After a Gap of an year and half... my second one in 2 days... May be I am getting the hang of this :)

A for Ambulance:

This is an incident which happened to me couple of weeks back in Bangalore's chaotic traffic. I was travelling on the bike with a friend of mine in the mid afternoon and we could hear an ambulance behind us with its siren pretty loud. We were discussing on the bike that it is kind of pretty far behind but the sorry fact was that there was huge pile of vehicles which were behind us and it was pretty much impossible for ambulance to move fast as it is required to. The problem was not because of the people are not moving aside but in Bangalore the roads are too narrow (mostly) for the vehicles. In case you need to move aside for any reason the vehicles including buses need to park themselves inside the parking lots of buildings which loom over the roads of Bangalore. But even those should be always filled as every other road in Bangalore are used as official parking spots for all the offices. Even 75% of the cars used by the people in my office are parked on the road.



But even after these constraints the ambulance got its way through and just got passed us too. And then came the signal and it was just about when the ambulance reached the signal it just turned red. This being a cross road immediately and instinctively the traffic from the left side started moving. The first vehicle on its side of the road was a girl on a two wheeler waiting for the signal to turn green with the ambulance siren screeching right behind her. We were three rows behind the ambulance. May be the girl was following traffic rule that you should not move when the red light is on, but she should know that when an ambulance needs to move all the other vehicles stop or give way. The more irritating factor was that the vehicles from the other side was not even trying to stop, and no traffic cop around to get the ambulance to move. I really got irritated with the girl for starters and then the rest. The irritation level shot up sitting on the bike and watching the ambulance driver waving his hands asking the girl to move aside and she's looking as if the somebody was trying to kill her or asking her to kill someone. This really ticked me off, I just got down from the bike and walked up to the girl and simply said to her move over.. she was wondering what the hell hit her, I had to then tell her MOVE OVER... because the ambulance needs to go. Guess that's when she realised that it was an ambulance behind her and I think it was her headphones which did not allow her to know it was the ambulance (may be phone conversation or may be some song).



She moved aside and the ambulance started moving again but could not cross the intersection because the vehicles from the other side were not stopping. All of them wanted to go before the ambulance could cross and not wanting to wait for that ten seconds or may be less and let the ambulance go. I was moving back to my bike and when I saw the ambulance still unable to move forward, went back just stood in the middle of the cross road and just stood there. This made the ambulance driver realise he could move and the others realised that they needed to stop. AND THEY DID. As this was happening was looking out for the traffic constable and spotted him at one of the corners having his cup of chai and may be a smoke along with it.



Once the ambulance had moved out and I started walking back to the bike and I spotted the traffic constable walking towards the signal and I could actually see that he could not look at me. All people in the traffic had to do was, just think what would they have wanted to happen if they were inside the ambulance, it should have solved the problem.



From this simple incident we can understand one fact which I had earlier posted on Facebook let me write that again " The Problem in this World is Not illiteracy or poverty or religion or...anything we normally say... I think the problem is the lack of respect for other living beings..As soon as we HUMANS start giving a small thought before doing or not doing something to another living being " What would HE/SHE feel when someone does the same thing to HE/SHE" ...
WORLD WOULD DEFINITELY BE A BETTER PLACE..



This is the first of a series of blogs from A to Z ....



Jai Hind Go Green

C - CRICKET (INDIAN PHANNY LEAGUE)

Its more than an year and half since my last and only blog... But something ' s pushing me to write... its nothing but the CIRCUS In TOWN - IPL (India Premier League). There are lot of expansions for IPL other than the obvious, for instance Indian Paisa League, Indian Political League, Indian Panga League, I have decided to join the bandwagon and give it my version, "Indian Phanny League". Phanny as in Funny... coz it is funny.

The incidents happening in and around the IPL, just proves the saying "Higher you go Harder you Fall". The argument is mainly based on the fact people have made money and tons of it. My argument is that when the IPL was conceptualised, it was meant for the making of those tons of money. The whole business model of IPL is that everyone involved in this is making money. The IPL commissioner, the IPL Governing Council members, BCCI, Franchisees, the Media, the players and anyone involved has made the money. People are saying that its all Public money, to them I say this: No one is forcing us to go and watch the match at the stadium or on the Television. We can always boycott the matches in the stadium and can switch channels. We are all watching this because it is an interesting, short version of the game and it is economically viable for almost everyone (atleast in the cities where they are held). So its not just or right to complain that they are playing with our money. The valid reason for us to worry about our hard earned money is when companies holding the shares of the Franchises have used the funds generated from the public (through stocks, shares or any other mode). But I have defense on behalf of the companies on this too, you are earning dividends and profit shares from the money you invested. The returns received by you are part of the profits of the company and the IPL is a PROFIT MAKING business. So as a matter of fact the public is actually earning money rather than losing it (or at least those of us who have invested in the franchisees or their affiliates).

The funny fact is that all this Tamasha had started from "God's Own Country" trying get into this Circus; leading one to believe that probably not even God could get in if He wanted to (its my personal interpretation of course!). The fact of the IPL Governor being a sort of Untouchable needs to be changed at any cost. First of all the IPL organisation cannot be a private sort of organisation, it needs to be in the Public Forum at all times. The issue I have here is in the way that this 'event' is being managed, so bizzare and phanny (using it again). Politicians and media both trying very hard to show that they are getting to the root of the problem but what they are actually doing is protecting their own interests. Where the question of 'Public Interest' arises in this I am not sure.

The corruption in the IPL is something that needs to be looked into by the authorities coz as they are digging deeper into it they ought to be finding things which are really crappy and unethical. The looking needs to be done by people who are in public agencies like IT, ED or CBI departments, and never ever by the politicians. The politicians who are accusing and counter accusing are not Raja Harishchandras infact they are worse than the worst liars in the history and more corrupted than.. don't know whom to compare them with.. just know that they are the worst. So when they are talking about all this in the media, don't really know why the journalists are not able to turn around and ask them how can they be questioning, when they do almost everything above the law.

Don't really know what you guys will make of this blog and don't really know how to conclude this but let me just say that if "All's Well That Ends Well", then for our sakes... let this end as "BAD OUT and GOOD STAY".

The series continues... (Please excuse me, this might be a bit long but it should be a worthy read and it does mean a lot to me) B for Banyan

There are many things both good and bad that shape us into who we become as thinking adults. I was fortunate indeed that I came in contact with The Banyan at a particularly vulnerable time of my life. Like the Tree from which it gets its name, this is a place which provides the shelter for the needy. This is an organisation which has changed my perspective towards life, love, happiness and actually everything that makes me who I am today. The Banyan is a NGO which takes care of mentally ill, destitute women by taking care of them, rehabilitating them and helping them in all ways to lead a normal and satisfying life. I thought I'd just let you guys into the story about how I got involved in this wonderful organisation to show you how chance encounters can change lives. After my school in when I did not get into any medical college I had decided go into the accounting profession (that's another story). Towards that end, I had started working as an Article Clerk in my dad's friend's Chartered Accountancy Firm. Around 6 months into my work I had come across the name The Banyan and my colleagues were auditing the accounts of this organisation. I was not directly involved but going through them I could understand that they were some kind of NGO, yet did not have any idea about the actual work that was being done. After the first year I had been elevated to the next level and I was handling the accounts of bigger companies and was handling them alone, and got to audit the accounts of The Banyan. Auditors as breed have perpetual doubts and constantly need clarifications and discussions with their Clinets; I confess I am no different. So, to banish away all my doubts, one day Vaishi (Vaishanvi) and Ashok landed up in my office with loads of papers to have the discussion with me. We finished the discussion but I still had no idea about what exactly they do in the organisation. In the evening after the meeting was over Vaishi and Ashok asked me just drop into their place so that I would get a better idea. I went to their place the same evening, and was stunned! To be honest what ever I have seen of NGO's before was expecting a huge campus with lots of space, lots of trees and lots of people. What I saw was completely the opposite. The first place I went was their office which was basically a 2 bedroom house on the ground floor. If I remember I met, Anu, Masylene, Ashok, then Vaishi and Vandana. I was seated at the reception when Anu started explaining me about what they do, how they do. I was skeptical (not sure whether I can use that word) but was not very clear whether I had really understood what they were doing. But then Anu said that I need to see the people who they were helping and it was another house (a house which people would normally think is fit enough only for a family of 3 or 4). When I entered the house I was received by a wide range of emotions on the faces of the inmates, most of them were smiling having seen a new face in their house, some were scared (understandable) and some mixed. I have never before seen so many people under one roof but the most important thing was all of them were happy and satisfied. I got talking to some of them and I could get what they have gone through and with the help of the social workers (my heroes really) I really understood what was happening (I'm man enough to admit that I did let some tears out, but my wife tells me that I'm a cry baby anyway). Once I was out of Adaikalam and back to the office I was introduced to the office staffs who take care of various departments like social work, fund raising, accounts, administration etc. All of them were sitting in the tiny place (to be honest my cubicle now is as big as the room they were operating from). There were computers, printers, papers, cupboards and more things crammed into that cubbyhole than I would have ever imagined possible. Once I was out of the place, I sat on my bike and was thinking for a bit about the everything I had just seen. I remembered some quote that I had read sometime " It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can." (It's Sydney Smith, I just found out now who said this thanks to the miracle of Google). From that day in 1996 I have been associated with this organisation. I started going to The Banyan from the very next day, everyday for almost an year or more. I started off doing odd accounts jobs, data entry jobs but it was fun and I really enjoyed my time. Went for movies almost every other night, and made lots and lots of friends (more than I had ever imagined possible, given my limited social skills at that time) . Every time I went back home from The Banyan, the kind of satisfaction I used to get was unbelievable. The sad fact is that because I now live and work in Bangalore I am not able to spend physical time, but I do try my best to do as and when any need arises. In 2000, I finally got the chance of going for a rehab trip which took to me places where I would never have dreamt of going. It took me to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, the experiences of the same would be shared with you in another blog. By the time I finished the trip I had gone through so many different experiences and emotions that many people would not have had in their entire life. In short it was eye opening, enriching and a completely satisfying trip.

There was a time when I finished my article clerk work and was looking out for a job. Was sitting at home not doing anything and I started going to Banyan everyday to volunteer for them, and they actually wanted to pay me for the same. It was so sweet of them, really :) I may be called a sentimental sap after this, but I’d like to acknowledge a few things that I believe would never have happened if I had not gone there that evening. I met my future wife through one of my now best friend Madan Menon whom I met first time in The Banyan (whoo!! It sounds a lot like it does when two mallus get together and discuss family their family tree). I got my first proper job ( and am still working at the same place even now) because of Mrs. Madhuri Menon, Madan's mom (I call her Aunts), she gave my CV to her friend through whom I got an interview. The two of the most important things in a persons life, a Good Wife and a Satisfying Job, both I have and I know it happened only after I got into contact with The Banyan (may be I would have got the same even if The Banyan was not a part of life, but I would like to believe it otherwise). But more than those two, the most important thing I got out from The Banyan are FRIENDS. I always believe that Friends are the most important people in a person's life. Rabindranath Tagore said "Depth of friendship does not depend on length of acquaintance". It would be redundant to say that the Banyan changed my life in many immeasurable ways, big and small (and it would be superfluous indeed for me to ask all of you guys to please visit http://www.thebanyan.org/, and please go through what they really do and please do anything that you can do. Something is always better than nothing. And organisations like this can never have enough help). I’ve changed (for the better I believe) since I met Vandana, Vaishnavi and everyone at The Banyan and in some small way I’d like to believe that I made a difference to the world around me because of my association with them. Jai Hind Go Green