This morning, being a Sunday, I was hoping for a late sleep-in. Unfortunately, it was not to be : I was woken up before light, approximately at about 4:45 in the morning by some idiot in the apartment complex with his noisy audio "reverse" indicator.
Listening to the loud "beep-ep beep-ep" at that time of the tranquil morning, I was forced to imagine all the things I'd do to this person / car if I were the violent kind.
What is it that makes people think they have the right to make as much noise without remorse ?
This is not the first time that I've noticed / commented or even lamented on the noise level of our Indian roads. However, I'm exasperated. I think we should not have only "honk-free" days but, "honk-free" weekends for a start.
Other instances that I'm sure will strike a chord with my fellow citizens
- Honking by a person in the back while you (and the whole world) is waiting patiently for the traffic lights to go from "red" to "green"
- Honking while overtaking even when one knows it is better to wait for another 50 m to get a good sight of the road ahead
- Switching on the "reversing" audio with various options on tunes
- Even making loud "Beep-Beep" when locking / unlocking the car or vehicle
Is this an attitude or is it education ?
Why is it that people do not use the "silent" option available in most autolock / autocop versions where the instrument can be "muted" ?
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Dubai : The local watering hole in the Gulf
Last week I spent an evening out in a restaurant close to the Dubai International Airport. The whole set / sequence reminded me of a trip I had made to Daman about 20 years ago and I thought I'd document both the set.
On a bored weekend, a few friends and I decided to take off from our shared flat in Andheri, Mumbai and head to Daman. We left on a Saturday morning and were in Daman by late afternoon. We checked into the hotel, went out for a late afternoon lunch. There was really no beach to speak of and bored, tired and sleepy after a heavy lunch, we decided to nap till evening. All of what we had seen until then was a sleepy town with hardly anyone in the street and very little activity.
We were in for a contrast. At around 6:30-7:00 most of us came awake at growing noise outside in the road. By the time we washed up and came down to the front of the hotel lobby, there was a sea change. The roads were filled with people, cars and two-wheelers and generally the place looked as though there was a Mela about.
As the evening progressed, this sleepy town went through a transformation that'd put Las Vegas to shame !. There were brawls in pubs / bars and restaurants, there were people walking the streets with liquor in-hand or upto their eye-balls.
As it turns out, Daman is the closest "drinking hole" to Gujarat (DRY!) and the floating population was just that - float in and out over the evening. It almost seemed as though all the people who'd want a drink in Gujarat had gravitated to Daman !
Now, cut to Dubai.
There were just 2 of us who wanted to have a quiet drink and catch up on business developments. I had about 2 hours to kill late in the evening having already checked in and with my boarding card. As we went into the local bar, we saw some people, but, not much.
As the evening / night progressed, I realized that my "Daman experience" was being replayed. Everyone around was drinking more than they could carry and were pretty boisterous. All the frustrations pent up was being spent in a binge. This even led the person with me to comment that all of them seemed to be "Dharam-Bhrasht". To add to this, I even saw a person with the beads of meditation in one hand and a drink in another. Talk about immediate salvation ?
In Daman, by the next morning, the roads were empty of people / traffic, but, crammed with junk and garbage. In a way am glad I was not going to be there the next morning in Dubai
On a bored weekend, a few friends and I decided to take off from our shared flat in Andheri, Mumbai and head to Daman. We left on a Saturday morning and were in Daman by late afternoon. We checked into the hotel, went out for a late afternoon lunch. There was really no beach to speak of and bored, tired and sleepy after a heavy lunch, we decided to nap till evening. All of what we had seen until then was a sleepy town with hardly anyone in the street and very little activity.
We were in for a contrast. At around 6:30-7:00 most of us came awake at growing noise outside in the road. By the time we washed up and came down to the front of the hotel lobby, there was a sea change. The roads were filled with people, cars and two-wheelers and generally the place looked as though there was a Mela about.
As the evening progressed, this sleepy town went through a transformation that'd put Las Vegas to shame !. There were brawls in pubs / bars and restaurants, there were people walking the streets with liquor in-hand or upto their eye-balls.
As it turns out, Daman is the closest "drinking hole" to Gujarat (DRY!) and the floating population was just that - float in and out over the evening. It almost seemed as though all the people who'd want a drink in Gujarat had gravitated to Daman !
Now, cut to Dubai.
There were just 2 of us who wanted to have a quiet drink and catch up on business developments. I had about 2 hours to kill late in the evening having already checked in and with my boarding card. As we went into the local bar, we saw some people, but, not much.
As the evening / night progressed, I realized that my "Daman experience" was being replayed. Everyone around was drinking more than they could carry and were pretty boisterous. All the frustrations pent up was being spent in a binge. This even led the person with me to comment that all of them seemed to be "Dharam-Bhrasht". To add to this, I even saw a person with the beads of meditation in one hand and a drink in another. Talk about immediate salvation ?
In Daman, by the next morning, the roads were empty of people / traffic, but, crammed with junk and garbage. In a way am glad I was not going to be there the next morning in Dubai
Monday, June 9, 2008
Journalism or Reporting : Where is the media headed ?
A post by P Sainath (author of the book called "Everybody loves a good drought") made me sit up and take notice of the question in the heading of the post.
The book itself is something I picked up on the recommendation of Mr Ramamurty of Sikshana.
While the book is a collection of thought provoking articles, the fundamental question raised at the start needs a very deep / detailed look.
With the proliferation of the online channels (multiple 24x7 news channel included), I think there is less of journalism that comes out of independent thought and reflection and more of "being the first to file a report" happening in India today.
Be it a report on local crime, citizen / civic issue or the coverage of an event that is newsworthy. The worthiness is related to a quick "instant" meal rather than the process of extracting the key essense / doing "root cause analysis"
What I think is needed a bipolar strategy that channels / newspapers and the fourth estate in general should undertake. One that is "responsive" and will file in the reports, while another that is based on reflection and analysis.
The book itself is something I picked up on the recommendation of Mr Ramamurty of Sikshana.
While the book is a collection of thought provoking articles, the fundamental question raised at the start needs a very deep / detailed look.
With the proliferation of the online channels (multiple 24x7 news channel included), I think there is less of journalism that comes out of independent thought and reflection and more of "being the first to file a report" happening in India today.
Be it a report on local crime, citizen / civic issue or the coverage of an event that is newsworthy. The worthiness is related to a quick "instant" meal rather than the process of extracting the key essense / doing "root cause analysis"
What I think is needed a bipolar strategy that channels / newspapers and the fourth estate in general should undertake. One that is "responsive" and will file in the reports, while another that is based on reflection and analysis.
Friday, June 6, 2008
The new Bengaluru International Airport - My take on it :-)
I've waited for about a week before I posted on the new Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL as it is going to be known I guess). The reason for the wait was to ensure that I did not post a "first / biased" comment without letting the thoughts in my own mind settle down :-). I guess, the end result should be a more balanced view ?
Let me get over my cribs first (as it popular with the BIAL bashing brigade)
- Not all loos are working : A whole section was blocked off and people were diverted to another area. Even in the area, where one'd expect a hugh crowd - ie. next to the eating joints at departure level, the mens loo has just 4-5 slots ?
- Food area is crowded : There is NO WAY the area is going to take the load. The gates were not fully operational and in the morning, there was already a team of people walking around the area with breakfast trays in hand trying to get a "parking" slot. The coffee line was about 30 feet long !
- Ground handling sucks : While, I did not have to go through a torture at the baggage retrieval area as I was traveling light, I did have to endure a 20-25 minute wait for the bus to cart us from the aircraft to the arrivals hall. While on the bus, I heard a number of conversations in Kannada where there was a LOT of back and forth as to which gate the bus driver was to go to ?
- Expect a LOT of public injury claims on the outside road : Fairly shoddy finish on the exterior with NO thought to safety. It is absolutely dangerous to walk on the footpath / pavement while wet towards the car park. I had to watch every step gingerly as it was very very slippery. This is while some of the vehicles were zipping past just a few feet away !
- Even the road in and out of the airport is not designed well in my opinion. People have to drop to almost ZERO from whatever speed they are traveling at (it is quite high - believe me), in a few feet when they hit the roundabouts. I will not be surprised to see quite a few "Crashes" into the roundabout. We Indians' just do not have the discipline at circles / roundabouts that one sees in places like UK
Let me cover the positive points now (and being an optimist - I like this)
- The first is the feel : The airport **atleast** feels like one now. Right from the road towards the airport, the area is clean and it feels as though you are heading to an airport / heading from an airport.
- While I did hear a few complaints on check-in. For me, it was a breeze
- Parking was also a piece of cake notwithstanding the rate !(although, there was quite a line at exit time due to a single functional gate)
- I was VERY impressed with the long line of Vayu Vajra coaches at the front of the airport. This should go a LONG way to reduce stress once it gets to work properly.
- Also, very impressed with the lack of touts and the orderly fashion people were going towards their exit : Taxi, parking, coaches, shared transport etc.
Balanced Synopsis ?
Excellent start - but, I think someone needs to start thinking of extensions NOW ?
I think the place is going to run out of space / will not be able to take the load within the close of this calendar year !!!
Let me get over my cribs first (as it popular with the BIAL bashing brigade)
- Not all loos are working : A whole section was blocked off and people were diverted to another area. Even in the area, where one'd expect a hugh crowd - ie. next to the eating joints at departure level, the mens loo has just 4-5 slots ?
- Food area is crowded : There is NO WAY the area is going to take the load. The gates were not fully operational and in the morning, there was already a team of people walking around the area with breakfast trays in hand trying to get a "parking" slot. The coffee line was about 30 feet long !
- Ground handling sucks : While, I did not have to go through a torture at the baggage retrieval area as I was traveling light, I did have to endure a 20-25 minute wait for the bus to cart us from the aircraft to the arrivals hall. While on the bus, I heard a number of conversations in Kannada where there was a LOT of back and forth as to which gate the bus driver was to go to ?
- Expect a LOT of public injury claims on the outside road : Fairly shoddy finish on the exterior with NO thought to safety. It is absolutely dangerous to walk on the footpath / pavement while wet towards the car park. I had to watch every step gingerly as it was very very slippery. This is while some of the vehicles were zipping past just a few feet away !
- Even the road in and out of the airport is not designed well in my opinion. People have to drop to almost ZERO from whatever speed they are traveling at (it is quite high - believe me), in a few feet when they hit the roundabouts. I will not be surprised to see quite a few "Crashes" into the roundabout. We Indians' just do not have the discipline at circles / roundabouts that one sees in places like UK
Let me cover the positive points now (and being an optimist - I like this)
- The first is the feel : The airport **atleast** feels like one now. Right from the road towards the airport, the area is clean and it feels as though you are heading to an airport / heading from an airport.
- While I did hear a few complaints on check-in. For me, it was a breeze
- Parking was also a piece of cake notwithstanding the rate !(although, there was quite a line at exit time due to a single functional gate)
- I was VERY impressed with the long line of Vayu Vajra coaches at the front of the airport. This should go a LONG way to reduce stress once it gets to work properly.
- Also, very impressed with the lack of touts and the orderly fashion people were going towards their exit : Taxi, parking, coaches, shared transport etc.
Balanced Synopsis ?
Excellent start - but, I think someone needs to start thinking of extensions NOW ?
I think the place is going to run out of space / will not be able to take the load within the close of this calendar year !!!
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