not matter if the lights are still red, they will anyway turn green in a few seconds right?
what is it with us that compels us to go for green 5 seconds early?
Scene 2: An Intersection
Traffic is streaming from one direction. you need to cut through the traffic. You can see that the last of the stream is 10 vehicles away and then there is a gap before the next stream starts. But then you decide you've waited long enough and now its your turn to move. So you move, the stream slows down. You have successfully blocked a car. Your next target is the rickshaw next to the car. He relents, although the rickshaw's nose (headlight) seems to be smelling your front tyres ! But you did not comprehend the bus on the extreme lane. He has never given way to anyone not does he intend to do so till his last breath. So you are forced to stop. A few bikies have done a 90 degree turn to get past you and now do not know in which direction they were supposed to go ! By now the gap between the two streams has closed and the second stream is piling up.
Some lugheads behind you decided to follow you and have successfully blocked the stream completely.
Hmm...how do we solve this problem? Simple, blame poor traffic management and bad infrastructure. Cops ought to do their jobs correctly, right?
Scene 3: A long stream of vehicles on a median road waiting to move
Along comes a rickshaw from the wrong side intent on occupying first spot in the queue. Then come a dozen or so bikies vrooming past the "idiots" who are wasting their time standing in line. Why just use the wrong side of the road? let us also use the footpaths, after all, the vehicle population has grown so much that hardly anyone walks these days, right?
Of course, when it is time to move, the "lords" at the top of the queue have the right of way, so the "idiots" waiting in line need to wait longer.
The countdown meter below the lights seems to be moving agonizingly slow as it goes below the 10 sec mark. A few rickshaws startup, the two-wheelers hit the first gear and surge, cabbies honk impatiently, the roadside "genvin raybon" seller moves towards the median.
As the clock reaches the 5 second mark, all hell breaks loose. It does not matter if the lights are still red, they will anyway turn green in a few seconds right?
what is it with us that compels us to go for green 5 seconds early?
Scene 2: An Intersection
Traffic is streaming from one direction. you need to cut through the traffic. You can see that the last of the stream is 10 vehicles away and then there is a gap before the next stream starts. But then you decide you've waited long enough and now its your turn to move. So you move, the stream slows down. You have successfully blocked a car. Your next target is the rickshaw next to the car. He relents, although the rickshaw's nose (headlight) seems to be smelling your front tyres ! But you did not comprehend the bus on the extreme lane. He has never given way to anyone not does he intend to do so till his last breath. So you are forced to stop. A few bikies have done a 90 degree turn to get past you and now do not know in which direction they were supposed to go ! By now the gap between the two streams has closed and the second stream is piling up.
Some lugheads behind you decided to follow you and have successfully blocked the stream completely.
Hmm...how do we solve this problem? Simple, blame poor traffic management and bad infrastructure. Cops ought to do their jobs correctly, right?
Scene 3: A long stream of vehicles on a median road waiting to move
Along comes a rickshaw from the wrong side intent on occupying first spot in the queue. Then come a dozen or so bikies vrooming past the "idiots" who are wasting their time standing in line. Why just use the wrong side of the road? let us also use the footpaths, after all, the vehicle population has grown so much that hardly anyone walks these days, right?
Of course, when it is time to move, the "lords" at the top of the queue have the right of way, so the "idiots" waiting in line need to wait longer.
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