Education, Bureaucracy, Judicary, Police ….. almost all the vital system of the country pose a question mark every now and then. The inadequate delivery from these systems traces its root to the British legacy. Its time we did something about refurbishing the system.

This morning I had to take an auto to reach office. The auto guy was a middle aged man with a permanent smile fixed on his face. he asked my destination and i sat in the auto. Unlike most of his creed, he started the meter instead of hagling. Then as he started the auto, he began his story- how much he likes having tea, they say its harmful but he is addicted…. in between he asked my choice if i was a tea freak. upon not getting any response from me; he gave the verdict , … nahi aap zada chai nahi peete hoge…’ . To which i had to nod. Not the one to give in easily on my arrogance, in came the second question and the answer….. ‘ aap kaha se ho? ‘, dilli ke to nahi lagte ho. Then he stuck to the rear view mirror for my reaction. Of course I lied that I am from delhi. But he was not convinced. Then he told about himself, he belonged to Uttaranchal, has been in delhi for 15 years, is married with a girl from his native place (reason- delhi girls are difficult to handle, all there time is spent in the beauty parlour; while his wife in not the demanding lot she can adjust in any sum of money!!!!). He has twins, 11 eleven years of age.
In a nutshell in a 7 km stretch he told me everything about his siblings, changing values in human relations, being cheated for his money as a result he is still driving a rented auto……. etc. etc.

All through out i kept wondering, will he expect some extra money from me or is he bluffing or is he a fraud? But when i reached office, i noticed the meter was not tampered and neither did he ask some extra money for story telling.

When i gave the money he said, ‘ madam, meri aadat hai baat karne ki, bahut logo ko pasand nahi. aap jaise log kum hi milte hain. Kismet hui to phir milenge aapse’.

I smiled and walked to my office premises thinking, was i being overcautious or was my reaction to his stories normal/

Last sunday I had the chance to visit the akshardhaam temple in Delhi. I had seen it from the outside several times, while it was under construction. Everytime I went past, I wondered why do we have to build such a HUGE temple. But on second thoughts I would say, if the temple had not come up there, I am sure it would have been given for construction of a mall.

Anyways, a temple is anytime preferred over a mall. At least in a temple one doesnt get tempted to burn a hole in the wallet.

The temple is well planned: parking area, passage for wheel chairs, eating area etc. The premises can handle a huge crowd without bursting on the seams. (‘huge’ is to quantified in the near future). One thing that caught my attention was- the public announcement- when it was made in English, it was in quite a ‘firangi accent’ (is outsourcing creeping in here as well?)

A lot of money has been spent and it shows in the intricate carvings on the marbles and stones everywhere inside the main temple. I spent more time in watching the carvings than watching the diety (blasphemy!). It was interesting to see our regualr Gods (Ram-Sita, Radha-Krishna, lord Shiva etc.) with a ‘not so oriental look’.

I got educated about a new God, “Swami Narayan ji”. It seems He is popular with the Gujaratis and the NRI community. Thanks to Advaniji for making him known to the North Indians (like myself) as well.

The other day I was going to the market, while the autodriver was slimely making his way through whatever space was left between a bus and three cars in parallel, i was watching a row of ‘plastic sheet’ temporary dwellings of workers for a construction project.

The signal turned red, and the auto stopped bang in front of one of the ‘plastic sheet triangle, so i got a chance to watch it closely . My stretch of imagination had accomodated five family members in there, but the actual head count was ’10’ !!!!!!! of all size and age groups, happily enjoying their morning ‘khana’, scolding/slapping the crying babies….

… And here I was complaining about my house being a ‘cramped place’ as it only has two rooms and three balconies… not enough for two people to stay in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well……… in the present state of mind, i dont want to even own this thought.