Ironical

This one little incident, like many other little ones got me thinking as well. Life is so much about perceptions than anything else - and if you can fight your adverse perceptions and manage to dream beautifully life can be an amazing journey.

Here's the little funny incident that got my imagination running:

The best looking couple at the Dulles airport(Washington DC).. were Brother & Sister! and that gorgeous blond was not American.. she was an Israeli.. and of all the things in the world, she liked 'Baingan ka bharta' (mashed roasted eggplant!?).

She possessed good sense of humor was evident when she talked, as the fact that she was extremely sensitive - and that was something so much against my perception. And before I had talked to her, I was pretty sure she would be anything but what she turned out to be. She was able to mold a conversation in to something funny and interesting which otherwise would have ended up in to being something racial. She was able to take the conversation to a point wherein everyone around forgot the fear of the shaky-flight and actually got interested in to what we were talking. It helped everyone (and my new Friend - Gaurav, probably benefited the most) since that weather-marred flight in that kite like little aircraft was turning out to be the nightmare of my life.

You know, you are bound to imagine things when a gorgeous looking blond - instead of looking in to the eyes of hunk sitting next to him - is looking all scattered. But well, if you can perceive better things if only you give yourself a chance. I so wanted to talk to this girl, and when we finally broke in to a conversation - all I was thinking was, this girl is a hell of a woman. A keen listener and she sounded like appreciative of most things around. She was not just a Blond!

And, I must thank Gaurav for initiating that conversation - out of his shaky-flight-phobiac uttering!

Jaipur, How to go about site seeing.. (My Expert Advice)

My foremost advice is not to get in to the Auto-Rickshaw-Site seeing Trap! Just avoid it. My second advice is that if you are an Avid photographer, spend at least 2-3 days there. The three forts Amer, Jaigarh & Nahargarh are worth a day and half between them. As a photographer do not hush your journey upwards towards the top of the hill and do not be eager to see the palace. Instead, walk slowly and explore the view and enjoy it.

To explore the City, you must walk around - and to do that you should map out your walking path. If you go by car, I would suggest parking your car near the Albert Hall museum and walk towards the Pink City. If you are going to use public transport, get an Auto from outside your hotel and ask him to drop you at Albert hall museum. Do not listen to Autowala if they ask you to visit any handloom/handicraft shops, if you do that you will be wasting your precious time. You can buy that stuff from anywhere in Jaipur anyways.

Once at the Albert hall museum, you may want to check the stuff in museum if you are a first-time. I don't find it exciting anymore. I would rather start my walk towards the Pink City, City Palace & Hawa Mahal etc. straight away.

Gurgaon - the Migrant town & My other theories

Gurgaon is a Mess today, and that might just be an understatement. The Government dis-owned it for over a decade, handed it over to the private builders. And what the greedy private builders have done to the city is no breaking-news. Adding more misery to this, are the hordes of Migrants from other cities - who show no ownership towards this place, no sense of attachment. I am one of them, lived most part of my life in better organized Faridabad. However, I have learnt to be faithful to even the places that I visit and therefore I am a lot more faithful to this city though I have lived the shortest part of my life here.

Over the last Decade and a half, most of the residential and commercial spaces have been developed by the private builders. But have they done any better than the HUDA? The answer is a clear NO! In fact because of their profiteering motives, they have ended up cramping the living spaces. The city meant for not more than 5 Lakh population, is now shelter to almost 25 Lakhs and still growing.

What adds more misery to the already pathetic situation is the fact that more than half of the population is Migrant and comes from various cities of Punjab, UP, Rajasthan, Haryana, Bihar, other states and Delhi. Since this population does not belong to Gurgaon and Gurgaon is just a short term plan in their life-span, they hardly bother to raise issues. Once this large chunk of population starts showing ownership to this city, they will probably start looking at things other than the Malls and Pubs.

The mess of Gurgaon is a collaborative achievment, a great private-public effort! The private builders ensured that they carve out maximum possible 'Inventory' out of the available land and leave no open green spaces to let the inhabitants breathe fresh air. The public departments, so far governed by the people with rural mindsets and regressive mindset - ensured that they take not notice of the haphazard development. Happy that the private-babus were gifting them their share of the booty, they did not notice that the entire town was being developed without approved building plans and without sewerage lines.

Off late, the mess has finally forced the hitherto happy-go-lucky Mall-mongers to think what actually they have got themselves into. Yes, so far it's a mess.

To be contd.

Social Networking

A facebook page for Gurgaon Traffic police, Delhi Traffic Police and Municipal Corporation of Delhi too has now joined in. I have never seen a better phase or face of social networking.

Everyday Tens of users are posting pictures of vehicles violating traffic norms and the administrators of the fb page (officers of Delhi Traffic Police) diligently look in to these photographic complaints and penalize the erring culprits.

Following a cue from Delhi Traffic Police, Gurgaon Traffic Police too has come up with a facebook page that is being used to prosecute the erring drivers on the Gurgaon roads. A young man laced with a diploma in cyber crime is managing the show. The page is really helpful and has lot of information about the traffic rules and the changes required to make the traffic smoother.

MCD - Municipal corporation of Delhi is the latest to join this bandwagon and people are pouring in with their suggestions.

I have always been a believer of the thought that 'Talking' is the only way you can end of 'doing' things. Once you talk about problems you can expect solutions, when you never talk about a problem and start living with it - you can never ever have a solution.

I can see that a change is ushering in... 2011 can be the year of cyber-resurrection of the falling and failing systems.