Railway Stations – Where colors, cultures and flavors meet

To me, a railway station is everything that India signifies. It is a melting pot of the people from all over the country. An airport can never ever claim this spot. This shall always rest with a railway station. Simply because of sheer number it caters to everyday.

Cutting across religions, economic class, caste, age and every other thing, stations are the place where you will find a slice of India. 

Some ‘slices of life’ at a railway station:

• Colors of different kinds. I remember seeing women dressed in traditional Rajasthani lehenga – choli at Udaipur station
• Best regional flavors of food across the railway stations. So there is a quaint little stall that sells Litti Chokha at New Delhi station, you can have delicious aloo tikki at Tundla station, a yummy grub of Chole Bhature at Aligarh junction, humble Poha at Ratlam station (more on Ratlam later in the post!)..all this tried and tasted! I shall update my list as and when I travel and stop by at more junctions on the way to eat!
• Wheelers! That was the world before the Flipkarts and Crosswords came in. I used to look forward to the station visit, even if to pick up someone, so I could browse through the comics or latest edition of Sports Star!
• All those picturesque stations which pass by..with hardly anyone there on the platforms. They usually are two-platforms stations and look like straight out of the movies. I still wonder where does one go if we exit the station! There seem no road, no traffic and no soul around. Just a station master with red or green torch light or flag!!
• Myriad of people waiting at the platform, speaking their languages, carrying their food.  Different trains, different journeys and different destinations!
• People and their luggage. So from a hip swish trolley bag to an old style suitcase, some carry water campers and some prefer mineral water bottles, some are carrying bag full of home-cooked food and some carry a Mc Donald’s take-away..(I am a mix of both, I love the paratha-aloo jeera cooked by mom and then I like to explore station food too)
• Many would say that the festivals or holidays time is the worst to step foot on the railway platform but there is such a happy feeling at that time if you by-pass the uncomfortable. Small kids going to grandparents place in UP during summer break or an executive working in a IT firm, going home on Diwali..you will find one of each kind during these times
• Fruit carts, books and newspapers, food, soft drinks and shops selling local wares. You will find everything you may need to travel good
• Of course, you must have watched Jab we met and seen the Ratlam station! And ever since that movie got released, whenever we took Rajdhani Express to Mumbai, and it stopped at Ratlam, my cousin used to text me jokingly to not get down at the platform because,’akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai!’

And this picture I took last month. Jammu station. 

Like any other busy station platform, full of life, people and much more.

A free and independent India, literally.

We are very lucky to have got independence for which our countrymen had to fight hard with all they had got. 65 years it has been for us as an independent nation. 65 years to be on our own, to form a constitution, set up the judiciary, start reforms, roll out infrastructure projects, bolster the agriculture sector, make way for industries to emerge, open up the economy to the world, get the tech edge and ring in the new millennium with a satisfaction of achieving a lot and hopes to become a developed nation from being a developing one.

Given the size and scale of a country like ours, it is truly a proud moment for us to be where we are currently. We as a nation have really come a long way since then. India is a hot-bed for investors from around the world; we are one of the fastest growing countries and ofcourse, the largest economy in the world.

The task, however, is not done. The freedom that we got from the British in 1947 was the beginning. It never was meant to be the end. Infact, with freedom come responsibilities to start afresh, build an entire nation and give its people the much-needed security. The independence and freedom of 1947 is celebrated in 2012, good. But have we asked ourselves, given the current state of affairs, are we really free?  We forget that this day and age comes with different set of challenges and problems. We forget that even after 65 years, some basics have still not been met. We are moving in those directions, but not at a speed that is expected of a country like ours.

The issues we must do something about are fundamentals and agreed, some are even my wishful thinking, a bit like an egalitarian society. But then, what the heck! Atleast we can all make a start towards these. When education, food and employment reach everyone, there is less or no reason for people to resort to unfair means. I truly believe, the day we become independent and freed ourselves from the shackles of most of these issues, will be the day the efforts of Gandhi and Bhagat Singh will bear true fruits. Also, there are issues where the government needs to take charge and there are issues where we as citizens of India should step in the ring, instead of pass comments sitting on the fence.

• Education – Yes, it is a right of every child born in this country to get education. Primary, secondary, university and vocational education should be made available to all. Education reforms a person and a sound education ensures livelihood for everyone. We need schools, colleges to reach interiors of the country. Teachers from big cities must make a mandatory visit to the rural units, training must be given to the teachers in villages, education loans must be easily available to the deserving and help from aanganwadis, panchayats etc must be taken to reach every nook and corner of the village so that no child remains without education. At our level, we all can volunteer at the organizations and NGOs which are devoted to such causes. We can always do so over the weekends or may be taking an hour every day. Easy, right?
• Medical facilities – It really breaks my heart to read news about a woman dying during child-birth or a child passing away due to malnutrition. Even after 65 years, our medical infrastructure is poor. When we cannot save lives caused due to dysentery or a viral infection, we need to do a reality check. Why can’t the government ensure primary health facilities in every village and specialty hospitals at zonal or district level? Why can’t the big corporates in health sphere like Fortis, Apollo and Max set up health care centers and assign their doctors on routine rural visits? Why can’t there be an agreement between corporations and government to divide the work, like one will give the capital and land and other will provide the resources (PPP is there, but is it working?)? Why can’t the corporations divide the areas and zones amongst themselves and cater to their assigned areas, thereby making it is easier to cover a larger part of untapped India?  Huge hospital bills and doctors fees scare everyone. We all must have a right to basic healthcare. Irrespective of caste, creed, color, gender and definitely bank balance.
• Caste – If we still fight over being Hindu or Muslim; Shia or Sunni; Brahmin or Shudra; general or SC/ST, no power in the world can make us super-power. The shackles of caste are hard to break but once we all start seeing each other as a fellow Indian and not a Sikh or Catholic, we will grow as one nation. Education, jobs, politics, everything is covered with caste system. Only merit must count at every stage. You know why? Coz every religion says you will get what you deserve if you just work hard.
• Women rights – Enough is already been said about this issue. Female foeticide, physical assault, rape, domestic violence, dowry deaths. Why do the women have to bear all this? Are they not the equal citizen of this country? Do they not have the right to live with dignity? Why is the justice being denied in almost all the cases? The judiciary must set a precedent by bringing the culprits to books. There must be stringent punishment for all the crimes against women, so the person thinks hard of the consequences before doing anything. The country needs to be safe to all.

• Politics – Agreed we are a democracy. The opposition party has the right to question the government whenever it goes wrong. But, where are the ethics? The politicians have maligned the profession so much that every time someone says he wants to take up politics, people warn him off by saying it is too dirty for aam aadmi.

We may be battling huge fiscal deficit, but the crores and crores that the ministers made from the scams are filling their bank lockers. So, definitely we are not cash-strapped. We just need decent people to manage and run the country. Some of them are there but largely, there is a vacuum. Did they not rob the country and made money in these 65 years? Can they now please think about us, who religiously contribute to the government coffers through taxes every year? Since we also have put in our money in this country’s development, will we have some say as a stakeholder?

Politicians, please stop taking each other’s case on trivial issues like Abhishek Manu Singhvi ‘s CD, Valentine’s Day celebrations in a city club or should the girls wear jeans to college. The country wants you to debate, argue and discuss the dropping investors’ confidence in India, the education policy or for that matter, the Lokpal bill!  

As I said, most of the issues are basics and the last one is wishful thinking! But not all are impractical. We as a country need them all. And the time is now!

So even when we post ‘Happy Independence Day’ message on social networking websites or fly kites on ‘national holiday’, we must know that the day we overcome these basic yet critical issues, India shall be free. Literally!

Do you agree with me? Do share your feedback.

Be good to your women, India.

It is not a good start to the day when you open the newspaper and read one more story of a woman being molested, assaulted or raped in one part of the country or the other. 

We are known to worship the female God, Durga and Kali. We are the land of Sarojini Naidu, Kasturba Gandhi, Vijayalakshmi Pandit and Rani Lakshmi Bai, female freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for this country. Ours is a land that Dr. Annie Besant and Mother Teresa, two women who left their native countries, came to call home. We are a country which has woman as its first citizen, as chief minister in 3 states and a woman who heads the largest party in power at Center. Then, one really wonders as to whether all the idol-worshiping, the pride in legacy or power-play at the top, are just a sham or plain hypocrisy.

Since when did we become so cruel, cold to such acts? I feel livid and helpless everytime I read about Aruna Shanbaug’s story. What was her fault? She was a nurse, who was meant to nurture sick back to life. The lady is as alive or dead as a vegetable. The guy who did it is out, living his life, amongst all of us. My anger knows no bounds when I read about teenage boys accused of rape being sent to ‘juvenile homes’. When those guys know what they were doing, what do we need to shield their childhood from? 

And as if the trauma the victim is going through wasn’t enough, we have the self-appointed advocates of morality passing judgment on the character of the victim. One such horrifying sting operation done last week showed the cops in Delhi accusing women for inviting such acts on themselves through provocative dressing, visiting pubs etc. Can these people then justify the incidents that happen in the remotest corner of the country on a month-old baby girl or on an octogenarian in a bustling city? No. There are no prototypes. The cops, the judiciary and the system in general, should stop looking for ways to cover up or washing their hands off these cases.

In the badly structured laws and rules in our country, the accused have almost always been let off. In many cases, they don’t even get arrested as they know someone, who ultimately knows someone. Worst, in a few cases, the accused himself is someone, who never gets booked under any law in this country. And guess what? The victim, if she has survived, is made to retract her statements or marry her rapist (to absolve all the charges ultimately) or given death threats. That is why, no case in this country can ever see light of the day. 

When there is always a debate of abolishing capital punishment, I strongly feel rape cases should be made an exception. I would be very honest when I make this confession. As a woman, I was very satisfied and happy when in 2004, after a prolonged debate, Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged for the rape and murder of Hetal Parekh in Kolkata in 1990. That was very delayed but that was justice. Forgiveness and pardon etc are all good words but no religion sides with such shameful deeds and the accused under any circumstances. Atleast in this case, capital punishment is all justified. 

Expediting such cases and delivering justice in the shortest possible time are the way to set a precedent that nobody can get away after such a crime. Hang to death or a life-term, but deliver the hardest possible punishment. The aim is to let that person know, he can’t get away by snatching life from a fellow citizen, who has the equal right on this land. The justice that gives the victim a right and hope to get on with her life again is the real justice. We must have NGOs and other social bodies working on these cases making sure that these cases are solved and justice delivered pronto.

While the system takes its time to over-haul itself, we all can start from our own lives and make that small change. The discrimination shown at home between a girl and a boy, goes deep into the sub-conscious of the kids and growing up they treat women as someone who is weak. When we are worshiping the Durga every morning in our homes, we can’t let our kids think the females are weak. We must teach them to respect women. Starting with the generation that is growing up now is the easiest as they are young and will imbibe what is taught to them.

This is what American president Barack Obama said:

The best judge of whether or not a country is going to develop is how it treats its women. If it's educating its girls, if women have equal rights, that country is going to move forward. But if women are oppressed and abused and illiterate, then they're going to fall behind.

So apt.

Bored and disillusioned from…the news and newspapers!

There comes a time every few months when I really don't want to look at the newspaper. Same crap news churned out the same way, on almost every page. Last time I faced this was just before CWG 2010, for obvious reasons.

These days, nothing else is consuming the 20 odd pages of the paper than:

Anna's vs Govt's version of Lokpal Bill, Anna's threat of going ahead with the fast, Baba Ramdev and his antics, Digvijay Singh’s 2 minutes to fame by making comments like ‘Rahul Gandhi is capable to become India’s next PM’ almost every month, CWG ghosts and Kalmadi, Yeddyurappa’s love for Power, 2G scam featuring Karunanidhi clan, Karunanidhi blowing hot-blowing cold over his continuation in the government, Hina Rabbani’s upscale dressing sense, India handing out yet another set of documentary evidence of 26/11 to Pak, a rape bid in distant village of MP, Mayawati inaugurating one more statue of hers, some robberies in West Delhi, a case of honour killing in a remote village of Haryana, hiked prices of petrol and diesel followed by opposition forcing government to do a rollback, umpteenth time adjournment of Parliament because of inflation and corruption, a royal wedding, a stupid PIL submitted in a court to put stay order on some movie/lyrics of a song, critics making the heroes out of our cricket team one day and then ripping them apart the next day, some slow progress on long pending cases like Ayodhya, 1992 Bombay riots, 2002 Gujarat riots and not to forget, skeletons of 1984 bloodbath after Indira Gandhi’s assassination…so on and so forth…

I mean, I know I can’t start writing my own newspaper nor can I control what happens in the country. But what I would really like to read are the different perspectives on the same recycled news, how those affect me. I would like to see the lesser explored and exposed areas of India in ink and paper. 

But what really is the cherry on the cake story amongst the many frivolous stories in the newspapers is the result of a research, done at some European university, which reads as ‘Men do not think about anything other than sex’…!!! Whoa!! Touché!!  :D

Osama's death: Learnings and its Significance for India

Amidst all the headlines and news flashing all over about Osama bin Laden's death in the US-led operation, we must not forget that terrorism does not end with it. Agreed, he was the most wanted man and the only man who had managed to terrify the world for well over a decade. But the man has left his genes and his terror outfit will pick up from there. Al Qaida may not remain the same without its leader but it may come back with a vengeance.

This long and gruesome fight by US to bring the accused of 9/11 to justice did not come easy. It cost the country $1.3 trillion, one decade, innumerable civilian harm and intense international criticism. US clearly proved the point that it could fight to any extent when it came to fighting against any threat to its people. Ofcourse, having deep pockets only helped it.

Now, after Osama's death, world attention has again turned to Pakistan which has long been termed a terrorist haven. India, too, has strongly voiced its concern and appeal to US & the international arena in general and Pakistan in particular.It wants Pakistan to officially accept their presence and handover Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim for their role in 1993 Mumbai blasts and 26/11. But it needs to ask itself a few questions. What does it want to do by taking both of them in custody? Store them in a special cell in Arthur Road jail and protecting them from the world? Fight a very public 'ethical' battle at home of whether to give them lawyers to fight their cases, like it happened in Kasab's case? 'Latkao' the case and going back & forth with chargesheets, challenging verdicts & further appealing to higher courts?

Seriously, is our judiciary capable to pass the judgements and let these cases see light of day at the earliest? Can India use international pressure, which is currently building up on Pak, to its benefit? Or, can it replicate the US model? Lot of questions which need to be answered pronto.

US too did take the risk by attacking a 'sovereign' state and repercussions could have been serious had it gone kaput. But it went ahead with the operation, and rendered justice to its people, in its own way.
It would be appropriate to close by quoting President Obama in his address to his nation and the world about bin Laden's death, "Let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11, that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores. Justice has been done."