Of Bandhs and Jams in India
As the chilled water assailed my already hurt throat, suffering the repercussions of the changing weather, I was reminded of the travails of the day, hence directed to the machine to document today’s harrowing experience!
Well, this post is called “Of Bandhs and Jams in India” and for quite obvious reasons. As it is well known, there was a BHARAT BANDH yesterday declared by the so-called “CONCERNED” and “CARING” opposition parties of the great INDIAN DEMOCRACY! I don’t understand why on earth they aim at causing inconvenience to the same MANGO-MAN (AAM AADMI) they choose to target shamelessly during elections. Highly borrowed ideas these may be, but they are a fact, a blatant truth staring us in our faces today and shall continue to do so in the days to come till we really act sane enough to elect some sane people to the legislature; not the ones with elaborate track records of corruption and murderous intents!
13000 crores of loss incurred at the State exchequer, I fail to understand a single reason behind this? Companies like TCS had to shut down their operations at Kolkatta and chose to work on an alternate day for the fear of some mishap. Can any one explain one sane reason behind this game of power being coordinated from the corridors of extreme power? We call for youth power but look at where it is taking us: the failures of Omar Abdullah at the hands of the Kashmir incidences clearly show that management is not necessarily an inherited property. All we need are people with GOOD and HEALTHY intentions. Nothing more; nothing less.
After the bandhs led to mismanagement, we have the pre-monsoon showers hit the city. Here is when we should rejoice that we are provided some respite from the hot Sun God breathing down our necks, trying to pull the verdure out of our bodies; we are only complaining more. All because: Come rains, we are all ready to groove to the not so melodious tunes of honking cars stuck in traffic jams. They occur at the oddest possible places.
Imagine, you try to rush out of office an hour before at around 7:30 PM only to realize that the buses that had to start at 6:00 PM are still stuck there, engines switched off, passengers perspiring waiting for them to move at least an inch to kill the boredom. There are people who need to rush home for urgent work. People may need to catch a plane or board a train, but irrespective of that; you will always find some fool who sticks his/her car at some narrow turn and ten more fools follow suit. “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread!” They forget that if one car passes, the others will automatically be able to pass, but “NO DUDE!! How can you take over MY CAR???” Now this results in what you see as a humongous traffic jam outside your office, leaving young girls staying out of their hometown worried and tensed. “How will I go home?” Try to put yourself in her shoes, you might understand, how “safe” it is to tread in the dark at night? How does it feel when your friend does not return home till late and you are worried how she will come back? So next time when you stick your car in some petty tussle with others, please don’t forget you are raising some one else’s B.P. too, apart from yours.
Well, this post is called “Of Bandhs and Jams in India” and for quite obvious reasons. As it is well known, there was a BHARAT BANDH yesterday declared by the so-called “CONCERNED” and “CARING” opposition parties of the great INDIAN DEMOCRACY! I don’t understand why on earth they aim at causing inconvenience to the same MANGO-MAN (AAM AADMI) they choose to target shamelessly during elections. Highly borrowed ideas these may be, but they are a fact, a blatant truth staring us in our faces today and shall continue to do so in the days to come till we really act sane enough to elect some sane people to the legislature; not the ones with elaborate track records of corruption and murderous intents!
13000 crores of loss incurred at the State exchequer, I fail to understand a single reason behind this? Companies like TCS had to shut down their operations at Kolkatta and chose to work on an alternate day for the fear of some mishap. Can any one explain one sane reason behind this game of power being coordinated from the corridors of extreme power? We call for youth power but look at where it is taking us: the failures of Omar Abdullah at the hands of the Kashmir incidences clearly show that management is not necessarily an inherited property. All we need are people with GOOD and HEALTHY intentions. Nothing more; nothing less.
After the bandhs led to mismanagement, we have the pre-monsoon showers hit the city. Here is when we should rejoice that we are provided some respite from the hot Sun God breathing down our necks, trying to pull the verdure out of our bodies; we are only complaining more. All because: Come rains, we are all ready to groove to the not so melodious tunes of honking cars stuck in traffic jams. They occur at the oddest possible places.
Imagine, you try to rush out of office an hour before at around 7:30 PM only to realize that the buses that had to start at 6:00 PM are still stuck there, engines switched off, passengers perspiring waiting for them to move at least an inch to kill the boredom. There are people who need to rush home for urgent work. People may need to catch a plane or board a train, but irrespective of that; you will always find some fool who sticks his/her car at some narrow turn and ten more fools follow suit. “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread!” They forget that if one car passes, the others will automatically be able to pass, but “NO DUDE!! How can you take over MY CAR???” Now this results in what you see as a humongous traffic jam outside your office, leaving young girls staying out of their hometown worried and tensed. “How will I go home?” Try to put yourself in her shoes, you might understand, how “safe” it is to tread in the dark at night? How does it feel when your friend does not return home till late and you are worried how she will come back? So next time when you stick your car in some petty tussle with others, please don’t forget you are raising some one else’s B.P. too, apart from yours.
"....fail to understand a single reason behind this...." I have few points here...
ReplyDeleteIn a democratic system (or any system which has human).. there must be a(at least one) way to provide feedback to governing body... grievance, media, complaints etc etc when rulers dont listen to any of these, people shake the system mildly .. thats called bundh...it is very natural and it is done for a reason .. to feedback... and if you look at it from this angle .. losses are justified
BTW. This exactly I was talking about in my previous comment.. first para went above my head .. right away...
As far as voicing out our dissatisfaction is concerned, I agree with the point that Bandh is a way to bring that out but the way it causes inconveince to the people who are not involved yet are the stakeholders in the system is not justifiable.
ReplyDeleteDo you suggest any alternate ways to convey the grievance to the government in an amicable yet assertive manner?
Let me bring up this discussion again,
ReplyDeleteThis week there was tube strike in London. Whole underground train system were shut down and tube employees walked out. five to six million Londoners struggled to come to office, they took boat, scooter and Natraja service (legs :-) ). They all complained about their inconvenience, but no one said Tube employees do not hold the rights to go on Bandh!
My point it Bandh is very very natural in a society where opinion of a particular section of subjects are constantly ignored. and when Bandh happens there is certainly losses to economy, but that comes as package deal