Thts my ride!!!!

Bhubaneswar in the past few years has come out of its dormancy and has shown considerable development in sectors that have placed it as one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. With the IT majors and MNCs opening up, the very face of the working class has now changed. Once the hamara Bajaj family (with dad driving mom and two kids out in the unfailing trustworthy two wheeler) is now slowly transforming to mom’s shopping in malls ,groceries from retail shops and super busy dad’s driving out to work on compact fuel efficient cars. Lives, though gradually, are catching up on pace and standard of living has come up. Amid all the beautiful murals on the sidewalks and flyovers, several ancient temples stand a reminiscent memoir to the rich and profound history associated with it. It is one of the cleanest cities of the country and has a reasonably well managed traffic flow ,even in peak hours.
However inspite of all these, a proper public transport system here is more or less non existant . Courtesy the urban planning of the fifties, Bhubaneswar has broad and near about mutually perpendicular roads to effectively support a transport system, which could in turn serve a large section of people(primarily belonging to the student class), heading to their regular destinations, and looking for a cheaper mode of transport . I spent a part of my school and college life away from hometown Bhubaneswar and that made me to use the city bus on a regular basis. I ended up totally falling in love with the system. I shared with it a bond that on being apart made me pine for the sense of comfort I once associated with it. Now back here that’s one thing that I actually miss from before.
I appreciate her existence each day I spend away from her (anything non living automatically becomes a she in my life) here in bhubaneswar . She saved me a lot of money and a hell lot of unnecessary grrr . In all this traveling I have had a million lovely and some I-wish-to-not-ruin-this-article-with experiences. But even in my worst mood I still enjoyed a bus ride. Every time I board the bus it calms me down, picks me up and keeps me smiling all so effortlessly. Here’s why:

• Blush: I always bump into some woman/man who will be on the phone and blushing. God bless cheap schemes.

• Men: Sometimes I find a woman standing as all the seats reserved for the ladies are occupied. It gives us men the rare opportunity to come off the “nice guy” n give up our seats.

• Drivers: The sweet, kind and extra defensive drivers who lose their mind if a man boards from the front. The care for their lady passengers is overwhelming.

• Conductors: Ones that smile at you while giving you your ticket. And nudge you to tell you there’s an empty seat at the back.

• Co-passengers: A seated co-passenger who sees you are carrying a oh-so-heavy bag and offers to hold it to reduce your load while standing.

• Book reader: A girl so lost in her book that it just makes you smile. It reminds you of life’s little joys

• Friends: A couple of guys and girls laughing hysterically. Their laughter is energizing and makes you smile and even laugh without having an ounce of clue why.

• Baby care: A young girl giving up her seat for a lady with a baby. Kindness still lingers in our lives. Yeay!

• Music lover: A guy with a headset, a hood and staring out the window so lost in his music. I always worry if he ever gets off at the right stop. But I smile because I feel if he didn’t, it wouldn’t bother him in the least. As long as he had his player.
There are millions of people who travel by bus everyday. Who take the time to just relax. Who avoid the frustration of making their way through traffic and pile their road worries on the driver. Who enjoy the simple beauties of nature and of the world whizzing by. To all of you, I totally hear you. It has been a long wait for us. Its time we switch from the risky bikes, smart cars, and the rude auto rickshaw drivers to the majestic city bus. Where commute gives us the gift of time.

A HUNDRED DAYS FOR THE DAD...

A fresh new month, another holiday incepted by the west. The third Sunday of June brings us the “father’s day”. On 19th June 1910 the father’s day was solicited by Mrs Jhon B Dodd who felt the need for a day dedicated to our dads and so she did. The dads who back then mostly were tough people , working hard to provide for the family. Devoid of sentiments and emotions they never needed thanks for cuffing the sons by the ears or scaring away boys from their daughters. The idea was instantly met with ridicule.

A century later, the thing that has kept the day alive and going is commercialisation. It were retailors of men’s merchandise who saw it as a opportunity to boost sales and capitalised on it by promoting it with sales and discounts. Consumerism took its toll and people bought gifts for their dads even if they saw clearly through the capitalistic facade.

The wave of capitalisation arrived in India long after and it was not untill the last two decades that father’s day was celebrated here . It was unofficially sponsored by the greeting card companies who promised that they could express every single emotion for us ,that they could speak for us and help us express what we were feeling. -Now lets take a moment here-Are we so incapable that we cant even express ourselves and that we need a stranger to put words in our mouths to realise what we feel for our dad. And what is this hyped feeling.Why celebrate father’s day at all.

Well heres the thing. Because you owe him. And not for the values and aptitudes he imbibed in you. But because you owe him hard cash. It was he who paid for your expensive college and made sure you had a secure future. He who paid for the holidays that you took to the hill stations in the summer. Every time your bike hits reserve it he who gets it refilled. When you broke Mishra uncle’s window pane playing cricket your dad was the one who took care of it. When you are down with fever its your mom who was with you all through. But silently away from all attention it was your dad who paid for the doctor and the medication. If tomorrow you get into trouble in a road accident and are sitting in a police lock up it would be your dad making frantic calls to powerful friends to bail you out.We rarely get a chance to realise that let alone thank him for all.

So how’s this hundredth fathers day going to be for us now that we know how we feel for our often unrecognised male parent. Well it can be a dinner at his favourite resturant with some casual conversation. You dont have to tell him how important he is to you and that you care for him (save that for the mother’s day). Focussing on spending some quality time with you dad accompanied with good food should suffice. Just dont forget to skip the flowers.

dunno...

Something is terribly wrong with this world. The bubble that surrounds me today is overflowing with god forsaken lame bastards. They suffocate me. Its not that I care about them but their sheer numbers continuously defines my way of life. The music is contaminated, the movies n now even books are being written for these pea brained masses. Its pretty amazing to actually note how their idiocy makes them to believe things ...love, religion, politics, friendship. The way mediocrity overwhelms them with greatness. The way they can be persuaded to look for meaning in otherwise non existent places. Love for them succeeds only in case of a mutual misunderstanding. They are in a true sense “secondaries” of god’s creation living as a majority. But why is it so? Arent these secondaries supposed to be wiped of the gene pool on account of their impotent brains and not the under developed genetalia as the great dictator once attempted to in the late thirties.
What am i trying to get at from this. I dont actually want them to be castrated and sent to concentration camps. But am sick of trying to be a part of them.