November 2009

There were 2 posts published in November 2009 (this is page 1 of 1).

The Tamasha Has Just Begun

With movies failing to entertain us, ok there have been very few in the past couple of months, its now the turn of politicians to take over. Well have they ever let the countrymen down? Like the prices in the country their entertainment graph too has been going up and up.

After the May parliamentary polls Lalu Yadav and company have been away from the centre stage. They do make appearance once in a while or the mandatory Holi, Chhath showcase. Thank God, the BJP leaders never denied us our daily dose of entertainment and they still continue to do so!

But nothing compared to what M/s Raj Thackeray and company are doing now. The first day of the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha was just the trailer. The five years will be real treat for all of us. Suddenly the entertainment has shifted from the GECs to the news channels.

I just cannot stop drawing parallels between the two popular Raj’s everybody knows about. One is of course the man in news now and the other who made/still makes girls (now mothers and their daughters) go gaga- Shah Rukh Khan.

While SRK playing Raj Malhotra in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ), opted for the tough path to get the love of his life, the other Raj of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has opted for a shortcut to achieve his goal. As we all know in the movie Shah Rukh in the end gets Kajol with her father asking her to go with SRK.

Strange. And we say reel imitating real life. How I wish at least just once the real life also learnt a lesson or two from the reel life. I am sure MNS leaders have done their homework and know what they are getting into.

We the pedestrians

\"GoLife is tough in Mumbai and a short walk to your destination only makes you realise the plight of the most neglected tribe: The Pedestrians. I too have been walking around for quite some time now but over the years it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so.

My first experience as a pedestrian made me wonder where was all the space that belonged to us, the pedestrians. But it was used for hawkers right under the nose and in front of the BMC officials. As a result you are forced to walk on road and during peak hours it really was some experience.

There also is a dedicated lane for BEST buses but no space for the pedestrians. Why in all these years the problem has been addressed is as easy or as difficult to answer if Congress has any future without the Gandhis?

Look around you. May be the road has recently been repaired. But will be repaired again. But the footpath which has some tiles missing or a manhole cover missing will remain like that for years to come.

The authorities concerned for reasons best known to them have turned a blind eye towards pedestrians.  We are adding more and more facilities for the car driver- flyovers, bridges etc. But have yet to see any step to improve the life of the pedestrian. The cyclists are the worst lot.

In the absence of efforts in this direction it looks difficult India will find a model to follow to address the problem of increasing traffic on its roads.