Challenges before railways

Railways have been true to their task of carrying sizeable passengers across the country. THey are up against a challenge that few can deny. They are as well up against demands more populist in nature illustrated through running of special trains or laying tracks in areas that may not need them entirely. The recent incidents of trains and challenges that have confronted them should make them look at their functioning. Year after year railway budget is presented which shows the imprint of the organisation in the entire country. Yet no attempt is made to look at the missing links that could well bring to a halt its functioning.

The personnel on the ground and those engineered to undertake night responsibilities are not found failing in their responsibilities and yet the links that have not been properly secured leads to failures that has a repeated occurrence.

Strengthening of tracks, strengthening of age old bridges and keeping the signal up and running should be the priority. Instead of introducing new set of trains or increasing frequency, more an illustration of populism than reality, the need should be to see the existing infrastructure is true to the demands of the existing time. Well the budget is short and expectations high, the existing range of coaches have to be durable and less damaging. The electric wiring that is one among different components that keep the coaches running have to be perfect. A thorough check of electric wiring of all coaches is not that taxing if safety is to be the priority. Run less number of coaches or reduce the frequency if defects have been detected in coaches. Incidents involving coaches turning vulnerable should be a reminder for authorities to keep a tab on where money is spent and where expenditures are unjustified.

Strengthening of tracks, bridges for all routes should be a priority and a major part of the budget should be geared towards that instead of introducing new trains when the existing infrastructure can't handle the present load. As for those desiring to go on strike, they have a secured job though working hours may be challenging and to strike work at this juncture would be hardly justified. As sector after sector keeps on going on strike, it is the arrangement that should take the blame for revising wages for one despite the precarious financial strength known to everyone.

Window booking of train tickets

Window booking of train tickets

The window booking of train tickets in Samadhi Mandir and Tirumala among other places have still a lot to gain from the experience of the past. Here the Samadhi Mandir railway ticket counter and Tirumala ticket counter need special mention. In Samadhi Mandir people come from distant places and they find the ticket-booking exercise no less taxing. When passengers submit forms, the answer given is "no room". When such a stage comes, the railway personnel should be kind enough to give other options as far as trains are concerned. When passengers give names of other trains instead of looking at terminals , they dismiss the request by saying no seats. There is a need to keep trains at a glance book there; two to three sets tied to a window or wooden shelf. INstead of entertaining requests from those who did not stand in the queue, they should appropriately handle the requests of those in line and suggest alternatives if in reality seats are not there. Well there are seats and there are trains where accommodation could be provided once the personnel are functioning with right frame of mind.
Similarly in Tirumala railway counter, there is a need to keep trains at a glance book tied to a shelf and entertain requests of passengers in queue. Railway personnel are there for passengers and not for other purpose. You have two sets of queues and you have a ready set of personnel to handle, where is the need for you to show laxity. At least in these two places try to rise to the occasion.

The ride to Central Delhi

The ride to Central Delhi

As different rides on different occasions defined the outing on days when the Sun had barely come out, the avowed aim was to seek interactions across a wide spectrum. On a day when the dtc bus had enough seats to accommodate all passengers, Bindu, the tea vendor at Delhi Race club, was no surprise. Having started from a time when each cup used to fetch him Rs 2, about 25 years ago,   the same cup perhaps with a more energetic flavour made him collect rs 10 at present. The Delhi race club as the board suggests is functioning since 1940, with a round the year battery, the season losing some of its charm in May-June when the sweltering heat makes fewer to croon. It is all a gamble that we agreed on with the revelation coming the race starts after 2 in the afternoon which involves a game that is witness to a sizeable sum.

During an outing to Central Secretariat i came across a laundryman riding a cycle to work, enjoying the profession for the past 30 plus years. From a bus stand near Gurdwara Rakabganj, ample number of buses could be seen plying towards Hari Nagar, almost two to a minute amidst  surroundings that had vendors selling peanuts.As the bus i and Bindu were in was of an old make, still among the best lots to run in the city, a body that is redone and exterior that could be strengthened would make these buses a true gem. As Baird Lane in Central Delhi brings forth a weather that could be split between no sunshine and some rain, the area around is evenly split between shops dealing in car parts, eating joints and general stores with a crowd that seeks to pursue different career course. Baird Lane and beyond is indeed brimming with a force that beams a smile that takes away expressions that could illustrate revulsion and bile. As for Odeon Sweets the snack option comprising chholey bhature is advisable given one bhatura should be gulped down followed by a a piece of banana. THe oily hit is not that bad but to keep yourself energised like a night rat, one serving of bhatura is all that one should bat. As for the cyber cafe in that area, the best part is if one intends to go beyond one hour for every 15 minutes a slip of rs 10 comes to look like as if you are taking a welcome shower.  The area in and around Mandir Marg has a charm of its own, perhaps the secured environs suggest few are willing to step out to raise a night roar.

Meeting sagar from nepal, jagdish from kendriya bhandar, the outing was not without its spell of cell tower

Meeting sagar from nepal, jagdish from kendriya bhandar, the outing was not without its spell of cell tower

Taking a public transport towards Kotla Mubarkpur, the seat i occupied and the seats that remained unoccupied showed the manageable traffic during early hours of afternoon, the weather giving little opportunity to croon. Sagar hailing from Nepal took the adjoining seat and the little conversation revealed he studying in class 9th in Nepal. The place in Nepal he hailed from is quite distant from Kathmandu and his coming with his parents to Delhi was to see if the city was ready to bloom. His pa had taken a seat quite far away from him and what he could do was to stay next to him despite not getting a seat. Because in a new place one should never lower the guard and that too when you are travelling with your kids.

During a visit to Sec 3 RKP, the cobbler whom i could not trace on a previous occasion was at his makeshift workstation, the happiness quotient looking to be elusive this time. A query revealed he had been to Mahendargarh in Haryana for a holiday something which comes on an alternate day. During the same visit, Jagdish committed to Kendriya Bhandar occupation looked to be sporting a little more than an extension of vest, the magic lay in his labourious routine and carrying goods from mills to kendriya bhandar stores that are amidst a landscape that is green. One nandulal having worked for a hotel coming up near Safdarjang station could be spotted the other day looking for empty bottles as the hotel had been raised and the place would have new set of entrants to gauge as the area is no longer a green craze.

Green has been the turnout of buses in and around the national capital conveying a sentiment that though the air conditioned mode of transport can be availed it is the green colour buses that would be hailed. THe outing towards August Kranti Marg on a Sunday showed a traffic that was in ton. Meeting Akhela or Akhla, the gentleman having spent or been 85-year-old was moving with a stick and the inclement weather did not stop him to roam. He looked to be energetic and quite well versed to meet the daily challenges.
As for August Kranti Marg the centre is as resplendent as in other places, opening up of a prasadalaya across the road would be a wise move but to prove a patch of vacant land one would have to groove and prove.

As for IIT park, the one who without a break was taking rounds of the park for over an hour on a Wednesday owed his energetic skills to his frame of thrill. He was open to a conversation and in due course doled out tit bits like when the park was functioning to its majestic scale, one round was a little less than 800 metres. He has been steadfast to maintain a record of 35 rounds in one go, something he attained five to six years ago. His continuous rounds of  the park propelled me to prod him on whether non veg was his theme. Having discontinued five to six years ago the park round and a measured waist was never achieved in haste.
As i write this from a cyber cafe in central delhi, one gentleman has come to enquire of the certificates he lost some time ago and would the cyber man be helpful to trace them. It is a rarity that cyber seths would be kind enough to keep  such documents in order if one has misplaced in a cyber cafe some of which are yet to function from a subway. Subway would be the right choice to open cyber of surprise as no one knows who comes to browse and display their aura of invincibility through grouse.

As for landlines and who all have been kind, the shelf on which they are placed and the conversation that still retains an element of craze, the adaptability to these instruments is more in order than conversing on a cell that is enterprisingly all about fodder. One who could be sighted with a cell, little is known whether he has at any point of time applied gell.   

Heading towards Central Delhi

Interactions across national capital

Interactions across national capital

Interactions across national capital have not been few and far given the different modes of transport i have undertaken in the areas adjoining a cell tower. These interactions have led me to gentlemen who have been thriving in the trade of carpet weaving, carrying goods from mills to kendriya bhandar and one dedicated to the upkeep of a temple in Sarai Kalen khan area of national capital. On a Sunday  when the Sun was not out in its full strength, the four hours spent in the vicinity of Andrews Ganj gave a broad hint on the mode of transport people employ to reach their destinations and the public transport that was not reduced to a trickle in its forward movement creation.The personal transport and the personalities wearing a coat were not hard to trace, there were gems and geniuine handsets functioning with the avowed aim of keeping a shine on their pets. Some pestered their pets to venture out hoping this would be a demonstration of their clout.

The vendor running a store next to stop "n" eat outlet need no prodding to pursue the subject of opening up of  DDA shopping Complex in Defence Colony , the structure having been raised in 1978, and he functioning from this place for a little over 30 years, each year showing the heady side of winter and who all were dear  . Dearer had become the rent, in early 80s it was rs 600 coming to rs 6000 at present for a small accommodation in Hauz Khas. If this past 30 year tale could be a slice of revelation, the priest i came across divulging his unhappiness on the state of affairs in a temple in Sarai Kalen Khan, one too with a 30-year functioning record, was no less a reiteration of change that has come across a broad spectrum. In the earlier days when the temple stood and Sarai Kalen Khan had yet to get a bus terminal to its name, the surroundings and inside had a clean template. Baton handed to a new set of generation brought with it no urgency to keep the temple clean. Besides temple the compound had a tuition centre which has been discontinued and there is a shed that houses a good number of cows and buffaloes. The milk that flows from their stable vanishes in the early hours given the scale of demand from nearby places. The priest had a request to place on the need to keep the temple tidy clean to ensure the momentum and magic does not turn lean.

Saddam with a carpet could be spotted in a bus stand and this set of interaction revealed the thriving trade in Bhadohi near Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh which too has tents and the party playing 24X7 band. Getting the carpet to work its magic, all it was accomplished with hands and none whatsoever machines were employed. Setting a price tag of 3000 rs was what he underscored given the same product coming for no less than 7000 to 8000 rs from a medium store. Before one could make him furnish more details the bus had arrived and i thought fit to board the bus to get more details on a content that would be sprinkled with a justified revulsion and bile. Sunday indeed was cold and no therapeutic as a result long sessions spent outside gave cramps that forbids one to find his/her way if caught in a jam.
Winters are hard, the dipping and no day dreaming temperatures makes one to oscillate on the need to take a bath. If winter duration could be less, summers by the way are least stressed and where one can easily adjust. Perhaps IMD need to keep a phone line ready which puts out the temperature during alternate hours; it is a such a simple endeavour perhaps not doing this does not make them look clever. As for big structure bloating in the capital, they have robbed the innocent quotient of a city that does not unnecessarily babble. The trajectory of moolah and big structures have given hard times for a long duration given the hands that have raised them as if this is a city fascination. The easy template they have worked against make them turks and there are no dearth of forces that help them nail peace and overshoot the crease.
Perhaps the faulty planning of the so-called planners has given way for these agents to take away peace as moolah is the defining cheese.

As for Green Park and the grass that seems to have been reduced to a trash, the name of the park is IIT Park and all the names suggested in the past were determined by forces depending on the duration of their blast. The IIT Park i am told came at the same time when IIT DElhi came, game to months of rain. The IIT park is still an oasis of peace despite the heady cocktail of those flashing bat and those above in landing gear called jets. 

Taking a metro to central delhi

Taking a metro to central delhi

Taking a metro to central delhi was satisfying indeed as the tariff does not set ignition of minds towards greed. A metro posts a picture of sobriety and something that has followers with a shoestring budget.  Well there are not many  illustrations in the national capital to convey a middle path, what the authorities did in the past one-and- a- half decade was to raise malls and keep the fire burning for not that required big halls. Probably they want the public to come closer to the experience of have moolah and turn maverick as there aren't enough possibilities to make the populace realise the true value of being therapeutic.

First you set a new pay commission and declare with authority that it would be effective from such and such date. Not realising that the earlier pay commission and its recommendations are yet to be put into effect by a host of states. It is all a vicious circle; raise the pay in the hope of inviting more with sizeable brains to the govt tray as the take home offered by private sector is something they can't match but at least set the ball rolling for intake of a new batch. To meet the financial outgo get into effect a series of tax that should not be low. And if the tax kitty is not swelling then release a series of ads that those who don't pay won't don a winnable hat. Giving a level playing field they invite private and perennial-turned-to-a-new asset players to open malls and meeting ponds no matter the place where the new structure is coming up and reverberations that it would set. Already the ring road in the national capital is choc a bloc and getting a mall next to it is a decision that would not be a hit.When the new arrangement took office in the national capital 15 years ago we were barely into seven years of truly liberating and truly awaiting liberalsation.

Those in power had a field day fielding all questions on flyovers and cell phone covers. Those at the helm truly believed that once a series of flyovers, big structures and big creatures are raised, nothing would stop the capital to ever get in the grip of grey. Vehicles multiplied, desires mollified and populace electrified with a series of malls and those on its rolls, the govt believed simplicity was something arduous to  maintain so why not give a free hand to populace and those who have to get in every season a personality guest. Winds of liberalisation followed wings of imagination, dishing out a cell and not dimming a bell was the 24X7 gell.

Water was a scarcity and still happens to be, those with right connections got a windfall, those sticking to a schedule had to make every alternate day a call. Power distribution went into private hands with no thorough checking of accounts. If distribution leak had been checked much brouhaha over power tariff would not have erupt. The fifteen fonts on which the decision makers tripped is not hard to figure out, had things rolled against a systematic template each individual would have realised his or her clout.Those with sizeable purse don't mind paying unimaginable pays to their home hulks resulting in disorientation in pay scale and not a success in looking for domestic staff which we can hail.