The Dog's Day?

07-10-2010, Thursday

It so happens that I've to travel quite a lot to get to my new workplace. Located far away as my home is, there is a choice between a shorter route riddled with construction barriers and a longer, more unfettered route. As saving those few minutes I deemed quite important, I chose the longer route, and on one such circuitous trip, I was inspired to write thus.

The unoccupied mind tends to get on one's nerves, and because of restrictions imposed by the employer, I'm forbidden to bring along electronic devices of appeal, which leaves me either reading, or looking at the city en passant with contemplative eyes. The depth of this contemplation depends upon my state of mind, which is inclined to receive some inspirational tweaks on reading something well written. On this occasion, the proverbial food for thought turned out to be a Navtej Sarna short story.

On its conclusion, I was on the contemplative city gazing routine when I noticed a limping stray dog, and at least from his point of view, his mate, smaller, but able. The protagonist in question was on three legs as his fourth had been amputated half way.

His girl didn't share his eagerness and would've none of his attempts to set the ball rolling, coaxing on, from behind her. Firm bursts of barking were put forth to this end. However, they lacked a degree of bitterness that would've been present if she didn't approve of him at all. An interested onlooker to this ensuing drama was another dog, quite able and on all fours, silently watching these events unfold.

"Why was she playing hard ball?"

"Is it because he was a cripple?"

"Is it because she isn't ready yet? Or does the presence of the onlooker hold any bearing on her decision?"

"Was she merely playing hard to get before eager submission?"

The pleading, pitiable look on the dog seemed to ask these questions, just as I ask them now. However, the bus pulled away from the traffic signal and I never quite figured out whether it was the dog's day.

For once, I was a little sad when the bus pulled away from a signal. It is usually the case that my mind continually eggs the bus on, seeing as how traffic moves slower than a sleep-walking snail in unplanned, construction ridden, and as a result, gridlocked Bangalore. On switching buses at the Majestic bus station, a pen, paper and a well suspended, comfortable Volvo bus seat at my disposal, I'm inspired to pen down my thoughts before the will to do so evaporates. The frequently interrupting Bangalore traffic signals at hand are my allies now. I think I'm going to like this new job.

The Eternal Dilemma (Part2)

Let us look at society today. There are very clearly, blue collar and white collar jobs. While us white collar folks have five day weeks, desks , A/C, paid vacation, and any other perk that we fancy for ourselves, there are some labourers who are paid wages on a daily basis. And more often than not, in a country where labour is exploited, like ours, they are paid for an entire day less than what we make in half an hour.

And then there are employee benefits, retirement schemes, promotions, and so much scope for betterment still. The other side shows us jobs which are mostly handed out by flimsy contracts under cut throat contractors. These jobs are mind numbingly repetitive. They are bound to it for the rest of their lives until they

1. Are killed by an accident on the job
2. Die/Retire due to some occupational disease
3. Are phased out, fired and forsaken when they can be replaced by machines.

The ideal society is supposed to provide equal opportunity for every individual to pursue his dreams. The staggering contrast between that and reality is depressing.

This is seen first hand in a place where manual labour is found in plenty, like process plants. I used to attend classes for half a day in an A/C environment, the other half with Google Reader and Facebook and managed to make more than a thousand a day. I looked into the slip of a labourer who toils all day under the unforgiving Vizag sun and saw 154Rs/day.

So are we better than them because we are more educated? Or is it because we have the systems and the nonchalance to thoroughly exploit them?

The Eternal Dilemma (Part 1)

While reading Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat, I was struck by this thought.

Everyone knows that globalisation is good for the world and is here to stay. Let me focus on one aspect of globalisation that has contributed to its emergence- sourcing labour/ services from where they are cheapest. This is a continuosly increasing trend and this is what has seen so many Indians land good jobs from across the oceans and at the BPOs.

This will mean that given a wage, somebody who can give you maximum output will be employed. There is a catch here. Has anybody looked into what kind of people that gives rise to?

Enter the concept of "hard working" individuals. On the one hand, we are always told all round development is paramount for a good life and on the other, we are told to slave away till we are bathed in sweat at the lowest wages possible. These two worlds are at a constant conflict. To be successful in this scenario amounts to working like typical Indian or Chinese people- work atleast 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. All your life should revolve around work and the occasional social function. These functions are supposed to be where you "unwind". The idea is to meet as many people as possible who are slaving away at their jobs and discuss which firm is the best to slave for etc. Let me remind you that these people have almost no hobbies, are terrible public speakers and have unidirectional ambitions- to excel at their jobs.

Have you noticed the particular dearth of good public speakers from India? Where is there intelligent humour here? Where are our creative pursuits appreciated? Instead anyone pursuing a career in art or aesthetics is thoroughly snubbed. At the same time, we lack knowledge of the world around because we don't travel all that much. We tend to look at people through judgemental eyes and are percieved as narrow minded and disagreeable. At the same time, our rich cultural heritage is taking a beating. How many people realise the value of our monuments, our history and our festivals?

This kind of orientation is happening as early as possible in an Indian's life what with IIT classes from Std 6 and the like. Is this the essence of life? Slaving away till you retire and spend the rest of your life plagued with senility, eternally devoid of any interesting activity?

Nobody can criticise globalisation and hold it solely responsible for these dreary consequences. However, now that our country has moved on from harbouring an image of the poor country where people starve and cows are well fed, we need to rethink on these lines. India and China, which have a similar orientation towards developing career driven citizens, are the leaders of "development" in today's world. What defines development is highly debatable here.

Damn!

The hit counter starts from zero. Where was it when blogging was a fad?

Peepli Peep

Aamir Khan productions and all, so I went and watched Peepli [live] today.

It was fresh. I've never seen a Hindi movie stick to simplicity as it has. There is only as much sensation for it to just about distinguish itself from what happens in a village everyday. But yes. For the ability to fully appreciate this one, one has to understand the countryside dialect used.

Nevertheless, the essence of the movie is conveyed even to people who know average Hindi.

The movie deals with the struggle that rural India continues to grind through. While trying this edgy theme, the producers have decided to keep the tone light, perhaps to not attract the kind of criticism Adiga's White Tiger or Lapierre's City of Joy have. But that was definitely a compromise. In some places, the humour is a tad misplaced. Where the movie could have scored on emotional points and hit a deep string with the audience, this route was chosen. The background score is sprinkled very appropriately with Indian Ocean tracks.

The ever sensationalising media gets what it deserves: A spanking of a lifetime. The movie also scores from an artistic point of view. It is heartening to see Bollywood finally venturing outside its zone of comfort. Besides, any movie where one hasn't to sit through song and dance sequences is most welcome.

Looking back

As soon as I selected the cloud label view, I realised how many useless labels I had. While cleaning this up, I also noticed how much cleaner my writing has gotten through the years. At the same time, I also realise that this process is more like swimming on an infinite upward helix. We are miles from where we have started and have miles to go from where we stand. The important thing is to keep moving higher.

And yes. I am thankful for people in society who'll make sure blogging never goes out of style.

Could I borrow your phone?

This happened on my journey to Secunderabad about a month ago. I was travelling there to report to Coromandel for whom I work now. In the train, around an hour and half from Bangalore, this stranger asks me for my phone. He says he needs to phone his brother to come to Hindupur to pick him up. I give him my phone, telling him that I've low balance and hence, he should keep his call short. He then starts talking on the phone. He goes on and on in some language I don't know (Urdu I think). He gradually starts moving away, pausing for a little while in the cubicle next to mine, and then the next. I keep up with him while keeping a careful eye on my luggage as I was travelling alone. I had with me my laptop and all my academic documents. I slowly started suspecting that this man is part of a bigger gang where one person distracts the owner while others make away with his luggage.

The said phone borrower goes on and on in that tongue of his and is in no mood to give me my phone back. By now I start asking for my phone back to which he replied, "Don't worry, your phone is not in danger" in Hindi. He even pauses to buy a couple samosas in the middle of his call. He then moves to the door and stands there phone in hand, still jabbering away. He even puts the phone near my ear momentarily to reassure me, though I didn't hear any voice on the other side. By now, I thought that he was some sort of a lunatic rather than a member of an organised gang of thieves.

The train rolled into Hindupur and the platform started whizzing past us. All of a sudden, he jumped right out of the coach, samosa and all, in the direction opposite to the train's motion. Naturally, he lost his balance and fell on the platform. I could see my phone bounce on the platform and fall into the tracks. I thought all was lost for my phone. I waited for the train to slow further while keeping an eye on him. He had stood up and continued standing in the place where he had just fallen off, staring at me with a confused look, dazed. Now that the train was slow enough, I jumped off, but made the same directional mistake he did, in my excitement. I quickly recovered from the fall and moved towards him. When he saw that I was approaching fast, he tried to make a run for it. I caught him on the platform and screamed away for help. I could sense a faint odour of alcohol on him. People got intrigued and the TTE came up and took charge. While the TTE was leading him to the police station, I excused myself and started looking for my phone along the tracks. There it was, batteries, phone and battery cover lying separately. Somebody went down and fetched it. We then handed him over to the railway police.

Looking back, it was an eye opener on how easily my phone could have been stolen. The idea was good, but its execution was horrible. A cleverer or more experienced thief would have had no troubles. They have always said that trains are unsafe. Incidents like this tell me why. Also, poverty can drive people to such desperation for my phone, on resale won't be worth more than a thousand or two. But for me, the exhilaration that this whole incident produced is what I'll remember it for.

PS: The phone still works fine. Hail Nokia!