Let me write about my experience of driving in Delhi. I have been driving in this city for last about 18 years. Oh how this city has changed. I remember when I was young and used to go to school by bus; I used to count Ambassador cars mark 4. Well through out the 45 minute journey, I could count may be 8 – 10 such cars. And then came Maruti 800. I started counting those as well, however, soon, I discovered that it was becoming difficult to keep count. Probably that was the beginning. My father bought me my first car – A Premier Padmini – FIAT. Oooooooooo…. I was on top of a hill. Taking the car around the city was like a dream. The roads were not only wide but they were better maintained. It was such a pleasure driving from my home to Connaught Place, India Gate and where not… I used to take my car practically everywhere. I kind of lived inside my car and I remember getting upset if one day I could not drive. I must share this, initially when I started driving; there was this passion to find out what is the mileage I am getting out of the car. Somebody told me to fill only one liter of petrol and when the fuel finishes one would get to know the mileage. I diligently thought of doing that but chose a very very wrong day. I was to drive my mom and some family friends to Surajkund Mela. Well in the morning mom asked md do you have fuel in your car? Yes Ma, don’t worry. But she still insisted that I go and fill it up and offered me money, but how could I… I have to check the mileage… So in the afternoon, right after lunch, we set out for the mela. The road is hilly and has quite a few ups and downs. After driving for a few miles as we were about to reach the mela I realized that Oye… no fuel !! and the engine stopped. I rolled the car in the hilly terrain for some time and then had to stop. Ma was the one who was not only embarrassed but felt insulted that her son is the cause of all this. Anyway, we alighted from the car… Ma came to me threateningly… asked me what’s wrong…. I somehow managed to squeak – “No fuel Ma… I have run out of fuel”. THWAAKK !!! and I almost saw the stars…one tight slap on my cheek right in the middle of the road. RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!! People watching, family friends dumbstruck and I like a dodo standing on the road holding my cheek! And before anybody could utter a single word she declared… we will walk to the mela. Let him stand here and figure out what to do. With that she stomped off with the whole entourage leaving me behind. However, driving around Delhi was still a pleasure. The roads were wide, smooth and very less traffic. But that was so many years ago. Now the scene has altered drastically. The road space has not increased – the traffic has. The same road space is used by old rickety busses, trucks, autos and lots and lots of cars, two-wheelers and what not. Earlier it used to take me about half hour to travel from my home to Connaught Place and now the same distance takes more than an hour. To add to the woe people are driving vehicles without proper training and as a result there is no road etiquette. People just want to get ahead of the other vehicle any which way he seems it right. And the best attitude is if you hit somebody’s car then the famous Delhi quote comes into force “Koi baat nehi”… “sadak chalte ho jata hai”, but if somebody hits you then what the hell? Get into a fight, abuse… say that you are a very important person and screw his happiness. Gosh…..!!! t me write about my experience of driving in Delhi. I have been driving in this city for last about 18 years. Oh how this city has changed. I remember when I was young and used to go to school by bus; I used to count Ambassador cars mark 4. Well through out the 45 minute journey, I could count may be 8 – 10 such cars. And then came Maruti 800. I started counting those as well, however, soon, I discovered that it was becoming difficult to keep count. Probably that was the beginning. My father bought me my first car – A Premier Padmini – FIAT. Oooooooooo…. I was on top of a hill. Taking the car around the city was like a dream. The roads were not only wide but they were better maintained. It was such a pleasure driving from my home to Connaught Place, India Gate and where not… I used to take my car practically everywhere. I kind of lived inside my car and I remember getting upset if one day I could not drive. I must share this, initially when I started driving; there was this passion to find out what is the mileage I am getting out of the car. Somebody told me to fill only one liter of petrol and when the fuel finishes one would get to know the mileage. I diligently thought of doing that but chose a very very wrong day. I was to drive my mom and some family friends to Surajkund Mela. Well in the morning mom asked md do you have fuel in your car? Yes Ma, don’t worry. But she still insisted that I go and fill it up and offered me money, but how could I… I have to check the mileage… So in the afternoon, right after lunch, we set out for the mela. The road is hilly and has quite a few ups and downs. After driving for a few miles as we were about to reach the mela I realized that Oye… no fuel !! and the engine stopped. I rolled the car in the hilly terrain for some time and then had to stop. Ma was the one who was not only embarrassed but felt insulted that her son is the cause of all this. Anyway, we alighted from the car… Ma came to me threateningly… asked me what’s wrong…. I somehow managed to squeak – “No fuel Ma… I have run out of fuel”. THWAAKK !!! and I almost saw the stars…one tight slap on my cheek right in the middle of the road. RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!! People watching, family friends dumbstruck and I like a dodo standing on the road holding my cheek! And before anybody could utter a single word she declared… we will walk to the mela. Let him stand here and figure out what to do. With that she stomped off with the whole entourage leaving me behind. However, driving around Delhi was still a pleasure. The roads were wide, smooth and very less traffic. But that was so many years ago. Now the scene has altered drastically. The road space has not increased – the traffic has. The same road space is used by old rickety busses, trucks, autos and lots and lots of cars, two-wheelers and what not. Earlier it used to take me about half hour to travel from my home to Connaught Place and now the same distance takes more than an hour. To add to the woe people are driving vehicles without proper training and as a result there is no road etiquette. People just want to get ahead of the other vehicle any which way he seems it right. And the best attitude is if you hit somebody’s car then the famous Delhi quote comes into force “Koi baat nehi”… “sadak chalte ho jata hai”, but if somebody hits you then what the hell? Get into a fight, abuse… say that you are a very important person and screw his happiness. Gosh…..!!!

At the outset, I am feeling like a lamb up for slaughter.  More so if people are staying in urban areas.  The farce which goes in the name of security to ordinary citizens in this country.  I am exposed to terrorism since practically from my younger days.  I remember, I was in college when the Punjab extremists struck at my colony.  It was a black night just a day before Diwali and Kali Puja.   I was standing by the gate of my house chatting with a friend, when suddenly amidst the sound of crackers which was going on, I saw 3 guys on a scooter, two facing front and one rear with guns go past my house.  And right after that I heard some commotion nearby and ran to check.  To my horror, I discovered that a neighbor, a friend, our dhobi lying in a pool of blood.  That was the probably the beginning.  There was lots of anger mostly at the politicians.  And since then I keep hearing, reading about these attacks.  Somewhere, its through bombs and somewhere its through guns.   And lots and lots of lives, young and old, male and female, kids are lost.  Precious lives.  And we watch helplessly.  Express anger.  Philosophize. Mourn. Condemn. But again go on living our normal, wretched, boring life.  I wonder will this ever end?  Would we be able to give our children a normal happy life and a secure future where they can look to achieve something in life and do some meaningful work for the country as a whole or they would lead a life where probably every second they would have to look over their shoulders to see if they are safe on this earth.

 

And now this attack in Bombay (for me its still Bombay and not Mumbai).  Mindless violence.  Scores affected.  But to what end?  I don’t know.  I don’t understand politics.  I don’t understand what goes in the minds of these guys.  I know one thing though… we Indians are basically still in the middle ages… mentally we couldn’t come out of that stage where we were ruled by the British.  We are better off as slaves… we can’t rule ourselves… think of it… its so easy to criticize… but when it comes to doing something on our own we fail, we miserably fail. 

 

That we have the mentality of a 18^th or a 19^th century 3^rd world country is evident the way we govern ourselves.  Practically nothing works.  Corruption – you can bribe your way to anything.  Look at the condition of our roads, our water management system, our electricity system, our energy management – gosh the list would go on and on. 

 

We are blaming our political class for all this… but aren’t they a reflection of ourselves?  We are the ones who elect them.  How many of us have the guts to lead.  I think its total degeneration of our society as a whole, which is being exploited by outsiders.  And this would happen time and time again like the fable where two cats fight over a pie and the monkey takes it away.  We would keep fighting amongst ourselves and people from outside would take advantage of.  In all this only the common man would suffer with their lives and livelihoods. 

 

One possible solution could be to re-look at our constitution.  Bring in different laws which are not archaic to deal with today’s challenges and opportunities.  I don’t think the so called father(s) of our nation imagined the scenario today.  The world now is going through a totally chaotic phase economically, politically and socially and I think the right opportunity to change is now.

 

Let’s not get cowed down by what happened in Bombay but make a resolve that we would not let ourselves be victims of such horror in the future.  Let’s pledge to change ourselves.  And I am sure change would come if not today then tomorrow.  Because our children would not tolerate this.  They would make our country and the World a better place.

 

At the end I pray for all the people who lost their precious lives in that carnage and the brave ones who fought to safeguard million others.

I was slated to appear for my class X board exams.  Everybody realizes how important it is to their career and they put their nose down and study… and study hard.  All my friends… well most of them started cramming up.  I was the only one who was super confident about the exams.  So, who wants to study? I can manage without cramming like my pals.  I knew every subject… wasn’t I the one who was getting great marks in term exams? Be it science, math or english… I used to be in the top 3 or 4.  Who? me worry? nah !!!

 

I invented ingenious ways to skip my studies.  In the evening I would play odd sorts of games while studying and in the morning I would be out on the streets playing cricket or throw discs or soccer.

 

Soon I found an able ally…Sukanto.  He had the same outlook about exams… especially board exams.  And bingo we hit it off like there’s no tomorrow.

 

Each morning around 10 Sukanto would come to my house to practice Math.  We would sit down and probably solve 1 or 2 sums and then he would say…”should we play a little and then we would solve the others”.  I used to say…”No no father would not like it and he wanted to check my copy once he returns”. 

 

But who can stop the devil.  Soon I used to start playing with him first on the terrace and a little later on the street outside. 

 

This continued till the exams.  And as expected the results… hmmm… let me not spill the beans…

 

They were bad, very bad indeed !!

 

I did realize when in Class XI I didn’t get the subjects I wanted to study.  I realized that because of my immaturity I would not be able to pursue the subjects I liked.  But it was kind of late.  I tried to join others schools and showed them my marks but to no avail.  Even they didn’t want to take the risk. 

 

I was kind of pinned to the wall and after counseling by dad that if one wants he can excel in whatever he does.  I did try my best during senior secondary and secured 1^st division and also stood 2^nd in my whole school. 

 

That was a proud moment.  My dad was elated as well !!

 

Then college…

 

This phase of my life I didn’t like at all.  College was drab.  I didn’t develop lasting friendship with anybody.  I kind of lost touch with my school pals or other friends as they were in some other college pursuing their own dreams.

 

Anyway passed those 3 uneventful years without much to talk about.  But one thing I must say there were lots of pretty girls but nobody would even look at me.  Probably this was another reason why I didn’t like college too much… not that any girl in my school was particularly interested in me in any case… but still…school was school.. I missed it… I missed the fun I used have in school… the pranks I used to play on my teachers… how I was popular…

But life goes on…

I joined work… more of it in later posts…

bye for now.

It’s little over mid afternoon, I am trying my hand in writing for the first time in my life. Okay not the first time but 2nd time really. I was once inspired to write a diary when I was very young.  Probably in class VI or VII.  I saw one of my uncle’s write a diary and I thought, cool… even I can do this.  So first I pestered my father to get me a proper diary and then I bought a fountain pen thinking its fashionable to write with a fountain pen.  I bought a different coloured ink.  It was mauve.  After all I was such a big writer like Enid Blyton.  Anyway, I started writing my daily logs and I wrote whatever came to my mind. I wrote about the girls I liked in school, the marks I got in exams, especially my history marks which normally I used to show my parents when I could no longer hide it from them.  Oh!! I was so meticulous ! I even wrote about the tennis ball that I lost the very 2nd day and about my father’s very expensive pen that was stolen from me in school.  Not only that, I wrote about how I helped another guy in his history exam and left my paper almost blank.  Surprise surprise he passed and I got a hollering from the teacher.

I wrote daily, without fail. 

Guess what? One evening when I was trying to study and my mother strolled into my room and casually asked me first about the tennis ball.  I told her well it must be somewhere in the house.  Then she asked me about my father’s expensive pen.  I was alarmed but okay.  I tried to fib through. Then she dropped the bombshell ! 

And what about this girl you are fancying ? She thundered..

I meowed..

No ma nothing… I squeaked. But but how did you know?

She thundered again… where’s your history paper? How much did you get in your term exam? Who is this guy you were helping?

What could I say. She took out my diary… hit me with it and sob took it away.

Well that was the end.  And that’s life !!!

But hey now she is old. Playing with my kids.  And best of all she doesn’t know how to operate a computer.  So I would be able to write about my life without being caught and hollered at.  I would write about my life, my friends, my city, my romance (mostly failed ones)  and anything I like.  She won’t be there to stop me or take this away from me.  Now I am who I am…

Life is beautiful even if it starts late…

Life… My beautiful life…

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