30 year old critical after walking 4 kms without exact change.

In what could have been dismissed off as yet another incidence of familiar insolence of bus conductors, a specific situation in Adyar escalated to hospitalization of a 30 year old male. The shocking story yet again brings to light the appalling behaviour of the bus conductors towards the public.

After being denied the 2 rupees he was entitled to, on a 8 rupee ticket after handing out last 10 in his pocket, Shiva( name changed from Chandru to protect identity),  already tired after his journey to Adyar from Guindy, couldn't believe his luck when all he had in his pocket was a 500 to catch the ’connect’ to Thiruvanmiyur. Peaceable by nature and not wanting to create a scene, he decided to procure the appropriate denominations before boarding.

As luck would have it, the hapless traveler was forced to go from shop to shop in the mid day Sunday sun. Denied, depressed, defeated, dehydrated and derided by daft denizens, he was left for dead, drooling....

 A Good Samaritan found him around 2 pm. near Jaynthi theatre, unconscious. Doctors say that he must have been walking for at least an hour before dropping on the road. He had on him 2 50s and 4 100s. Shiva, The fearless, had almost won. He had dropped down fighting his last battle, procuring the 5 10s for his 50 near Thiruvanmiyur.. so near (Thiruvanmiyur) yet so far (presently, Malar hospitals, Adyar)..

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A: Welcome to Discussion At 9:01, this is your favorite news channel and today we have taken up the issue that has touched our collective conscience. As usual we have 9 people of high repute joining us with 9 bored experts in the studio who had nothing better to do… we have a total of 18 with us and I’m your anchor A. A member nominated by the govt.( high ranking civil servant, as per govt. norms) couldn't join us today...

A: This is your favorite news channel…. Let me intro....

**MR, ARBIT BEFORE YOU START I’D LIKE TO SAY THAT THIS IS A DISGRACE TO OUR CITY, STATE AND NATION. THE ROOTS OF THE PROBLEM LIES IN THE WIDE SPREAD CORRUPTION IN THE SERVICES. THIS HAS TO BE ERADICATED. SEVERE PUNISHENT SHOULD BE METED OUT TO THE DIVER AND CONDUCTOR RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS… THIS IS A RAREST OF RAREST CASE AND THEY SHOULD BE MADE AN EXAMPLE...

A: Ms Be.…

**WHY WASN'T AN FIR LODGED AGAINST THE CONDUCTOR. THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOUR SON, YOUR BROTHER, YOUR HUSBAND. WHY ARE THEY LET FREE?? SHOULDN'T THE CITIZENS HAVE THE RIGHT TO COMPLAIN…

A: Mr. Ramakrishnan, AAAAAAA Mr. Ramakrishnan, AAAAA one moment ma'am, AAAAA Mr. Ramakrishnan...  can we,AAAA can we,AAAA can we have a legislation to file an fir for such cases??AAAAAAA can we have the traffic police take more active role in such circumstances…

**WE SHOULD HAVE MORE FAST TRACK COURTS AND THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM IS TOO SLOW TO TACKLE THESE CASES…

A: do we have provisions in the judiciary to handle these cases…

**Mr. Arbit, there is no provision as of now, but the growth in the number of such incidents prompt me to think maybe we need a solid legislation to tackle these violations.

**THE GATES ARE CLOSED PRECISELY WHEN THE BUS STOPS IN THE SIGNALS, HARASSING PEOPLE WHO WANT TO GET DOWN….

A: Mr. Pallavan what do you have to say about this?

**First of all, at the outset, I’d like to convey my greetings with great pleasure to all and everyone and everything, with my heart...…  I’m taking this opportunity to inform you that we are increasing our fleet shortly and these buses will be coloured duller than what it is already saving time on cleaning…. What happened today in Adyar was unfortunate, regarding which we have set up an executive committee which will submit a report after thorough investigation…. yes I think it is high time we changed the gates… gate gate hehehe :D oh sorry…

**the govt. needs to wake up to this.

**I wasn't sleeping, this is atrocious Mr. A, and he’s crossing the line….

**THEY ARE FUELING THE MALPRACTICES. THERE IS RAMPANT CORRUPTION IN THE COUNTRY AND THE PM SHOULD TAKE MORAL RESPONSIBILITY AND STEP DOWN…

A: Should the traffic police take up this additional responsibility??

** whaa ? What responsibility?

**THE TRAFFIC POLICE ARE RESPONSIBLE THEY ARE UPRIGHT CITIZENS OF THE COUNTRY

**hehehe :D

** we traffic police personal stand in the sun doing nothing , our pay is very less and we overwork and are victims of road rages. We have to salute every VIP and are cursed by everyone whenever something goes wrong.

A: there you have it, the unsung heroes of our city, the money they get is very less compared to the work they are expected to do. Yet they do so, with an aviator on their eyes and a whistle on their lips…

** Yes we do….

**there is a good chance he will be discharged by tomorrow evening. He is responding well to the treatment… he had lost some fluids that had led to *medical jargon that sounded like skeptic seema, Ulysses etc.*

A: We have to stop here…we have come to the end of this show...

 How many more people need to die before the conductors start handing out change…? Are we going to take this lying down?  As per the survey conducted by your news channel, randomly, a few minutes back, one in every 1.2345 people are cheated out of their change; many among them are women and children...

The two rupees, the one rupee and the fifty paises are taking its toll on the already delicate budgets of the middle class household (aka aam admi)....

 Will this bus gate close??

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******Later in the day

A: Earlier today, one of our correspondents managed to get a word on this from an eminent authority… This and more on the other side of the break,

Welcome back, this is an exclusive telecast and you are watching this on your favorite news channel.

Mr. Raghu : The central issue of concern, the lack of ‘change’ among the conductors is not a localized problem. It is widely prevalent all over India. This can’t be solved overnight with a wave of a magic wand. In the time of economic slowdown and rising prices, the demand for 50p 1 re or 2 rs coins have dropped. As a temporary measure, I've recommended to the government to inject 1 re and 50 paise coins to improve liquidity. Travelers will able to breathe l easier in a few months. I have also set the ball rolling to gradually phase out tickets that are fractions of ten in public transport. The extra cost borne by the passengers would be offset by the time and energy saved haggling.

I’d also take this opportunity to wish Shiva a speedy recovery. We are proud of you.

A: Thank you. So there we have, viewers out charismatic governor assuring us that things are going to be alright. The news has just come in that the Prime minister has offered Rs 1000 relief for all the hardships endured by Mr. Shiva. A relief of rs 500 has also been sanctioned to every member in his family. Close relatives have been sanctioned rs 100 and distant cousins are entitled to 50rs. Good news is that they will be handed out in denominations of rs 5,10 and 50.

This is all for today, we end the day with an important lesson,

Be the change you want to see….

We salute Shiva for showing us the way. Good night, Jai hind.

                                                                         ********

Good Luck

Many of us, in school, started reading the newspapers in our secondary or senior secondary. For most of us now, it has become a ritual, habit, custom or whatever one may call it. Do i remember everything I read? No. Never. I used to ridicule my father about his retentiveness and now I know, mine’s equally bad. But it is a healthy habit (in my opinion) and one ends up knowing a little more about the world than the morning before.

A person is drawn to certain parts of the paper more than the others especially when the habit is in its budding stages. These favorite parts clock regular reading time come what may. Over a period of time you like certain people and some are boring. This guy was among the first set of people I liked. He is probably five years older than me and I guess, the “connect” was easier. Though the humour was sophomoric, he was one of those guys who first made me think “how does he write like this”. I’m not a critic of repute and neither am I a social commentator.Now, if you ask me who my favorite columnists are, he might not figure in it. Maybe my tastes have changed; His tastes have changed. Both of us have grown out of that phase.

We grew out of it together, him, maturing as a writer and me moving on to different topics that fascinated me. This gradual shift over a period of years established a kinship of sorts. A one way pen friend if you may. A relationship, where you don’t want to know him more than his columns, lest, it disturbs the mental image. He wrote, I nodded my head in agreement. The snobbery, the ridicule and all the other snide remarks on the blogs, I had a lot of fun.

Now, I come across his movie, a good movie at that, and the kinship kicks in. Suddenly you feel proud of this guy… the “namba payyan da” thought creeps in and you find yourself cheering him on. You find yourself muttering: “I knew it”, “this is awesome” and wear a stupid smile of pride. You stop dissecting the movie; you watch it once more to find traces of the guy you liked. You wish him the very best silently.

Surely the journey would have been hard. Everybody faces their demons; everyone has a story to tell. I know he is as furiously proud of his first movie as he is of this. He brushes all that aside in artificial jest, the loss, the rejection; He has moved on, grown up and made up for all that he was found lacking for. He would have surely done a better job of this meandering passage too. Who cares, I’m furiously proud of my posts too…

I can’t watch every movie made by you, nor read everything written, but I will surely cheer with all my heart whenever I see/hear your mention… go on bro… 

Handshakes? NO…

Few days back, I resolved that I would greet people with a five (at least people of same cadre). In the corridors, in the mess, in the grounds, in the room; just stick my hands up, instead of forward; regardless of caste, creed, religion or sex. To my delight, I got a response every time I tried. Also, I got a smile along with the regular "hi" or "hello". Maybe I’m exaggerating. Maybe I’m trying to oversell my high fives. I don't know.Wait, I believe “thank you”s  are equally amazing . I’ll talk about that later, if need be, ie. if I end up over-killing with my promotion of high fives.

Anyway, recently, I was part of  this 7 day trek up in the Himalayas, Uttrakhand. At every check point, the instructor would ask for a count. A “count’ would be us lining up and sequentially shouting out the successive number with a hearty five as we passed him. The smile, the energy it gave us was magical. It seemed to boost up our flagging spirits & improved camaraderie at least for the next 5 min. Similarly, the morning count would relieve the residual grumpiness; a result of the 6am wake-up call.
This trek also included a visit to this school(CSR activity) at a village near new Tehri, which is about 2km above sea level. As I took my perch on parapet wall, looking on at the kids playing, a kid, about 8 years of age, walked towards me, inquisitive about this new guy on the wall. There was an obvious language barrier between us, one as big as the great wall of china. As he approached closer, I stuck out my hand instinctively and smiled. He leapt up and *clap*; we shared that smile. That, that is how simple a high five is, and that is how easy it works, everywhere; every time; the louder, the better.

Yes, it might not work for all of us, but neither does hand shake. A high five is shorter, more energetic and does not involve etiquette - how long, how short, how hard etc. that are associated with handshakes. Yes, there are drawbacks. A guy might end up slapping your face instead of your hand. Maybe you deserve it, maybe u don’t. If you don’t, you can slap him back as well; get it out of your system. Wait, I’m digressing. But seriously, try it, it is fun. Give them a five or ten if you are feeling particularly generous.

Thank you for your patient reading. Thank you very much 

*high five*