Are we turning non-communal?

2009-05-17T10:43:00.012+05:30

The recent election results for the 15th Lok Sabha is certainly going to make history and is going to set a new line of thinking. One thing that people of the country (not all but somewhere close to 50% who voted) has chosen this time is 'Change'. And 'Change' for growth and development of this country. Although, there may not be much change in cabinet of ministers and associated portfolios. Still, the vast majority of heterogeneous population has apparently proven that they have risen above religion, caste, region and separatism to bring stability to the country.

One remarkable thing that has come forward, is the outright rejection of the so called messiahs of the dalits aka, Lalu, Ram Vilas, Mulayam, Amar, Maya and Amma and has strengthen the opinion that they have never worked for social upliftment of the downtrodden but have always used them to stay in power. Other irritating stuff that is now put to the back burner, as pointed out by Mr. Suhel Seth on CNBC Aawaz, is the blackmailing of the Government by people like Amar and Mayawati to settle petty gains for themselves and that every morning we do not have to sip our morning tea listening to Amar Singh addressing press on issues which are not significant enough to be even asked for. News are that Lalu and one of his MP may get cabinet berths owing to their excellent performance in the past and staying with congress during the 'No-Confidence' crisis last year.

Now coming back to the main topic of the post: what were the reasons for the dismal performance of BJP led NDA, although they have performed much better in almost all of the preceding legislative elections in states. In my opinion, the following factors worked for bringing down this alliance:
- Voters are getting tired of 'Hindutva' and they know that building a temple at Ayodhya will not help them have a better life
- Voters are not sure who is going to rule the roost: Advani, Modi or Nitish
- The likes of Pramod Muthalik, Uddhav Thackrey, Raj Thackrey (though not in NDA but behaves in similar way) etc. and incidents like Kandhamal are hampering everyday life
- The deep divide amongst the NDA leaders although they shared common dias many times during campaigns, and disconnection with the party and the field workers (aka RSS, VHP etc.)
- The confusion prevailing over leaders, future, work to be done, approach to be taken, issues to be raised, prospective voters and election agenda.
- Inability to take on the ruling alliance on right issues like National Security and going over the board on insignificant issues like weak PM and so and so forth simply bewildered the voters. Aren't there better things to speak on? I was watching Mr. Arun Jaitley on Janta Ki Adalat on India TV. The issues he pointed against UPA in that show could have very well taken the voters to his side. But his voice never found a better platform as NDA campaigners were pitching incoherent issues.

Is it an indication that we are coming off the grips of rampant communalism and coming strong as a nation?? A tough question to answer, but I feel that more than that we are diversifying our understanding and practice of hatred and indifference. One section of the voters are simply indifferent to all the inequaltities in the country and considers most of the fellow citizens 'down market' in their elitist fray. So, one cannot expect them to come out and support a rioting crowd. The other section, who is confused about his and the country future, becomes perpetrator of hate at drop of hat. Stone pelting, mobbing, rioting, damage to public assets are his weapons. One cannot expect them to feel guity for their conduct as they are more than proud doing this. Traditional Hindu-Muslim riots have now reshaped into Gujjar agitation, marathi maanos ka samman, ethnic cleansing of Assam, Eelam support down south, misbehaviour against Dalits and any issue that can easily lead one to pick up a stone and throw. If only these aggression can be channelised to constructive acts than destructive.

So, I put my two cents on hijacking of communal causes from BJP and its redefinition by small regional groups and their allegiance to regional parties, as diverse as the country itself; the prime reason for NDA failure. And the Congress party for being smart enough to win the bread from many fighting cats. Well, a brilliant electoral execution .. but we all know the 'good' and the 'bad' points of government led by Congg. for the last 60 years...we are surely living in interesting times.

Why Indian Railways sucks....

2009-05-16T09:16:00.000+05:30

All said and all done...with huge profits, management lectures and turnaround stories and all the nonsense and sense surrounding it all, Indian Railways still have miles to go to give satisfactory service or be termed as "Customer Centric"

All these years of Raj, Babudom, Communism, Socialism and other retrogressive policies has cast a mindset which is anything but customer focussed. With the growing popularity of internet in urban India, a new face of Indian railway came up; www.irctc.com; for ticket booking. It started with advance booking (atleast 2 clear date from the day of journey) thru' I-ticket model and evolved into the no frills e-ticket. Recently, this website was adjudged as the highest earning e-commerce site.

But no sooner it became popular, signs of a creaky crappy service started showing up. Denial of service right from Server Unavailability, Accomodation availability not being available, Payment getting bounced etc. have become its regular feature. In its latest round of disappointment, I was denied booking of tatkal tickets for my parents on 2142 Rajendra Nagar-Mumbai CSTM Sup. Fast Exp as the tatkal availability checking and booking for some selected trains were blocked due to some some unknown reason. On calling the 24X7 Custome Care center, the representative took almost 5 mintues to get to the screen which I had reported and replied that she cannot do anything as the Tatkal Status is being shown unavailable. Moreover, as informed by her, there was no system to get this issue reported to senior officials. IRCTC website has a complaints and feedback link wherein I reported my story. No wonder, I have not received any response as of now. Ironically, while tracking the accomodation availability through www.erail.in , I helplessly saw Tatkal tickets availability and their subsequent conversion to waitlist. After much search over internet and trials on the website, I found out that tatkal booking from my departing station is not allowed now, and there is no public information to this regards, and has to be done from one staion preceding the onward journey. Grrrrr...whom to be blamed...i cant say.

The Great Indian Railways has made the tatkal scheme an additional source of income, due to which one may not get clear reservation days ahead of journey as a large chunk of seats are blocked for Tatkal. So, travellers have no option left but to wait for tatkal and then face the totally inefficient reservation system. Moreover, insignificant refunds are made on cancelling a Tatkal ticket.

The basic problem is that we still want to squeeze more and more from a long gone infrastructure by doing gimmicks like Tatkal. It started with a novel approach but turned into a source of illicit income for the railways with hapless citizens watching in agony and the popular press singing paens for the railway minister. There is no thought of making it more customer friendly or focussed and set an example of service management to be reckoned with. Its always as if the Railway and its staff are doing a favour by allowing Indians to use its assets after paying large sums. And most of us are happy with it.

WTF we cant change our Indian way of doing things??

My Two Cents

Are we turning non-communal?

Why Indian Railways sucks....