Why Blame The Minister?

Indian Railways has been hit by two ugly derailments in quick succession. Dozens of people have died and the minister of state for railways is facing the heat. The media, as usual, has sensationalized the news to enhance their TRPs – flashing headlines with meaningless, uncomfortable questions which can have no answer but are sure to keep the audience glued to the TV screens. The opposition has demanded a resignation and also chastised the Prime Minister for… well, just for the heck of it. A little bit of mud-slinging at every possible opportunity would only enhance their chances in the next general election.

Blaming the minister is the easiest thing to do. Sack him, issue statements criticizing him on national television, appoint a new guy and hope for the best. This is the usual course of action in such cases. Some ministers themselves take the responsibility and resign on account of morals and ethics. Lal Bahadur Shastri, for instance, had resigned as the aviation minister after the much talked about plane crash. But will it solve the problem? Has anybody bothered to look at the root cause of the calamity? How can we stop these accidents from happening?

Train derailments happen, as far as I can see, for 4 reasons –

1) Naxals decide that want to kill a few people. So they go and loosen some screws in the railway line.

2) Extremists and terrorists, for reasons best known to them, blow up stuff.

3) Incompetence or carelessness of railways employees – head on collision due to mishandling of the signal, derailment due to drunk drivers etc.

4) Old, worn out railway tracks which are in dire need of replacement.

About the naxals, there’s nothing much that can be done. It’s not possible to man the railway tracks with guards to watch out for unscrupulous people. Terrorism is a global menace which we must all fight together. There is no simple, short term solution. To improve the quality and professionalism of the railway officials, there needs to be a change in the recruitment policy, the compensation package, the training programs and we need better supervision. The worn out sections of the railroad need to be identified and adequate provisions made in the budget to replace them as required.

All these are long term measures. Implementing these will take time. And while the process is on, the media won’t be discussing it coz the news isn’t sensational enough; the ruling party wouldn’t gain any political mileage out of it coz the work isn’t glamorous enough. As a result, these necessary steps might never be taken. In a political set up, where one is judged on a daily basis, the minister is bound to focus on developments which would grab eyeballs. Hence, most railway ministers only talk about introducing new trains, cutting fares etc. – things which would have an immediate impact.

I pass no judgment on the ability or dedication of the MoS railways in the present case. But perhaps, for once, if we stop blaming the minister for everything that goes wrong and give him a free hand to bring about long term improvements, our country might finally see some real progress.

Vulgarity at it’s innocent best- Delhi Belly

How come a picture without the usual explicit bedroom scenes, sleazy songs, skimpy clothing manages to get into the adult film category. Abhinay Deo manages to enthrall the audience virtually every minute by some witty ‘potty humor’ and day to day slangs. When the movie was about to be released, Aamir Khan made no fuss about it in saying that this movie was strictly made for adults only. ‘While other movies tend to hide it, Delhi Belly posters display the ‘A’ mark quite clearly’, he said.
Delhi Belly gives a whole new dimension to adult cinema. A kind of cinema where you actually will be served entertainment, not the usual bedroom scene. Sure that will be on the cost of filthy language, sometimes a bit disgusting too but the truth being we all are familiar with such things in our daily life. Maybe that is the reason why they are getting such a response from the audience. Two hours of pure entertainment where you will be gaping at what is going on the screen. This is not the film that you can see with your family nobody said it would be. But this is the certainly not the type you will hide from them, maybe even brag about it. With the backing of the Aamir Khan brand even the usual snob will not be that critical of it.
Some say that the hype surrounding the film is overrated, others say that it might not be able to sustain the terrific opening that it has till now enjoyed. Maybe, but one thing is for sure, the film has managed to tickle the funny bone. Even before the film was released it had become a rage among the young courtesy the song ‘BHAAG D K BOSE’, the other songs of the film too doing their supporting role. The film not only lived up to that but also surpassed it by quite some margin. After a long time here comes a film where you are glued to your seats till the last second, even with the credits rolling,( ‘jo chauka udta hua jaye use chakka kehte hain’).
You definitely will not take away anything after seeing it, no lessons, no moral values. All that you will get is one and a half hour of your money’s worth cinema and some really catchy lines—( I hate you like I love you).

Temple-dee-do Temple-dee-da

I find them boring; the claustrophobia, the incessant chanting, the pressing up against occasionally half naked bodies

only manages to disgust me and convince me that its not only a waste of my time, but money too ( for a second there I was going to say MY money, but not yet, not YET ;) ). I’m still forced to go to them out of a sense of religious dutifulness I feel towards my mother and my father, who, though not devout, are followers and do the necessary.

It’s a rare occasion for me not to feel a sense of dread when I know I’m going to a temple, its almost instinctive, a chill climbs up my spine and I immediately feel like doing nothing more than dropping onto the bed and falling asleep. The only way I get over this horror is when I’m told there’s something in it for me after the ordeal. Pizza at times(not often enough I tell you), some other type of food I’m attracted to(and there are MANY i assure you :D ) or maybe I decide what movie to watch. One of those rare occasions though, when I DIDN’T feel any sort of dread, up my spine or otherwise, was this time we went to a temple hidden within a set of caves.They were magnificent, tiny waterfalls here and there since there was a river nearby and we walked through a tiny crystal clear stream which resoundingly defied the dirty feet pounding through it, I could’ve scooped that up and drank it right there(had the sense not to though). I could feel tiny pebbles slipping out from under my feet, as though i was receiving some sort of free massage as I went to see this God, whom I swore to devote my entire life to. Sadly I disregarded that promise completely since I have no recollection of anything there except the caves and our spelunking :). I do however remember it having to do something with snakes…

That sort of temple I can deal with, I LOVE them. I hate the commercial enterprises today’s temples have become, all I see when I look at them is a cash making device. I want an au naturale temple, set out in the wild with no manmade structure, just an idol, or maybe a metaphor of the god, like an enormous super old tree defining the nature god. I could spend an age at such a place, because no one would WANT to disturb the solitude with their prayers which people seem to believe will be heard by God if they scream them loud enough or if they give enough cash, that’s not what religion was meant for , not to provide an outlet to your selfish needs to in the shortest path possible, it was a definitive way to make you want to introspect, to do something of life, for life, for people.

Yeah that sort of temple I’d love :).

Coal Story-The Dark Side

Government has promised to provide electricity to every household in coming few years. According to their roadmap, they are to install 800,000 MW of power production units with 70% of total production coming from coal based plants. Now, when I am writing this article, India’s total power production from coal based plants stands at 80,000 MW through hundreds of plants distributed across the country. India’s increased stress on coal based plants has a little, if not full (though some reports say otherwise), inspiration from China’s power policy where a new coal based plant was commissioned every 15 days for the last two years.

But what policy makers of India are trying to ignore in their resolution to generate 560,000 MW from coal, are the increased challenges at social and environmental fronts. Increased population and industrialisation are already demanding large share of land for housing, industry and infrastructure. Apart from these, we need fertile land to feed and provide employment to our giant population. Problems like these make it difficult to acquire land for plants and their support systems. India’s thermal power plants are already facing shortage of coal supply. Adding to these is the problem of transportation of coal from mines/ports. A rough estimate says that one 40 wagon train full of coal is needed to run a 220 MW production unit for a day. Now, imagine the load on railways if 560,000 MW has to be produced. And aren’t we forgetting that coal reserves are bound to last for some decades only? What will happen after that?

There are some other areas too where we could derive inspiration from China viz. the pollution from coal based plants. A recent survey conducted in China declared 50% of their river water unfit for human consumption. Prior to Beijing Olympics, China took several steps to reduce environmental pollution. Those steps included decommissioning one power plant per month in Beijing’s nearby areas. These plants emit greenhouse gases. Increasing forest cover is the most efficient method to curb the problems arising from Greenhouse gases. But unfortunately percentage of land under forest cover has only decreased every year. If we were to believe a report titled,” Coal Combustion: Nuclear resource or danger” by Alex Gabbard, coal based plant exposes people of neighbourhood areas more to nuclear radiations than a nuclear power plant does, provided that the nuclear power plant abides by the government regulations. Global warming has increased sea level and coast lines are receding fast. Unexpected weather conditions are estimated and experienced in last few years.

These days, renewable sources like solar, small hydroelectric plants, and biogas based plants are not efficient enough to be connected to grids. Though, the dreadful future predictions have accelerated research in these areas but a lot more is expected than what is being done. Warning bell is ringing. Hope we respond to it fast.

A word Says it All

Vinita Dawra Nangia, a prominent columnist at TOI, in her recent article, talks of a single word that explains a person. As she advocates her concept, she elucidates that each one of us represents a word and that word stands for our expectations, love, aspiration, courage and for the very reason of our existence.

Amitabh Bacchan is ‘Angry Young Man’ and the legend of Hindi Cinema, Dilip Kumar is ‘Tragedy King’ on the 70 mm silver screen. If we can give words for reel life, we can find words for real characters too. It is difficult indeed, because I see this word as a tunnel to the world of our liking from the world where we have been made to live. As I appreciate this concept, I link it with the goal of our life. Right at this juncture, my youthful mind dreams of everything that I missed at some point of my life and I think those all are under my reach. I want a car; I want to live with my family; I want to visit different places. Will these things give me pleasure? I suspect. Probably I will think of opening a school some years later or may be creating any organisation to uplift rural lives. This is how our life works; priorities keep on changing and so do our likes and dislikes. At least, this is true for me. So, how come one word can describe me? In one sense, my dilemma signifies that I am still unsure of my destination. Though several destinations and roads leading to them come to my mind but the best one is hard to choose. Even sometimes, the most promising is a long one and the path to the closest destination is composed of a maze where the entry gates close once you are inside. Given my lack of experience, I could have gone wrong in the aforesaid words.

I started writing this after I asked my friends about that one word for them. One of them said, “Existence”. He explained that he considered his existence before everything on this planet. But is this not the word that explains all mango people? Yes, certainly. But then, some words are like cuisines that you find in the menu of every restaurant and then their menu have something distinct. Does this mean that our search is for the “special” in us? Well, I feel so.

A dear friend of mine is fond of astrology. Though I am neutral to this ‘beyond the world’ science, I relate to many things that he predicted on the sole ground of my birthdate. As I experience and my friend’s astrological predictions affirm, I often experience mood swings. As such, it is difficult to find a word that embodies me. But I will not lose hope; French, German, Sanskrit……….I will find it one day.

Profitable Welfare

The Tatas have been known for their philanthropy, community development and employee welfare schemes for decades now. The whole Tata empire has been built on the foundation of goodwill, trust and family feeling that is cherished by every employee of the Tata group. During my 10 week internship at Tata Steel, I have seen that the work culture over here is very different from what we normally get to hear about the corporate world. The company has also received numerous awards for its corporate social responsibility initiatives. Telco colony – my birth place, built and maintained by Tata Motors is one of the most beautiful and well planned residential areas that I have seen anywhere in the world. The place is clean and green – a rare distinction for Indian cities nowadays. Plenty of temples, markets, parks and community welfare centers have been built by the company all over the place for the benefit of the employees and their families. And all this has been in place for decades now.

Some of you might say that the prime focus of any organization should be to work for profits and that welfare schemes may at best provide intangible benefits like goodwill in the long run – nothing more than that. Well, I disagree. Transforming Jamshedpur into one of the most attractive places for living with family was instrumental in attracting and keeping the best talent that was necessary for the success of the Tata group of companies. And the latest step by Tata Motors, which I’ll be writing about next, proves that profits and welfare need not be mutually exclusive.

The company has introduced a bus service for the transportation of employees. There are plenty of bus stops at convenient locations and the buses are really very comfortable – not just by Indian standards. Most employees here go to office on scooter or cycle and travelling can be a real hassle during monsoons. The bus service, which promises convenient, comfortable and quick transportation, is a boon for all the employees living in the Telco colony. Apart from this, there are the obvious environmental benefits due to the reduced traffic. Employee welfare – yes. Now here’s how they make the profits. Since all the employees are supposed to use the bus service, the company will no longer be giving any travel allowance (for petrol, diesel). With the oil prices going sky high, this move will save the company a lot of money. Also, since the only way employees can move in and out of the plant is through buses, they have no option but to report on time and keep working till they are supposed to. No personal transportation means no escape! Thus, the ‘welfare scheme’ is also expected to bring a considerable improvement in the productivity. Smart.