Blurtings of Bystander

People read newspapers as a force of habit or to pick out topics for friendly discussions or to get annoyed and vent anger at unreachable corporate and individual entrepreneurs. Roughly the last type boils down to an armchair voice in silent protest. In the cacophony of today’s hustle and bustle, the armchair voice happily falls on deaf ears. Yet, the voice continues to howl. Bystander prided himself to fall in this category and kept pouring out his thoughts on subjects he had opinions.

In his opinion the hectic activity to add high rise buildings only increased the density of concrete jungle elbowing out the real ones for space. With every high rise becoming a mini town, ship loads of coal is burnt to feed its hunger for electricity. In one stroke these ventures manage to raise pollution levels in two or more distant places – the auto exhaust of the ‘mini city dwellers’ and the power plants consuming coal along with the linked coal producer.

The automakers entice people to drive away and enjoy the lush green nature in their diesel gulping SUVs. Is this not an invitation to pollute the natural surroundings and in the streets of the city from which these SUV owners leave for outing? The collusion between the Financiers and Automakers to lure customers with EMIs and the apathy of state governments to pay attention to improve public transportation is only helping the faster degeneration of the atmosphere. To keep their conscience clean the builders might even be prepared to point out the long term effect of pollution on the roads compared to the short duration dust storm they are raising. Probably, they feel secure among the big fishes in Auto Industry and go on building sky scrapers, thinking ‘the dust will settle down soon, somewhere else!

Becoming annoyed with no visible action, Bystander took on the high and mighty asking, “Why the green tribunal and the pollution control boards are keeping quiet without raising its own dust storms? Why these entities and individuals are allowed to go on generating particulate pollution, carbon dioxide and other noxious gaseous enrichment? The guardians of environment and forests strangely remain occupied with other weighty causes rather than the assigned responsibilities while under their very noses environmental havoc, including puncturing the ozone layer is taking place? Why this ominous silence did not bother the public?  Are the NGOs, satisfied with the quantum of exposure in the media, diverting their energies to other channels”?

Bystander silently appealed to any fertile mind, in one of the department of the government, to conjure up this fitting countermeasure – ban air- conditioners in all the 4 wheeler. This will have a sobering effect on the owners of automobiles - they have to roll down the windows only to get the taste of their own medicine – polluted air instead of fresh air!

Surge pricing irked certain governments to serve an ultimatum – fall in line or else. But these governments have not even lifted its little finger daring auto-wallahs fleecing the hapless passengers.  Did these governments try to find out the reason for cab aggregators resorting to such trade practices? If they  had done  so the reasons would have become clearer like graffiti on the wall – less competition , poor public transportation network , absence of dynamic planning and atrocious traffic snarls on any lane, by lane or road. The government in its wisdom might have thought it is easier to issue diktats than improving facilities. Bystander wondered why the only the cab aggregators and not the autos that ply with astronomical fares at any time of the day?  Probably the cab aggregators did not have enough street sense in driving by “App” through the corridors of power!

Bystander was piqued by the sky-high fares demanded by auto-wallahs, at any time of the day. He got so irritated hearing their woes for such a demand. This imaginary lot comes up with reasons such as hike in oil or CNG price, another fare may not available, enhanced insurance premiums and so on. They don’t reduce the fare when the prices go down or explain the need to collect the enhanced premium in every single trip! One thing they do not do is to agree for a fare as per the so called calibrated and mandated ‘meter’. They invariably complain that the ‘meter’ fare is not fair and economical for them! Is this not a collective fleece pricing?

The Corporations can, at least now swing in to action and declare auto stands illegal and seize the offending vehicles. This will have beneficial effects: More autos will be on the roads, instead of idling in the stand, competing to get a trip. Fares will automatically come down to legal limits as the auto meters will come out of their ornamental hibernation to the rescue of anxious passengers. To give teeth to this initiative, respective state governments can enact suitable legislation that bars vehicles used for public transportation from sporting party symbols or colours or icons of choice. If this happens, the traffic cops who have to turn their collective Nelson's eye away from the autos, that do not ply by the meter, need not fear the impact of the party flags painted on them.

He was bamboozled by another news item from a different genre - Kumbhmelas. Gurus with international following, enticing their devotees to follow suit and congregate on the banks of rivers. If their purpose would have been purification of souls at least they could have refrained from polluting the ‘holy’ rivers by avoiding ‘holy dips’ of thousands of devotees. The devotees on their part at least should have realised that ‘holy dips’ and purification of souls happen not necessarily at these melas. They endure unwarranted hardships and in the midst of it all, the Guru says “I am here and will take care take care” and deem it as a divine deliverance.

If only they had recollected their ordeals and survivals prior or during the averment of the Guru, they would have understood ‘I will take care’ may simply mean ‘have a good day’, which most of us say with or without really meaning it, or like the doctors assuring ‘we will take care’! These congregations reminded him of the story of the Pied Piper!

The devotees having experienced ‘the miracle’ do not want to let go and keep busy for days to share the miracle-facet of their Gurus to believers and skeptics alike. Perhaps this gives them a chance to develop detachment from this earthly life without even thinking about the attachment they are developing to this or that jet-set Guru. They don’t even pause to ask why the target audiences belong to different faiths and cultural backgrounds. Or about the obvious – the ‘disenchantment with their establishments and disillusionment with their ways of life’ might be the reasons rather than the thirst to master the tenets of a religion foreign to them’ do not occur to these devotees anyways. The pontiffs’ discourses on T V even give rise to doubts whether the pontiffs themselves have understood this ‘foreign angle’. Do they realise that they are initiating a subtle form of domestic violence in many households?

Bystander spent considerable time in finding out an answer to these questions: “If mass spiritual cleaning is required why not adopt garbage choked lakes and save their souls from destruction. Why these jet-set Gurus and their million of followers do not embark on ‘swasth melas’ in the unhygienic wards of Public hospitals or in the slums alongside the railway tracks? Whether such an act can be deemed as a process to purify the souls and to liberate them from the cycle of karma”?

Patiently, waiting for an oracle Bystander started gazing at the passing summer clouds. May be the miracle Gurus are teaming up to bless the snow white clouds to start raining!