Theory or Facts?

The incident dates back almost a decade ago. It was a regular working day at my first employers office. I was summoned by the boss's son for a task. So, while in his cabin, when he was giving me instructions about the task; my eyes couldn't help but notice a small table quote. It read, " When Facts don't suit the theory, change the Fact." 

Now, mind you, this was the time, when the only writing I did was noting down pure and raw anger or frustration. Some had also put a tag, of being immature, on me or an irrational person.

Well, salad days they were. So can't complain about people's perceptions. But even with so many negative badges on me, that day in the cabin at that very moment when I read that quote, my mind and heart in a consensus shot back a big 'NO'. Of course, I didn't have the guts back then to say the No loudly. But my mind was pretty clear about it. "When Facts don't suit the theory, always and I repeat Always, change the theory.'

Circa 2021

 My opinion still hasn't changed. How can you rely on a theory when the world is transforming itself at every passing moment. One size doesn't fit all. Let us take an example of coconut tree. If someone asks us how is the bark of the coconut tree, most of us will right away say, "Straight". But the real reason is the tree grows towards the sun. 

I enjoy the theories when we are talking about something that is beyond man's power. Human, sometimes, I feel is the worst thing happened to this planet

Theories about what may have happened before us or before mankind, theories about hidden rivers, drowned cities, the writings on the walls, the fossils found. It just amazes me when I learn something that is beyond the power of humans, today. The current breed, seems, is the worst of its kind. They feel as if  they own everything or looks at them as superiors. Yet a simple shake of earth puts 100s or 1000s in burials or crematoriums. 

Some may call Jurassic Park or Godzilla or Kong movies as fictional but I do feel they must be there somewhere. Places far beyond our reach. I mean take these few simple examples, how much percentage of Amazon forest have we explored? Did you know Sahara desert was once a forest too? Some say, there is a Nile River beneath the current Nile river which is more bigger than the visible one. 

Of course, I am not saying a dinosaur is going to pop out of the Amazon or Godzilla will rise from the Nile. But these theories are really the ones that keeps hope alive. A hope that something will rise and stop this mankind, which by the way is not at all kind. Atleast one of the Nostradamus prophecy will come true which pertains to 21st Century. Somewhere the Vishnu's avatar will resurface or antichrist will come up.

Yeah, sometime I just go in the flow and lose the context. So apparently, I lost the context of what I actually wanted to write. So thought of publishing this one as it is. 

-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With You.

कुछ पलों के लिए ही सही

कुछ पलों के लिए ही सही

पंखों के बगैर उड़ने लगा था

सारा आसमान, अपनी मुठ्ठी में 

समेटने लगा था

कुछ पलों के लिए ही सही

बंध आखों से देखे सपनों को

सच मानने लगा था

अपने हैसियत से भी बड़ी

छलांग मारने चला था

नादान दिल ने, बनाए उस महल को

आंखों के सामने बिखरता हुआ देखा

जब समय के कांटों ने, 

वर्तमान का एहसास दिला दिया

कुछ पलों के लिए ही सही

सपना पूरा होते, दिख ने लगा

जीत की मुस्कुराहट में भीगने लगा था

अब, बिखरे हुए उन टुकड़ों से

वह आशियाना फिर से जोड़ना है

इस तूफान में भी 

अभी और लड़ना ना है

-SR.

Trekking: To Feel Myself

I am not among those who uploads pictures on social media accounts to gain popularity or more likes or followers. For me, it just gives me a proper (but in brief) digital album where I can mention a caption on the picture to give some details or a memory about that moment. Which is the exact reason why, I have organised all the my Instagram Highlights in a meticulous way in my profile. 

So, if "hashtag wanderlust" or captions like "Mountains are calling" isn't my intention to go on a trek in Sahyadri, then what is it? While contemplating on this question the other day, after I did my first trek post lockdown, the below words just came out:

It is about The Mountain.

It is about The Fort, built on that Mountain.

It is about The Path created, to reach that Fort that was built on that Mountain.

It is about knowing The Technique used, to mastermind that path to reach that Fort built on the Mountain.

It is about understanding The Need to utilize the available techniques, for forging a path to reach that Fort built on that Mountain

It is about knowing The History and Geography which made it favourable to achieve the need, that was met after creation of the path that led to the Fort built on that Mountain.

And Most Importantly,

It is about Respecting The Mountain, when you are reaching the fort built on top of it by traversing the path that was created in it's arms, whilst you understand the need and history.

I find it funny when some people use the adjective 'mighty', while mentioning any mountain. Because personally I feel, the word mountain in itself is a noun as well as an adjective. 

Also, from my amateur experience in the Sahyadri range, I have learnt two most important lessons of life. One, how irrelevant I am in the larger scheme of things. We are just a faint dot in the universe, remember always. And second, how the mountain is glued to ground, inspite of it touching the sky. It taught me how one should stay grounded in all phases of our life.

So if some one asks what does trekking means to me? My answer is, "I feel, Myself, when I am in the mountains arms."

-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With You !

PPS: Late Post

गड आला पण सिंहिण (तात्पुरतं) गेली

In these extraordinary times, concentrating on an election result was surely not on the agenda. The Delhi HC was hearing petition on the allocation of oxygen to the state of Delhi. The Centre government is still not able to provide concrete answers to the point blank questions asked by the court. The HC is specifying that Delhi, not being an industrial city, hence it does not have it's own supply of oxygen. So the court had ordered the Centre, again, to provide the allocated quantum of oxygen to Delhi. And in between all this, five state elections were going on. The external affairs minister had on record said, "You don't stop elections in a country like India." 

Generally, these election result days are considered to be a festival for news channels. And in the way the ruling party in Centre had hyped the recent Bengal state election, crossed all Laxman rekhas, broke all Covid 19 rules and did what not, just to get a shot in power. This day would have been same as it was back in May 2014 for television media. But, surprisingly, few of them had opted out to not do the result day coverage. So this meant no hashtag wars on Twitter, no unnecessary blaberry on TV screens, no 'he/she said this..what you want to reply'.

Now that the storm has settled, I just thought to drop by on Twitter to get a jist of what happened. As I was scrolling around, I came across a tweet by a media person in which he summed up the Bengal poll results from his perspective. The tweet just said, "West Bengal will be the BJP's Stalingrad." Intersting, isn't it? as Yoda would say. The World War II metaphor being used against the current ruling party. Some followers of the media person went too far ahead and commented that they are now waiting for Nuremberg. Well, that didn't amuse me becauase I know it is not happenning. But I thought of just going into some detail to see if Bengal's poll result are actually Centre's Stalingrad or will it turn out to be another Valkyrie in long term perspective.

After a morale boosting victory for the BJP in the General Elections of 2019 in the state of West Bengal, where from 2 MP's they rose to 18 seats. The party leadership surely must had started dreaming to conquer the CMO in Kolkata. But one thing every analyst, most of the journalist and experts misinterpret is that, general election and state election are different. Because people always vote differently when it comes to Centre Government and State Government.  

So, when the air over Bengal poll results cleared, the statistic said that TMC had won 212 seats of the possible 294 in the state. While the 56" chest party members, who were shouting since their 2019 General Election victory that their party will cross 200, had to settle for 77. The TMC was not only able to withstand the entire BJP/RSS machinery who had used their full might and power including all the tricks of trades like Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed. But they also increased their tally by 1 when compared to the 2016. Ofcourse, the only setback was the defeat of Mamata Banerjee. She was standing from Nandigram, which apparantely is the same place from where she rose to popularity. One of here closest aide had became a turncoat and joined the opposition bandwagon. 

Though, this defeat will not have any impact as she has already taken oath as CM. Constitutionally, she will have to get herself elected to the lower house or upper house of the assenbly in the next 6 months. Also, for BJP this isn't any defeat. As they have gained the Leader of Opposition post with 77 seats. That is 74 higher than their previous performance of 3. So what exactly did they loose? Let us try to break it down.

Moral Right

In the midst of pandemic, when the attention of the Centre government should be focusing on how the virus does not spread further. The PM and their ruling party gave plenty of reasons to make sure they become super spreaders. The huge rallies, the road shows had become the hotspots. And their arrogance was also on display, when they were preaching the country to stay at home or maintain social distance while the PM was boasting about his rallies by explaining how there isn't an inch of space for someone to stand. The Centre was also suggesting states to not enforce lockdown even as India's tally was crossing 4 Lacs daily with death count now breaching the 4000 mark. This hypocrisy basically made the centre lose the plot morally who had already declared victory against the war on pandemic back in February. Inspite of deaths, PM did not stop campaigning almost till the end, which showed the government had no intention to fight the pandemic but only on how to grab power. 

World Media Coverage 

With the national media only potraying the Centre's definations, asking questions only which they are asked to put forward, reality stayed far away from people. However now, not reporting the exact figures of Covid data came in forefront when world media such as AFP or BBC started covering the real face of this devil (Corona). The true story of oxygen shortage, crematoriums overflowing, BJP playing with people's lives in non-BJP states by delaying or declining helps also came on record. No matter how much they tried to cover, this time all their lies failed. The veil is coming off. For the first time since 2014, the Centre's ruling party was on back foot and they realised this pretty well. Now the world was talking about the 2nd most effected country by Covid.

Foreign Policy Failure 

After declaring that India had won the war over the pandemic, the government did not even consider or put forward the blue print on plans of how they will be vaccinating the 140 crore population. Instead, the ruling party had started plans of making the PM a vishwaguru by sending vaccines to around 70+ countries. Come May 2021. India neither has stock of vaccines, nor have they placed sufficient orders for the same. There is nothing but politics going on between the government and vaccine manufacturers to just cover up this failure. We are now witnessing crowds at vaccination centres, people picking up fights which is resulting in chaos. The drugs needed to treat the patient too are not available. 

Judiciary entering into governance

Looking at the current state of affairs, many high courts in the country along with Supreme court have taken suo moto cognizance of this matter and started questioning the governments functioning. From giving a earful to the Election Commission for the Bengal fiasco by saying murder trials should be run for these grave mismanagement or  pressuring Centre to show their plan of action and also warning them to not force the courts to take strong steps. The people were finally able to see through the veil of lies. With no satisfatory answers or no concrete plans on how to deal with this brutal 2nd wave, the judiciary brought the real face of government in front of the people. 

States losing patience 

With the states being left on their own to fight the pandemic, the Centre was not helping in anyway but surely was creating multiple obstacles. So be it reducing supply of oxygen or keeping procurement of vaccines or important medicines with themselves among other. They crossed a line when the Centre passed a law relating to the state of Delhi which gave more powers to Lieutenant Governor over the elected governement. As consistently, AAP has been decimating BJP in Delhi state polls. So all of this resulted in states losing patience. This was visible when the Delhi CM went live during the call with the PM by breaking protocol as the call was supposed to be only between the PM and CMs. The Maharashtra CMO pointed it in the media that they received a reply from PMO saying PM being on election rally, they will receive reply after he returns. Even the Jharkhand CM said on record that PM only speaks, he does not listen to anyone. Not even the CMs. So, state governments, who were busy tackling the pandemic were being forced to fight these non essential battles, which the people were starting to notice. 

However, it will be wrong to conclude that Centre's way of handling the pandemic resulted in BJP defeat in the recent state polls. From a 2 member party in legislative assembly in Bengal, BJP will now have 77 legislators along with opposition leader post. The BJPs gain in Bengal meant Congress and Left front's pain. With 212 + 77, TMC and BJP share 291 out of the 294 legislators in the assembly. If that is not good result than I don't which non earthly parameter are you using to judge the results. Surely, they got routed in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. And that is because of the traditional North Vs South war which is going on since the nation formation. BJP has always been an outsider here.

Some analyst now have already started writing theories on how Mamata can be the face of a third front against BJP in the Centre. Or how she may still have to win in 2026 and decide here successor in state before she can take the plunge as national leader. But personally, if you ask me, a third front is not at all viable. It will all depend upon how the Congress leadership looks at these results. Remember, there are only two parties in the country who have ground level resources across the nation. So it is the Congress who has to take the lead to stitch the UPA back and allow regional leaders to take centre stage. For now, it is a distant dream. 

So this, now, brings me back to the comparison between the journalist opinion and mine about the Bengal elections. I think Stalingrad defeat had hit the Axis powers very badly, be it physcologically or financially. They were forced to withdraw from the then USSR. History judged invasion of Soviet Union as the biggest blunder of Hitler. But when we look at the Bengal State results, here, BJP has made their grip more stronger on the state politics. They will be taking Centre stage. Even if they may not have a majority to puncture TMCs plans. But they surely can make themselves heard, loud and clear, on the correct platform. So, for now it seems apt for me to term it is another Valkyrie. Because the Supreme leader image is still intact. And peoples memory is very short.

But trust me, if you tell me to cut all these calculations, logic and facts and just ask me on which side I really want to be? It will be Stalingrad. 

-SR.

PS: Unfortunately, Maharashtra citizens have failed to guage the difference and hence have always mixed state polls and national polls. This is the only reason why Maharashtra does not have a strong regional party in the state. Yes, we have a family named Thackeray who are associated with two different party's with regional roots. But both leaders of these party's had to switch over to national agenda each time to appease the state electorates. The Gujarati Asmita worked for Modi in his home state, Bengali Asmita campaign gave Mamata her third shot at CMO, Bihari vs Bahari brought Nitish to CMO inspite of all the flip flops. Even Tamil Nadu saw a new Dravidian icon in MK Stalin as his DMK took charge of the state after 10 years. And the list will go on with the BJD in Odisha or Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, TRS in Telanagana etc. But Maharashtra has always been either a Congress state or a BJP state be it under their direct rule or as primary support.

PPS: May The Force Be With You!

Lockdown Days: Covid19 - Part 4

July 2020

Initially, after posting about the Lockdown time, I had no plans to write another part. As such, a lot has changed in everyone's life. It's been over three months now we are still in our houses. And there is a clear uncertainty as to when the same will become normal. Ever since the government stopped announcing official lockdown, the cases have doubled now with recently the figures crossing 7.5 Lakhs. At the time of my previous post the ranking of India globally was in Top 10 in the List of countries most effected by Covid 19 disease. Now we have reached the Top 3. And if the current average continues, that day is not far when the crown jewel will be on our head.

Every salaried person like me, is concerned about job security. Most of the companies have cancelled the yearly increment. And with situation further deteriorating, I won't be called a pessimist even if I say that there are bright chances of no increment for the current year as well. The power companies have shocked everyone with hefty bills. Not to forget the hospitals, who are currently called as warriors to suit their political narrative. The exorbitant billing for a Covid patient and blatant abuse of power by them has given a strong reason for people to take care of themselves. The strict lockdown rules may not have had such an impact, but these hospital bills will surely have. Thanks to current regime for a record break streak of 25 days of fuel price hike, now our regular fruits and vegetables cost too have increased. Even though we may have not got any hike in our salary but the barbers have taken a 100% hike in their charges. Long journey buses have been asked to adhere to social distancing rules which mandate them to leave the aisle seat vacant. So the travel companies came up with a spectacular idea. They started selling one ticket at the cost of two. In short, capitalism is thriving or we must say they know how to survive. 

Though, in all this, one industry is seeing unbelievable results in their profit margin or current ratio or liquid ratios. With packages released in lakhs of crores the political industry is surely making merry. They must be tired of counting the money now. Surely the stars of the current dispensation are quite happy on them. How much the Congress may not have earned in the past 60 years, BJP surely earned it in just two events; Demonetisation and Corona Pandemic.

And like everytime the victim of this tragedy is also the middle class or working class. We have to bear the exorbitant medical bills to survive, bear the ever increasing prices of the daily essentials (all credit to the marathon hike of fuel price for consecutive 25 days), bear the pain of no salary hikes etc. Also fear of job loss, fear of contracting the disease etc.

23rd April 2021

Yes, I can sense the surprise on your face on seeing the gap in the timeline. All of a sudden from July 2020 to directly April 2021. Let me explain the wide difference. From 1st week of June 2020, there has been no National Lockdown. So states were now independent to take their decisions. India, though, was nowhere still near its peak because in September 2020 India was getting 1 lakh + cases, after which it started coming down. But people were exhausted with this lockdown. Many from the late 80s and 90s generations were now tired of eating home food for continuously 2+ months. Wanderlust hashtag lovers had nothing left in their banks to upload on social media. And not to miss the big fat Indian wedding. So everyone just wanted to break free. No doubt when I am sitting and writing this in April 2021, I can say we all are paying a price for loosening that grip.

So, here we are now. Up until end of February 2021, India was reporting around 10000-12000 cases per day. Which indeed was exceptional because this was the same time when a new variant was discovered in UK and multiple other countries. Europe was again going into lockdown. Many other countries like Japan, South Africa also had discovered their variant of the SARS Cov virus. But here we were celebrating, because we had started vaccination for frontline workers and were about to kickstart for all Senior Citizens. This is something which I do not like, be it about anyone. And that is, not learning from the history but repeating it. I know some people from my circle also use to tell me, "Oh, you don't leave house na?" As if all of a sudden going out on weekends was becoming  badge of honour. I use to always say, "Remember what happened in 2020. Europe was on it's knees when we were just having hardly any cases. China was already their on the top and Italy was fast catching up. Italian PM had cried on national television for being helpless. And slowly that wave hit us and then BOOM. It's the same again. In the start of 2021, Europe was fighting with the new variants of Corona and we are not preparing for it. Shutting down jumbo covid facilities, opening up everything and making people believe we have won the war. What if, just like last year the new variant comes and hits us? It is going to be deja vu." But again, whose going to listen to my voice amidst the 140 crore peoples roar?

Not sure, if the establishment missed the signals of rising cases in March 2021 or chose to ignore it. Because Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Bengal, Bihar elections were most important priority for them. Press too was more interested in some petty carom politics. The newspapers by now had stopped showing the daily cases figures as we had achieved the 'Bring the curve down trophy'. Some health experts who might have sensed it, but were so much mentally exhausted with their duties, which if fair as well, that all they could come up with was suggesting the governments to open vaccination for all. So let us go back a little and trace the roots of this 2nd Tsunami that has hit us.

28th January 2021: World Economic Forum

PM Modi speaking at World Economic Forum said that fears about a COVID Tsunami in India were unfounded as India had not only defeated COVID but it has also built adequate infrastructure to handle it. He pointed out to those developed countries who had predicted as India to be future hotspot or a place where the number of Covid-19 cases will be super high and told them that we are on verge of winning the battle with Corona Virus.

19th February 2021: CoroNil

After accepting the fake or invisible victory on world platform now came the time for mockery. The daily cases were reaching 15000 now, which should have rung many bells after what we saw just few months ago. But our government had different plans. The health minister of India along with another cabinet minister of the country were seen sharing stage at an event of Patanjali company to relaunch their product Coronil as a cure for Covid - 19. I am deliberately using the word relaunch, as this same product was launched in the mid of 2020 as well when the Covid-19 cases were at its peak. Earlier the company had touted it as a cure from Coronavirus but after a huge backlash they retracted their words and covered it up by saying it's just another immunity booster. So now with the Health minister on the stage during the launch, it  was nothing but a clear endorsement of the company's claim.

19th February 2021: The Second Wave

With many countries in the world now gripping under the second wave, it was becoming quite clear that the clouds were already looming over our country too. But the 56'' inch chest surely had another plans; to initiate campaign planning for West Bengal and to allow permissions for the upcoming Kumbh Mela in April. So who better to corroborate than the media. Immediately after the launch of Coronil, the media started chest thumping that, "Amidst the fears of second wave, India has found the cure for Covid in Coronil. And even WHO has approved the same". 

It was such an embarrassing moment for the country when the WHO had to issue an statement to confirm that they had not given any such approvals. Ofcourse, lying isn't new thing for WHO themselves who had supported and told the world only the China's narrative in the start of 2020 and lost precious time in recognising the pandemic.

22nd February 2021: IMA Questions

After the national and later global embarrassment of Coronil launch, the Indian Medical Association wrote a strong 2 page letter to India's Health Minister to explain, "How ethical is it for modern medicine doctor and a health minister to promote the unscientific product to the citizens of the country?" 

As if IMA was going to receive any replies. The topic was closed, no further follow ups by the IMA and no questions asked by our beloved media.

21st February 2021: BJP Declaring Victory

How comical I feel about the I.M.A who had asked the Health Minister of the country a question on Coronil after the day when BJP had already declared victory over Covid 19. In case you did not know, it is very much true. The resolution passed by the BJP read, "It can be said with pride that India not only defeated Covid under the able, sensitive, committed and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri NM. The party unequivocally hails its leadership for introducing India to the world as a proud and victorious nation in the fight against Covid." I do sometime pity the leadership of MNS. Because during their party launch speech in 2006, the MNS Chief had mentioned about a BluePrint for the state. And until it was launched in September 2014, the media ensured to ask that one question every time. And this is not it. The worst part is that the same media never asked a single question on the blueprint after it's launch.

Coming back, had any one heard any one asking on live television or in print medium today about this resolution? We will never see that happening now. First, the country was misguided to believe we had found a cure and then we were asked to celebrate  when the enemy was literally at the gates.

7th March 2021: The Endgame

From 15000 in mid February, the average cases per day in the county had reached 19000. The Health Minister of the country once again tells on record, "We are in the endgame of Covid-19 pandemic in India, which brought the whole world to it's knees." 

Honestly, I do not have anything to add here further. Because you can argue with some one or debate when a sane argument is kept in front of you. But when people talk something that is miles away from being termed even as an argument then I become speechless. The Indian Medical Association again tried their luck by warning the Health Minister against blowing our own trumpet and going off guard against the dreaded disease at this stage. Surely, like the earlier one even this warning must have fallen on deaf ears.

March 2021

The PM has been promoting "Do Gaj Ki Doori" in whatever tweet or speech he makes. But if you had seen the pictures from West Bengal then you can surely tell that there is no such thing as Covid in this country. All packed crowds with not even a centimetre in between them, social distancing a distant dream. Plus, unsure,  how many of them were wearing masks or were having any kind of symptoms or were a carrier. The BJP bandwagon continued their rallies, roadshows with packed streets as if living in an alternate universe. 

If West Bengal was not enough, then came the Shahi Snan in Kumbh. On 11th March an estimated 32 lacs people took a dip in the holy Ganga on the occasion of Mahashivratri. Here, I will leave the social distancing part to your imaginations.

13th March 2021

By now, the cases were steadily rising in the 6 states of the country. The CM of Maharashtra had already started taking stock of the situation and we were again hearing the word "lockdown" in news. The Health Minister of the country who had already declared victory in the war against Covid now started changing his tunes. The citizens of the particular states were blamed for the rise of cases and suddenly Health Minister started urging people to abide by Covid appropriate behaviour.

Don't miss the crux. What he meant was, Covid appropriate behaviour for everyone except Uttarakhand and West Bengal. And this I am saying because immediately after giving the above bites to serving media, he uploaded pictures of PMs rally in West Bengal with full house crowds. So much, for Covid appropriate behaviour.

26th March 2021

By now the total count of cases in the country per day had reached 62000. But government at Centre was least bothered  Instead of working on the coming tsunami, they were busy patting their own backs. The party had asked their I.T. bots to circulate messages of how our PM is becoming a global leader and is on the path of becoming a Vishwa Guru after exporting vaccines to more than 70 countries (as they said). And mind you, we are country of around 140 crores souls. Was it actually necessary to share food from your plate when your own family will be dying?

31st March 2021

By this time, all other countries were busy giving orders to secure vaccine for their citizens. Our country was busy bragging about being the giver of vaccine to the world. Since I am not aware of certain technicalities of the agreement between Serum Institute of India and GAVI and with the Government of India. So I won't comment on that part here. 

Inspite of the governments warning people still played Holi to it's full extent. I have heard people saying, "It is our festival, how can we ignore it?" Sometimes it becomes unclear whose life is government trying to save by imposing all the stringent measures? Do they deserve it? The parallel universal Health Minister went on record by saying, "The situation is under control but don't be complacent." If the number of cases rising from 10000 to 70000 is termed as in control, then why not just declare our country Covid 19 free.

The government had appointed a National Scientific task force last year to keep a check on the Covid 19 situation in the country. Well, it came to light recently that the task force met only once in mid January. And their next meet happened directly in the month of April when the situation has already gone out of hands.

2nd April 2021

By now India was crossing 81000+ cases daily and 450+ unfortunate deaths. I read a first hand experience about a man who died due to Covid. He had told his son, "Tomorrow, I will be one of the statistic". In this situation, some states were busy passing Anti Conversion Law. (Yes, BJP ruled). Just like when the cases were peaking in the first wave the government had went on to pass the three critical farms law whose, by the way, agitation is still going on. They are still there on those roads. 

4th April 2021

Maharashtra government imposed new curbs in the state. The rules weren't as strict as lockdown but they intended to decrease the flow of people on road in order to break the chain. Not more than 5 people were allowed during the day time and night curfew from 8PM during weekdays. Whilst, for weekends the government had announced the lockdown. Only movement allowed for essentials. As already the state had come in limelight because we were contributing to atleast 30-35% of the total country's cases. Whereas total 8 states, including Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Tamil Nadu were now contributing 82% of the India's cases.  The capital Mumbai too was reaching 10000 per day mark very soon which, somewhere around in February, had dipped down to 300. But hardly, people cared now.

9th April 2021

As per the new rules, my scheduled marriage was still supposed to happen. Currently, this was a hot topic for me. As our invitees were already in the restrictions so it wasn't that of a trouble. Plus, the state government after passing orders of new rules on 4th April, had passed 5 amendments to it in he next 5 days. So uptill now my event was on. But country was in deep trouble. All of sudden cries could be heard again just like last year. But this time along with cries for bed, we could see people struggling for oxygen and the another worst area never thought about, space in crematoriums. But media was least concerned. Especially, the hindi media. If you could see the banners prepared by them to praise the PM one would surely question whether it is BJP TV or national news channel?

13th April 2021

Maharashtra state had announced further strict rules w.e.f 15th April and later one went on to announce total lockdown up until 30th April 2021. Only Mumbai was getting over 10000 cases by now. In other parts of  India, government had started building walls around the cremation sites in order to discourage the videos that were getting viral. The BJP ruled state such as Madhya Pradesh, UP were seeing bone chilling scenes of multiple burning pyres in the state. But the figures declared by the government was very low. The crematorium site workers were now working double shifts. Delhi government had allowed ground to be used as cremation centres as the crematoriums were over flowing. A long queue of ambulances outside the cremation sites could be seen. In Maharashtra, there was incident in Beed district where som 8-10 members of the same family were cremated. Another bone chilling scene was of a ambulance carrying a dead body take a turn on the road and some how the body falls of the vehicle.The family members agony, I can't even imagine. They heartbreak of losing a close one, the anger of not being able to save them on account of not receiving treatment on time and now wait in the long queue even to allow their soul to rest in peace. This is all beyond human imagination.

While all this was happening in our world, in another alternate universe, election campaign continued in full swing in the state of Bengal.

15th April - 27th April

This was the time period when so many incident happened back to back that I really lost the track. A fan of collecting newspaper articles, sometimes I was literally taking the entire page such was the intensity of news. I will try my best to note down the big events that made me loose faith in humanity.

 

Ro-Ro Service

With the entire country witnessing shortage of oxygen, Maharashtra state CM had recommended Centre to put Airforce into action to airlift the oxygen from eastern coast of India. So on that line the country's first oxygen express was conceptualised It was suppose to pick up over 100 tonnes of medical oxygen from Visakhapatnam. The important aspect of this train was it was supposed to given a green corridor. This means the train will go non stop end to end. The state government too assured a green corridor on the road once the filled tankers reach the state. So with all set, the empty tankers were loaded and the train left Mumbai (Kalamboli) on 19th April. Generally, a passenger train requires 28 hours to reach Visakhapatnam from Mumbai. But the green corridor oxygen express took 2.5 days to reach the eastern coast. So lets see what transpired in those 2.5 days and how was the blame game:

The first comment was raised by MP from Maharashtra who pointed out the fact that if passenger train takes 28 hours then why is the oxygen express still at Akola afte 24 hours? 

Hope you are aware that railways come under Centre Government. There are two common routes for trains from Mumbai to Visakhapatnam: One is  Mumbai-Pune-Solapur-Gulbarga-Hyderabad-Vishakhapatnam while the other one is Mumbai-Nashik-Nagpur-Vishakhapatnam. But the Railways opted for a complete detour: Mumbai (Kalamboli)-Vasai-Surat-Jalgaon-Nagpur-Vishakhapatnam

The Railways came out with technical reasons saying that the cargo was classified as Over Dimensional Cargo which is not allowed to travel in the Ghat sections. So the detour was essential. They also blamed the state government saying they had sent the nitrogen tankers which weren’t cleaned as per the protocols. Therefore, they had to be cleaned at the plant in Vishakhapatnam before filling them up oxygen.

Honestly, I am not sure who is right or wrong, technically. Were the reasons given were legitimate or note? I will choose to leave it upon history to judge.

Covid Vaccination Politics (International)

Honestly, whoever wins an election or becomes a CM or PM. The only satisfaction I may receive if I follow them like a die hard is my ego satisfaction. Because the next day, when my life begins again I know nothing has changed. It is pin to plane exactly the same. And this view point is about local area politics. I remember during the 2019 state election, one candidate from a political part had come to our building to carry on with their election campaign. This was the first time I was able to see a politician when they visited the building during election season as normally I use to be either outside or working. So my usual curiosity took me down to see what they had to offer. The leader arrived with all his orchestra and sloganeering. Then began the typical garlanding and photo ops. After those flowers were, literally, dumped in the leaders car storage, he started speaking. Since it was small session and people were closeby, so I could sense the uncomfort in his speech. He wasn't able to shout and blast words like they usually do. So whatever promises he was making didn't reach my ears but the concluding line did reach my ear pretty clearly. His last line "......only if you elect me Otherwise don't come to me." I saluted the audacity of this person who confessed it that I will help only if your vote benefits me. Else see you after 5 years.

So if this is case in local politics, you can imagine how drastic changes will happen in my life if Joe Biden is elected as the President of US in November 2020 (pun intended). But it did have an impact on Indians.

After taking oath as the President, he first prioritised to vaccinate all the US citizens. Now remember, there is developing country like India who was distributing free vaccine samples outside to gain some mileage whereas the Super Power was putting their people first. And for this, Biden had put an embargo on export of Raw materials that will be needed to prepare the vaccine. 

But please do not assume this as politics. This is in real sense nationalism. One cannot stay hungry and give away their food under the pretext of helping some one. Because you cannot pour from an empty cup. The media in India had questioned one of the vaccine manufacturers and he had told this on record that the US embargo was not going to have impact on our production. But the government in the Centre by now had no place to hide. So they planted stories in media to tell people that because US denied us the raw materials we are facing some vaccine shortages. And after days, PM will have a word with US president and they will restore the supply, they were suppose to show him as the Lord Hanuman who himself brought the mountain of Sanjivani.

Another story in international vaccination was India had given approval to Sputnik V, a Russian approved vaccine to used in India. The interesting part here is Sputnik was launched way before any country in the world had launched a vaccine. But just because it was Russia, and US did not approve it. The world did not give them the status of launching the vaccination drive early. So India too did not allow Sputnik V then, but in April 2021 it was given permission for emergency usage. I guess the real story, we may never come to know.

Covid Vaccine Politics - National

As West Bengal campaigning was in the final stages, PM suddenly realised he had a country to look after. The CMO of Maharashtra had called the PMO to seek help on providing more oxygen. But the PMO had replied saying, "PM is out for a rally in Bengal, we will reply later." As soon as CMO publicised this message, the entire Cabinet went into damage control. The health minister started giving some figures of how Centre is sensitive to State problems. The railway minister, out of the blue, started talking about avgue corruption just to divert the attention. But everything went for a toss when the next day, Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court ordered the Centre to restore the oxygen supply to Maharashtra which they had reduced, especially when state was accounting for 40-45% Covid 19 cases in the country. I was shocked to the core when I heard this entire plot. How can someone literally kill the population just because your government is not in that state?

Then as usual, Centre was successful in burying the news. Thanks to their huge army of media companies. Next issue came was about the pricing. Finally, the Centre had given instructions to the States that they can now purchase vaccine on their own. This was extremely necessary because, up until now all states were made to beg in front of Centre as they were procuring the vaccine and distributing among the states. But if you think government had starting working for the people then keep reading ahead. Two companies were primarily were working on the vaccines in the country i.e. the Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech. So the Central government when they allowed states, the ratio declared was; 50% of the vials manufactured will be sold to Central Government while the remaining part will be sold to State Governments and Private hospitals. But Serum said when they announced the pricing, they will be selling the vials to Central Government at the same price i.e. 150. Whereas the same vaccine will be sold to States at 400 and to Private hospitals at 600. Bharat biotech too announced that they will be selling the vials to the States at 600 and to Private hospitals at 1200. 

Now lets talk a bit in detail of the pricing. The CEO of Serum Institute had said this on record. He was of the opinion that they were going to sell the vaccine, on a normal day, at Rs. 1500 per vial. But because Central Government requested them so they are selling it at Rs. 150. Now, if you may be thinking how much losses the company is bearing for the country, keep reading. He further said, "It is not that we are not doing profits (by selling at Rs. 150). But we are not making Super Profits." How much charity, when the world is reeling in pandemic.

 

Another topic that was purposely not allowed to make headlines and that is the Kumbh Mela. Before I go ahead, do refresh the memories of Tablighi in the month of March 2020. The Kumbh Mela had begun in the month of the April 2021. Lakhs of people, yes, lakhs of people took a dip in the holy Ganga. I would leave the Covid Protocols and Social Distancing norms to your imagination. The CMO of Uttarakhand did not do anything o stop this. One of the head of the sects event came on camera and said, "Everyone had to die to one day. But mela will not stop." With the average cases in the country now reaching 300000, still PM or anyone from the Central government was uttering a word on this. But lie manufacturing machine was working overtime because when compared to the Tablighi event from 2020 seemed a mere trailer. That tests are done, masks are given, only negative tested people are allowed etc. where used as an argument. But the entire lies fell down like a house of card when a RTI request was raised to know the actual figures of testing done in the event. The data was for two weeks from 1st April to 14th april. The media figure estimated that 35 lakhs people bathed in the Ganga on just One Day. The lie factory was spreading that everyone participating in the event was being tested for Covid to ensure no one is a carrier. But as per the reply received on the RTI request only 62507 RT-PCR Test were conducted in total 14 days and 221693 Rapid Antigen test were conducted in the same period. So this means out of 35lakhs only 283000 people were tested i.e. 8% of the total attendees. Among those tested, 2397 tested positive in RT-PCR and 1237 in  RAT. That come to approximately 1.3% of the total tests. Now imagine, what if the government had tested everyone who attended the Mela? 

And just a heads up, the government has already started making plans for the Char Dham Yatra.

We read somethings about the politics on Covid Vaccination. There was another area were the hoarding was on and this was in the procurement of Remdesivir medicine which was in shortage since last year. I read two cases in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Lets begin with my home state. It was midnight of April 17th. The Mumbai police had seized 4.75 crores worth of Remdesivir vials that were secretly moved by a Gujarat company. All of a sudden, the leaders of opposition of both house of the state suddenly showed up at the police station at midnight and started pressurising the police. The leaders said, BJP had ordered those vials from Daman & Gujarat privately to be distributed in the people. Was it a mask or a sanitizer that they were going to distribute to the people? But of course the media is not going to ask the right questions to them. What the media actually should have asked is:

- How did a private individual procure the medicine when sale is allowed only to governments?

- Why did the L.O.P inform the state government  and helped them procure it? Private purchasing was illegal.

- In midst of pandemic, one political party had the medicine worth 4.75 crores?

- Another most important one was, the day before this incident the Central Government had ordered the suppliers to not supply the medicine to Maharashtra state. And immediate next day, the principal opposition party has approximately 5 crore worth the medicine. Any coincidence?

To add to all this, the Gujarat police also capture the owners of that company the next day as they were found illegally hoarding the medicine. So much, for what?

The world media has criticized the handling of Covid 19 by the Indian government. But our media is celebrating them. The Madras HC pinned the blame on Election Commission of India for the rise in patient in Bengal. And also said, that you should be tried for homicide. The high courts and Supreme court is taking action against all involved in governance and asking them the right questions. The Supreme Court made aware the Solicitor General of India regarding the provisions of law where pricing of Vaccine can be freezed. But SGI had nothing to offer as an reply to that suggestion. Because the same evening Serum Institute will offer Rs. 100 discount to States while procuring the same. So instead of 400, now states will pay only 300. Suddenly the health minister of the country says, India is well prepared for the pandemic on the same day when the country registered over 3000+ deaths. To put in perspective, on that day India registered 35% of the total people who died due to Covid.

Let us end this post with few statements that should be making headlines until the ones who spoke don't come out an apologise:

1. PM (Last year, March): "Give me 21 days, and we will win the war against Corona". After around 400 days, 18 million cases, over 210000 deaths. "Our war  against Covid is motivating the world. We are following a human centric approach".

2. Health Minister: "Keep politics outside of Covid, which unfortunately few of us don't understand." I think he must be referring to BJP only who was the first political party who had mentioned in their manifesto that we will vaccinate all citizens of Bihar if elected to power.

3. Minister in Gujarat: "BJP worker do not get affected by Covid. Apparently, the party chief, home minister and UP CM among others were detected positive.

4. Railway Minister: "I am getting news of oxygen being wasted in hospitals. I am also getting news of those who do not need oxygen, are provided in hospitals." I guess he missed out the news on oxygen trucks being held by their leaders to do photo ops.

5. PM (Again): "I am calling the NGOs to come out and help the frontline workers. I am calling the young people to come out and take responsibility in your society or area. I am asking the small children to no to allow their parents to go out of the house." Because I have an another rally to attend in Bengal, Okay Bye.

All I can say is this is the filthiest kind of politics one can play. If real evil exist, today I can say I have seen their faces.

But to be fair, even we the citizens are responsible for what our country is going through. The moment National Lockdown was lifted back in June 2020, the picture of people at Marine Drive for their morning walks made headlines in all newspaper in the city. Now, even as the country was reaching 100000 per day cases we could still see images of packed Varanasi ghats for the Ganga Aarti. 

Ever since, we have lifted our guards. We all became complacent. It is like, people were becoming so casual that the reason for going out would be, "Now learn to live with the virus.

We do not know where we are heading to. All we should know now, that we are on our own. 

Be Safe.

-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With You!

न सुटणारं ते कोडं?

"भावना व्यक्त करण्यास भाषेचा बंधन नसते. पण आपल्या मातृभाषेत ती व्यक्त करण्याची मज्जाच वेगळी असते." 

कुठल्या मोठ्या लेखकाने नव्हे तर ह्या ओळी ह्याच गरिबानी लिहिल्या होत्या जेव्हा मी माझा पहिला मराठी लेख लिहिला. आज एक छोटीशी गोष्ट कानावर आली तेव्हा मन खूप खोल विचारात गेलं. आणि हो, मोठेपणा नाही, पण मी खोल म्हटलं तर ते खरंच खूप खोल असते. शेवटी, काही उत्तर सापडेना. म्हणून म्हटलं प्रश्न लिहून कडूया.

एका ओळखीच्या घरात, त्या कुटुंबीयांनी एक मुलगा दत्तक घेतला आहे. मी जेव्हा एका कार्यक्रम निमित्त त्यांना भेटलो. तेव्हा मी ह्या मुलाला पाहिलं. सर्वांना नाश्ता आणून देत होता. आधी मला वाटलं की असावा शेजारी किंवा कोणा नातेवाईकांचा. पण नंतर समजलं, त्याला दत्तक घेतलं आहे. मी एका क्षणासाठी स्तब्ध झालो. या आधी मी ह्या गोष्टी चित्रपटान मधे पाहिले होते. पण असाच एक व्यक्ती किंवा अनुभव डोळ्या समोर पाहिला तेव्हा शब्द काही आले नाही. त्या क्षणातून बाहेर आलो आणि त्या मला कडे पाहिलं. परखा होता पण आपल्यांन सारखा मिसळून राहत होता. आता स्वभाव माझा बारकाईने पाहणं आहे म्हणून मी त्याला बगत होतो.

त्याची गोष्ट अशी होती की तो आणि त्याची बहीण पुणे इथे एका आश्रमात राहत होते. त्याचं वय साधारणता ७-८ वर्ष असावं. त्याला एका मुंबई च्या कुटुंबाने दत्तक घेतलं तर त्याच्या बहिणीला कोल्हापूरच्या एका कुटुंबाने. तितकच ऐकून, हृदय अजून एकदा पिळून निघाला. 

म्हणजे, काय त्याच्या त्या लहान मनावर यातना झाल्या असाव्यात? त्याला त्याची बहीण पुन्हा कधी दिसेल की नाही?

त्याच्या चेऱ्यावर फक्त हसू होतं, पण त्या हसू मागे काही नसावं मी इतकीच प्रार्थना करेन. कसं नशीब असते एक एकांचा. जे अनुभव, खऱ्या आयुष्याचे मला ३३ वर्षात आले नाही ते त्या गोजिरवाण्याला ७-८ च्या वयातच येवो? आपण आपल्या कुटुंबाशी किंवा मित्र परिवाराशी लांब थोडं नाही राहू शकत. आणि ह्या इकडे त्याला त्याची बहीण परत कधी दिसेल का? हाच प्रश्न आहे.

त्याला जेव्हा नाव विचारलं तर त्यांनी त्याचा नवीन नाव एक झटक्यात सांगितलं. माझ्या मनात विचार हा आला की, मागचे ७ वर्ष त्याने असेच पुसून टाकले का? जे नाव त्याची ओळख होती इतकी वर्ष ते त्याला इतक्या लवकर विसरून नवीन नाव तोंड पाठ व्ह्यावं? एखाद्या लहान बाळाला आपण त्याचं नाव कसं शिकवतो? मग तो त्याच्या भाषेत उच्चारायचा प्रयत्न करतो. ७-८ वया पर्यंत ते नाव त्या बाळाला आता पूर्ण उच्चारता येते. आणि अचानक त्याला नवीन नाव शिकायला लावणं? कसं असेल ती प्रक्रिया? 

आज त्याला एक नवीन कुटुंब मिळाला आहे, पण तो खूश आहे का? त्या मुलाच्या चेहर्या मागे काही दुःख नाही ना?

मला तर काही उत्तर मिळाले नाही. पण तो समारंभ संपला आणि घरी जायची वेळ झाली होती. निघताना परत एक शेवटचा प्रश्न आला, तो मुलगा जेव्हा म्हणेल मी घरी जातोय तेव्हा त्याच्या मनात नेमकी कुठलं घर पाहिलं येत असावे? 

-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With You. 

Bhor Ghat - Reversing Station

My love for history didn't start from childhood when we studied the subject in our school. Rather, it was the other way around. Sometimes it used to be difficult to remember those dates or arrange events chronologically. But gradually as I started reading more of Non-Fiction I started learing or exploring so many different versions of even Truth, for that matter. So this hunger always keeps me asking questions in my mind. When I see a particular monument or road or anything, my eyes ask a question to them, "How was it her before a century or millenium or even before mankind?" Whilst my ears stay wide open to listen if the passing wind or the rolling stones answer my questions. 

So this same hunger made me stuck on the captioned topic. Since childhood, I use to only hear stories of Khandala Ghat. "How steep the old Mumbai-Pune highway is? How much traffic there always is in the ghat section?" Then few years later, after the turn of century when the construction of Mumbai - Pune expressway was done, the new stories started coming in about how the journey has become comfortable now and how the gradient of old Khandala Ghat has become far easier than it's earlier version on the old road. Since my native was Kokan, so the expressway never came in our route. Hence I only knew the stories. And that was the age when Landline was also a luxurious thing. So internet was a still a far fetched dream, that I can sit down and research about them 

Circa 2020. In Covid - 19 lockdown, Internet was a big saviour for everyone. So in this period I came across a terminology of Reversing Station. Railways always invites curiosity, by default, in my case. So I started checking out, what exactly this term is? Initially I thought, it may not be in our country. But to my surprise, one such thing is still active today on the route of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. This train uses a 'Z' technique to make the train climb the mountains. You can refer the route in the below link of how the "z" works:

https://youtu.be/YDhcgUOTIqQ

Indeed, I was fascinated by this technique. But in my mind I wasn't sure when I will be able to experience this, since it is in West Bengal. However my fascination reached it's peak when I came across a reversing station just in my neighbourhood i.e. Khandala Reversing Station. It surely was in the past and now doesn't exist. But if that old path is somehow accessible, I surely can drop a visit as it isn't much far away.

I started searching what was it or how did it work or how the train took that U turn? After lot of research in an amateur way, ofcourse, I finally came across certain things which I will be noting down here. But an important Disclaimer, I am not 100% sure if the technique I will be mentioning here was the same as it was back then, 100-150 year ago. But this is how much I was able to find at my level. 

The first thing you will find on the net when you start searching about Bhor Ghat is the number of deaths. This was back in the 18th Century. The Britishers surely weren't considerate enough to us as they felt they owned us. Some articles will say 20000 or 30000 dead. Some will say around 45000 were employed. So we will never know on how many coffins does the current Mumbai - Pune route passes. A newspaper in Bengaluru had printed an article about this route wherein it was mentioned that, "To be put in perspective, Suez Canal required less number of people for construction than Bhor Ghat."  So with that imagination, let us get started with it.

What was the basic requirement for this route? In British times. Bombay was the most important port for taking out goods and products from the country to Europe, Middle East or Americas. But there wasn't any direct route to reach Bombay. What we call today Mumbai, isn't exactly the Bombay of 18th Century. The city of 7 islands, all separated and independent. Each having their own forts to guard their boundaries. The Bombay island was given as a gift to British East India Company by the Portuguese in one royal marriage. But that will be another story. 

Basically, the transport link was missing to connect Deccan to Kokan. The railways had started in the country. With rapid progress, the train reached from Thane to Khopoli on the Bombay side while the train had also reached from Poona to Khandala from the Deccan side. Now to complete the link between Bombay and Poona or to be exact between Karjat/Khopoli and Khandala, the train was supposed to pass through the Bhor Ghat of the Sahyadri Range. This 21 Km distance was earlier covered by walking or by bullock carts as there was no other means of transport.

The then engineers of British faced the mammoth task of laying the tracks in this 21 km ghat section in such a way that the route should not cross the maximum gradient limit. So after conducting their surveys, the task of laying the tracks had begun. The British had employed all Indian labours to carry out this task. A work force of upto 45000 (again, no exact figures available) was put on work for this decade long project. The entire route consists of many tunnels and viaducts (the reverse U shaped bridges). 

The highest section of the mountain reached at an height of around 600-700 meters above sea level. And this was the section were the work was halted/stuck for a longer period of time. The reason behind it was; the track which came from Bombay had to make a full round of the steepest mountain in the range in order to proceed towards Poona. That was impossible considering the gradient and steep height of the mountain. So the link between Monkey Hill and Khandala seemed to be in dark for sometime. 

Now there is record of a humorous conversation between the engineer and his wife which, literally, altered the course of history. This will also explain how a simple stone can turn tomorrow into an avalanche. As the final link from Monkey Hill to Khandala seemed to be stuck, the Chief engineer wrote a letter in frustration to his wife that 'I am stuck in planning this rail line and do not know how to go ahead.' The wife humorously replied back saying 'if you can't go ahead then come back.' Her intention was to tell her husband to come home. But somehow that reply generated an idea in his head. If we can't go ahead, we should come back. And that's how the reversing station was conceptualised.

This is how, as per what I read and saw, it use to work:

Reversing Station: WIKI

In the above picture the line on the right side is coming from Bombay, on the left is the line which goes to Poona. The third line which you can see going on top, the edge of the mountain, is the line in railway terminologies know as Catch Siding. This line is a precautionary one. In case, the engine brakes fail then the train is diverted to the catch siding line. It's main task is to slow down the train and bring it to a halt. (Remember the climax of movie, "The Burning Train".) And finally, the peak of the mountain on the far left is the Duke's nose, a very common spot among trekkers.

So the engineers planned a reversing station, which you can see in the middle-far left of the picture. The viaducts of the bridge that was made to connect two mountains is visible there. And those viaducts are of the same bridge which untill 2020 was popularly know as Amrutanjan Bridge. See the below rough map I came across while surfing:

Now referring the first picture again, the train coming from the Bombay line will go straight from that bridge where the reversing station was located ahead. Then the steam engine would be detached from the train and will be shifted to the turntable track. This is a track which can rotate 360°. So as soon as the engine is on that track, it would be turned 360° and then taken ahead to be reattached to the train on its back side. So the last bogie of the train while coming from Bombay will now become the first bogie of the train that will reach Poona. 

After the engine is attached, the train will now be shifted to the middle track (in the first picture) from where the train will now head towards Khandala station. See another view of the reversing station.

This reversing station was abandoned some 90 years ago, when a new third line was launched which reduces the travel time considerably. And the railway tracks in the first picture is the same location of current Mumbai-Pune express way. The below picture might help you in some comparison. 

Some say that few tracks of the old reversing station or the catch siding are still there. I came across the below picture which was considered as one of them. But since I have not been there with any expert, I cannot be 100% sure about it

Even today this ghat section is one of the tuffest task in every motorman's journey when his/her train passes through this route. So next time if you are planning to visit Pune and of course if you love history like I do then you surely can take note of these things to experience it. 

Every time when the train reaches the Karjat station, immediately two more engines are attached to the train from the back. These are called as bankers. Banker engines are supportive ones which provide the throttle for the train to climb the mountain and also helps in reducing the pace when the train is descending.

Now, not many will be knowing this but when the train leaves Karjat station to start the climb of Bhor Ghat, the front engine will not be pulling the train. Instead, the bankers will be pushing it from behind. After the train reaches a certain altitude, the front engine then starts to pull the train. So initially only two engine's push the train up and later one more engine will also pull the train up.

The four main station of Bhor Ghat are Palasdhari, Thakurwadi, Monkey Hill and Khandala. After crossing Palasdhari, the train takes a minor halt at Thakurwadi. Then moving ahead, the next halt is at Monkey Hill. This one is not for public but a technical halt for engines to check their brakes. After crossing this hill, the train finally reached Khandala. And not to miss mentioning the number of tunnels you will be going through before the train finally reaches Khandala. If one stands at the Khandala station and watches the train reaching the platform, one can easily make out the steep climb the train is making to reach their. It's like an roller coaster. 

Now, just to give a perspective of why this is an engineering marvel or why was it then compared to Suez Canal, just see the view of the railway from Khopoli city. The red dot on top is the Amrutanjan Bridge. So that is the point where the train has to reach in order to connect with the Deccan.

Mountain should always be respected and never taken for granted. It is really appreciable that Indian Railways have specific appointed motorman to work only on the banker engines. Because in cases of goods train, sometimes 5-6 bankers are needed to bring the train down to Karjat. Also, every train has to go through the brake check process at Monkey Hill halt. 

Such fascinating is history. Imagine what would have happened had that chief engineers wife wouldn't have had a lovely banter with her husband. May be India would have had to wait longer for the railway between the Bombay and Poona. So next time, do spare a thought when you pass through this route. I ain't sure if there is any monument in the memory of those workers who died during its construction. At the least we can say is a Thank You in the air and let them know that their death didn't go in vain.

-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With You.

The Farmers Agitation 2020

It has been quite a long time since I wrote a post dedicated to politics, which by the way is one of my favorite subject. Before proceeding I must confess that it is difficult to use personal laptop now a days after using the office laptop for 5 days a week, mainly because of the size of keyboard. 

2nd and 3rd February 2021. I witnessed some ruthless politics. Ruthless here is used as a figure of speech. Just because a few international celebrities tweeted about the ongoing farm agitation, the whole government stood up in arms to take on those individuals. They even asked Indian celebrities from all walks of life like the government's favorite Bollywood, then cricket arena like Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Virat Kohli etc. or singer as Lata Mangeshkar to tweet in support of the government. All their tweets clearly seemed to be scripted words which talked about sovereignty of the country being attacked. I was taken aback surely, for all of a sudden, so many people added in the army for defending the government. But more I was surprised on the thought that when, actually, our sovereignty was attacked the same government had stayed in denial until reports finally came about death of our brave soldiers. So it means that a tweet coming in the country is more harmful than outsiders infiltrating the borders.

The year had already started with the backdrop of Farmers Agitation which was going on since November 2020. The cooperation and openness of the current establishment was visible clearly when the police had halted all the farmers at the borders and did not allow them to enter the capital. Even the multiple round of talks between the farmer unions and government had ended in stalemate. Two things, were the government and farmers had come to an agreement was to decriminalise the stable burning & to keep  a tab on the rise in power tariffs. But the Unions have a clear agenda, to scrap the three contentious farm laws in it's entirety. Whereas the Union has made their stand clear, the laws are here to stay.

So before understanding the agitation, let me first give you a layman view of what the laws are and why will they impact the farmers for which they are hell bent to withdraw it.

By leaving the names and technical aspects, I will just give you a gist of the laws. 

One law will be giving farmers the right to sell their produce outside the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMC) at pre-agreed price. The government says this will reduce the mandi tax which the farmers are currently paying to the state governments.

Second law allows farmers to undertake contract farming and sell their produce freely in the market.

Third one is an amendment to the Essential Commodities Act which will now allow farmers to sell foodgrains, edible oil, pulses and onions freely in the market. Currently their prices are regulated by the government as they are part of basic necessity. The only exception to this will be in the times of crisis.

So, isn't it luring? I mean you must be thinking now, why are the farmers not happy with this? They are getting a huge market, good price, multiple buyers etc.

Let us now see the between the lines stuff. What are farmers worried about:

- By allowing the products to be sold in free market and not in APMC the farmers will have to forego MSP or Minimum Support Price. MSP is the rate at which the government offers to buy the farmers produce irrespective of market conditions. So this is an assured income for the farmer. And the new law is luring farmers by telling them they can sell their produce at market rates to any one outside the APMC at any rate. Now let us take a practical example of our jobs. We all know how companies are profitable during most part of the year and is suddenly short of cash exactly when appraisals are due. Here we are talking about farmers, the majority population, who have always been living in difficult times. Every business house will be awaiting to exploit them further, to just maximise their profits. Just today (3rd Feb 2021) I read in the newspaper about a farmer dumping his entire cauliflower produce on the road because the trader offered him Rs. 1/- per kilo. And mind you, few weeks ago when I had bought a ball of cauliflower it was Rs. 95/- per kilo. Many a times, ynou also must have seen the scenes on T.V. when dairy farmers spill the entire milk on the road when they use to not get their desired prices.

- I am not sure if you ever heard the term Contract farming before but it is very much popular in Poultry industry. Yes, majority in poultry business are into Contract Farming. And we have seen so many poultry business flourish, of which one became so rich that they own a football club in England. So why should the farmers be not happy with this? Here again, the catch is in the word Contract. Since government is removing APMC which means the farmer will be contracting with business houses to sell their produce. So these corporates will surely not be buying what the farmer has to sell to them, but they will be asking the farmer what to produce, how much to produce and when to produce? This hits our basic roots of farming in the country because not all farmers are having acres of land and properties that can suit a business house requirements who today might order one product and tomorrow another. There are so many farmers in our country who have been carrying out traditional farming of fixed items for generations.

Plus we have also heard about so many stories about families who are fighting civil suits against some of their family member as to will gain that small plot of land left by their forefathers. So if these farmers are now instructed about what to produce then how are they going to fill their families stomach? Plus there are worldwide examples as to why this is not at all a good idea as there is no security net to the farmers. If you want to see Indian examples, check out Pepsico history who had entered into contract with farmers for cultivating tomato, chillies and potato. And how did that venture proved to be?

Apart from the main two reason above there are some more technical aspects which I will just point out but won't detail them here:

- Agriculture, as a subject, falls in the State List and not in Union List of the Constitution of India. It means the state should be forming laws pertaining to agriculture and not the central government. So the Federal structure has been by-passed here.

- Civil courts will have no jurisdiction in these laws. So no easy redressal for the farmer when he/she will have to go against the mighty corporate houses.

- The laws were passed as a Ordinance during Lockdown and then cleared in parliament where they have full majority. No stakeholders were consulted before.

I am sure, what was appearing to be luring sometime ago, there must be some doubt or change in your perspective towards the current farmers agitation.

Well, now comes the bad part. Inspite of so much support or rather I would use the term sympathy the famers are receiving, the current establishment is not leaving a single stone unturned to portray them as anti nationals or terrorists.

Let us start from the media. Whoever classified media as Fourth Pillar of Democracy must have missed out to mention the expiry date. The only thing that has been played on T.V screens 24/7 is how the farmers are playing sports, doing exercises, eating pizzas etc. Hardly I believe there are any journalists left who actually want to cover what is going on. They just have been handed a script of what has to shown on the television. So, all, the media personnels do is search for incidents or characters or create one to be shown on T.V. that will suit the agenda. No media house is ready to talk about the technicalities of the bills, the way in which the bills were cleared during the time of Lockdown without any question answer session etc. What interests them more is how much traffic is caused because of the farmers agitation. One common question I remember many media people were asking the people at ground zero was, "Do you know how to do farming?" This question was targeted to people who are not farmers but they have too come out in support of the agitation. And I do not recollect any one asking the technicalities of Lokpal Bill to people who had participated in the 2011 Anna Hazare Movement.

Speaking of the man himself, the crusader for the Jan Lokpal Bill, I am not sure if you had heard the news that Anna Hazare was planning to go on Fast in support of Farmers Agitation. But everyone saw when he called off his fast in the presence of Leader of Opposition of Maharashtra who coincidentally belongs to the same group who have are in power in the country. Firstly, no one is aware as to why or what were the reasons to go on fast? And then, nobody will ever come to know the reason for calling off the fast. But one incident I will surely mention here for the record because history will not be remembering the same as the erasing procedure must have already been initiated. In the press conference were the fast was being called off, a journalist asked Anna Hazare that after announcing a fast and immediately calling it off, will not that have impact on your credibility? Anna Hazare himself were quiet as if his face suggesting he didn't had any answer to that question. Then after sometime the leader of opposition said something in Annas' ears and declared to the media that there is no need to give an answer thus putting curtains on the press conference.

The State governments in each state were taking stand based on their then requirement. Like for example, in Maharashtra among the ruling coalition, the two Congress partners had not supported the bills whereas their new found friend, SS, had supported the bills in lower house. But after seeing the mood of the nation, they shifted their stance in the Upper House. Some state, like Punjab, had passed ordinances to not give effect to the law in their state.

The internet bots or trolls though do not need a mention here but unfortunately, they are the ones who decide the mood of the nation today and the educated class forces common public to believe them too. The flow of tweets, hashtag wars tells us what the people of this country opine about an issue. But see the fun part here. The change in tone of tweets or status messages was also clearly visible. 

When the protest began, the message was spread initially by explaining how the farmers were being mislead by some political parties with vested interests. And that they (Ruling Party) have complete sympathy with the farmers. Then, one day, a video surfaced about a late former external affairs minister (Of same Party), who had given a speech in parliament which was somewhat related to the current farmers issue. So now the bots shifted a gear by showing how the protesting farmers are eating pizza, organising Kabaddi games at the venue and how their egos of not listening to government are hurting the real poor farmers of the country. 

When they realised that still the public sympathy was with the farm agitation and most round of talks were ending in stalemate. So bots shifted another gear and brought the terror angle in between along with their all time favorite item on the menu, anti national. 

But then later again, news started coming from Maharashtra that farmers in huge numbers have started their journey to reach the Delhi border and join the protesting farmers. So the bots now shifted another gear to classify the farmers into political parties saying the protesting people are mainly from the Communist parties. This, I believe, will go on until and unless they have it there way.

Another tragedy, was the news reporting on this issue. I do not know the number of farmers who committed suicide because the news reporters were told to turn a blind eye to those incidents. And ofcourse, also the pictures of police lathi charge on the farmers.

One thing what not many people noticed here is the powerful politics of the ruling dispensation. Everytime they reminded the nation, in between the lines, that we are here and we mean business. In such type of protests, a sympathy wave is generally created in support of the protestors. And sometimes it reaches to such extent, that the ruling parties are declared guilty in the people eyes. This is exactly what happened during the 2011 Anna Hazare movement. The India Against Corruption team ensured that their icon, Anna Hazare, got maximum screen space.So be it on Social Media or Main Stream Media or road agitation etc. The portrayal of him as another Gandhi made him a household topic and a huge wave of sympathy was garnered to the Jan Lokpal Movement. It was to such extent that in 2011 itself people were sure that there will be a government change in 2014. The current rulers, who allegedly were sponsors of the 2011 movement, were totally aware of this fact. And this is the reason why they did not allow farmers to get the screen space as much they deserved. The media already being manipulated was defending the government. Now celebrities were asked to join the bandwagon to sing governments chorus. And some experts too were called upon including international agencies who were asked to give comments in support of the new laws. Even the Supreme Courts intervention did not prove to be effective for farmers as the committee they decided to appoint, who will do a study and submit a report to the government on the bills contained people who all had before supported the law. And if you are planning to use an argument that courts will not bow to government requests, then let's turn the clock back a bit and remember the press conference of Supreme Court judges.

As the new dawn of 2021 came and talks still ending in stalemate, the farmers this time decided to shift gear now. They planned a tractor rally in the capital on Republic Day. When I had heard about this news I was sceptical because managing such a huge rally with public is not at all an easy task. It has to be cordoned off to the last farmer who shall be participating in it to ensure there are no loop holes which will allow fringe elements with vested interests to barge in and create ruckus. Because giving publicity to any negative scenes was a cake walk for the establishment. So even if the box has one rotten apple among the hundred, they can surely shout about that one rotten and make it as the cover photo of that protest.

To be fair to the farmers, given the magnitude of protest they have already managed to hold, this thought surely must have crossed their minds as well. And with nothing concrete happening, it was essential for them to up the ante, so a risk was necessary. 

So after the announcement, as usual, the establishment started crying foul that there will be a law and order situation in the capital so this cannot allowed. Luckily, this time the Supreme Court supported the farmers rights to protest in a democratic manner. So the preparations were in full swing at both ends. Farmers preparing their tractors, march ready, for Republic Day while the government in deploying maximum security. But there were some other factions too who were prepping up for the D-Day. Their intention was to ensure a negative portrayal of the agitation reaches the world. So when the rally had reached the Red Fort, everyone must have seen the images of people barging inside the premises of the fort and raising a Sikh flag. A video was also shown in were we could see a tractor trying to jump the barricades which resulted in an accident resulting and death of the driver. In some areas, it was reported that the people shifted the course of planned route thus allowing situation to go out of hand. But for the government, their plan of action was ready. And first thing they did was to shut down internet at selective areas. The media ensured only those pictures and videos were broadcasted which will suit the establishments agenda. All the protestors were termed anything, but farmer. Even the social media accounts of around 500 users, those talking in support of the agitation were blocked by the government. 

One thing I still fail to understand, Red Fort, where the country's PM hoists the National Flag on every Independence Day is a maximum security place. So how did the protestors get entry in such a fortress? The police force which had kept the farmers on the borders of the capital for two months, suddenly became so loose that they allowed a small group of people to enter this citadel. Also, ever since the protest started few corporate groups have been the targets of being the beneficiary of these laws. So, coincidentally or what I am not sure, exactly those companies assets were vandalised. As a third person one needs to understand a thing, if farmers wanted to use violence as the means for their protest then why would they set up tents and stay on the road in freezing temperatures for two months? Violence was an option on the day when they were halted on the borders. But they opted for bearing the cold to make sure they are heard. So whatever happened on Republic Day was surely a planned anarchy and the original protestors were not responsible for it. Few pictures did surface in the social media showing a person in the guise of farmer but was found earlier clicked with political leaders of the current establishment including the PM. But of course, this will never be talked about. Neither about the scenes of people welcoming the famers rally in the capital or the farmers saving the police from violence undertaken by the fringe elements. Nor the farmers carrying a 5KM long tricolour. Because this will not suit the governments narrative. 

As soon as the sun set on Republic Day, the police were back in action. Many arrests happened. They had also started building concrete road blocks to keep the agitators outside the city limit. Even nails were set up on the road for not allowing any vehicle to cross the border. In every radio episode, PM used the typical political speech adjectives to talk about the farmers or mentioned that I am just one phone call away. But not once have the PM attended the talks or listened patiently to what their demands are. One of the minister or leader from the ruling establishment had even accepted the fact that it was a mistake to not have consultation with all stakeholder before bringing the laws. So what is stopping now? Giving an option to not implement the laws for one and a half year isn't an answer. 

With so much already happening in the country like the iron being hot and ready from the fire. Bang! A hammer came down on it all of a sudden out of nowhere. A singer in the United States of America tweets about the farmers agitation and all hell breaks loose. Before going ahead, I would like to mention that how all of a sudden the singer got interest in our countries problem is a question to me. Is it genuine or was it done through vested interests? But after the one tweet that went viral, more global celebrities started talking about the agitation. 

Now a celebrity mentioning something on their social media account did not require an answer from the Central Government of India. Such action itself suggested that the government of the worlds largest democracy can be brought to table not by their own citizens who are fighting for their rights on road for two months, but by some celebrity with typing of few words on their social media handle. The damage control process was so extensive that the first replies came directly from the Ministry of External Affairs. Then, in few hours people started seeing tweets of Indian Celebrities using a same hashtag as designated by the government and talking about sovereignty. Suddenly some reports surfaced that police complaints were filed against an individual celebrity. Though later it was clarified that report has been filed against unknown individuals. 

Was this necessary? What message did will we rally down to the world? That we are defending our country or we can be brought  down on defensive mode even by a 140 words tweet? And what was the reason to involve cricketing legends or singers in this battle? Why malign their images? It was so much visible in the similar wordings of the tweets, the same hashtags and most importantly not many of those celebrities had shared their opinions on this subject before. Then why make them do it suddenly today? Why so much fear? What is it that you are trying to hide? 

The current ruling party's founding Chief in the 80s talked about farmers problems in the party inauguration speech where he was seen criticising the then government about suppressing the farmers voice. What is being done now? Or maybe, being selectively deaf and blind is the trend these days.

I am really thankful to the owners of Twitter. When Facebook owner went on buying spree of all competitors, Twitter did not budge. And this is the reason why Twitter allowed the 500 odd accounts that were blocked, to be reopened. To this, the government even sends notice to the company as to why they opened the accounts? This clearly states, that government wants only those voice in the public that talk in support of them. Dictatorship in the guise of democracy.

One argument you will surely hear is the protesting farmers mainly belong to the state of Haryana or Punjab and not from other states. As per news reports, Maharashtra farmers too are involved in it. But the basic reason is not about being One State or All States. The reason why Agriculture as a Subject falls in the State list of the Constitution is because each state has its own set of ways of doing farming, own markets and one rule cannot be applied to all states. By passing the three bills, the Centre has overriden the state laws. So it is essential for the all stakeholders to sit together and discuss the provisions of the law.

The protest has already completed two months, with end not visible in the near future. A good news I heard today was that the Delhi state government has called back DTC buses provided to Delhi police as the same were used against the farmers. In case you aren't aware, Delhi police doesn't come under the Delhi state government.

Even the lawyer and relative of V.P. of the USA has sent out a strong message saying not preach us where we should comment and where we should not.

So let us wait and see how this agitation further unfolds. I am hoping everyone is able to come to a common minimum programme soon, so at least the farmers will be able to go home. 

-SR.

PS: May The Force Be With All The Protesting Farmers !!!

Curvy Tales

Conviction is something

I am unable to afford

Once I had it in-plenty

Now left with empty coffers

Hard grip I had on that little victory

Now it's passing through the holes

Alike the grains of sand

And the awareness of this gravitas

Is also not giving the essential push

Darkness shall be inevitable

Yet I ain't feeling any remorse

Difficult it seems to wake up

For the dream is getting cosy

Hoping to find that conviction soon

Before everything becomes, again, curvy

-SR.

PS: It's essential for one to display any kind of failure on the same board where once, you flashed your success. Here, the intention isn't to garner sympathy from others. But to keep yourself awake and aware that the journey is not over yet.

PPS: May The Force Be With You!

The Transformational Generation

There is lot of fuss going around (by around, I mean social media), about the New Year this time then it was ever before. The obvious reason is the pandemic. So for a change, I have chosen to talk on something different today which won't be related to Lockdown/Covid 19.

This story belongs to those, like me, who were born in the decade of 80's or early 90's. They all will agree, that no generation is suffering today, more, than us. And most of the suffering is not our karma. It might intrigue you, how is that even possible or if any such thing can actually happen? Honestly, I would agree with you too. But, then, after closely going through all the happenings in the three decade plus life of mine. I can surely provide some instances as to why I came to this conclusion. Note: This isn't a typical write-up but just collection of thoughts.

• Music

I remember quiet vividly, only once I had watched my parents marriage video. Firstly, I was naive to understand anything in it. But what I still recollect is, watching video was not as easy as it is today. That was the era of Cassettes and Video Cassettes Recorder. And we did not have any VCR back then. We had to borrow the same from a friend of my Baba, in order to watch the videos. So, back then, a person having an urge to think of having VCR at their own place wouldn't be wrong. It is same like today if someone wishes to have a home theatre or 55'' or higher version of Smart TVs. But the fun part here was, by the time we could think of having or buying any such thing, it had already become outdated. 

If I talk about sound system, when I was in 6th Standard (Yes, I always prefer using Standard over Grade), a boy in our class had bought tape recorder in school for some party. Either it was Childrens Day or the Christmas party. (Deja vu moment: The best part of the party was the work of placing all the benches one over the other on the corners of the room, to make space in between for everyone to dance. And I loved the task of doing it). 

Coming back, it was almost same as the one we had at our home, but with one trick. As against mine, this boy's tape recorder speakers could be detached from the main system. Earlier back home, we weren't allowed to use our tape recorder on daily basis as it was kept in a locker. So when during the Sundays, when parents use to give permission to play the same I remember trying to detach the speakers from the system. Realisation dawned, that the system wasn't the same as of one the boy in my class had bought. But a childs mind won't accept the technicalities. So trials happened for some more days too.

By the time we went to Junior College a new terminology was becoming a household talk, Deck. This consisted of two big speakers which you would attach on the two corners of the room and the main system that use to play the cassttes and CDs as well. Yes, by now even cassettes were going in the history as the dawn of Compact Disk had come. So, as usual, now I had craving for this too. But it was hardly 2-3 years and then the MP3 songs era came in. So instead of listening on a Deck or some big sound systems, people started using the MP3 players.  

• Examination

Circa 2003, the time when I was going to give my SSC Board exams. Ours was the first batch who had used the Barcode Sticker and Holocraft stickers on the answer papers. I remember our classes had did a mock drill on how to stick the same on the answer papers. 

Then come to year 2005. I enrolled myself in Degree college for the course Bachelors of Commerce (Accounting & Finance). This was a new baby back then and our batch was third one in the history of this course. So that meant, when we were in First Year there was no one who had received this degree from the Mumbai University. Even in my college, the Final Year batch had only 8 students. Basically, this course was under Self Financed category of the Mumbai University. Where First Year B.Com was charged at around Rs. 3,000/-, our FYBCAF  was charged at Rs. 13,000. So ours was the last batch where I got admission in the First List inspite of having 69.50% in my 12th Standard. Today, if someone goes to seek admission in the course, you'll need minimum 90% =/<.

Now let's turn your clocks to 2016. I was due to give my Professional Examination - I (PE - I), the first level exam for Chartered Accountancy course conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. It was somewhere in September 2016, we were in our classes for the Accounts lecture by Professor Anand, in Sukh Sagor Institute. He was very boring, as he use to take way too much time to explain things. So as usual, on that monsoon day we were bracing ourselves for another impact, all of a sudden the professor came in with a beaming smile. The first thing he told us was to close our books and just sit back as he had some big news to give as well as explain the technicalities of it. I still remember, he was saying like, "I am very much jealous of you all". So for the first time, we all were actually interested to listen what Professor Anand had to tell us. That was the day he broke the news of launch of Common Profiency Test (CPT) which will be replacing the current PE - I. This test will be a Multiple Choice Question format exam as against the theoretical PE - I. And most importantly, our Articleship will begin immediately after clearing CPT. So that meant, if things went good, then from the start of 2017 I will be getting my first salary. So, here, I was part of the First CPT batch. Being there first experiment, maybe, the result of December 2016 was 69%. Which is way off the mark from their standards of 3-5%. Luckily, I was part of the successful 69% (First and Last success in a ICAI exam). With that, I got my job and first salary in February 2017.

Jumping few years back into 2012. Since there was no success in the above area, so I had to look for some other opportunity. (Another Deja vu: This reminded me, a bit off topic, I had missed an opportunity of enrolling myself in LLB course. As I had mentioned above, how the BCAF was a new course back then when I was enrolled in it. The differences when compared to other UG courses was in the timing of exams and results as well. B.Com exams use to happen in month of March every year with their results coming out by June. BCAF or BAF, how todays generation refers it to, use to have exams in May and the results use to come in August. So by the time our results were out, the LLB academic year may even start their year.)

Coming back, I registered for Masters in Commerce (M.Com) in 2012. And, if I am not wrong it was around the same year a new course pattern of M.Com was launched as well. For years it has always been M.Com Part 1 & Part 2. Now this was changed to a new Semester Pattern. I remember the chaos. During one of my exam of Part 1, we had received two question papers for the same subject. One was as per the Old syllabus or the Part 1 and another was as per the new syllabus or the Semester pattern. As we weren't aware, which paper had to be solved so we all waited for further instructions. The exam clock was already ticking. After around 10 minutes, the co-ordinators came and informed us that, you can give which ever paper you wish to. Yes, you read that correctly. So, yeah, I was part of this transformation as well. And we have the paper which was much easier.

Another course which I was part of for some time was Company Secretary (CS). A decade ago, when I registered in it was know as CS - Intermediate. But when I registered, it became CS - Executive. And in another year, it changed its entire structure and syllabus or subjects and also realigned their Groups as Modules. So here too, every year I use to look up for notifications if there is still any more change in the course. 

• Job

This might sound hilarious, as even the companies policy did not spare us. It wasn't big, but it was a policy change that was applied to all the employees. Every MNC's have an option of Internal Job Posting, which allows one to apply in another department. This may be on the same level or a step above of your current designation. So I too had used the opportunity of making a shift in my department. Now, in my case it was going to be a same level transfer. But back then our company did have a policy of giving hike in your salary even for transfers on same designation. So when I was shortlisted, I was called by the HR to discuss the compensation. Surprisingly, the HR said the company is shifting the policy of making same level/designation transfers as not eligible for raise in the salary. I was a bit taken back by that news, but luckily for me a good news followed. HR confirmed that since the policy is still in draft stage so you will be the last person who may get benefit of the same. But they did try to scare me by saying, if you take this hike in salary now then there is a probability that you may receive a minimal hike after the year end performance reviews or in some cases might not receive any hike. So while I was listening to it, I was also processing the information. My output was like, future is uncertain. We don't know about it. So why give up this present opportunity. Hence, by accepting the hike for a transfer on a same level, I became the last person in the company to be the beneficiary of that old policy.  

These were some of the incidences I could recollect which justifies my claim of being in the transformational generation. I am not considering the ones which had an impact on majority of the population like the Internet boom happening for the elites, to it becoming the household necessity; the mobile phone era; TVs becoming LCDs to LEDs and then the Smart TVs, the political shifts from One Party Government to Coalition and back to one party etc.

But I am sure what I have experienced uptil now isn't the end and that this will go on. There may come many more such instances where we are either going to be part of it's Sunrise or Sunset.

If you look the other way, isn't that quite adventurous? Yes, it does have its own boon and bane. Depends on your perspective or on which side you are standing, metamophically. 

One thing is for sure, we may be the last thread who are holding the 20th century and 21st Century together. (In case you didn't notice just now, the transformation of 'th' to 'st'). In the times of T20s, we are still holding on to the values of TESTs. In the world of virtual materialistic fiction, we still believe in the old school personal touch. Yes, we will be called outdated by some now and many in the coming few years. To be honest, those comments do not effect me as on date, atleast. At the end of the day, if doing something in certain way or feeling about something in a particular manner is going to get smile on your face, peace in your heart and a sound sleep in the night. Then I DGAF about any other views. (Yeah, learnt that current generation short form today).

-SR

PS: May The Force Be With You.