Words and Spaces – are not for free!

It’s strange but I have become allergic to words - ‘spoken words’ to be precise. Every now and then, a chatter here and a mutter there makes me a little less sane. Even seemingly harmless lyrics of a song are enough to drive me up the wall. Instrumental music is surely the saviour.
I “shift a little more” in my already cluttered metro bench since we the people, believe in not wasting even the slightest speck of space - “Hey, I see that millimetre of space hiding beneath your dupatta. So, you better shift young lady!” Yes, suddenly you feel as if the sex ratio has actually improved. But don’t be mistaken. It’s just the new ladies coach. This coach is of course a boon but you can’t help missing that “ladies first” feeling. Afterall, ladies don’t offer their seats the way men do! (more on that special coach, later) Sitting pretty with my earphones (listening to instrumental music, what else did you think?) I get transported to a different world altogether. The whole scenery of people coming in and going out every 2 minutes or so becomes less disturbing, and the tiresome journey becomes like a walk in the heaven. “But hey, I’m too restless.” So, I fish out my novel, as I avoid bumping my elbow into the nearby lady. Soon after, I get dissolved in the world of written words.

I don’t hear anything. I don’t speak anything. And my 30-minute sojourn comes to a peaceful end.

It's No Sanctuary

Times of India, Feb 16, 2010


Once upon a time a king built a dam to save his flooded city. The dam inadvertently left a depression, forming shallow lakes and turned the area into wetland. Little did he know that in a few centuries it would become an arid wasteland. This isn't some fable, but the story of Rajasthan's Bharatpur bird sanctuary. Renamed Keoladeo National Park, it is home to about 300 bird species. Once a haven for migratory birds, today it wears a deserted look. Reason? Scarcity of water has literally sapped the soul of this sanctuary. The extent of the damage wasn't clear until one saw it for oneself. I visited the park recently and was disappointed to find the boating area closed. On enquiry i discovered that the area that now looks like a piece of barren land once bubbled with water. So what led to this drastic change? Turns out that the lake was supplied water by the Ajan dam, but things changed after the Panchana dam was built a few years ago.

Panchana dam, situated about 100 km away, is now the major source of water for this place. But politics and agitations have played spoilsport. A war of sorts has broken out between the birds and humans. The villagers of Kaurali district, who use the dam water for farming, do not wish to part with it as they fear it would harm their livelihood. On the contrary, reports suggest that the dam has enough water to cater to both. But the war is still on with no sign of peace in the near future. The Rajasthan government decided to launch the Govardhan drain project, which would derive water from the Yamuna to keep both the parties happy. One wonders that with hardly any water in the Yamuna for Delhiites, how will the poor birds get a share of the pie? And true to form, the state government has been sitting on the money allocated for the project for over a year now. Though tenders for the project were floated in September, they were cancelled without reason. Who knows we might have to wait till our leaders call a pundit for a muhurat. Meanwhile, UNESCO has, after several warnings, threatened to revoke the World Heritage Site status accorded to the sanctuary if things don't change. I can't predict if that will matter; but for the time being, let's enjoy the site of neelgais and deer, for birds here are hard to spot.

How To Make Friends

Times of India, Feb 2, 2010

Reading a news report about a fake friendship club being busted brought back an old memory. I was barely six. My friends and i were afraid of this stout girl who used to walk like a strict headmistress. Her fury was such that we lived in perennial fear of being abused, physically and mentally. I decided then to devise a counteraction plan. I put forward my yellow rose proposal at an opportune time and moment. She was initially sceptical. But, as one recounted to her the merits of such an alliance, she gradually came around. I forged my first 'fake friendship' in that moment, and it made me think deeply about the idea of a fake friendship and the various ways in which we befriend people. Why, first of all, does the need for forming such a pact arise? When do we need to make a 'fake friend'? It so happens that when we are emotionally weak or have something to gain from that so-called friend, we indulge in fake friendships.

Fake friends are all around us. From praising the canteenwallah bhaiya in exchange of those cups of free chai to greeting the head of the administrative department with a wide smile in order to get work done faster, we weave a web of pretensions around us all the time. And, of course, a few words of kindness exchanged with the librarian also help waive that 100-rupee fine. It is not just the real world that has been plagued by this syndrome; the virtual world is increasingly following in its footsteps. Recently, an Australian company called uSocial began selling fake friends on social networking sites. Come to think of it, a thousand friends for 125 pounds is not a bad deal. The latest Oxford University study, however, might get you caught. It says the human brain can only manage 150 friends at a time. So, soon everyone will know that the rest are simply fakes. But then to say that fake friends are always harmful and useless might not be correct. In fact, it is almost impossible to predict the fate of such friendships. Many times, they turn out to be far better than the ones you formed without any motive. Now, this leads to a larger question: Should everything in life be motivated by our needs? Probably yes. Saintly souls might ask whatever happened to the ideal of selflessness. But, did it really exist in the first place?

Changing Tracks

Times of India, Jan 14, 2010

The giant red blocks lightly held together by two-inch rubber wheels have always been my favourite toy. Trains fascinated me as a child, and the thrill of taking the little object round and round the toy track gave me such satisfaction as to forget about the world entirely. That was until i saw the real version. Real trains are huge and while approaching you at night in their usual rusty maroon avatars with wide beaming lights, they almost threaten to devour you; it's enough to scare a toy train-clutching toddler. However, that day it wasn't so much the sight of the giant-on-wheels but the humans on the ground that broke my reverie. The train came to a sudden jerky halt. Sleeping beauties and beasties apart, curious passengers went out to figure out why the train had stopped. Rumour had it that there was a dharna by the people of a nearby village who were demanding the extension of the railroad network. And hapless passengers like us bore the brunt of their ire.

A similar event a few days ago brought back this memory. Though their demands were similar, the residents of Tajnagar village did not resort to bandhs or violence. Nor was public property damaged or human life threatened. Rather, the villagers peacefully built a station for themselves, all on their own. A constructive way to channel the anger, one might say. After all, they had been demanding a railway station for nearly two and a half decades now but paucity of funds prevented the authorities from granting their demands. Even after its transformation into a profit-making enterprise, Indian Railways seemed to lack funds for the very purpose of its existence, which is to expand train services. I can say, as an optimist, that the people of India have realised their hidden potential - no, it's not their ability to construct railway stations, but a deeper sense of power. The kind of power that makes people do things they never dreamt of. And it's not like the Railways didn't know about the project - they did, after all, agree to stop trains at stations built by people. This sounds like a perfect public-public partnership; if such a partnership doesn't already exist, it must start soon. Very innovative and profitable it is, and as railway officials themselves find the idea to be financially viable, the sooner we have more such collaborations, the better for all of us.