A(l)titude rocks!!

I often say that i live in a bowl..Before anyone gets any cutlery ideas let me clarify that iam speaking of a geographical bowl..A lovely city called Pune situated on the leeward side of the great Western Ghats...surrounded on all sides by hills, which are the lifeline of the city..and one of my favorite places on this whole earth(of all that i have seen that is*chuckle*)!

My tryst with the these "tekdis", as they are so fondly called here, started way back when i was 10-11 years old...My mami used to take me and my cousin brother on half day long sojourns to the Law college tekdi, packed with sandwiches, water, binoculars etc...the works...lovely 15-20 km walk all along the plateau on top...climbing from one part of the city and getting down from another part way away..Also, we used to regularly visit the Hanuman tekdi(behind Ferguson College)..every evening in our summer holidays we used to to go up there...climb that Pagoda behind Symbiosis and get down from the same side and walk back home...

After losing touch with these hilly landmarks for a few years during 10 std and junior college, i started revisiting the Law college tekdi in the first year of engineering...it was my getaway..from the various laws that were crowding in my brain...Boyle, Faraday,Joule and the works...And it became a ritual!!..For the four years that i went through my engineering, the tekdi was my getaway!..during regular college, during PLs, even during exams...

The path well trodden. August 2005

The tekdi has also been a source of great friendships for me..I have met and made good friends with SO many people there...During engineering, we had a HUGE group up there of about 12-15 individuals, mostly from engineering(Mech at that), different age groups etc and we would discuss everything..right from sports(cricket ruling ofcourse), academics,movies etc...all this along with the benefit of good health...Those were some awesome times!

I still visit the tekdi whenever i can...I do meet a few of my old acquaintances..See familiar faces that have coming there for donkeys years...new faces...I make it a point to go and sit at the stone quarry and watch the sunset...makes me forget all my tensions...

Sunset at the quarry. October 2006

The tekdi has given me a LOT of special memories..great friends, a place to relax and a decent stamina level(he he)...And now they are out to take it away from me(refer the new road)...Hope all parties with vested interests see some sense and save the lungs of our city!

The Wrong Right!

Anyone who has driven on the roads of Pune will have to believe in the fact the GOD exists...Such is the chaos..the narrow lanes, the INFINITE number of 2 wheelers, those 3 wheeled monsters called rickshaws, the "yam" of the motoring world i.e. the PMT bus, countless fat cats in their cars which resemble a moving bank account...These motoring specimens are seemingly different from each other..but they have one very important factor..or "quality" if i may use the term...in common....INTOLERANCE TOWARDS TRAFFIC RULES!!...and complete ignorance of the basic rules of safe and responsible driving....

In Pune, the traffic light is like a ornament...just there to light up.....not to be paid much heed too....Lets consider a classic case of a group of motorists waiting at a red light....one or two renegades will blow the light and take off....even if there is still a solid 90 secs for the light to go green....next type of specimens are those who "crawl"...meaning move an inch forward against every second counting down on the timer...so by the time the light goes green they are already halway into the intersection...then there are those specimens who take off with about 10 secs left..do these 10 secs of not waiting make their life any better?...what difference is 10 secs going to make in wherever they want to reach??..

THE WRONG RIGHT

Illustrated above on the right is the most common, hopelessly careless and completely wrong way of taking a right turn...It never seems to amaze me as to how anyone can anyone be so daft so as to take such a risk....as I have shown its very obviously a death trap...While the illustration on the left is the correct way to take a right turn...not too difficult is it??...

Another classic case of stpidity is talking on the cellphone while riding/driving....Who prompts these nitwits to take such risks beats me!...I have seen people riding motorbikes with their cellphones tucked in between their ears and shoulders..heads tilted to one side...and talking away to glory....dont they realise that they are endangering other peoples' lives besides their own??...is a phone call more important than others' and our own well being??

I can list out countless other small and little traffic violations going on everyday around us all the time..to name a few...from seemingly innocuos things like double parking or using high beam while night driving to more serious ones like driving from the opposite side in a one way street or not using indicators or hand signals while taking turns or overtaking....I think this is all a result of inadequete training and the citizens' blatant disregard for authority of any kind.....the only way to bring about a rennaissance in this matter is to impose strict fines and put stringent rules into place for traffic violaters....we as a people have always needed an iron hand to put us to task...and its about time that someone donned the mantle and brought about a sea change in the traffic situation in our metros....500 vehicles get registered in Pune alone everyday....You do the maths....

To sum up, students from Symbiosis Institute of International Business recently conducted a study about breaking of traffic norms in the city(The Times of India, 21st April, 2006)..Their findings were that....75% riders flouted the compulsary helmet rule....there was blatant no parking violations...triple seat driving...talking on the cellphone while driving..the works... 16% of two wheelrers, 9% of Three wheelers and 5% of four wheelers violated the traffic light rule...If you ask me these must be percentages of the people who obeyed it!!..We are headed towards total motoring disaster if we dont pull up our socks...Today..NOW!

Right Next Door To Hell!

Well...travel along any road in Pune!..What is that you notice?....Daredevil bike riders?...Bandit queens...or putli bai as they are fondly called?..foul mouthed rickshaw drivers?...cars with drivers who treat the world as their own personal spitoon?....smoky PMTs?...Well all of the above..Plus one more very important ingredient!..POTHOLES!...All these make up for one deadly recipie. Everyday when i get out of my house to go anywhere, the words that leave Aai's mouth without fail are "Savkash Ja" (drive carefully)!

As we all know this year Maharashtra has been hit with torrential rain. As a result and as expected..the roads have taken a terrible beating...the roads resemble the scene of a landmine blast..this has been the condtion for the past two and a half months.Mr. Kareer (the municipal commissioner) has been assuring us that the roads would be repaired on top priority..well..they repaired them all right..by filling them with bricks, stones, mud and god knows what else...not a single drop of bitumen..."temporary repairs" they call them...temporary all right..raises everybody's "temper"....

These potholes by themselves are a major safety hazard for drivers especially those on two wheelers...but by filling them up with bicks and mud and finishing it off with khadi (loose stones) is not making matters any more rosy...this is a major factor for vehicles skidding especially if the loose stones are peppered around a bend in the road..But the PMC still maintains that they have repaired the roads.

But alas!When it rains again, these so called repaired potholes get transformed into pits of slush...all that mud mixing up with water and making matters worse...and when its not raining all this dust rises up and increases the SPM level dramatically...making it a nighmare driving thru these clouds of dust.....also this damages the vehicles to a certain extent...ruined suspension components...nuts and bolts working themselves loose...wires shorting out ...Grrrrrr.....

I wish someone somewhere will see some sense soon...and get atleast some of the corruption out of their systems....this so called shortage of bitumen is non existant...nobody in their right mind is gonna believe that we have a shortage of bitumen for 3 months...this apathy is hurting the business chances of Pune in its goal of being the IT capital of India...the more the PMC spends on roads the more revenue they will generate..through increased business activity..wake up and smell the coffee Mr. Kareer!...Ofcourse these bad roads are giving back specialists a lot of business...peoples backs(incuding mine!!) are taking a severe beating..But thanks to the gas charged dampers on my bike i am isolated from the undulations on the road to a fair extent....

Petrol has hit Rs. 50/- in Pune..God bless us all!

Age needs to be respected.Not shunned!

Try taking a walk through Kamala Nehru Park in Erandawane nowadays.What meets the eye?Well besides the usual kickle cackle of children and concerned and loving parents tending to them?The answer is, well, old people!Lots and lots of old people.Some sit on the park bench with their spouses sharing a tender moment lost in time, some sit and stare in space, some are involved in laughter clubs, some are actively strolling by(much faster and longer than me much to me embarrasment!!!).

I feel the respet for older folks has gone down a great deal in today's world. All over the globe. America has always been rude to their elders. Thats a well documented fact. But what worries me is that this phenomenon is creeping its way into India too. Which is a very worrying sign. While we are picking up a lot of good stuff from the West, we dont need to pick up the bad too.Ill give you a very personal example to this whole scenario. During my engineering days, i used to travel by bus to college. Now we are all pretty much aware of the pathetic state of PMT buses. More people stand than sit. but what used to disturb me that strapping young youths would stay put in their seats even if a aged person was standing right next to them. Even young girls. Where is the respect and dignity for the elders gone?I dont think our parents brought us up with such values. We must have messed up somewhere ourselves!

I am myself not absolved of all balme. Nor am i trying to be a purist. Heck, i am not the kindest or the most considerate son. Nor grandson. But thats my point exactly. Through various personal experiences i have come to the realisation that the old saying is really very true. Old age is really nothing but a second childhood. Older people need the same kind of tender loving care and attention that children do. The only difference being,you have to give back to old people what you have received from them!

To wrap this up id like to say that while living for yourself is importnat, living for others is also equally important. Our parents need our support in their old age. We owe it to them. It is one of the biggest virtues of us Indians as a people: Our respect for elders! Let our generation be the flagbearers of this virtue!