Commonwealth Games 2010 - Scam to Sham to Shame !!!

The writing was clear for a few months now, but no one seemed to take any corrective measure. We all lived in the trust that, finally everything will be in order.

Remember the story of four friends : Everybody, Somebody, Anybody & Nobody. There was an important job to be done & Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry as it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but No body realised that Everybody would'nt do it. It ended with Everybody blaming Somebody, when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Over the past few months, almost every day the country would hear TV channels & newspapers screaming at the ensuing scams that were coming out of the hatchet......scams that would put the whole country to shame.....Mr Kalmadi & his cohorts have kept on fleecing unknown sums of money, in every conceivable & inconceivable ways, while CWG preparations kept going downhill......minor & major accidents, missing deadlines, blatant corruption, while the officials keep passing the buck & the blame from one to the other, as we head towards a probable disaster, the ramification & damaging effect of which the Govt or the CWG officials don't seem to fathom.

With just eleven days to go for the start of the event, buildings are leaking, ceilings are collapsing, bridges crashing down. With just hours left for the sports persons from across the world to arrive, the rooms & apartments remain filthily incomplete & shamelessly unlivable. The CWG village looks like a dark blotch.

Mrs Sheila Dikshit, the Delhi CM, sheepishly puts the blame on the rains for the delay in preparations, calling all of this as minor glitches; Lalit Bhanot, OC Secretary General comes up with bizarre explanations, "its not such a big issue which we should be ashamed of....westerners have different standards of hygiene than us !!!!"; BK Chugh, Dir Gen CPWD puts the blame on some walking on the catwalk & displacing tiles!!!; Urban Development Minister, Jaipal Reddy feels that the issues are blown out of proportions, Mike Cooper, CGF Chief, looks red on the face answering the media with a stern "no comments, leave me alone please". The callous attitude of the officials has reached unbelievable proportions.

The man in question, Mr Suresh Kalmadi, the CWG Chief, seems to have gone underground.....someone who had proudly promised that this event would be the best Commonwealth event ever.
While Mr Suresh Kalmadi plots his next shameful move in a shameful hiding over the past two days, top notch participating countries like Canada, UK, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia & others are seriously considering pulling out of the event, due to the shocking & outrageous state of affairs. Delegates across all these nations are clearly miffed & aghast.

70,000 crores INR of Indian exchequer has been officially spent in preparation of this event & we have moved from Scams to Sham to Shame.....People of India are outraged...shocked & embarrassed...... we have become a laughing stock in front of the whole world.......Its a shame, its a mess, its a humiliation, its a national calamity......Who will take this responsibility ????
Mr Kalmadi or Mrs Dikshit or Mt Lalit Bhanot or Mr Jaipal Reddy or Mr MS Gill....who, who, who who???? Can the PM's office step in with a recovery ?? Can we do something to save our face??????

PS : Breaking news - "Suresh Kalmadi tried to hang himself & the ceiling collapsed !!!!".....Can we even laugh????????????????

A regular feature in Mumbai .....Ride or Dribble Riddle !!!

20.15hrs...work seems to be a drag.....the day has been extremely slow.....decided to wrap up & move out.
The skyline overcast, soft drawl of westerly winds lapping.....I quickly got behind the wheels of my car...Bholanath......the Accent GLS 1.5 CC mean machine...... the revving of the engine alongwith the screech of the tyres to move out of the parking bay, seemed to pump in the excitement & I found a soft whistle forming on my lips..... a hep looking girl getting into her Chevvy almost at the same time, smiling into the mirror......the evening looked promising ahead.

Out on the road, the car seemed to pick up the mood & got into the 4th gear in no time, easing into the returning traffic on the highway.....everyone seemed to be outrunning the other....as if a race shaping up, with the Lewis Hamiltons, the Schumachers, the McLarens, the Buttons, the Sennas....et all of the world, converging on the western Express Highway of Mumbai......vrooommmm.

Before I could realise, I was crossing the airport, with flights taking off in various directions..... as if a parallel race was forming in the sky as well. I turned on the radio to build in the mood.....91.1 FM greeted me to some old numbers from the golden era...a La Kishore number enthralling my spirits.

I looked up my watch & smiled to myself....today I shall reach home in time to cook something elaborate & also indulge in TV & music...wow....life is interesting indeed.
Had I imagined too soon???....As they say, expectations reduce joys!!!!!......
Ahead, on the road, however, as the next flyover started shaping up, the traffic started to slow down.....50 meters & the drive had become a crawl.....The road ahead as far as my eyes could strain, looked a sea of glaring backlights...like glowing embers.......a designers delight......Whooaa !!!
The revving engines around revved hard & pitch forthed for a while in hope of a flash run......but then started to slow down into a quiet murmur.....suddenly I find myself surrounded by vehicles on all sides.....vehicles of all kinds...... from classy Mercs to creaky Matadors, from spacious Audis to rickety Autos, from sleeky Hondas to sleazy Fiat Cabs......add to that the furiously fuming & violently shaking trucks.......all attempting to surge forward through a seemingly impossible opening. The chaos is worth an English thriller.

The bumper to bumper, shoulder to shoulder unending lines of vehicles, standstill on the highway could actually test the endurance & patience of the most evolved soul. Everyone is one the edge of the nerves......the left foot firmly on the clutch plate pushed to the floor waiting eternally for the release, while the right foot on the gas pedal, itching to press hard...when would this happen???.....each & every sinew of the calf muscle focussed on the push.......the intensity along with the uncertainity of the situation is like a 007 Bond movie. On the edge....moment to moment to moment.......
Meanwhile, the crawl continues at a pace, where even an old snail would win hands down......imagine tea stalls by the side (wish there were some) doing brisk business, serving piping hot brown liquid along with hard stuffed cookies...wow, what a thought!!!! While, I was dreaming of this, I actually saw some vendors selling peanuts wrapped in paper.....people actually have enough time to roll down the windows, try out the servings, pay cash & then smilingly roll up the windows again to start the journey.....phew!!!!
In fact, one can even do a power nap......just close eyes & rest the stiff back, the tired limbs, the sore throat......while the traffic waits to get a move on.....
I realised that in a situation like this, one could actually slip into meditation....a real deep one, while your car shuttles between a cruise to a stutter stop now & then. It teaches you patience as your adrenaline flows from rapids to an eternal pause.......Whooaaa......

On top of all this you also get a lady driver right in front of you, driving her sedan with elan.....with sudden bursts of starts & stops.....straight as a rod.....neither letting you overtake, nor allowing you the peace of mind.....completely unruffled by the situation, while you wish death would take over !!!!!

Millimeters crawl by, as minutes extend beyond hours & the journey continues.......the radio, which was so pleasing a while ago, sounds like torture & blare....all you feel like is to just leave the car where it is, get out & walk back home.......it would certainly be a faster mode of transport. By that time, I had already screamed at overtaking drivers & got mouthfuls back from the more enthusiastic ones.....my croaking throat sorely missing the point & overcoming all obstacles to raise the bar of the decibel.....fantastic by any yardstick.

By the time, the clock laboured to 22.35pm on my wrist, the mean machine had managed to wade through the maze of traffic & enter the gates of our building complex......it indeed was a complex drive......the speedometer could not cross the 20kmph mark at any stage of the drive......a normal twenty five minutes cruise had taken an inexplicable, enduring & nerve wracking two hours & twenty minutes....phew !!!!!! I could barely lift myself out of the enclosed cabin & smell fresh air......manage to find enough strength to stumble upto the lift & open the door of my flat, & crash onto the bed.....

The steamy affair behind the wheels had just ended.......& I see myself alive to look forward to another day......another ordeal.....another challenge of covering the length of the Western Express Highway.....
Mumbai is really a city of dreams.....

Rain Rain......no more please !!!!

Sometime back.....maybe a couple of months, I had written on first rains of the season.....Paus ala re !!!
Like any other Mumbaikar, I was so happy.....finally the rains, the cool breeze, the showers, the weather around.....all so full & colourful.

Well, looks like, we are in for an overdose from the Rain Gods this year.......it just doesnt seem to stop..... the nearby cachement areas are overflowing, the dams are all all full, the hills around are lush green, the city is enjoying a drop in the temperature, as the sensex seems to be zooming upwards......all in all a happy state of affairs.
But all of this is now becoming a nuisance. The sky has been relentless & opening up every now & then.....the whole of June, July, August & now September.....rains are just not receding.

The place that I stay is on the foothills of the Aarey Colony......very lush green, but, not becoming dank & mossy. With hardly any sunshine through the day, the woodwork is becoming damp & smelly & moss seems to be taking deep roots.
Am surely going to lose one almirah & another rack to this wet weather. The clothes are taking days to dry up after a wash & on top of that giving out a dank smell..... room & body freshners are ineffectively a waste.
The general mood all around is also becoming very depressing & you see very few smiling faces around. To add to all of this is the obvious delight for virals & infections, as mosquitoes of all kinds are having a fields day all over.

Time to say, enough rains for the year....please go & shower other parched areas of the country...please please please....

Saawan ko jaane do.....