Finally, Here comes the Smoking Ban

Wow, it took almost 3 years for our Government to bring out the "Smoking Ban" Act. This will be in effect from the 2nd of October this year, on Gandhi Jayanthi. Here are some points to be pondered over:

1. As per the revised Rules, smoking is banned in shopping malls, cinema halls, public/private work place, hotels, banquet halls, discotheques, canteen, coffee house, pubs, bars, airport lounge, railway stations.

2. People can smoke on roads or in their homes but not in any other place.

Well, the first question that comes into my mind is, "Is it justified?"

Many non-smokers would answer in affirmative, but a lot of my friends will be grinning, at the thought that here is another law that can be broken at will. As for me, I only smoke when no one is looking. Since, for the world, I have quit smoking.

Ok, what about pubs and bars?? Is it justified?? I don't have an answer. When I was not a smoker, I really hated people who enjoyed blowing smoke over someone else's face, but then I started doing the same to people who asked me to quit. Sometimes, I was beaten up, and then I realized that I just can't do it to everyone, of course not to the girls at the pubs, especially when they are with their boy friends. But What the Hell......Why Pubs and Bars.....

I agree to everything else, not a ban on smoking in public places.....ok...Pubs and Bars are public places.....But, people go there to drink, smoke, dance, enjoy.....These are the necessary ingredients of the atmosphere. Any one of them goes missing, and the fun vanishes.

What about smoking zones then?? Aren't those public places as well, should smoking be banned there also? Please comment.

Ok, now the Act allows people to smoke in their homes...WOW...thanks Health Minister. Isn't that a public place? I mean, if you are having a party at your house, will the law be applicable there? Even if there is no party, why should the government decide if I should smoke in my home or not.

What about my car, though I don't have one yet, but what about people having those small mobile private homes? Is it punishable??

This law needs serious amendments, before it comes into force. What say people??

If you don't act now, someday, the Government will come up with a law that migth ban "Females in Pubs, Bars, Malls, Cinema halls" but only allow them in your homes and the street.

Mumbai Meri Jaan...

Yet another movie, that touches the core of the hearts of each and every Indian, but yet again fails to make them brave enough to actually do something about it. Movies like Rang De Basanti, Bhagat Singh, Mumbai Meri Jaan, etc are no doubt great works by Bollywood. But, I sometimes just wonder how quickly we bring back normalcy in our thoughts or actions. For some, the content of these movies is not worth discussing, rather they are more interested in the box-office collections, actors' outfits, director's brilliance, great music, screenplay and the possible awards that these movies could be nominated for.

After the Mumbai blasts, I remember someone saying in a news channel that, "Even after these blasts, Mumbai will not fear, Mumbai will not give up, Mumbai will re-live". The way things are going on now, there is every possibility of another such incident happening in the near future. Are we doing something about it? Or we are just trying to accept the fact that, everytime, a there is a bomb-blast in Mumbai, we will cry for a few seconds, mourn for 2 minutes, observe silence for 5 minutes and then again, from the next day, will continue leading our lives as if nothing has happened.

Its not just about Mumbai. I guess, we have turned into such a herd, incidents such as this just don't shake us well enough. Such indifference?? These were a few comments from people that I have been hearing from people off-late, some of them, contributed by my friends...

Delhi Blasts:
In some IT company's cafeteria,

A - What's going on these days? So many blasts, now in Delhi too ...
B - It's good for India. At-least, it is solving the population problems of India.

Bihar Floods:
In some IT company's cafeteria,

A - Why should I donate any money for the victims? I know, by the time it will reach the real needy, 90% of my donations would have vanished into the pockets of the politicians.
B - Well, may be 95% in case of Bihar.

I can write a some more. But, I guess, you would have got a perspective of what I want to communicate. Do we really care if somebody at a distant place is drowning under water, do we care about people who are lost and separated from their families, do we care if the child who lost his parents is eating or not, do we care if the person who lost his hand in a blast is able to find an alternative source of income for his family of four. I don't think so. But we care about how to reach office in time for that important meeting, we care about taking a day off to watch a cricket match, we care about our pet's fever, we care about our stock market investments. I am not saying each and every Indian thinks and does the same. There are people who really do care, and do their best in extending their help to the victims, but we need more, lots of such people who really CARE....lots and lots of them.

Another Nightmare !!! (What's Happening????)

Hey people, It might seem that I am making up all these stories by myself. The probability of such events happening to anyone cannot be a positive real number. But, when I am asleep, I have complete freedom to dream about anything. Well, but it seems that, for quite some time I have been losing control over my dreams. I see my fears in my dreams, I see things which I want to avoid in life, etc etc. And, the most important point is, since last week, I have been able to remember each one of them when I wake up.

Well, here goes the latest one.

November 16, 2008: Bangalore, Its CAT day, and I am at the center well before the scheduled commencement of the toughest exams for MBA aspirants like me. I couldn't have had a better preparation than this. After a smoke, and a Center Fresh in my mouth, I walked into the exam hall with the kind of confidence that you must have seen in "Lakhsya" when Hritik set out alone to do the impossible. Anyways, I am adding some "masala" into this story, else, I would not be able to explain how I felt when I woke up.

I had two pencils, and one pen, two erasers, and a sharpener, my I-card, my wrist watch(which I so frequently forgot during the numerous Mocks), my specs(this was not necessary during the exam, but I had thought of sight-seeing(chicks) after the exams) and finally the killer-instinct. I don't remember the roll number assigned to me, but besides me, there was this girl who seemed to be as nervous any other beautiful girl in that hall. Our eyes met, and I smiled. I gave her a thumbs-up and she did the same. I was just about to shake hands with her, when the invigilator started distributing the papers. I thought I would do that later, since I would have lots of time after-wards. Now was the time to concentrate on something else. And finally, we were instructed to open the seals of our papers and start with the test. In "Rajnikant istyle", I tore open the seal(perhaps to impress her) and started sifting through the paper. On the first glance, the paper seemed to be a sitter. When I started answering, I felt, that each and every solution I arrived at, seemed to be just the perfect answer.

I don't remember the exact number of questions that I attempted, but I was more than satisfied with my performance. And finally, when I thought that I would answer no more(fear of negative marks), I , just for a moment thought about that girl. Till now, I had not noticed that she was in a all-blue attire, my favorite color. I tried peeping into her answer sheet, not to look at her answers in a way of copying, but in the hope of discovering her name. And just then, I realized something horrible. I had not put in my Name, Registration Number and other details, on my answer sheet. I looked at my watch, and there was still some 10 minutes left for THE END. I was relieved.

I picked up my pencil, and just when I was about to put the pencil to paper, something happened. I just couldn't move my hand anymore. Not even an inch. Not even a stray mark. And the next thing I remember was somebody snatching away my answer sheet.

Phew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! was it just a dream. Or was I seeing the future. Does this mean anything? Any one can read dreams?? Was the dream about CAT or that GIRL in BLUE???? Please help me!!!!!!!!!!

A Password to Remember

Monday morning, the worst day of the week was here. The alarm went off at 7:30 am. Half-asleep, I snoozed the alarm, and went back to my dreams. And then, again, the alarm went off at 9:30am, which threw me out of my bed. I was completely drenched with sweat and was shaken. I had a nightmare of my lifetime. The first thing I did was to look around my room, searching for my laptop. It was right there in-front of my eyes. I booted it up, and was waiting anxiously for the login screen to come up. It felt like an hour had passed before I finally saw the screen, asking me to enter my password. And, then looked up towards the ceiling, concentrating on a fly trapped in the cob-webs, tried hard to remember my password. I remembered one, and started hitting the keys, after checking the CAPS LOCK, one by one, as slowly as I could. And then, I looked at the "Enter" key for a few seconds, closed my eyes, and finally tapped it. And after a few seconds, I could here the Windows Login Sound, a bliss. I pinched myself on my cheeks, and it hurt. But I was smiling.

"Thank GOD", I murmured. I picked up my alarm clock and started kissing it like I would have kissed Sonali Bendre if she were beside me that day. But I felt bad for the fly and felt like killing that spider. But, I dropped that idea when I saw that it was gone. I was happy. I was relieved that it was just a dream. I still remember all my "PASSWORDS".

I now understand, how important those passwords really are. About the nightmare, well, I don't quite remember it very clearly, but I think, it was something like this.

"I woke up one day to realize that I had a complete memory loss. But somehow, I remembered the alphabets, and all my family members and friends. Problem started when somebody asked to make a fund transfer to his account from my bank. Then I started realizing that, though I remembered everything else, I had lost that part of my brain where all my passwords were stored, just like that. What a world to be in!!!!

But now, everything is fine. I remember all my passwords, and I am back in the real world. But what if such a thing did happen to us someday. How will it be like? Every bit of our life is locked up behind a password. So many passwords to remember, so many restrictions on choosing a password, what a WORLD!!!!!

Try Us - Bangalore Autorickshaws

Bangalore has been a home for me for that last two years. But I still don't possess a bike or a car and not even a bicycle. So, the only option for me to do all my traveling is either by BMTC buses or the Autorickshaws. Well, my office is not very far, I normally walk to and from the office (a total of 4kms of walking daily). Any Bangalorian would agree with me, that for short distances (<4kms), walking is the best option. You can save time, money, energy and most importantly your mental peace.

But, what if, in Bangalore, you want to travel to a place which is more than 4kms? Which would be the best option for you then? Buses!!!! Naaaah!!!!! They are over-crowded.

What about autorickshaws??? Well, they are plentily available everywhere, all the year round, 24hrs a day waiting for people like us, who don't want to sweat or get wet in the slight drizzles, or just want to reach home as soon as possible.

Here are some of the conversations that I have had with the Autowalas of Bangalore during my stay here. The conversations are mostly in Hindi, since I don't know the local language very well. "Kanada Gothilla".

Act 1 Scene 1 -
Me : Bhaiya, MG Jaoge??
Autowala : Nahi.
Me : Kahan jaoge??

Act 1 Scene 2 -
Me : Bhaiya, Kormangala jaoge?
Autowala : Saab, One and a half meter lagega. (At noon ????)
Me : Bahiya....Half meter me chaloge to bolo.

Act 1 Scene 3 -
Me : Bhaiya, Airport chaloge?
Autowala : Kaunse raste se jaana hai?
Me : Aapko rasta nahi maalum?
Autowala : Malum hai, 200 rs lagenge.
Me : Kyun, Airport to 10 km hai, to 70 ke aas pass lagne chahiye.
Autowala : Saab, wahan se koi aata nahi wapas . (Incoming band hai kya!!!!!!!!!)

Act 1 Scene 4 -
Me : Bhaiya, Marathalli chaloge?
Autowala : Meter pe 20 rs extra lagenge.
Me : Kyun?
Autowala : Saab, baaki sabka analog meters hain, unke meter me har km ke 50 paisa kam lagta hai, mera digital meter hai, ekdum perfect reading deta hai.

Act 1 Scene 5 -
Me : Bhaiya, Kitna hua?
Autowala : 45 rs.
Me : Par meter me to 42 dikha raha hai.
Autowala : Saab, itna traffic tha.

Act 1 Scene 6 -
Me : Bhaiya, Brigade jaoge?
Autowala : Meter pe 30 rs extra.
Me : Kyun? Abhi to 10 bhi nahi baje.
Autowala : Kya saab, aap to itna kamate ho. 30 rs aapke liye kya hai.

Act 1 Scene 7 -
Me : Bhaiya, Commercial chaloge?
Autowala : Baithiye saab.
Me : Kitna loge?
Autowala : Meter pe saab.
In scenes like this, I always make it a point to tip the autowala. And I enjoy my ride as well, without cursing the traffice, the autowalas, the government, the people but instead, looking forward to meet the friend who is waiting for me at Commercial Street.

Some facts -
1. Banglore autos charge the most, Rs 7 per km.
2. The rates become One-half of the meter after 10pm(Officially).
3. The autowalas don't accept 50 paises. Most importantly, we don't have them.
4. Pre-paid autos are costlier, though most people think otherwise.

I am planning to buy a bike very soon. Even though it would add to the traffic, increase pollution, add to the green house gases, increase India's carbon-footprint, raise the temperature of the earth or just to tease those autowalas who took advantage of me not having a bike. What about petrol prices?? Lets see. If riding a bike will be a costly affair, those autowalas won't go anywhere, I can always switch back.