MUMBAI FLOODS

It is amazing to see Mumbai withstanding the human flood and resisting its force and pressure. I happened to be in Mumbai for 2 months (Nov and Dec 07) to attend my personal work. While commuting from one place to another I felt like floating on human flood. Either in Railway stations, or inside the compartments or in the BESt bus, it is same. Each train carries thousands of people, unleashes them on the platforms, getting refilled in thousands and offloading - it is routine and monotonus but the trains are not tired. Mumbaiwalas are not tired. It is only the visitors who are wonderstuck and tired of this repeated astonishment. Oh boy! It is a miracle that Mumbai is surviving the human-flood assault.

Delhi Pedestrians

Delhi CM made a remark: If the pedestrians walk on the roads they should be penalised.

The CM can enforce the law provided: Atleast for a week all the Miniters of Delhi Govt. including the CM travel to Sachivalaya by DTC/Blue Line. They should should get down atleast 500 mtrs away from their offices and walk down to go their offices. Then they will understand the problems of pedestrians. Atleast from Pragati Maidan to Sachivalaya.

Broken footpaths, dugup footpaths, sewer water overflowing footpaths, FPs having human waste and stagnant urine, iron wires and bars portruding pathways, FPs fully occupied by cars, auots, cycle rickshaws,; fully utilised by vendors and no space to walk, begger-ridden footpaths, footpaths fully utilised by MTNL boxes, etc. This is the status of various foothpaths meant for human pedestrians in Delhi/New Delhi.

Faulty, without foresight and unimaginative flyovers are constructed and are being constructed. The architect, the designer and the planner has succesfully and deliberately neglected to think of pedestrians convenience while designing and constructing the flyovers.
Barring a few like Punjabi Bagh flyover, where it is a combination of underpass-flyover-subways, the other flyovers have left the walkers in the lurch. Glaring scenes: one-side flyover connecting Punjabi Bagh & Karampura road, Clubroad entering ring road, Motinagar crossing. In Daulakhuan, by allowing the busses to stop in the underpass road, they have thrown the public on the busy roads. In other words the pedestrians are allowed freely to walk on the roads and jump over the dividers. There are several crossings in Delhi are like this.

The CM and the Delhi Govt. first create proper (if not best) infrastructure for pedestrians and think of enforching penalties who do not walk on the foothpath.

Devilish acts

Dowry menace is acute in India. Recently 4 & 8 year old children gone underground to escape arrest. Reason: they have aided their brother (24 year old) to pour kerosene on their brother's wife to burn her as she failed to bring cash dowry of Rs.50000.00(approx US$1100.00) . This was reported in a local daily which took place in Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh ) in India. Why the devil still prowling around? Lack of social awareness or greedy parents or boys' parents collecting the expenses incurred by them on their sons. God only knows. Now this news is a disturbing item because it involves school going children. Now their future is in dark.

Down in south-India, Madurai is a popular tourist city with big Meenakshi temple. The city is run and maintained by the Municipal corporation. A leading news paper reported a devilish act of the municipal corporation that took place in this city. Recently the corporation officials dumped a cart-load of garbages in front of tailor's house. When asked, the officials said the owner of the house failed to pay his property tax inspite of several reminders. When the officials got tired of getting the tax collected from him, they resorted to this act. The immediate reaction: The tailor agreed to pay the amount of Rs.15000/- and sought short-time to pay. Well, it may be a devilish act to dump garbage on the defaulter but the officials say that they have no other alternative to get the defaulter to pay; since they might have thought that legal and court proceedings will take minimum a decade to settle the issue.

evilish acts

Mother's Milk

A child of 3 year-old was sitting on the bank a temple tank. The child lost his mother after his birth. So his father was looking after the child. Father kept child on the bank and he was taking bath. The child felt hungry and his agony of hungry grew. He started weeping. Suddenly a celestial lady appeared in front of the child with a golden cup full of milk. She gave and the child drank it. The heavenly lady disappeared. When the child's father came up and found him drinking milk, he was shocked. Being an orthodex pandit, he could not tolerate and started abusing the child. The child shown him the direction from where the celestial lady appeared, the father could not bear it any more and he was about to bear the child. At that time , Lord Shiva with Parvathy(the celestial lady) appeared sitting on holy bull in front of them. Parvathy told the child's father that she only gave him the milk as she could not see a child crying due to hunger. The story goes that the child attained high knowledge and started singing in praise of Lord Shiva. We have millions of children crying due to hunger in rural and
urban areas. Who will give them milk? Point to be noted: Mother's milk brightens child.