Giving space to pedestrian; meeting those hailing from Philippines and other places; the hike that should not come
As i begin to write about meeting Saung and Macy hailing from Philippines and at present staying in national capital of Delhi, i am reminded of how unfair it would be for Delhi Metro to raise fare when there is no ground for such a hike. Already we are paying a huge sum for the electricity we consume; something for which a course correction perhaps would never come. The hike in Delhi Metro fare if and when it comes would be second time in a year; something other wings of transport too would like to replicate. The other day Saung and Macy were travelling in Delhi Metro where Macy revealed that Saung was taking a course in English from British Council and already three weeks had been spent and they were probably in India on a tourist visa. I was at fault when i mentioned about the unrest in Philippines which actually was a case of Marawi province in Indonesia seeing ISIL upsurge. In the same vein the drug menace in Indonesia i mistook it for Philippines and that led to an interaction that was short and without any basis.
Giving space to pedestrian
As we parted ways the family from Philippines was right in noting that some of the impressions i was carrying was nothing but a case of figment of imagination. As for the proposed hike in Delhi metro fare, the auto fare which used to begin from Rs 10 some years ago has been hiked to Rs 25 in operation for almost three to four years, the minimum bus fare is rs 5 which at one point of time was Re1. The Delhi metro operation should be such that it encourages more and more car users and two-wheeler riders to take metro and give a breathing space to the roads of the national capital. One household different set of cars is unheard of in other countries/cities and there is a pressing need to bring a draw of lots scheme for the number of vehicles to be registered in Delhi each year. The number of private vehicles on Delhi roads is more than the combined strength of vehicles in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai put together. More important is to impart lessons in driving to both private vehicle users and public transport drivers that they should drive safe and give space to pedestrian. The breakneck speed would take you nowhere. The crisscrossing of country that politicos of all political parties do on public money is something that needs to be stopped. A quota should be fixed on the number of travels each year and there should be proper audit of MP Local Area Development Fund each year.
NDTV Cleanathon and Swachhathon
On another level NDTV Cleanathon that was beamed recently should be held every quarter instead of once in a year. It is a non stop 12 hour effort and seeks to get the message across on cleanliness as well as hazards faced by ragpickers as far as medical waste is concerned and everyone doing his or her bit in mere dus gaz campaign. Probably the broad message that manual scavenging in areas that sees it should have been discontinued long time ago is not lost. The Cleanathon also brought home the risks the people face while opening manholes and working inside in absence of safety equipments. Hope the other event Swachhathon to be organised by another institute scheduled for November does its bit to carry the message of cleanliness in areas of South Delhi.
SVBC Channel
While taking tea the other day i met Mr Jonathan from Meghalaya at present a tourist in Delhi. The same day i met Mr Rallan staying in A 2 block of Safdarjung Enclave for the past forty years. While taking tea from Bhikaji Cama Place i took note of four set of thalis/meals from a nearby restaurant. It went by the name Regular Thali, Standard Thali, Special Thali and Executive Thali. Mind you each Thali had an offering of sweet and this sweet is doing no good to anyone. While taking a metro ride and reaching Huda city centre i came across Mr Shastri from Hyderabad and we discusssed about SVBC channel (Sri Venkateswara Bhakthi Channel) beamed from Tirumala and how the cable operator of the city had discontinued this channel for over three years. Seeing SVBC on the net showed the upsurge in advertisements in the channel and this trend needs to be checked. It is not a commercial channel.
Thomala Sewa In Tirumala; Securing temples
At another level at one point of time in Tirumala the tickets for Thomala Sewa, Archana Sewa and Suprabhatam Sewa were disbursed on first come first serve basis. The people used to join the queue around one in the night and counters would open up at eight in the morning. Now Making everything online has not been found to be convenient for devotees. The online requests are rarely met and we find the number of tickets to be few and far. Devotees are finding hard to gain access to these sewas. Earlier they discontinued disbursing Rs 50 ticket and later Rs 300 ticket was too discontinued from being disbursed in Tirumala. The Lord truly belongs to all. The man on the street has equal right to gain access to the Lord. Single person should be given accommodation in rooms in Tirumala once the identity card has been furnished. We find a large number of devotees filing out of Venkateswara temple in Tirumala at 4 in the morning and thereafter with a prayer on their lips. These are those set of devotees who have joined the free darshan queue.
Security in Ahmednagar temple of Sai and in Lord Venkateswara temple should be at a level where frisking is not half hearted. Frisking of garlands and people should be of top most level. The Priority should be on securing the premises and coconuts and other things if possible should not be allowed inside the temple. While undertaking this exercise we should not hurt anyone. During the day the Palki is taken out security should be of top most consideration. Managing the rush of devotees should be done in a coordinated manner, not in a way where things go out of hand.
Three girls from North East; Lisa from Nagaland and Nung from Arunachal
While taking a metro ride i came across three girls from North East going to participate in a sporting event in a college (KMC) of north campus of Delhi University. Well they could not say much about the Hornbill festival of Nagaland and when i raised the topic, all they had to say was about some festival in India Gate in New Delhi. The same day i came across a student of Jamia Millia Islamia University pursuing LLM. He went by the name Sabir and hailed from Uttaranchal. While it was Deepu from Delhi College of Arts and Commerce pursuing a course in German language, it were Lisa from Nagaland and Nung from Arunachal both girl students studying in Aryabhatta College in South Campus of Delhi University that brought forward the varied space that the city provided to people from across the country.
As i begin to write about meeting Saung and Macy hailing from Philippines and at present staying in national capital of Delhi, i am reminded of how unfair it would be for Delhi Metro to raise fare when there is no ground for such a hike. Already we are paying a huge sum for the electricity we consume; something for which a course correction perhaps would never come. The hike in Delhi Metro fare if and when it comes would be second time in a year; something other wings of transport too would like to replicate. The other day Saung and Macy were travelling in Delhi Metro where Macy revealed that Saung was taking a course in English from British Council and already three weeks had been spent and they were probably in India on a tourist visa. I was at fault when i mentioned about the unrest in Philippines which actually was a case of Marawi province in Indonesia seeing ISIL upsurge. In the same vein the drug menace in Indonesia i mistook it for Philippines and that led to an interaction that was short and without any basis.
Giving space to pedestrian
As we parted ways the family from Philippines was right in noting that some of the impressions i was carrying was nothing but a case of figment of imagination. As for the proposed hike in Delhi metro fare, the auto fare which used to begin from Rs 10 some years ago has been hiked to Rs 25 in operation for almost three to four years, the minimum bus fare is rs 5 which at one point of time was Re1. The Delhi metro operation should be such that it encourages more and more car users and two-wheeler riders to take metro and give a breathing space to the roads of the national capital. One household different set of cars is unheard of in other countries/cities and there is a pressing need to bring a draw of lots scheme for the number of vehicles to be registered in Delhi each year. The number of private vehicles on Delhi roads is more than the combined strength of vehicles in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai put together. More important is to impart lessons in driving to both private vehicle users and public transport drivers that they should drive safe and give space to pedestrian. The breakneck speed would take you nowhere. The crisscrossing of country that politicos of all political parties do on public money is something that needs to be stopped. A quota should be fixed on the number of travels each year and there should be proper audit of MP Local Area Development Fund each year.
NDTV Cleanathon and Swachhathon
On another level NDTV Cleanathon that was beamed recently should be held every quarter instead of once in a year. It is a non stop 12 hour effort and seeks to get the message across on cleanliness as well as hazards faced by ragpickers as far as medical waste is concerned and everyone doing his or her bit in mere dus gaz campaign. Probably the broad message that manual scavenging in areas that sees it should have been discontinued long time ago is not lost. The Cleanathon also brought home the risks the people face while opening manholes and working inside in absence of safety equipments. Hope the other event Swachhathon to be organised by another institute scheduled for November does its bit to carry the message of cleanliness in areas of South Delhi.
SVBC Channel
While taking tea the other day i met Mr Jonathan from Meghalaya at present a tourist in Delhi. The same day i met Mr Rallan staying in A 2 block of Safdarjung Enclave for the past forty years. While taking tea from Bhikaji Cama Place i took note of four set of thalis/meals from a nearby restaurant. It went by the name Regular Thali, Standard Thali, Special Thali and Executive Thali. Mind you each Thali had an offering of sweet and this sweet is doing no good to anyone. While taking a metro ride and reaching Huda city centre i came across Mr Shastri from Hyderabad and we discusssed about SVBC channel (Sri Venkateswara Bhakthi Channel) beamed from Tirumala and how the cable operator of the city had discontinued this channel for over three years. Seeing SVBC on the net showed the upsurge in advertisements in the channel and this trend needs to be checked. It is not a commercial channel.
Thomala Sewa In Tirumala; Securing temples
At another level at one point of time in Tirumala the tickets for Thomala Sewa, Archana Sewa and Suprabhatam Sewa were disbursed on first come first serve basis. The people used to join the queue around one in the night and counters would open up at eight in the morning. Now Making everything online has not been found to be convenient for devotees. The online requests are rarely met and we find the number of tickets to be few and far. Devotees are finding hard to gain access to these sewas. Earlier they discontinued disbursing Rs 50 ticket and later Rs 300 ticket was too discontinued from being disbursed in Tirumala. The Lord truly belongs to all. The man on the street has equal right to gain access to the Lord. Single person should be given accommodation in rooms in Tirumala once the identity card has been furnished. We find a large number of devotees filing out of Venkateswara temple in Tirumala at 4 in the morning and thereafter with a prayer on their lips. These are those set of devotees who have joined the free darshan queue.
Security in Ahmednagar temple of Sai and in Lord Venkateswara temple should be at a level where frisking is not half hearted. Frisking of garlands and people should be of top most level. The Priority should be on securing the premises and coconuts and other things if possible should not be allowed inside the temple. While undertaking this exercise we should not hurt anyone. During the day the Palki is taken out security should be of top most consideration. Managing the rush of devotees should be done in a coordinated manner, not in a way where things go out of hand.
Three girls from North East; Lisa from Nagaland and Nung from Arunachal
While taking a metro ride i came across three girls from North East going to participate in a sporting event in a college (KMC) of north campus of Delhi University. Well they could not say much about the Hornbill festival of Nagaland and when i raised the topic, all they had to say was about some festival in India Gate in New Delhi. The same day i came across a student of Jamia Millia Islamia University pursuing LLM. He went by the name Sabir and hailed from Uttaranchal. While it was Deepu from Delhi College of Arts and Commerce pursuing a course in German language, it were Lisa from Nagaland and Nung from Arunachal both girl students studying in Aryabhatta College in South Campus of Delhi University that brought forward the varied space that the city provided to people from across the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment