The Train Friend

Travelling in Mumbai is one of the ardous tasks for the commuters be it in trains or buses especially in the dreaded Rush Hour. It’s always as if we have no time for any person and every person is interested or let’s say self-centered that he/she seeks the best and comfortable way to commute the distance between the place of residence to the place of work. Most people prefer to catch a particular train and therein lies the magic of bonding between people.
You tend to meet the same set of people amidst the same preferred compartment of the train and a casual smile of recognition is shared with persons apparently with similar traits and personalities.
This however is short term and long term friendships are a rarity as one is susceptible to change his work place and also the mode of travel.
I like many others always travelled solo with the commuting distance barely touching 15 kms.and hardly ever interacting with fellow travelers.
Circa 2009: A group comprising of 6/7 people used to come in the 7.32 local train and exchange words of wisdom amongst themselves and the decibel level used to soar like anything with their loud bouts of laughter. Slowly I too got used to the chatter box attitude and one of the guys named Shwetal introduced himself to me and the other people in the group. The amalgamation with them was so smooth that within a few months I thought we were all childhood friends. Every one used to look forward to the early morning friendly banter and within no time the group had over 14 very active members.
Somehow 5/6 people ventured out later due to time constraints and other reasons best known to themselves.
Shwetal however made it a point and ensured that all like minded members meet atleast once a month to share and express their views and pleasantries. He used his pep talk to motivate others and encouraged positive thinking whenever he sensed something was amiss in someone’s life.
Shwetal quit his job in 2010 March and went on to do business of his own. The morning banters suddenly became less vivid and chirpy without his effervescence but he ensured that we meet at one's own convenience once in a while.We got acquainted with each other families and even they were surprised that this Friendship- trail was started in a local train.
In March 2012 twin tragedies struck – I lost my mother and Shwetal his sister. Shwetal’s sister succumbed to Lung fibrosis. Perhaps destiny had something more sinister rolled up in its dirty sleeves.
In Jan 2013 Shwetal suddenly used to feel weak and tired and remained confined to his residence more often. Travelling even a short distance would take a heavy toll.The initial reports showed nothing but doctors were appalled of the dwindling capacity of his lungs which were rapidly losing their basic function. His sister too had showed similar symptoms earlier. The dreaded DNA factor in the family perhaps had begun its ugly game.
Dec 2014- It was a double whammy. Shwetal’s wife was diagnosed with acute leukemia and chemo was being given to halt any progress of the dreaded disease. Jan 2014- Shwetal could barely speak and was in and out of Hospital. We were looking for a miracle and hoped that his positive approach would win the battle against all odds.
27th February – Shwetal all of 48 years,left his family-his aging mother, an ailing wife and 2 smart level headed kids and a brother not to forget all of us -his beloved TRAIN friends.
There were no words to express as between us we desperately contacted one another to gather for one last glimpse of Shwetal and consoling his loved ones. His lifeless body was serene and calm perhaps totally exhausted from the vicious allopathic medicines that were gulped down, the artificial oxygen that was pumped into it and the mental anguish of his wife’s fragile health that was perhaps eating into him.

Coming back from the electric crematorium, for a moment I wished I never had met shwetal in my life so I could not have felt so lonely and forlorn on that mournful and unpleasant day when we lost him.
There is a place for cremating the dead on wooden pyres too at the place where I saw 3 more bodies consigned to the flames. Death is inevitable which we all know but only when we lose a close person do we realize the importance of time which is very short and ticking away merrily and no one knows how much time do we have at our own disposal..

Time has come to move ahead forgetting the grief of losing a close pal like Shwetal who lived life on his own terms never ever complaining or discussing anything affecting his life at any point of time. He always had a positive approach even when his health was failing on him and I personally think that never at any point of time did he even contemplate in his wildest dreams that the shadows of death were lurking amidst his cheerful and sparkling desire to live.
Though his heart wanted to continue,his lungs took away his breath eventually choking him and us in grief.
His family respecting his last wish donated his eyes and skin and thus Shwetal continues to live on bringing cheer to those unidentified recipients of his sensory organs.

We all know that Shwetal is breathing a lot more freely now and is in a ‘’better world’’ free of all human bondage and all earthly pressures.

RIP – Shwetal and thanks for all the sweet albeit, short memories that we had toghether.We will certainly cherish the fond moments spent with you..We will continue with your prized ‘’Train Trails’’ as you called it missing your short gasped laughs and witty comments!!

The Perfect Murder

Arushi Talwar a bright 13 year old kid was found murdered in her apartment on the night of 15th May 2008 in NOIDA, India .A day later the body of Hemraj who worked as a servant in the Talwar’s household was found on the terrace. Arushi’s parents who were present in the house when the double murder took place were the initial suspects as the door was locked from inside and there were no signs of any forced entry into their house. The CBI swung into action gathering all bits and pieces of information, collecting evidences and interrogating friends and relatives of the Talwars. Days turned into months but neither the motive for the gruesome murders could be established nor any circumstantial evidence found nailing the killers.
The CBI reluctantly gave their report to the court that it would be closing the case as ‘’unsolved’’ due to lack of any concrete proof and making no headway whatsoever in pursuing a ‘lost’ case which was akin to putting a spanner in their works .The Court forced the CBI to have a re-look into the case which already had hit the headlines with the entire country demanding justice for young Arushi albeit posthumously.

A series of narco, brain mapping and lie detector tests were conducted on Rajesh and NupurTalwar in which the father /mother duo came out unscathed. All methods of breaking them down psychologically by barraging them into questions in separate rooms for hours on end too did not materialize.
Outside the court every person put forward their own hypothesis and majority concluded that Arushi was found in a compromising position with their servant and the parents hit her fatally in the heat of the moment killing her and after realizing that their only child was dead brutally killed their servant as well.
We are no one to judge and character assasinate a kid with such illogical and baseless allegations.A section of the media too played a mean part in projecting such deplorable liasions.
This hypothesis though very vague and arbitrary in nature gathered support amongst the masses and the police too towed this figment of imagination and prevailed on the court to make their final decision based on this CRUDE theory.

Based on the evidences given by the friends and relatives of the Talwar family it was very much evident that it was a small, content and a happy family filled with ample love and affection for everyone in their midst. Even if the child was killed in the heat of the moment by the father,sustained interrogations would have broken one of them at least the mother, who unilaterally would have come out of denial and confessed to killing their only progeny.
The most surprising thing which occurred at the Talwars household is the Police could not locate the body of Hemraj when it scouted the entire house for any leads after Arushi was found murdered.
The police also later claimed that there were total of 7 people in the house when the murders took place. The Servant’s quarter was inside the house and access in/out of the house was possible from here.This vital piece of evidence was not considered at the time of final evaluation and the eventual verdict.
Who were they and why were they not interrogated? Lot of other questions went abegging as well.
The assailants underwent a pain staking effort and managed to clean up the area and wipe off crucial evidences leaving minimal traces for the police to act upon.
This case is too twisted and either the murder is a very well executed one- The Perfect Murder or the police have botched it up miserably and let the real culprits escape by not gathering enough evidences in the shortest possible time span earlier on.

The Mid-Day Horror Story

Horror as shown in films or depicted in books since time immemorial has always been associated or programmed to strike terror in viewers at MID-NIGHT.

 People in Chhapra, a city in the saran district of Bihar were traumatized and froze with fear and helplessness ironically not at the dreaded mid-night but at a very earthly mid-day hour which spelt an agonizing death to 22 innocent kids. The kids had just finished their mid-day meal satisfying their hunger pangs amidst laughter, chattering and discussing their plans for the day when they started having acute stomach pains along with a severe bout of vomiting spells. The school administration as usual had no clue to this and some of the kids were rushed o a nearby medical centre which locals claim had no facilities to handle this crisis. The nearest hospital was a good 50kms away and the kids were unceremoniously shoved into ‘slower than snail ‘public transport and the crucial time to give a life-saving antidote was lost and the lives of the kids too perished along with it.

The state administration instead of minimizing or mitigating the affected people worked over time in the media to defend itself in face of the opposition party’s onslaught against it. The opposition parties sensing the opportunity got enough ammunition to provoke arsonists and anti social elements who started burning and pelting stones at vehicles. This unruly and pathetic behavior of these crooks resulted in roads being blocked and denial of emergency first aid to many of the afflicted kids who by then were writhing in agony.

It is preposterous to state that this deed was pre-planned to get at the state govt. administration with the 2014 elections round the corner. We all know that the quality of the food served at mid may meals in many states are of inferior quality and barely edible. Poor parents are forced to send their wards to such schools in the sincere hope that their kids can have the LUXURY of eating at least one square meal a day. It was heart rending to quote one affected parent who said’’- it would have been better that my son to be a living illiterate than being a dead literate ’’.  

The head master of the school is on the run and the law will catch up with him/her sooner or later. Precious lives have been lost because of the callous attitude on part of both, the school and the govt. authorities in charge of providing the ration rather it’s a cold blooded homicide. The affected families have been scarred forever and perhaps never come out of this unanticipated traumatic sludge hitting them.

Compensating deaths in event of a tragedy has become a mere ritual in India. The Chief minister quickly sanctioned a couple of lacs as a stand by measure to the aggrieved family. This money is gouged out of the tax payers kitty which is needed for developmental projects in the country. One of the Prime reasons for remaining in the ‘’developing country ‘’ mode is the lack of finance needed to implement capital intensive projects.

 Eventually time will heal and erase these dreaded memories. Remedies and measures to ward off such avoidable tragedies in the future must be put in place.

What has gone will never come back but the authorities all over the country can certainly take this tragedy as a wake- up call and infuse confidence building measures amongst both the students and their parents by striving to provide healthy and carefully prepared wholesome nutritious packed food along with the education to the under-privileged and bridge the ever widening chasm existing between the haves and the have-nots.  

The Cess Mess

Cess is another word for tax or rather it is a sort of surcharge (tax on tax).

Generally cess is levied when the authorities have to extract funds and channelize the same to the desired areas so that the benefit accrues to the intended extent.

The BEST (the state approved transport provider for Mumbai region) during the 1971 war with Pakistan at the behest of the Govt. authorities enforced a cess of 5 Paisa on the existing ticket rate to finance the war operations and support the Indian Army. The People didn’t object to the levy as it was in the Country’s interest. The 1971 war ended in a mere 17 days. Forty one years has passed and the cess is still in force and ironically it has been hiked arbitrarily to 15 paisa and no questions have been asked so far about this as the amount seems miniscule. Multiply this by the lakhs of daily passengers and the no. of years and you would be gazing at an astronomical figure. 

The service tax was introduced in the year 1994 in India and service providers were bought within its ambit to mop up additional and substantial revenue. The Service providers shifted this tax on the buyers of the service and the rate was fixed initially@10%. This rate has shifted up and down by a couple of percentage points as per the whims and fancies of the successive finance ministers.

A surcharge on Service ax followed as the additional cess was collected in the name of ‘’funding’’ education across the country.    

No one is aware, where and how the cess collected in the name of education is allocated? The interesting part here to note is while the allocation part of the budget is on the downside yet the earnings for the Govt. through such wily taxation policies is steadily increasing.

The Schools in the urban areas boasts some of the most modern facilities though the same is ostensibly limited to the elite few who can afford the luxury of being able to squeeze in, courtesy of they being born with a Silver Spoon. These Urban Schools indulges in providing ’’ VIRTUAL   EDUCATION’’ to its students while the rural folks have to bear with the VIRTUAL ‘’disappearance’’ of the teachers (though they manage to get full salaries), ill-lit roofless classrooms, filthy and stinking toilets and dilapidated benches.  

The Mid- day meal schemes for school children launched amid great fanfare has failed to live up to its expectations with Children being fed with inferior quality grains and on some occasions superior grade grains have been siphoned off to lucrative counters.

Despite the collection in cess in various sectors no one has witnessed any marked improvement which provides testimony to the misappropriation and rampant embezzlement that has been taking place on account of the levy because of the unaccountability factor associated with it.

Some of the Cess collected in our Country from various sources sounds bizarre :

1)Cess on Coffee /Coffee act 1942

This cess is charged towards development of Coffee boards.

2)Cess on dried copra/Copra cess Act 1979

This Cess is charged towards development of Coconut industry.

3)Cess on Jute /Jute mfg Cess Act 1983

This cess goes towards developing the Jute industry.

4)Cess on Sugar /Sugar Cess Act 1982

This too goes towards developing the Sugar Industry. I am surprised that the SUGAR industry is yet getting developed. The Sugar lobby in the western Maharashtra region which controls the sugar pricing for the Indian Union is too affluent, modernized.

5)Cess on Coal/Coal mining Act 1974  

 The cess would be solely utilized to improve the safety of mines and conservation of the depleting Coal

reserves.

To sum up, the levying of cess has outlived its meaning and the documentation part which is required to show the records of the sum collected and apportioned eats into the funds because of surging overheads associated with the upkeep.

The intention of publishing this is to make people aware of the nefarious ways in which huge sums are collected from the nonchalant tax payers with the sole intention of harassing them and fulfilling their own sly desires. 

I would like to express my token thanks to my friend and Colleague Nihal for providing me with inputs, relating to the wrong application of cess and particularly the mess in the education policies in our Country.

Reacting Nuclearly on Kudankulam

The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, erstwhile Russia in 1986 and the recent Fukushima Daiichi disaster at Japan in 2011 has raised alarms and concerns about the safety standards of nuclear reactors especially when these sensitive and radioactive structures are threatened or triggered by natural disasters. The state of the art automated systems designed to curb the nuclear fission whenever things go awry have a limited capacity to stem the rot as no one can win against the vagaries of nature.

Japan is the only country which has experienced the terrible after effects of the nuclear holocaust in 1945.One of the most gruesome and telling tragedy willingly inflicted on the human race till date, and which has been effectively projected on celluloid is very gripping and takes a lot of heart to muster courage and view the ghastly aftermath.

The portrayal is so strong that one feels the pain, heat and the numbness that affected the unsuspecting victims 67 years back.

Japan is sitting on a Virtual time bomb and is ever on the tenterhooks because of the alarming regularity of seismic disturbances often accompanied by ‘complimentary’ tsunamis. The tenacity of the unassuming Japanese to bounce back though adulatory is often cut back by the forces of nature who tries to emphatically assert ‘’who is the boss’’.

The Fukushima nuclear power plant had been built adhering to stringent preventive measures to withstand any accidents but the gigantic tsunami which ultimately ravaged it was not at all contemplated. The Pictures of the devastation was widely seen all over the world thanks to the Satellite television that has invaded the privacy of our living rooms.

 Kudankulam in the state of Tamil Nadu has been in the news after a mass protest against the Construction of the Nuclear power reactor turned ugly and violent after 2 persons were killed in Police action. This reactor has been built incorporating the dicey and unreliable Soviet technology.

 The Chernobyl disaster happened because of lack of alertness and proper safety regulations in place, questionable and accident prone technology and indifference of the stone faced communist bureaucrats whose sole agenda was to ‘’outmanoeuvre the NATO’’ to gain a strategic advantage as a Super power.

 The disaster management Cell in India is worse than the malady itself. We all know about the dismal and pathetic behavior of the authorities during the Bhopal Gas Leak, in 1984. Many of the victims died because of the improper and erratic health care doled out to them.

 God forbid and should any uncontrolled nuclear fission occur in any of our reactors the gushing kinetic energy along with the gamma rays would obliterate everything in its path for generations considering the eternal radioactive chain reaction.

The rising discontent against the Proposed reactor has prompted the authorities to come out with ridiculous and startling allegations like ‘’foreign NGO’s’’ are actively foraging and willfully sabotaging this nuclear power project.

Instead of playing with the innocent lives of the people, wouldn’t it be fair if a greener and cleaner option of renewable energy is given preference than to a precarious piece of radioactive junk forever hovering over our conscience and willing to burst at the seams any moment??.

Unfortunately all this comes up for discussion when the whole project is nearing completion and after colossal investment in such Capital intensive projects.

     

Autonomy for States??

India is a country replete with diverse and myriad cultures and multilingual languages, dialects & interests inter lapping the terra firma amongst the varied topography of the vast sub continent.

The division of the country on the basis of languages was conceptualized in 1956 when  the state of Andhra Pradesh was formally born after the death of P.Sreeramalu who succumbed after fasting and the then PM, Nehru reluctantly agreed to the formation of the new state. This played on the minds of others who too began demanding separate states on the basis of linguistic grounds and this marked the beginning of the end or let us say-disintegration for this land mass called ‘’India’’.

We see ample differences on a/c of regionalism- instigating and inciting the natives or locals over trivial issues against – Supposed OUTSIDERS (people from other states). The craze of Cricket and Cinema signals a brief hiatus to this unending frenzy of hatred and mistrust which raises its head every now and then causing unending hardships besides causing insurmountable damage to life and property.

 Nearly 565 princely states existed even after the formal partition of India and Pakistan took place in 1947. The iron man of India Vallabhai Patel was instrumental in integrating and uniting the scattered and fragmented heart and souls plus curbing the shattered egos of the erstwhile princes.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been facing acute pressure since its accession to the Indian union in 1947 where it is experiencing insurgency and militancy with tacit logistical support provided by the Pakistan Army.

 We take umbrage whenever the state of Jammu and Kashmir is shown as disputed territory but our own govt. formulates differential laws for our FORCIBLY unified country. The state has been accorded a special status which confers the Central Govt. to act only on matters relating to defence, external affairs and communication that too within a limited scope. Almost every other law which applies to the Indian Union is NOT APPLICABLE to the state of J&K. Article 370 which was invoked during the pre- accession days should have been scrapped long back but appeasement of the minorities has prevented the successive govts. from taking this retrograde and logical step.

Why should the rest of the Country (tax payers hard earned money) pay for the development of a region which is supposedly not ‘’theirs’’???

A Citizen of India cannot purchase any immoveable property in J&K but the vice-versa doesn’t hold water. Billions of dollars have gone down the drain, countless lives has been lost in trying to hold on to this SLIPPERY state. It is better to let the people of J&K decide on their fate through plebiscite.

The White Paper released by the Govt. in 1948 on J&K has yet to see the light of the day. The ‘’White’’ Paper must have tuned ‘’YELLOW’’ after all these years in isolation and solitude rather than the presence of lignin in them.

It may seem ridiculous and this blog may even attract charges of sedition as per the existing norms and our archaic laws but perhaps the time has come for granting a similar autonomy to all the states within the Indian union. The Central govt. should retain the right to enforce defence, core banking and monetary issues and at most perform an arbitrary role to resolve disputes.

The states can deal with smaller regions and resolve issues within the ambit of a revised constitution and compete with one another for a healthy overall growth.  The state should have first lien on the natural resources within the territory of the state enabling it either to use it first hand or sell the surplus outside. The Centre has made enough mess of mining both by indiscriminately ruining hectares of flora and fauna and allocating lucrative blocks to vested interests courtesy, nepotism.

The innumerable people who dedicated their entire life to achieve freedom might be turning in their graves even contemplating whether the titanic struggle was worth the effort. Those at the helm of affairs have belied, betrayed and throttled the faith, expectation and aspirations of millions by sustained

policies and procedures which are manipulative, coercive and obsolete. 

War and Peace

The Global arms industry is doing a roaring business despite the economic slowdown which has dented and obliterated the economies of countries across the board. The melting economic scenario is in perfect synch with the polar ice cap meltdown at the poles. The European countries perhaps with the bare exception of Germany, are struggling to stay afloat in the swirling malaise of unemployment, uncertainty coupled with ever depreciating currencies and north bound inflation.

As per the records maintained by SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) India is the largest importer of arms accounting for about 10% of world sales- as per volume.(Obviously there could be another reason that the percentage of Kick backs involved in arms deal has prompted these figures to snowball considerably).Arch rival Pakistan is not far behind. The amount of money spent by these two on developmental projects in their respective countries would have yielded a far better result than the bitter enmity that has prevailed since 1947.Economic conditions have remained stagnant for a majority of the population but the Govt. of both countries want to slug it out by procuring the latest and most potent technology. Vested interests and sly business marketing by the sellers (USA,UK, Israel and France) however have seen to it that the acrimonious and rancid behavior between the neighbors stay intact. The irony is after providing fuel to the fire these  zealots come armed with hose pipes (in the name of various aids and consortiums) to douse the flames they themselves have ignited.

Middle east countries like Saudi Arabia has been duped and deceived into purchasing high top end military equipment citing growing Israeli dominance within its proximity. The annual budgeted expenditure is well over 50 billion dollars. It is hilarious to note that the Saudis had to get Pakistani pilots at short notice to man their aircrafts for a while till their own Countrymen got the necessary expertise.

There is a single track motive for the countries who sell arms to developing countries(prevent it from getting ‘’DEVELOPED’’) to wedge animosity and create hostile conditions between warring neighbors, create a war like atmosphere by providing huge cache of arms in lieu of securing permanent air-bases in the region, sabotaging any bid to ease tensions in areas of high economic and intrinsic value (Oil rich Middle East) or planting themselves in places of strategic importance concerning or affecting global trade (Suez & Panama Canal, the Persian Gulf etc).     

The World could have been a much better place to live in had the countries indulging in mass production of these destructive state of the art weaponry chosen to halt this sabotage and channelized the same resources (both men and materials) into evolving technology to breed new machines which could give more yield in agriculture, could reduce carbon emission, create alternative means of clean and green fuel, provide new clan of polymers which would be bio degradable etc. The amount of money invested in R&D to manufacture these unwarranted means of killing machine alone could help correct the imbalance in severely impoverished countries like Somalia, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Ethiopia where Civil unrest is the order of the day with rival factions often backed by western countries for their own self centered motive. The economic disparities and severe food scarcity has aggravated the situation often leading to a free for all which is manipulated by the protagonists of arms to suit their evil design of spreading violence and hatred.