“He is critical, he doesn’t have it….doesn’t have the finances. Either ask him to arrange for it or ask them to take him away. Just give him the pain killer. We cannot allow this.” It is amazing how a middle class Indian is so boisterous when we talk about quality service that is fast becoming the new watchword of the new India. But what we ignore in this subliminal happiness is the fact that we presume that the provision of these services and the quality (forget about the intent behind their provision) breaks through the socio-economic class barrier. The opening sentence is not one trying to compete with that of George Orwell’s 1984’s, instead it is a direct reference to the conversation I heard a lady representative of one of the ‘finest’ hospitals in NCR make on the Bell machine- the telephone. The person being talked about belonged to the labour class and by virtue of his proletarian orientation could not afford the treatment a bourgeois would undergo when hanging between life and death. The bottom line is that the quality of service provided is reserved for those ornamenting the upper strata of public life. There is an implicit board hanging in front of these organization, reading “Dogs and Poor are not allowed”.
Lincoln, when he was the most powerful man of the world (not only by his virtue of being the commander in chief of the most powerful nation of the world, but his ethics assimilated into his style of working as well), went to meet the dying soldier of the Civil war at the request of the latter’s brother’s request without even blinking his eye. He never donned on the royal robe of conceitedness but wore the sweat laden shirt of ‘help and care’. Circumstances have changed from it used to be in Lincoln’s time. But have the virtues and vices of what qualifies one as human also suffered a change? The pursuit of human happiness is entirely given to the possession of materialistic pleasures. It may give you an impression that I am being overly negative in my approach in this article and life itself, but it’s better that one sees the half glass empty and tries to fill it to the brim than see half glass full and be complacent, doing nothing about it.
We live in a world where democracy ethically equates the people of various classes till money do them apart. Sounds an ambiguously contradicting statement, eh? Well it’s far simpler than the reality. The new air conditioned in Delhi buses are meant for only a handful of those who can afford and those who can afford still prefer their own cars. They are not meant for the common man or not at least for those who travel in the stuffed blue line buses, risking their lives to serve the family and the nation at large. It costs almost double to enjoy an air conditioned ride. You might point the logic behind that –“Pay higher for upgraded service”, right? But friends, let me ask you a simple question. What is the main motto of any business or undertaking? To earn profits in the most acceptable manner as possible. They say profit is the difference between Revenues earned and costs incurred. So why cannot the government increase the revenues by a nominal increase in the ticket price rather than a 150% hike? Does the mud laden blue collar worker not deserve a luxurious ride to his work place and back to home? The Ministers of Delhi might argue that the new bus service is a luxury coach made for those who could afford comfort. But why not for those who need comfort? For those, they would say you have the green CNG buses with brilliant shock absorbers. Japan’s love for her workers is evident to all and there is no harm in looking westward up to the land of the rising Sun. There remains no logic behind celebrating the 1st of May if we do not respect these Karmyogis. In fact the situation is such that instead of being respectful of these people, we snub them and take their life as a chapter to teach the kids that “if u don’t study, this is what will happen to you”. They do not live life king size, but do we?
The (in)ability to be rational (if logic is a tough route) reminds me of a bus journey that I took to Gurgaon. It was a yellow DTC and I had the chance to (or to be frank my only chance for a seat) sit near the good old conductor sir. The bus happened to cross a place where we could see the skeleton of a mall. I asked the conductor if it was a potential new area to be one of the hubs for a series of malls. The informed conductor with an efficiency of a seasoned lawyer told me the Supreme Court had ordered for its demolition for it violated certain legal norms and was almost (if not entirely) unauthorized. And then, as a passionate Indian, he went on to express his concern over such an extravagant wastage of money, resource and the time. “This is why we can’t catch those western world countries”, he said. “We almost have it in our blood to be a champion in wasting resource and time. Why the authorities in charge couldn’t have prevented such an extravagant wastage when the first brick was laid?” His views were definitely charged with the indignation almost as that of a betrayed taxpayer. The wastage is a prevalent thing also at our homes. Our legs ache to shut off the tube light of the next room or to switch the television set off even when we are not manifesting our instinct of a couch potato. One teacher, while teaching us the essence of respecting time, remarked that one minute wasted in a class of sixty students translates into sixty national minutes wasted. Let us learn to respect time.
The situation is not all that glum though. There have been many good things too. DMRC has been on time or before in completion of almost all the projects undertaken. Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata have been exemplary and have been doing a commendable job of helping the needy for long. When I referred to the hospital when I started this article, even then I was appreciative of the work done by the nurses there. The only question is why cannot the ordinary Indian with the salary of up to ten grand per month avail himself of the best facilities available? He doesn’t even aim at owning a Mercedes, but can’t we, belonging to the taxpayer family, through one of our mechanisms also known as the government, provide public utilities that are in position to rival the efficacy of the services provided by the high cost providers? Last known we were a mixed economy, then why have we forgotten the virtues of a socialist wing in the wild pursuit of capitalist dreams? May be we can’t answer or may be we don’t want to…
Lincoln, when he was the most powerful man of the world (not only by his virtue of being the commander in chief of the most powerful nation of the world, but his ethics assimilated into his style of working as well), went to meet the dying soldier of the Civil war at the request of the latter’s brother’s request without even blinking his eye. He never donned on the royal robe of conceitedness but wore the sweat laden shirt of ‘help and care’. Circumstances have changed from it used to be in Lincoln’s time. But have the virtues and vices of what qualifies one as human also suffered a change? The pursuit of human happiness is entirely given to the possession of materialistic pleasures. It may give you an impression that I am being overly negative in my approach in this article and life itself, but it’s better that one sees the half glass empty and tries to fill it to the brim than see half glass full and be complacent, doing nothing about it.
We live in a world where democracy ethically equates the people of various classes till money do them apart. Sounds an ambiguously contradicting statement, eh? Well it’s far simpler than the reality. The new air conditioned in Delhi buses are meant for only a handful of those who can afford and those who can afford still prefer their own cars. They are not meant for the common man or not at least for those who travel in the stuffed blue line buses, risking their lives to serve the family and the nation at large. It costs almost double to enjoy an air conditioned ride. You might point the logic behind that –“Pay higher for upgraded service”, right? But friends, let me ask you a simple question. What is the main motto of any business or undertaking? To earn profits in the most acceptable manner as possible. They say profit is the difference between Revenues earned and costs incurred. So why cannot the government increase the revenues by a nominal increase in the ticket price rather than a 150% hike? Does the mud laden blue collar worker not deserve a luxurious ride to his work place and back to home? The Ministers of Delhi might argue that the new bus service is a luxury coach made for those who could afford comfort. But why not for those who need comfort? For those, they would say you have the green CNG buses with brilliant shock absorbers. Japan’s love for her workers is evident to all and there is no harm in looking westward up to the land of the rising Sun. There remains no logic behind celebrating the 1st of May if we do not respect these Karmyogis. In fact the situation is such that instead of being respectful of these people, we snub them and take their life as a chapter to teach the kids that “if u don’t study, this is what will happen to you”. They do not live life king size, but do we?
The (in)ability to be rational (if logic is a tough route) reminds me of a bus journey that I took to Gurgaon. It was a yellow DTC and I had the chance to (or to be frank my only chance for a seat) sit near the good old conductor sir. The bus happened to cross a place where we could see the skeleton of a mall. I asked the conductor if it was a potential new area to be one of the hubs for a series of malls. The informed conductor with an efficiency of a seasoned lawyer told me the Supreme Court had ordered for its demolition for it violated certain legal norms and was almost (if not entirely) unauthorized. And then, as a passionate Indian, he went on to express his concern over such an extravagant wastage of money, resource and the time. “This is why we can’t catch those western world countries”, he said. “We almost have it in our blood to be a champion in wasting resource and time. Why the authorities in charge couldn’t have prevented such an extravagant wastage when the first brick was laid?” His views were definitely charged with the indignation almost as that of a betrayed taxpayer. The wastage is a prevalent thing also at our homes. Our legs ache to shut off the tube light of the next room or to switch the television set off even when we are not manifesting our instinct of a couch potato. One teacher, while teaching us the essence of respecting time, remarked that one minute wasted in a class of sixty students translates into sixty national minutes wasted. Let us learn to respect time.
The situation is not all that glum though. There have been many good things too. DMRC has been on time or before in completion of almost all the projects undertaken. Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata have been exemplary and have been doing a commendable job of helping the needy for long. When I referred to the hospital when I started this article, even then I was appreciative of the work done by the nurses there. The only question is why cannot the ordinary Indian with the salary of up to ten grand per month avail himself of the best facilities available? He doesn’t even aim at owning a Mercedes, but can’t we, belonging to the taxpayer family, through one of our mechanisms also known as the government, provide public utilities that are in position to rival the efficacy of the services provided by the high cost providers? Last known we were a mixed economy, then why have we forgotten the virtues of a socialist wing in the wild pursuit of capitalist dreams? May be we can’t answer or may be we don’t want to…
12 comments:
very thought provoking!!!agn continuing with ur gud wrk!!Way To go Topper!!!!
Thanks mate....Good to have provoked ur thoughts .:)
I am afraid your point of view is biased. The proliterate that you mentioned had many other options to choose from. He could have gone to the government hospitals or the many other NGO run hospitals.
The AC buses would obviously cost higher. You never questioned the railways for the disparity in rates for a sleeper and AC. Why are you questioning the overburdened DTC which is trying its best to provide comfortable travel to all its customers(Blue,Black,white or any clour collar workers)?
India is one of the very few countries which takes as much care of the people at the lower strata as those ornamenting the upper strata of the public life. A good example is the low rates of kerosine despite the highly volatile oil sector thanks to the heavy subsidies which is stark in contrast with the policies in US where even middle class are now finding themselves homeless and devoid of any benefits.
Being biased for the cause of the needy was the tool used by President Lincoln....so i m jst an imitating flesh.
Whn u talk abt the govt hospitals....lets us take for eg. the best AIIMS...a juice wala guy near my home had a problem in raising his hands for some damn eason...He went to AIIMS and says that it was two days before he cd b anylysed upon...So rich cnt wait for an hr for the treatment and the poor have to suffer the ordeal of waiting for 48 hrz or so....cumon!!!The doctor to patient ratio is dismal ...
and India takin good care about its people can b agreed upon bt dont say only a few do so...Itz a chauvinist statement frm a person who belongs to a country wich ranks 123rd on HDI list and has 2nd highest rate of malnutritioned children!!!
Agreed that India is 123rd on HDI and may be performing worse in various other sectors. But the point in consideration is that we are a 60 year young nation. We have made remarkable progress in last 6 decades. But the centuries of foreign rule left india bruised and itz economy was nowhere close to what we are now. So we need to be patient and supportive of our governments efforts instead of mud slinging at them.Cmon support Mr.MAnmohan singh in his earnest endeavour to make our country a developed nation
and u obviously consider that 60 years is a short run....China u see..1949....wen India was doing nothing and apprehending the liberalisation drive countries like south korea wich wr in no position to match India's prowess, ultimately we find excelling in their core competencies....so blame ourselves
d way u hv blended day 2 day things in ur subject is quite impressive....keep writing!!!
now that's some truth, ppl should start thinking about such thing seriously....
Hey....Shomu..ur blog is inaccessible...wats ur full name?
I am sorry to say u r so short sighted and opportunistic. U need to have deeper insight into our democracy. V r previleged to be citizens of a country where there is freedom of thought,rights and wat not... Ur blog itself is existing thanx to the rights bestowed upon us by our forefathers. HAd u been in china, blogs like urs would have been blocked and possbly u wud be behind bars for abusing de govtmnt of day.
My dear friend Bharath calls me OpportunistIC and short sighted...(despite being influenced by the blog to an extent of usingcertain line[n i m privileged for a man of his calibre honored me wid that..]as his tagline)Well we are lucky that he is not in bureacracy else he wd hv definitely ignored the drawbacks that are needed to taken care of to make our country a better living place.You are hell bent to termin this debate into INDIA Vs CHINA...which to the best of my knowledge and others who have followed my blog, is nt even in d fringe present in the blog!My ref 2 china in the comment section jst goes for to show that hardwork and intent(conviction) can do wonders for a country!May be u didnt get the message correctly...Bt thanks for ur honest reply and i will try to mk my subsequent blogs easier in comprehension.as i said in the blog "It is better to see d glass half empty and do something abt it than see d glass half full n b complacent and lethargic"
Ur blog is quite a good one and it definitely focuses on the economically underprivileged strata of our Indian population. But i'll like to add that despite the fact that the ur personal experience is a true picture of present India, u have unjustly blamed India of having overlooked the interests of it's workers.U see, it's practically impossible for any developing economy like India to provide the facilities like air-conditioned buses u demand for the petty workers. I don't think u need to be reminded of the current conditions.Our defense systems are outdated, DRDO is good for nothing, Indian brains are being exported, good students are struggling while non-deserving ones are being given better opportunities, and the list never ends.These are a great burden on our economy.
Open ur eyes. Face it! We are miles behind China & Japan to provide such comforts to our workers.The truth is even if we somehow provide these facilities Indian workers have a mentality to forget.They won't even remember what they have got but complains. Here no one sees what they have got, but what they have not.
If u feel this is not true, just recall ur experience at any government office. Are they worth it?
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