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May 2002 |
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Letter from INDIA |
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Daily, delay, dhe-hlee(for Delhi), dead, dry, dairy, diary...no, I am not compiling like sounding words starting with "D" but, collecting all those words, which form the essence of day-to-day life in Delhi. Where matters like 'Enron', 'Nuclear stars', 'Hrithik Roshan' and 'ET', Amitabh Bachhan's frequent, gaping poses, should have been the talk of the town, causing delays in important matters like the conversion of diesel run buses to CNG, delaying important events, wasting public time and money in needless matters, wasting petrol by needlessly roaming in cars and banging a few at nights, are the more preferred pastimes in Delhi. Take the matter of the recent, Supreme Court directive to convert diesel-run buses to CNG. I have to, perforce, illustrate with the aid of an example. A mentally-affected man, after having committed a gruesome murder in the mental asylum, is asked, by his equally endowed mate, "Should you not be sent to jail ?". To which, he scratches everything that comes his way, from head to toe, and says, "I don't know. I am new to this city !" Delhi-ites are not neither new to the city nor new to the problem of public transport as it exists. They have been living with ill-transportation means for decades now and yet, when a ray of light is shone by the SC, many have started grumbling that the SC has acted without heeding the public and have totally ignored the dream of breathing in non-polluted air, which the three days or so, without diesel buses and only CNG buses on the road, offered them ! CNG buses have greatly improved breathability and when the diesel buses were taken off the road, en masse, traveling on the roads was like a sight out of the photographs of the early 70's, when lesser were there vehicles and more road ! The SC's intervention in the matter should have been considered as the most wonderful of actions that could have been taken, given the circumstances, in the history of Indian law and order.
Similar intervention in the matters of illegal encroachments in all parts of the capital would improve Delhi's living conditions like anything. If only, the SC, too, could crack down on the illegal, road-side vendors and shops that encroach on public property and prove to be detrimental in one's own progress, as well as in the progress of the city. When Mr. Jagmohan was handling the destruction of illegal encroachments, it seemed as if it will be one carpet of rubble but, as happens in such cases when evil looms larger than life, directives and court orders appeared from nowhere and before long, all destruction of illegal constructions stopped. Causing delays in the inevitable is a long-time practice adopted by politicians and vested interests. Only directives favoured by the SC can really bring about any change in this city. Shock upon shock, some schools actually protested the environment-friendly CNG buses by taking out demonstrations populated by students of the schools ! How far do the vested interests and the evil encroachers and private bus operators go, in the Indian democratic framework ? Very far, is the disconcerting reply of the frozen administrators, without batting an eyelid ! But, why did schools protest at all, even if school buses were facing problems refilling CNG and thus, getting late in picking up children in the morning, when, enforcements of environmentally friendly products are the most preferred activities among the intelligentsia ? Is the framework of education and educationists being rocked by some cryptic thinking of the administration ? Because, the sacred environs of the Delhi university, too, was rocked by a shadow of terrorism when one of the university's professors, turned out to be one, and cause for concern if things turn an unexpected turn in unexpected areas ! There are many ills and evils in Delhi and, although, it would not be practical to expect the SC to intervene in every matter of the public life, such a development is not unfeasible either. Maybe, it is high time that the highest court ordered order into the life of Delhi and eased the pressure of law and order that petty problems like illegal encroachments and electricity theft cause to the local police and the public. A cobbler who works under a tree in Delhi University, expressed to me rather suddenly, "Why is the sarkar (government) hell-bent on running at loss and providing the private sector with means to making profit ?". A fact so blatantly perceived by a lower order has no takers, among the learned, in the whole city.
The Delhi administration, now and then, resorts to introducing buses running under DTC and then takes them off saying they are bringing in more losses, and hands over operation to blueline operators and each time such a decision brings out only one question – why is the Delhi administration making profit for the private operators ?. What ails this administration or who takes such dastardly, stupid decisions that have, time and again, brought in catastrophe for the DTC ? Even the most illiterate of the masses can figure this out: when the private buses plying on public routes make lakhs of profits, why can't the government with the whole lot of official machinery behind it ? And what is the explanation for leasing out profit-making routes to private operators and then running at a loss (Rs. 10,000.00 crores accumulated losses to date) ? When so much money is being deliberately fizzled out by the Delhi administration, should not the Supreme Court take note of this “dee-lay (stands for ‘loose’ in Hindi)” administrative policies and clamp down on the administration and the DTC for good ? ___________
J.V.Ravichandran introduces himself: I am 35 years of age and live in New Delhi, India. I am a software developer, dramatist, poet, artistic director (I have directed 4 English plays). I have developed 4 computer games, GREYcells Ludo, GREYcells Bricks, GREYcells Tic-Tac-Toe and GREYcells Brainvita plus some business softwares namely, plus GREYcells Accounts for manufacturing units, GREYcells instograf, GREYcells Speedsheet and GREYcells Independence. I have dramatised Catch-22, the famous novel by Joseph Heller, which is available on my homepage. I have also written a book on C and C++ called "C+C++=EC" that too is available on my homepage. I have written a few poems too which are available on my homepage. I also write articles on C# (Pronounced C-sharp) at www.csharphelp.com and www.pune-csharp.com.
Further
details about me and my career can be found on my homepage at My E-Mail ID - jvravichandran@yahoo.com
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