#4 : Barking dogs seldom bite!

DISCLAIMER : This post is not to offend any one. If you are offended its not my fault...its your sub conscious speaking!

Perplexed by the title?! Wonder what I am going to complain about this time ( last time it was corruption)?!

The Petrol price hike! That's my fodder today!

The oil companies approached the Oil & Natural gas Ministry for another hike in the petrol prices & got it done too.The three state-owned oil companies - Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Bharat petroleum Corporation Limited - said yesterday that with the rupee tumbling against the dollar, they are paying more for crude oil.

"Oil retailers are losing Rs. 2.61 per litre or Rs. 15 crore per day on sale of petrol. Together with local taxes, the hike needed to level domestic rates with international prices is about Rs. 3 per litre," a top government official had said on Wednesday.

What an awesome & "amazingly" clear explanation for the hike! I hardly understand what that "top" government official is trying to convey!

All I can understand is that our natural resources are depleting at alarming rate.Though we educated people know the consequence of this we seldom do anything about it.

To begin with,how many of use the public transport services?!

I know! I can hear you complaining that the public transport service is not good enough & at times not comfortable enough.

Then I ask is the traffic situation "good" enough for you?!

Honestly evading through the traffic at TNagar(especially during the festival season) & many such arterial areas is the biggest challenge one can ever face.

I'd use the public transport happily any day! Why take unnecessary tension of navigating my way out of that damn traffic jam?! Moreover its highly annoying to keep honking & hear that sound! Why get all tired & sweat like a pig ( for the poor two wheeler riders) & then have a sore back after reaching the destination finally (like that scene where Rajinikanth & Goundamani come out after getting tickets for a movie in the film Mannan!)

The Traffic block at T.Nagar

Traffic jam at Anna Saalai

Kathipara junction traffic jam

Another common complaint that I hear is that the buses & trains are crowded during the "peak" hours.I don't get this "peak hours" concept at all!!!

Agreed most of the schools & offices have the same working hours which obviously causes this rush. Why does every one have to reach their destination DOT ON TIME?! Why not 5 to 10 min EARLIER?! I know people who take the same bus daily on that particular time only to reach their destination on time.Why not take the earlier one?!

( I know what you are thinking! Hardly we are punctual & reach  our destination on time! reaching that damn place earlier is next to impossible isn't it?!!! )

There are this other category of people who are simply lazy even to walk to the nearby shop.They hop on their vehicles & speed away. Consequence -Petrol waste,traffic jams & a sore back(Come on folks! stop being this lazy!)

The other most common scene in any road is the "totally" masked rider. Especially us female folks.Its out of pure compulsion to keep our face & hair in a proper condition & prevent the pollution from harming us,that we have to mask it completely like a burglar!I know a friend of mine who spends nearly 10 minutes putting on all her masks ( the long gloves, the head gear & the dupatta to cover her face completely leaving out her eyes) & another 10 minutes removing all that!Why do all this?! Using the train of the bus might reduce the need for us to be completely masked.

Burglar on run?! Oh no! its a lady trying to protect herself from the pollution!

I finally chew in my fodder by concluding that stop barking about the hike in prices of petrol. Instead think of  the alternatives!Use the public transport more frequently & WALK short distances ( It'll at least reduce the ever increasing waist line of the lazy & give some exercise for the couch potatoes!)

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#3 : Corruption-o'-mania

A recent argument with a friend of mine who thinks to support the Jan Lokapal bill one ( Me in particular!) must participate in the various Anti-Corruption campaigns spread across the country,sparked me to write this post.

First what exactly is this Jan Lokpal bill?! For all those ignorant people who still don't know what the whole country is heatedly debating about please go hit this website http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/lokpal.html (Its High time you know what all people around you are talking about!)

For those of us who know what it is all about - Welcome to the Debate of the century!(Debate for the ruling government & not for simplistic citizens like us! We are pretty clear about what we want!)

I strongly believe in a fact that we are the main reason for corrupting many people in this country.How many of us have paid those few "EXTRA" bucks to get a driving license or a passport or may be even a cinema ticket ( I can proudly tell I have done none of the above! Never watched a movie with black ticket & neither do I  have a driving license nor do I drive a vehicle without one!) How many of us have escaped form getting a parking offense ticket or a rash driving ticket by paying that traffic police a 100 bucks!?!! Yet we talk about politicians being corrupt! what an irony!!! Its we who have corrupted the entire nation by bending rules to our comfort!

Like the famous adage " Charity begins at Home", its must be " Anti- corruption Begins at home" ( or something like that which conveys the essence of anti-corruption movement!) If we stop giving they would stop taking!

Its not required that one must go sit in a fast or join the candle campaign to show their support to the Jan Lokpal draft. If we simply do our civic duties properly half the problem is solved! The rest of the problem can be very well taken care by the Lokapal bill. 

Stop this!

 

& for those who still take bribes we must follow this....

 

Vettu ya vettu!!!!

PS: This is my opinion only! After all we are entitled to have opinions!

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#2 : The Foodie

This post is the result of a "Group Discussion" that we friends had for our placements & training session. It was one of the best sessions ever ( Thanks to the topic - "Multi cuisine Vs. single cuisine restaurants ").

That was the day that I realized how many foodies were there around me. I certainly wouldn't claim to be a foodie ( Its a common misconception that slightly " Healthy " people like me are almost certainly foodies!)

Indians today have become through foodies.Whenever I decide to eat out in a restaurant I end up waiting for a table. Gone are the days when Hotels would have boards advertising their menus so as to attract people's attention & tempt their taste buds.

The concept of Home made food is being replaced by Fast foods. I had this "foodie" conversation with a long time friend of mine-Aruna.Just 3 days into her Post grad course she knows what kind of food is available nearby her college. 3 years in  college & I hardly know any good eateries near my college. Leave alone knowing what kind of food is available!

 

We have become too lazy to hit the kitchen & cook for ourselves. The intelligent folks have made full use of this fact & started variety of restaurants & got in to the manufacturing of array of ready to eat products.

I found it very surprising that almost all the main road in our city at least have in good Dine-in which seems to be filled with ever hungry crowd at any given point of the day.

Though eating out gives you a chance to break your monotonic menu, it isn't always isn't healthy. Even the best of the restaurants can leave your tummy upset & give you a bulging waist line if you eat out daily.

 

Whatever it is there is no match to the home cooked food! Ask the poor people who stay away from home & live out of these diners. Trust me! I have that experience. I had gone to an inplant training to Ariyalur, TN in a cement factory. I got star a accommodation & equally good food service. I found it super the first day.But as days progressed I got sick of that food. The day I came back home & had yummy yummy home cooked food, it felt like heaven! Whatever "The foodies" say! Home cooked food (especially cooked by someone else other than You!) is the best!

P.S: Foodies in this post meant people who like to eat out a lot. Not the folks who "SURVIVE TO EAT " ( The kind of people who simply eat a lot be it home cooked or from a restaurant!)

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#1 : Travel by public transport : the plight & the joy

I know the title just seems to be contradicting. But then that's how i find it!

I decided to use the public transport to get to college instead of shelling out 13,000 bucks for the college bus (after all i didn't have another option given that getting myself a two wheeler is a distant dream! leave alone using it to commute daily!). At first i found the travel rather annoying. Thanks to my general weak sense of balance & lack of experience in traveling anything crowded! I clearly needed to master the "ART OF STANDING WITHOUT LOOSING MY BALANCE" in a damn crowded bus when the driver brakes.

I also was thoroughly terrified by the crowded bus for the first 10 days probably thanks to few cheap species of the mankind who derive pleasure by assaulting the poor women folk by doing all sorts of unmanly things like tripping over "By mistake". I still don't understand the need for the such an animal behavior!

I very vividly remember my first day of college this year. I was getting back home from college after a long hectic day filled with 'SOUND' advice from my professors for my last year in college. I had to carry home a bag full of big books that would qualify as pillows. The worst part- I didn't get a seat in the bus :( I had to balance my own weight & the bag's weight). A decent looking guy came out of nowhere & stood behind me. He literally started breathing down on my neck. Initially i didn't complain as the bus was too crowded...what would the poor guy do... As bus plied through I started to feel uncomfortable. The stench was unbearable.I realized the guy was drunk. Obviously he was not in his senses. I somehow managed to move away from him bu the bus got even more crowded. I simply prayed to god that i shouldn't puke in bus itself. To my relief the bus was just 2 stops away from my stop.The lady standing next to me realized my plight & gave that drunk idiot a piece of her mind. My god! I didn't have the guts to do that! I got down from the bus & thanked god for making sure I didn't puke & for sending such an "Iron" lady!

After all this I thought my travel was going to be nightmare filled with obnoxious species of the humankind. But things kind of changed. I started to look at the other things. The kids that carry very heavy bags & chatter non stop, the poor conductor fellow shouting for the people to move inside the bus, the comical college crowd that comes in & make fun of the conductor. These few things kind of compensate for the all the negatives.

Bus travel can at times really be annoying & at the same time leave you with a lot of good memories( funny memories if u travel with a bunch of friends!) 

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