Bitter reality: Are we the real Ants in India

Today I am writing this article after bearing the burnt of worsening conditions of our metros cos of various reasons.. every thins is getting worse right from road to transport to population to pollution to jobs to appraisals to salaries to property to home to relations… everything is coming down to money and nothing is improving in near years. (Though govt makes many promises)… I want to put here some concerns that our metros are yelling us for.. I have been in Delhi for most of my life (except 2 Yrs in Bangalore and 1.5 Years in Mumbai). I have seen cities conditions deteriorating day by day and still cannot do anything about it... (the only option is to quit your job and get working, which in turn is rather slow process). I will start with Delhi where I was born.. I use to be a school kid and never faced any tough situations however some one has truly said "not knowledge without collage". I moved to engineering college around 20Kms from my home. Though the government provide Student passes at almost free cost (re 12.5 /month) however you have to have a real courage to get the bus pass (and renewal as well) there are very few buses to catch on... you break your journey several times (I used to change almost 6 buses at times one way).. but I could see it as enjoyment with friends hopping in buses and traveling around almost for free.. Now come the bitter learning.. after completing my engineering, I joined Wipro in Bangalore in 2003. The office was damn good and it use to take max 30 mins to reach Electronic City (EC) from BTM layout (the place where I had my PG)…by the time 2 months passed I was transferred to a nearby office and never went to EC again. I was happy for this however soon I realized that my journey to near office is getting longer.. It use to take max 10 mins which increased to 20 and then to 30 and then 45 mins eventually.. The mad rush on roads increased and at times I walked to reach home early.. Everyday its common to see jams on both sides of Madiwala junction for miles and every day me and my friend (Sandeep) will try to find a new way to reach to office where we do not find terrific traffic… In this scenario I went to my MCP exam in EC prometric to get into a from BTM at 8.45 and reach EC in next 2 hours.. I was not able to believe so much traffic on the road like which use to be a festival rush like Diwali or Durga Pooja…co traveler told me that it’s a daily story now… I was really taken aback by this situation of the city...bad traffic management, roads were all flooded on either sides and people were driving cars like boats in mud.. buses are stuffed like all times high with people getting on each other to get in and some lucky ones get place on foot boards.. Holding bus handles with one hands and asking conductor for ticket from outside. I thanked god for working on a nearer place however I felt pity about people who face this everyday… weather also became bad as the time passed… I felt like leaving the city and I did so…
after a while my luck brought me to Mumbai… the bollywood city of India… the first day I arrived there at Borivali station I felt like I will get drowned in a pool of people around me… I had to go to Goregaon and some one suggested me to take a local… When I saw the local coming towards station, I cannot believe my eyes.. people are already handing out on the doors and windows then how come people on this platform go in but to my wonders it work like stock exchange where millions are traded in a couple on seconds… train came, stopped.. for a while the platform was full and then it was all empty again.. This was the first Mumbai magic I saw… while I was in these cities I still use to come back to Delhi every 2-3 months for 5 days to see my family however I used to be at home only to spend more time with my family… I could never realize that its not only Bangalore, Mumabi (and possible all other cities) getting worse but Delhi is also one of them…. I saw the same trend in Mumabi which was already crowded and by the time I left Mumbai in 18 months it became worst… in normal office hours one use have tough time traveling towards church gate but now even reverse way is evenly crowded... I thought that all cities are crap and I decided to move to delhi in search of better work place.

I came to delhi and for initial 4-5 months delhi was good however I felt like evening recession people are going for more and more cars and main highways are really choking out… it was NH8 that got 8 lanes highyway for 23kms and it use to take 20 mins to reach home cruising at 90 kmph however now at peak hour one can never go beyond 50KMPH and cars run bumper to bumper..

So this was more about how cities are getting suffocated in recent times with hell lot of traffic and traveling…

NOW Coming to the main topic which is the Reasons for thes ( would like you guys to add here)

People feel like in Metro are cool and full of aish 'o' aaram (fantastic people, buildings/towers, trains, markets, lifestyle and all that once can imagine).. First and the foremost reason for this is worst public transport added with influx of outsiders. Today you will hardly see people around you being in Delhi for more that 15 yrs or having born here... at my work place I see most of people working from other parts or India (almost 60%). This leads to a huge rush for rented accommodation hence increased prices with unsolicited demands, week end/frequent travel to home towns and increased load on the cities, transport, fuel consumption etc. with bad public transport one has a real hard time to reach office from Delhi to Gurgaon/Noida. There are may people like me who travel around 80 KMs per day and most of the 10 people working in same building come independently.. the only reason being the timings do not match…at one point I feel that is you “feel proud ego” to drive your car is more important… bigger car means better image.. One of the solution this I feel can be making firms (be it IT or others) to be more local so that people have an option to work from home so that they spend less time traveling and less rush on roads and in turn more with their families…thought there have been many initiatives to promote car pool but people like me are eying at Delhi motro to expand as much for safe and easy travel (but trust me metro is almost getting near to Mumbai local now a days)… to avoid mad rush of people coming into cities, industries should trying reaching to smaller cities and government should help them by providing relevant amenities (inspite of harassing them like tata neon suffered in singur)…this way we will reduce the pressure on air and train traffic also..

Another problem is construction.. be it for flyovers or personal.. Every time there is a construction happening, if its personal people assume the main road to be their own property and start putting garbage and construction material on the road.. in the same way as soon as a new flyover open… then next day you will find a road side shop under it…. The day a new pavement or round about is created.. beggars come and make it their home… I don’t know what is govt doing to these.. just giving them ration cards and making their vote bank..I now remember the story of grasshopper and ants (http://varun-y-sharma.blogspot.com/2009/12/india-ant-and-grasshopper-story.html) and truly today I feel like leaving India seeing facilities and discipline other developed countries providing all basic amenities to their every citizen and help them to grow better. Will append some more later or I will request you guys to add your cities woes here.....


cheers

varun sharma

India - the ant and the grasshopper story

OLD VERSION...

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering rasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Medha
Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising
Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance). Opposition MP's stage a walkout.Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter. Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services. The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV. Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden'

Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly. Many years later...The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley. 100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India ... As a result loosing lot of hard working ants and feeding the grasshoppers India is still a developing country...... Can any one dare to bring India out of this clutches...