~ Reflections ~

I understand a person's urge to do certain things.. to scratch and itch.. to click fingers.... to crack their knuckles... I get all that..  But I somehow can't seem to get over this urge hoards of people seem to have to grab a drink on Friday night to unwind....  Don't get me wrong, I am not against the idea of relaxing with friends over food and drinks.. but the primary objective always remains catching up... catching up isn't the excuse ! But now, Friday nights have been presenting a new nightmare... it is the jam close to our place thanks to a new 'state owned' liquor shop.... Every Friday, the place crowds up like there is no tomorrow... needless to say the joy in parking their vehicles inorder to successfully block all traffic.... I wonder what is the basis of these licenses the government doles out licenses for such liquor stores. There are already 3 such stores in a 2 km radius, and this is not including the 'sophisticated' wine selling ...

We Delhites are born critiques...  you place in front of them even Michelangelo's David, and you'll find them commenting about the tall height and hair too curly.... Scepticism seems to be inborne... like second nature to all of us... Which is why I have decided to make an earnest request.. to a all those residing in the capital... to keep their extraordinary pessimistic thought process aside, and try and abide by the new rules being set to improve traffic, and effectively reduce pollution... We might talk about insufficient public transport, overcrowded metros, unsafe roads... the list is endless... but for once, keep all the thoughts aside, and try, just try, to make it work... Use odd for odd and even for even.. carpool... use public transport... cycle... walk.... But just try.... not because some Kejriwal has the courage to do something radical... but simply because we need to... 

India seems to have pulled off the Commonwealth Games just in time & quite successfully at that, despite all the criticism about the leaking bathrooms and the broken bridges. But the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that, we lacked not in organization skill. The flaw in the scheme of things is at 2 very basic levels. Firstly, for a developing country like India (ya ya, I know, we hate to hear it... but we definitely are still in the league of developing nations... we have miles to go before we can call ourselves developed !!!), to have  budgeted  INR 16.2 Billion for the event, and to have finally spent an obnoxious INR  115 Billion on sports facilities and related infrastructure. The intention is not to hurt the sentiments of any sports enthusiasts who finally have good tennis courts to play in.. But in a country where simple amenities like hospitals, schools are unavailable/too expensive for over 50% of the population; it is sheer ex...