Kush Srivastava's Blog, page 32

The Cancerous Racist!

We, human beings, are very good at differentiating things around us based on the various characteristics that those things might possess. The bad part is that this differentiation is not limited to just things. It tends to overflow to human beings as well, whom we tend to differentiate based on race, caste, colour, sex etc.

It is not only when Indians go abroad, are they differentiated, but also within India we have a tendency to differentiate based on regions. Our attitudes in turn get reflected in our behaviours towards them.

We tend to forget every virtue that tolerance teaches us. We tend to be so engrossed in taking judgements and attributing characteristics to a person, based on our biases that we forget to give the person a benefit of doubt that he or she might be different from the others belonging to the same group.

I used to think that such differentiation is followed only amongst human beings or the living creatures around. But the other day, when I was having a conversation with one of my doctor friends, I couldn’t believe that it is not only the humans who are good at differentiating but also the diseases, especially cancer, which is supposed to be one of the most dreaded disease with no cure what so ever, once a person tends to cross a particular stage.

The conversation went something like this:

“The one thing that I am very curious about is why people have not been able to find a cure for cancer.”—-Me

“Well, first of all you cannot alter the genes, and if you can, it is only upto a certain extent. Secondly, the cancer might be caued due to diet, environment or the lifestyle in general. As far as cure is concerned, it depends on how early it is diagnosed and whether the radiotherapy or the chemotherapy is conducted at the right time.”—Dr.

“But are there chances that it might recurr?”–Me

“It totally depends on how many times the cells have divided and there are always chances that such a thing might recurr. That’s why regular follow-up is very essential.”—Dr.

“We see so many different kinds of cancers that have been detected in humans. Is it true that some are found only in certain countries and not the others?”—Me

“Adeno carcinoma is found commonly in developed countries where as in India, you usually get to see squamous cell cancer.”–Dr.

“Hmm, even the cancer differentiates. I wonder whether the cancer is racist too.”–Me

“ …well cancer is a disease which sucks the life out of you. And so is racism and its consequences.”—Dr.

That was the end of conversation about cancer and the diseases. We could have gone on and on talking about racism, cancer etc. But one thing that we Indians should try to do is to go beyond talking.

We are very fond of table-talks which we don’t want to incorporate into our daily lives. When it comes to following the same, we end up finding it too much to do. We all want to do the easy and ignore what we find as tough or difficult.

Is this lethargy a part of our culture or is it because we have the genes which make us do so? I would want to believe that it is our own attitudes which influence our decisions to include such things in our way of life.

Personally, I think, if everyone would take a plegde to bring about that one important change that is needed in oneself, then the world would become a much better and happier place to live in.

The question, though is, are we ready to take that one important step towards improvement? Are we ready to take on our own lethargy head-on? Are we prepared to tread the tough path? Are we motivated enough not to think about just us but the entire society or the World? Are we inspired from the teachings of great men who gave up their lives to do what was right at that time? And do we have the intellect to understand what is right and what is wrong and if we have, then would we want to abide by what is right?

Nobody else but you can answer all the above. Only your heart knows what the truth is. Only you, yourself know, deep inside, what is wrong and what is right. The earlier we will start the better, for we don’t want to repent in the future thinking why we didn’t start early.

Source for Image: http://wonkette.com/487709/sarah-palin-will-no-longer-be-racist-as-soon-as-she-understands-what-racism-is, http://blogs.bgsu.edu/elements/tag/change/

The Dreamer!

One thing that the majority used to lack, say a couple of decades, was the ability to venture out and take risks. Not many dreamt about becoming Tatas and Birlas. The one, who did venture out, ended up being the same.

But today, we are seeing more and more people wanting to have their own businesses. They want to take control of their lives. The thought behind wanting to have their own business is to remain independent and work for themselves rather than working for someone else.

Not only is there a scope of earning much more money, but also the indendence and the leverage to work on one’s own terms is beyond any materialistic thing that you might get by working in a big shot company.

It is not only that they think of only themselves. but they also try to create opportunities for those who wouldn’t have the resources or the risk taking ability to venture out into this arena of entrepreneurship.

So, basically, there are two kinds of people. One, who want to take risk and set up their own venture and the one who would want to become a part of the venture and work for the same.

Outsiders, who don’t belong to the former category, think that the people in the former category have got lucky enough to be enjoying the lifestyle that they are. But I must tell you that it is only after hours, months and years of hard work that an entrepreneur is able to achieve what looks to the outsiders like a rosy picture.

And that too, not many in the field are able to achieve the same kind of success as say Flipkart or even Healthkart. Irrespective of the fact, that an entrepreneur emerges out as successful or not, one needs to have immense amount of patience and a motivation to put in hard work day-in-day-out.

Only 1 in around 1000 companies is able to do what it initially had as aim in its mind. Then what about the rest and what about the employees, who had been working in those companies?

Yes, they end up losing jobs and are in turn made to look for employment opportunities. But one thing that they do gain is the experience and the learning which one can never get while working in a conventional job, because of the nature of being exposed to every aspect of a business.

They say, once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. If you talk to these entrepreneurs, they will tell you that its like tasting blood for a tiger. Once it does it, it is not able to survive without it.

Talking to entrepreneurs can indeed be a very pleasurable experience. The kind of joy that you can see on their faces is much more than you would see, say even on the face of an IAS officer. They are people who go after their dreams and try to make them come true.

These people have been able to carve out a different world for themselves, which they cherish to the core. They are the master, they are the servants. They say that they are truly living their lives and doing what they want to do.

I, sometimes wonder, if this is not living life on one’s own terms than what is! Hats off to the dreamers!

Sourcr for Image: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/daydreaming/images/30420185/title/little-dreamer-wallpaper

The Conversation!

A couple of days back, I happened to meet a very dear friend of mine from my school days. We coincidently not only went to the same school but also the same college. Here is an extract of the conversation that ensued amongst us thereafter:

“Yaar, it is good to be meeting you after such a long time.” –Friend

“Same here buddy. So, how is it going?” –Me

“Yaar, I have got this job of Assistant Executive to the CEO of a company. I am glad that I have been able to get this one, for I had been waiting for so long to get this one opportunity, which I wanted to make it count.” —Friend

“Wow! That’s really nice. Congratulations.”–Me

“Thanks man. You know I always used to look at our batch mates, who have been able to do so well in their life. Some have gone on to become VPs in their own company. Some, on the other hand, have been able to excel in their own start ups. Some have gone on to become bureaucrats. It is amazing, how the same guys who used to study with us, once upon a time, have been able to achieve totally different lifestyles.”—Friend

“That’s so very true. When we were in college, we never used to think about what the future will be and even if we did we never imagined that the future will be so different for each one of us. We never thought that the status and the opportunties that we would get would be so different from one another.”—-Me

“I remember when Deutsche Bank was supposed to come to our college for placement. How naive we were not to understand the fact that the life of those who would start with companies like Deutsche or Schlumberger would be so different than those who would start with small companies. How fast the people joining the big shot companies would rise in their career leaving behind those who wouldn’t be able to make it through those companies.”—Friend

“Not only did we not realize the significance of what we would be missing, but also we would end up passing comments and making fun of those, who would put in their hard work and prepare themselves for these companies. We used to refer to them as Maggus. It is today that these Maggus have been able to leave a mark on this society.”—Me

“Indeed, they have been. Today when I got this job, I felt like I belong to the same league. I had been going through this complex seeing the others excel.”—Friend

“It happens, yaar. Once you start to compare yourself with others, you tend to develop this kind of feeling. On one hand, where you get to see a person from the same batch moving around in a Mercedes, on the other hand, you see people struggling to buy even a car. The contrast that you see, make you think, whether the decisions you had taken in your life were really worth it and you start questionning the logic behind taking such decisions, at the same time reminiscing about what could have been, in case you had taken different decisions in your life, at a time, when it really mattered.”—Me

“What about you? Don’t you ever feel frustrated? Don’t you ever feel left behind in this rat race? Don’t you feel that you should wear the best of clothes? Don’t you feel that you haven’t gone on to achieve what you could have?”—Friend

“These are indeed very tough questions to be answered. I, of course, feel that at times, if I start comparing myself with anyone who has been more successful than me, for instance if I compare myself with you . But, on second thoughts, I feel that life is a trade-off. Everyone needs to set priorities in their life and should do accordingly, because when they will be, say 60 years old, they would want to reflect on what had just gone by and would want to believe that overall they did well.”—Me

“So what is your priority in life? What do you want to be thinking when you reach that age? Why I am asking this is because I feel that you never seem to get too affected by lots of things in life.”—Friend

“My priority has been and will always be my family. No materialistic thing in the World can take away this priority from my life. All my decisions would always be contigent on the same. I guess that’s the reason why I don’t get so upset about things, so easily.”—Me

“Hmm! Wish I clould think like you. I get really affected by things around me and the ambition in me motivates me to go after luxuries in life, at times ignoring even my family.” —Friend

“Dude, life seems always greener on the other side. There is this concept of opportunity cost which I always used to find extremely funny. It all depends on how one would want to interpret an opportunity. For me, the thing we ended up doing was the only opportunity that we had, for those we didn’t avail can be well interpreted as one which wasn’t meant to be availed and if it wasn’t meant to be availed then where does the concept of opportunity arise in this case.”—Me

“Hmm! You should start a new subject, the philosophy of Management .”—Friend

“I wish I could .”—Me

And that was it. Life is certainly what you make of it. Though, some believe that the parameters or the range which has been provided to you might have already been decided by somewhere sitting up there. It is up to you to believe in this or not.

But what you should certainly try to do is to derive satisfaction from whatever you end up doing. For if you dont, then no matter how high you rise in your career or profession, you will always feel a void in and around you, which will never let you enjoy the possessions and luxuries, which you achieved via your hard work and efforts.

So, stay positive and stay satisfied .

Source for Image: http://www.teenadvisors.org/conversation-starters, http://barefoottheology.blogspot.in/2010_05_01_archive.html

Make a Choice!

This one is on demand. For the past couple of days, Saty (I hope you guys remember the guy) was asking me to write in Hindi, a couple of lines that would express my feeling towards a very special person in my life and here I am complying with the idea .

मौसम तो खुशमिजाज़ है फिर दिल ये तनहा आज क्यूँ है,

कहती अलविदा तो तू हर रात है फिर आँखें नम आज क्यूँ है,

देते थे ख़ुशी जो पल तेरे साथ के यादें उनकी दे रही गम आज क्यूँ है,

असर तेरी मोहब्बत का है मेरे प्यार बिछड़ने का तुझसे हो रहा जो एहसास यूँ है.

A feeling that has come across so well! Whenever I read something, an image tends to form in my mind and I can feel as if the narration is happening right in front of my eyes.

Reading the above takes me to a place where a guy is sitting underneath a tree and is thinking about the moment when his girl friend decides to leave him and go away forever from his life. वो कहते हैं ना शायरी तभी दिल से निकलती है जब दर्द होता है.

No matter how much one deny, no matter how much one tries to act smart, this is one emotion that everyone wants to experience in his or her life. It is not only because of Shahrukh Khan that this emotion has been able to gain the mileage in the current century that we are living in, but also because it forms such an essential part of our emotional and social self.

It had been there since times immemorial and will always remain with us, for it is deeply imbibed in both our sub-conscious and the conscious. You might  succeed in eliminating the thoughts in your conscious but you certainly can’t do anything about the sub-conscious which not only makes you remember things from your past, but also enables you to derive pleasure from the same.

I wonder if there was no sub-conscious then what would have happened. But why the hell one should be thinking about what could have been. Instead we should always try to focus on what is and what could be.

How many hours we tend to waste in reminiscing about our past. How wonderful it would be if we spend that same time in thinking about what we would want to do right now or why thinking, just doing what we want to do.

It is said that life never gives us a second chance, for it is you, who need to grab that second chance. It is up to you to decide to do something rather than wait for something to happen for you. It is up to you to choose between sitting underneath a tree and say, moving on, thereby ensuring that you give yourself another opportunity to find love once again in life.

Life is indeed a roller coaster. You will get some and you will lose some. You will have to go through the ups and downs of the same, whether you like it or not. It is up to you, at the end of the day, to decide how happy you want to feel when you are on the up and how sad when you are on the down.

As far as I am concerned, if one doesn’t want to and doesn’t chose to be unhappy, then life sometimes gives up its stubborn ideas and let you be what you want to be.

Source for Image: http://www.thefitbee.com/2012/04/make-your-choice.html, http://researchsense.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/a-good-reminder-super-bowl-ads-and-emotion/

The Perception Game!

I have done it so many times. I am sure, you guys might have also done it. It is but a consequence of all of us being human beings. It is so deeply imbibed in our nature that we can’t help it.

We got to have opinions and perceptions about things in life. And on many occasions, the very same perceptions are based on our visual interpretation of things that unfold in front of our eyes.

We tend to form opinions from the appearance of a person. No matter, whether it is the first time that we are meeting that person, the opinions that tend to capture our mind are formed instantaneously.

No benefit of doubt is given to the person on whom the opinion is being formed. It is much like a knee-jerk reaction and can prove to be totally irrational, if one ends up analysing the same in a logical manner.

More often than not, we tend to relate these same perceptions to the personality of the person in focus. As a result, we tend to develop positive or negative feelings towards the person, depending on whether the perceptions are positive or negative.

Our attitude, which is in a way, based on our perceptions of things, tends to become positve or negative towards the same person, which might get reflected in our actions. The cognitive part of our self tends to get reflected in the connative or the emotional part of self and in turn can lead to unwanted consequences for not only us, but also the individual on whom the opinions are being formed.

Thus, it is extremely essential for each one of us not to form an opinion on something so fast. One must always give him/her time to evaluate the thing at hand in an unbiased and rational manner, so as to be able to come out with an opinion which is correct and is not influenced by personal biases.

This will not only enable one to form an unbiased opinion, but would also ensure that one doesnt end up ruining one’s relationship with a person, sheerly because of some irrational thought that might have just happened to hit one’s mind.

This, in turn, ensures that one wouldn’t have to go through unwanted complexities in life and would maintian the peace of mind which is so essential for the well being of a person.

So, the next time, whenever you are about to form opinions on persons, places or things, think twice before you do so, for at the end of the day, you might be the biggest loser or winner, depending on how you look at a thing in life.

And I am sure that no one wants to be a loser, right?

Source for Image: http://www.positivity.gr/intro/team/papers/papers3/

Era of Flats!

Few years back, when I was about to change my branch from Chemical to Civil Engineering, one of the professors of Civil Engineering from IIT Kanpur told me that this would prove to be one of the life changing decisions of my life, considering that India would soon be hit by a construction boon.

Though, I had altogether different reasons for changing my branch, and didn’t really care about the advice that the professor had to offer, yet when I look back at what he said taking into perspective today’s scenario, I wonder how correct he was with his prediction about the industry.

Yesterday, I was taking a tour of my very own city and realized how many societies and projects are coming up in the city with so many different builders ranging from Ansal to Omex taking share of the same pie.

What amazes me more is the holding capacity of the who’s who of my city, who tend to take part in the auctions conducted by the Development Authority. I also wonder how the who’s who of the city are able to get atleast a flat or atleast some piece of the land that is supposed to be auctioned.

Either the God is very kind to them or some other forces have a role to play in the same. Having said that, you will of course find certain genuine cases who happen to get a flat etc., much to their relief, in the auction at a price which is much below the inflated market price of the same.

One other factor that plays a big role in the Real Estate business is the amount of black money floating around in our country. With so much black money waiting to be made white, real estate provides that golden opportunity which the hoarders might be waiting for years now.

Not only does their money becomes white, but also they are able to possess the all so precious property whose prices, at least in the current scenario, are bound to increase exponentially, in turn affecting and in fact determining the market price of the land, which is inflated, courtesy the presence of people who are ready to pay large amounts of money in order to get a chunk.

As you know, it is all contigent upon the demand-supply game. At loss are those who neither have black money, nor are rich enough to make the cut and are found wanting. For a common honest man, it is extremely difficult to even think about getting a nice house/flat in a decent locality, leave alone actually possessing it.

Don’t you think, if such a scenario persists for long, people will tend to become more corrupt and would want to earn more money? Do you think, in this case, people would really worry about the legitimacy of the same, considering that, at stake is one of the basic needs of human kind and that is the makaan or the housing?

What is needed is formulation of a policy which caters to the equitable growth in society and its effective implementation. The question, though is, who will do such a thing and will someone be able to find the grit and determination to overcome all odds in proposing the same and turning it into a reality?

What will happen, no one can tell. But one thing is for sure, time is running out from our hands and the need of the hour is to get going and implement effective and efficient policies on an urgent basis, so as to stop this society from getting more and more corrupt.

Source for Image: http://www.missionbuilds.com/uploads/26/Mission_Flat_1.jpg

The Mysterious Curiosity!

It has happened to me and I am sure that it might have happened to atleast a few amongst you. It is not often that such a thing happens but whenever it does, it is quite bemusing to the core.

A couple of days back, I met a guy who can surely be called self-obsessed by all means. Whatever he does, he thinks, is right. Whatever opinion he has, he thinks, the world should be having the same. Whatever his actions, he thinks, the world should be emulating the same in order to ensure the best for them.

No matter how much you try to contradict the person about the irrationality involved in his thought process, he will come with arguments trying to prove that only he is right and rest which is not in coherence with his thought process is entirely wrong.

It was like I was talking to a wall with no response coming from the other side. In fact it was worse than a wall, for if we try to throw a ball at it, it will surely throw it back at you, courtesy the elastic nature of the same.

But here, it was a totally closed system, much like a black hole where, no matter what you throw, will never come back. It only continues to emit what it is supposed to be emitting.

After having made an unsuccessful attempt of trying to convince the same person, I decided not to pursue the cause any more. And for that matter, if he thinks like what he does, he has got full rights to have his own say and opinion on things, courtesy the nature of the government that we have in our country and which we proudly refer to as the Democracy.

As long as it is not having a harmful impact on others and as long as it is not affecting the law and order situation or the stability in our country, it is upto the man to have and do whatever he wishes to and no one can deprive him or force him to behave in a manner which the majority might like or want him to emulate.

That is the beauty of democracy, for if he was in China, either he would have disappeared for good or he might have been locked up behind the bars for uttering the non-sense that he is so very proud of.

For me as an individual, it was an opportunity to meet someone who can be called really unique in what he thinks and does. It was truly a different kind of experience, one which I haven’t experienced so far in my entire life till date.

It reminded me that no matter how much we might want to consider this world and its people a simple place to live and get along with respectively, it always seems to surprise us with a new facet which we might have not been able to uncover earlier in life.

What seems to amaze me the most is the mysterious nature of this world where we all live in. There is so much to discover and so much to see. I wonder where this curiosity in me will take me.

Some say: curiosity is the mother of all inventions. On the other hand, some say: curiosity kills. I wonder what this curiosity will do to this world. But being the positive person I am, I would want to believe in the former rather than the latter.

Source for Image: http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2012/09/mystery-central-banks-buying-australian-dollars/, http://www.hark.com/collections/lmlxxpxtys-mystery

The Power of Positivity!

Last ten days of my life are amongst those few days that I would always want to remember as one of the best. I can go on talking about the same but I would want to talk about what happened immediately after those ten days.

I was on my way back to my hometown in a flight that I happened to catch around 1 in the afternoon, exactly 3 hours after the scheduled departure time, courtesy the prevailing foggy weather in and around New Delhi.

If it wasn’t the previous ten days which I can term an awesome period, I would have got really upset about the delay and would have went on criticizing the management of the airlines and in turn the system that we all happen to be a part of.

It is strange how one good incident or a couple of good days spent prior to an incident, can change the manner in which you think along with your thought process and in turn the ability to handle a situation. How wonderful it would be if a person can maintain such a mindset for over a longer period of time!

This is, by no means, a justification for the wrongs happening in our society. It is just that the coping mechanism of an individual grows in leaps and bounds once he/she starts thinking in a positive manner, once he/she focuses on how to improve things rather than focusing on and bringing out the bad part.

Every day of our life, we are met with various situations which can in all senses of the word, be called challenging to the core. And it is our ability to cope up with the tension that comes as a part and parcel of what’s going on, which, in the end decides whether we will emerge stronger or whether we will succumb to the situation.

I am sure that each one of us want to see themselves in a positive light, we want to be seen as people who could do what the others in the same situation couldn’t, we all want to be seen as successful people in the society. We feel great when someone gives our example to inspire others.

It is this quest of appreciation that makes us do things in the right manner. If it were not for this, why would one want to indulge in certain tasks which tend not to bring pleasure but lot of hardships.

It is this ability of a person to cope up with these hardships, that is well sought for in our society and is very well rewarded at the same time appreciated by the people. And a positive frame of mind goes a long way in enhancing these same abilities and in turn makes a person successful.

It is true that many amongst us are not able to understand and recognize the immense power that comes along with a positive mindset. Having said that it is not so difficult as well, that one will not be able to comprehend the same.

What is needed though is to learn from one’s own experiences and use the learning in incidents and circumstances which follow thereafter.

Source for Image: http://livelearnloveeat.com/2011/04/26/put-on-positivity-meditation-gratitude-and-affirmations/, http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-learn.htm

The Right Path!

It is amazing how an error in judgement made at one point of time in your life can propel you in taking many such irrational and unwanted decisions, for which you tend to repent in the near future.

How often have you heard young guys and girls getting hurt emtionally in relationships during their teens which they tend to think would culminate in marriage and if that doesn’t happen, a series of actions follow which can turn out to be extremely harmful for not only them but also for their families, who are trying, at all times, to keep them happy.

A couple of days back, I came across one such person (P1) who had suffered humiliation and disappointment at the hands of another person (P2), whom P1 seemed to have great faith in and whom P1 imagined as the soulmate that P1 had been looking for, all through.

The hell broke lose and P1 ended up in a number of reckless relationships thereafter, thinking that it didn’t really matter and that it was all about having some fun, irrespective of whether you really felt for the other person or not and irrespective of whether you were in love with the same or not.

Five years down the line, P1 seems to repent for whatever P1 did as a consequence of P1 losing all faith in love and being guided by the careless and irrational thinking that P1 developed after having gone through the trauma of a break-up with P2.

But no matter how much you repent, what’s gone can never come back and one cannot go in his/her past in order to set straight things that might have gone bad because of a couple of bad decisions made in your life.

That is the exact reason why our elders used to preach that everyone should control their impulses in order to be able to make sound decisions in their life. That’s exactly why we should try to remain calm and composed in any and every situation looking at both sides of the coin instead of one, in order to get a holistic perspective of the entire situation.

One should try not to be blindfolded by a single aspect of a particular situation which can lead to drastic consequences. Easier said than done, one should in any case, strive for the same.

I have seen so many people with their foundations in Western countries, who end up having multiple partners in their life, yet, are unhappy in the end for the want of that one person who would truly love them.

By the time they realize, more often than not, it is too late to amend things for good. What they take from life is nothing but a couple of pleasurable moments which tend to haunt them for not having made the right decisions in their life.

This feeling is in turn enhanced by the loneliness that ensues when their partners tend to leave them. With no one around to provide them the much needed support and company, they realize the significance of not havig behaved responsibly and for leading such a careless and reckless lifestyle.

The good thing with our ancient/traditional Indian society is that it has certain in built ingredients which one can be really proud of. It teaches you to be disciplined in life. It motivates you to remain faithful at all times. It instills in you virtues such as honesty and faith.

I really cannot understand why one would like to ape the Western culture considering that, in the end one will have to repent for doing so, apart from taking the easier route.

It might be because, everything looks great when you tend to view it from the other side of the table. It is only when you end up being there, that you realize that what looked like a perfect rosy picture was nothing but just an illusion which seems to crash the moment you tend to discover the reality yourself.

No matter how much your parents tell you not to indulge in certain aspects which tend to be so inviting, one end up exploring the same. I guess, it’s the curiosity that comes so naturally to all the mortals living on this planet Earth, that motivates and in turn forces us all to indulge in the above.

No matter how hard one tries, in the end, one would end up trying out things and for that matter trying out and exploration was and has never been the real concern. It’s what you end up doing after the exploration makes you either a responsible or a reckless individual.

Though, I am, myself, not in a position to give someone an advice, but with the little experience that I have had in my lifetime, the only thing that I would like to tell the youngsters is:

“There is no harm in exploring things. After all, we were all meant to explore, else we are bound to lose the very meaning of humanity. But one should always remember that what you do after this exploration phase will decide whether you have behaved in a responsible manner or whether you have been reckless enough to take those decisions which will keep haunting you throughout your life. I, personally, have great faith in the youth of today and I am sure that they are capable and wise enough to act responsibly.”

Without preaching any more, I would leave it the youngsters to chose the path that they consider would suit them the best.

Source for Image: http://whystopdreaming.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/wouldnt-settle-for-less-8-1-11/path/, http://breakupadvicenow.com/

Travel Woes!

Traveling in India can be a big problem at times, especially during the winter season, when the cloudy and foggy conditions tend to hamper the locomotion of the majority of our public transport.

For the aam aadmi, it becomes really hard to plan a trip or an outing in the near future, for the fear that trains might get late or flights might get cancelled. It becomes even more tough in case someone is planning a family trip using the services of the companies like make my trip etc. because one needs to pay the entire amount for the trip in order to confirm the same beforehand and in case the flights or the train gets delayed, the entire amount goes in the vain coupled with the disappointment that ensues amongst the family members.

What should one do in such a situation? And before that why is it that India has not been able to modernize her public transport to deal with situations that arise every year with winters setting in? Is it due to lack of political will or are we out of options on this front? Is it because of the lack of funds which government cites as a reason more often than not for any and every problem they might be facing or is it because no one is really bothered about improving things on this front?

Mind you, the delay in the transportation results in a huge loss for not only the people of the country but also has a huge impact on the exchequer of the government. Then why the issue has not been taken on an urgency basis?

As if the problems with train reservation and the nexus of the agents was not enough, the above factor has also come to haunt both the people and the government. Coupled with the same are the issues related to the lack of competition in the aviation sector which is leading to airlines hiking air fares in the wake of lack of options for the people to choose from.

A good example of this is the US aviation market where there are numerous players and flying has become extremely cheap, even cheaper than train travel at times, giving the public a large leverage when it comes to opting for the airlines.

Of course, the same cannot be copied as a whole from US on an immediate basis, but still things can be made to improve by ensuring reduction in operation costs of the airlines as well as reduction in the cost of aviation turbine fuel. On the infrastructure front, a lot can be done to enhance the quality of our airports.

Allowing foregin players would also help in increasing competition which will in turn will lead to better services being offered to the consumers. What is required is the initiative on part of our government along with the DGCA which is responsible for regulating the same in our country.

The recent decision by the DGCA not to renew the license of Kingfisher airlines might lead to other airlines again hiking prices in the near future. DGCA should ensure that there be a limit on the hikes, for it is unimaginable as a traveler to be paying nearly double for the same ticket of the same class in case one tends not to book it, say 1 or 2 months prior to the travel date.

This is, in a way, killing the ad-hoc notion of travel, a concept that many people like myself are really fond of. Why the hell everything has to be planned! And that too, in case of travel, which is nothing but a personification of the natural desire of a human being to explore. It cannot and it should not be tamed by the whims and fancies of a couple of players in the aviation sector.

As far as I am concerned, because of some of the reasons cited above and because of me being a big proponent of ad-hoc travel, I prefer road over any other form of public transport. Sometimes, though, I too feel constrained by the factors which are not under my control.

With a hope that a day would come when the people will be able to experience the fun and pleasure attached to the ad-hoc nature of travel, and hoping that our government would leave no stone unturned in order to ensure the same, I would like to raise a toast to the curiosity which makes us all human beings.

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