Taxis on strike

Day before yesterday, I was happy. No taxis or autos on the road. The roads were a bliss to drive on. Yesterday, it took me 2 hours to cover the distance which I traveled in 45 mins day before yesterday. It only makes me say again, that taxi and auto drivers are also responsible for the traffic snarls. They have no respect for lanes, for signals, for vehicles behind them. They will slow down the last lane, trying to get customers, will make sudden lane changes. Autos with their ease of turning even the steepest turns care a damn of giving the signals also. Now in the morning, I have heard that they are going on strike again since their demands have not been met. Looking forward for another snarl free road. Chief Minister sir....please delay the meeting with them, we will get one more day of bliss.

The so called experts

With the markets falling down, "experts" are saying this is the best time to buy. What makes me laugh is that they were the same people who were shouting at the their loudest during the Jan 2008 falls, that now is the best time to buy.

So if that was the best time to buy, what will be the current time called? In India, we always play with vocabulary and say "bestest". And say if we fall further, then what will that time be called. I am waiting to hear them at that time too.

Taxis off the road

It was a bliss....trust me. With over 55000 cabs and equal amount of rickshaws off the road on 16th of October, traffic was so smooth. No parallel parking on the roads by these people for picking up customers, no drastic lane changing, no driving slowly to pick up customers.AHHHH...it was lovely. Hope they go on strike again soon.:)

A Wife's Poem

Technology

Telecommunications has advanced so much and is touching lives of even a small laborer. Today you will find even the person who comes for your  household work carrying a mobile. One can just go into any shop nowadays, give ones papers, and get a SIM card activated in a few minutes.

Cut to 2o years back. Getting a telephone line in your house was a privilege. Waiting period was years and years. Arrival of phone in the house was greeted by the entire household as well as by the neighbors. In some cases there used to be just one phone in the entire building. People used to give their neighbors numbers to their friends and relatives. And those who had the connections were more than happy to call their neighbors if a call was received. Sometimes, the caller used to disconnect the phone or a fixed time was always predecided. While waiting for the call, the two neighbors used to share a hot cup of tea or coffee, with hot snacks over a lot of gossip about the other neighbors. Particularly since the entire conversation was being overheard by the person with the phone, gossip rarely died down.

Outstation conversations were heard all over the building. People used to shout down the phone, as if their voices were traveling around the world. The entire neighborhood would come to know that an outstation call has been made or received. Everybody used to share each others happiness or grief.

Today neighbors dont even have each others telephone numbers. Each house has a telephone. Technology doesn't make people shout over long distance calls anymore. Infact lovers can even whisper sweet nothings to each other without missing even a single word.

Television also had the same effect. Initially a privileged few had TV sets. Evenings used be a get-together for everybody in the building to see "Chitrahar" or the weekly favorite "Saptahiki". But then TV was available to everybody. Then came the video. Not everybody had a video cassette player. Movies were always a joint fun. But with new age devices, costs started coming down. It was available to everybody.

Technology has been a boon for everybody but it has also increased the distance between people.

The latest example of technology being a boon but increasing the distance is the INTERNET. Going to each others houses is no more on the cards. Social networking sites are enough. You can wish each other on Facebook, Orkut, and many other such sites. Whats the use of going to anybodies house when you can see what is happening in others lives, just by one click. It has its benefits, no doubt....It has made people who are staying at greater distances...say different countries...interact....but at the same time, the general tendency is... do we need to visit?