A prayer for those affected by the Kerala Floods! A bus ride from Noida to Dilshad Garden!

The day broke peacefully in Noida but those watching the net news on Kerala were not enthusiastic after heaqring the wide spread havoc the incessant rains and cloud bursts brought to the little shining state!  Many were appalled to see their loving loving houses being submerged in front of their eyes and they being pushed into nothingness.  Most were taken by the authorities to Life Saving Temporary Camps set up which was a very hopeful sight indeed!  Many people regardless of caste and creed and beliefs turned up to help and it continued for the last three four days!

The number of people who lost their lives and umpteen number of cattle and other animals were all thought provoking and making everybody rethink.  With all those heavy thoughts we entered our little route bus from Bhangel.  Just before entering the bus the climate became too stuffy and humid and it ended with a light shower with the sun shining bright.  Luckily the bus was airconditioned and it took away the heat to an extend.  Watching the side sights from the bus, especially an airconditioned one is really worth.  Both sides has lot of businesses going on and people and all kinds of vehicles from bicycle to our huge air conditioned bus pass from time to time.Dust, grime, and muddy water were everywhere and people moved everywhere on business.

Most of the bylanes and road sides are mostly taken by parked vehicles of all kinds and way side sellers of various wares.

The walls on either side had different kinds of huge writings One disease mainly catching our eyes was 'Bawasir' ek teeke me' meaning a particular kind of fever mostly affecting children as it is understood.  One teeke me  meant one injection.  An injection here is called either a teeka or a suyi.  (Teeka means a dose and suyi means needle-whihch is used in short for injection as the syringe always has a needle in front). One will be surprised if there are so many people suffering from 'Bawasir'.

Our bus reached the Mother Teresa Hall in time for prayerful mass.  The mothers children along with other sisters are looking after a lot of leprosy patients who limped around with their wooden crutches.  But it sdeedmed wonderful that they were all happy.  The service of the sisters were really worth admiration for all humanitarians.  The mass was a solemn one with special request for donations with prayer for the flood affected which was really taken up by one and all.

After the mass we visited our near relative there and after lunch and rest we returned in the same sort of lovely buses by the evening






   

Life in Bhangel, a Noida corner!

There are two parts to Bhangel which has become a point these days.  This happened with rapid progress of the surroundings of the Bhangel village and the road going through it.  When the road which was a single up and down road was parted with a strong partition and that ended the connection with the two sides as crossing over from one side to the other became a little difficult as the people of the place are not used to such traffic rules. Their simple life did not need it either as they seldom drove long.  Most of the people had farming and farm work and the market on either side of the road was enough for their daily requirements.

Now the road from Dadri to the Capital and Some of the busy hubs of Noida passed through Bhangel and the daily traffic increased with the ever progressing ride of the country and this made the necessity of widening the road as well as partitioning it.  Otherwise, the general public in the area were freely crissing crossing from one part to the other and this became a point of traffic snarls several times.  At times a cyclist crossed the road and a large vehicle had to brake to allow him to go unhurt and reach his destination.  Some times a tractor with trolley crossed the road from one side to the other with impunity and all the traffic on both sides stopped to give him way as the density has increased manifold in the recent times.

In between there would be pedestrians who are really many as the industrial towns and cities which are about and around has huge number of everyday workers who once free from their daily work, spill to the market area before reaching their homes.  They have to pick up their daily requirements on way home. The two sides of the roads will be interspersed with a lot of rehri traders.  A rehri is a four wheeled platform on which temporary vegetable shops and the like are carried on. Same goes for a lot of eatable shops which are single person oriented enterprises.  They all take away a part of the road.    Apart from these are the those who come 'wrong'.  A wrong is a person driving either a two wheeler or a four wheeler in the opposite direction of a lane.  This creates trouble at times but generally every body tolerate it.  This is because they have only a little distance to move to catch either their by-lane or take a U-turn to catch their right lane.

Adding the dust and din to this makes the whole a real experience to one who have not experienced it. The general days of good climate in these areas pass without any much problem.  Public will find it difficult in extreme climates of heat, dust storm and some times in the rainy season of July August, if it rains too much. But since the people are content with the place and surroundings things pass on with out much ado.!

A time to leave Washington

Washington was always a loved place! The climate was cool in February, that time I landed up in the Dulles Airport where I stood at the conveyer belt of steel to pick up my large suit cases. Once out a friend guided me through and got a taxi cab, a fairly large one at that.  The Driver of the cab was a good natured guy who showed me a map and enquired if the point he was showing was the place I wanted to go.  The Seminary Towers of Alexandria was a the place he was showing and I agreed.

He stopped at the Towers and we were guided to a friends place. The office to which I was selected was in Washington and work started the next day. Then there was the usual in house training, introducing seminars, and so on.  Getting other paper works to stay on etc. took a couple of months and at last it was just office work and falling back home after tedious office hours late into the evenings.

The walk to the Farragut West is in my memory and then it is Pentagon where we waited for a metro bus for Kenmore Avenue.  Many years passed and now it all seems to be a dream. The car we drove, a Honda Civic once were covered with white white fluffy snow which hardened overnight and then taking out the car was a tedious work.  While cleaning the car the key was lost and it had only one key and that was it.  The old technician of AAA tried to open the car in the middle of the night for a couple of hours and retreated saying : 'I shall send somebody in the morning if you don't mind" We did not mind and they next morning a Chinese looking (or was he of Korean origin? I don't know) young gentleman came up in the sunshile with a great smile!  He was an expert and the morning sun helped him with warm sunshine.  He used a baloon to pressure open the door and once inside connected his computer to the car and told us "I have to first deactivate the old key, then shall make a new one". He did it with elan and worked on for an hour and more and at last the new key was ready and the car got started!  He collected a tidy sum for AAA and left.  We were relieved that the car can now be used.

The Magruders, the Landmark mall and the Grandmart were all in the daily routines one day or the other.
At other times I was working away in the office.  At times running for the fire drill along with all others.  This happens once or twice in an year when an alarm is set off an Fire Marshalls appear to guide all who are walking down the steps for many floors.  Their guidance seemed to be invaluable.  Once outside people kept standing speaking to one another or smoking or moving a little more away for snacks etc.  In a matter of half an hour or so the clearance will be sounded and all are called back.  Now one can use the elevators, as lifts are called there.

One interesting thing noticed are the hapless people along with way from Farragut West to the Centre asking for alms either showing a large cappuchino tumbler or a hat etc.  One African American Gentleman was always seen doing a beautiful bugle everyday in the moring.  He is neither a beggar nor a great musician but the energy he gave the morning office goers were tremendous.  I was touched when on a rainy morning, I could distinctly hear his bugiling sound from afar and there he was sitting in the rain and bugling as if there was no rain.  While departing Washington I walked up to him and gave a few dollars and asked him what makes him do this everyday without fail.  He replied "This is the only work I know. And I am trained to do this from my childhood!"  That was some courage!  He was doing it as a job, with out any complaint to any one.  He accepted any small donations given by any one and thanked them profusely.  But never complained of anyone for not giving him anything at all.  He went on doing his songs on the bugle to the great enjoyment and enlivening of all around him.!

After the rain

The heat was at it's extreme when I wriwr my last piece, last week. It changed this Monday, when it first went cloudy and then rained, the next day.

What a relief it brought to the parched Delhi and its suburbs where the trees were carrying the dust on them, all through the last couple of months.

The temperature fell and the trees and plants became clean. The flowers brought out their fragrance. It became Ajoy to walk on the pavement or in the parks.

The rain and cloud continues to carry over into July.

The Hot Delhi June and a travel by the Delhi Metro

The hot Delhi is dusty, but an afternoon wind pushed away some of the heat. As my computer went to sleep with out warning, it's difficult to write anything!
But the fall in temperature inspires me to jot down some thing!

A travel by the delhD metro was the last escapade I had. Travelling from 'biaasi mode' to Botanical Garden is the toughest part.  This can be accomplished by autorickshaws, private buses and of course the UP State Road Transport Buses. At last I got a UP bus and in a matter of forty minutes reached Botanical Garden! Here one gets 20 minutes to buy a ticket. The first try was to get a ticket from the vending machine ! Since everything is going digital, thought of trying a hand at it! But once the prompt reached the payment of ₹40/- the machine insisted use of notes of denominations of ten, twenty or fifty which I didn't have. I had a hundred and was thinking of checking other machines if those could accept a hundred Rupee note. My next machine traveller lost ten Rupees in front of me as he didn't get Ten Rupees after he ordered a ticket for RS. Forty just what I was trying to do!

This jolted me to get a ticket from a manual vending window! Once this was  accomplished  travel was really easy and international class with best and clean surroundings! It reached me in central Delhi in a matter of ninety minutes in a relaxed atmosphere!  Once one can reach the ends of the Metro, travel in Delhi has become pretty good with a nice Metro line, all thanks to the Metro Mab and his enthusiastic team ..!

Keeping the Grannies in good humour...!

I normally do not get my grannies to seee as we live apart in different towns. But once in a while the duo lands up in our town for their medical check up and medicines. Once they arrive they take over me as if it is their duty to look after me which I normally do not object.

But the difficulty is their forcing all kinds of good behaviour and ettiuettes on me which I despise. At least I do not understand their logic of many of them. For example Grand Pa gives me a sweet or so as soon as he arrives which is very welcome. But once the fellow unwinds he and Grand Ma starts with such enquiries with my mom: “The child has gone down since we left last, no?” As if I was a huge guy earlier. I was 10k then and I am 10k now as my Dad says. Then comes the uestions: “Did he have a wash? Has he eaten? Has he urinated? Has he....Has he......?” My God, all the has he...s galore.

I have done none of them at least that day as he arrive in the morning itself. In fact, I am not keen to do all that in the very morning itself. I have my own times for every things like that. I do not do such things hurriedly. May be, Dad has to do them as he has to go to office. I don't. But Grany insist that I have to be trained in childhood itself. Ghosh! And Grand Pa keeps quiet! He is always my man and friend. But when such ticklish occasions come, he keeps quiet! I do not understand his silence at such times. I at times feel, if I have to stop his friendship on these counts. But when it comes to the sweets and toffees he gives me and his taking me out, which Grand Ma can't or won't, I stop all such thoughts. Apart from these quiet parts, he is a good fellow. He plays with me and also at times takes me for a swing on the overhead bars on which he hangs upside down when he is in a mood. All the more, he does not object whenever I pull his spectacles. His spectacles are really a good set. I see things much bigger through it. When I look at Grany she looks much bigger when I look at her through Grand Pa's spectacles.

I can go and stop him doing any work at the computer, which I am going to do now. If Grany is around, I am not allowed to go near him if he is at work. But if I can make eye contact with him I can always pull him to my side and placate Grany. But at such times, Grand Pa do not look at anything except his computer or book where he will be writing or lost in thought ...! Getting him to look at me is the diifficult part. The rest is easy. He makes me one gadget or another, or a spinner at times either with wood or with palm leaves.

I can't make Grany also unhappy as she is the one who gives me milk and other foods from time to time. Grand Pa is no match when it comes to food matters. In fact, I have seen he too is dependent on Grand Ma in these matters.

Next comes the two real guys my mom and dad. They are the ones who really are with me when Grannies go away. So I can't displease them too. So, you see, I have to be very cautious when I handle these guys until after uite a few years!

The Eight Screen Presence....!

The Eight Screen Presence

The new generation has presented a fresh problem in front of all. That is the number of screens one has to attend to. In earlier times, the general screen output and in take was only one screen. That is the movie screen. During the still pictures and then the moving pictures all required only one screen. And all were satisfied.

Now with the onslaught of the mobile phones all that has changed. Before the mobile phone itself, the desk tops, lap tops, tablets had arrived in the market. Many elderlies shied away from the mobile phones as it was having a lot of radiation, it was a deviation from the seed phones with push buttons which was in use(they themselveds were a replacement of the earlier ITI black phones which had the round round rings which had to be circled for catching the required numbers)ager etc. Some doubted the pager phones and these mobile phones had some connection and may become obselete as the 'pagers' which went out of the market in six months times of its coming. Thce Pagers had the disadvantage that it can only show you a message and you have to run to the nearest phones, which were, of course, the fixed land line phones to make a call back to the sender of the message. Since sending a message to any one to his hand directly was not possible till that time, it was an innovation which people in India had not seen. They bought it but it went obselete in months and there came the cell phone which is now being called the 'Mobile Phone'

Now most of the people had an eye for a computer which became a master piece, show piece and status symbol in society.

Of course any one who could afford some how or the other bought one and kept it well covered at a place where friends and relatives could feel the presence of a computer. The owner of the equitpment could then explain the stories behind its need, ownership and uses to all.That suddenly became old story as some others outsmarted them by pulling out a computer from their bags and bragged “Who will want a Desk Top these days. It is cumbersome to go to it where it is when it is needed. I carry mine in my bag. That way it is available to me whereever I go” . That nailed the Desk Top and people looked at the owner of the mobile computers the lap tops with awe! It did not last long!

The light particles were being disentangled and they were being used in the little mobile phones and the touch screens were replacing the ordinary cell phones with liquid crystal digits and letters. Once the touch screens were in market, the little mobile phones were quickly replaced by the touch screens and every body who could get one got hooked to it.

Now most of the people who owned the previous versions kept the previous ones for the love of it with which they bought them or got them.

The items with screens can now be counted. The Desk Top Computer, the Lap Top Computer, The tablet computer, the ittle two and a half inch mobile phone, then the four and a half inch touch screen. The earlier camera and the little liquid crystal mobile phone which are still in use do not come in these, even though they are very much in use. These are all to be topped by the Television Screen which is invariably in use in all homes (if they can have one, most of the medium homes have one). All these have slowly but steadily taken a toll on reading, writing and letter writing. At places, they have created complaints of people talking less to each other too. Let us watch our own situation and see that these developments do not affect us badly...! Let us beware....!

A look at a general meeting place, a bus station or a train compartment f the old and now in India gives a stark difference! It was customary in olden days for those at an assembling place to share niceties and ask about the welfare of one another. That has changed. Many are hooked to their touch phones or tablets, if not  lap tops straight to see movies!