Much ado about autos !

When was the last time that a University student was able to find an auto conveniently (and I am not even talking about the fare yet)? Every time that I step out of my college to go to some place not easily accessible by metro, I spend double the time it would ordinarily take me to reach my destination - because half the time is spent finding an auto.

What is the issue with autos? In 1997, the Supreme Court fixed the number of autos registered in Delhi at 55,000. The reasoning behind this judgement I have not been able to locate, but what I can definitely say is that no judgement has been more ill-conceived than this one.

Let us make a simple guesstime. Assuming that an average family consists of 5 members, the number of families in NCT Delhi is approximately 3 million. Assuming that every day at least one member of a family, on an average, needs to take an auto ride, we get the number of auto rides required per day in Delhi at 3 million. Given that there are, at a maximum, 55000 autos on Delhi roads at any point of time, that is over 50 rider per auto per day. Ask any auto wallah, this does not happen. Evidently, there is a demand-supply imbalance in Delhi.

There are some inherent problems with any kind of licensing system. For one, how does one decide how the licenses are to be given out? This is junction 1 for corruption. Secondly, how does one ensure that licenses are not hoarded by those who are able to get it? This is junction 2 for corruption. Thirdly, how does one ensure that a black market does not develop? This is junction 3. And lastly, how does one ensure that roughly perfect-competition prices are maintained in the market? This is junction 4.

In Delhi, it is not a secret anymore that an auto mafia does exist - for example, an auto usually costing just over a lakh costs over 6 lakhs by the time it reaches the road. This is because obtaining a license is a difficult process, and the mafia hoards most of the lincenses anyway. If one was to include these costs in the cost of production, the prices that the auto wallah charges for the ride will correspondingly increase.

Will removing licenses totally solve the problem? For one, it will lead to a proliferation of autos, and drive down auto charges to bare minimum levels. However, this is likely to lead to more traffic congestion. This is thus something that I am not very sure which way to call. Either way, a fixed number does not do the job. At worst, the Government should fix the number of auto licenses according to the population of the city. This way, new licenses will be issues every year - and probably some licenses that have exceeded a certain number of challans can be removed too.

If rash driving is considered a problem, then let anybody who passes a driving test take an auto? Presently, auto licenses are more scarce than driving licenses, and hence the thrust is on obtaining an auto license, rather than properly monitoring driving standards.

Let's just hope the Government stops looking at the metro as the ultimate solution to traffic woes.

References:

(1) http://www.inewsone.com/2011/04/25/delhi-needs-more-autos-says-police-official/45823

(2) http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sheila-wants-autos-off-delhi-roads/592194/0

(3) http://delhiscoop.com/section/transportation/27

Does India really have checks and balances?

Having belatedly started reading Nobel Economics Laureate Paul Krugman's blog (http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/), I see that his primary obsession these days is with the discussion on expansionary austerity, i.e. with the Republicans forcing Obama to reduce the deficit, with the argument that it increases growth in the economy. This is an economic debate, that I is beyond the scope of my point here. The idea that caught my attention was that, as Krugman puts it, Republicans have forced Obama to behave like right-winger (for those who don't know, the Republicans are considered the right, and Obama and his Democrats the left-leaning, thought not out-and-out socialists).

Can we imagine such a situation in India? Does the opposition in India really have the muscle to force the Government to do something? In recent times, we can talk about the resignation of ministers, and think further back and we can talk of the JP movement against Indira Gandhi. However, these movements cannot be really called 'opposition-led movements', since the entire nation, or much of it at the very least, was agitating.

The primary flaw as I see in Indian democracy is the close interlinking between the Executive and the Legislature. The executive by very definition has a simple majority in the legislature. Of course, there is the Rajya Sabha which does not show such a relationship by definition, but it is still quite unlikely that the ruling party is much behind the half-way mark here. Hence, the Government can pass any law that it wishes, especially those that do not tinker with the Constitution.

Thus, the only check on the executive has been the judiciary, but even here an attempt has been made by the executive to protect controversial legislation (such as Tamil Nadu's reservation act) in the ninth schedule to protect it from judicial scrutiny. The judiciary, of course, has sought scrutiny over these by means the 'basic structure of the constitution' argument, but then the 'basic structure' would obviously be very narrow in scope -and hence much of the ninth schedule acts escape judicial review.

This post is not a call for change, I must clarify. India is already too far in its experiment of democracy to make such a drastic change at this moment. This post is merely a commentary - so that the next time we complain about the Government being unreceptive, we know where to look.

Spare the Army!

When Prince falls into the hole, call the Army! When Naxals are to be fought, call the Army! When the Police seems to be failing, call the Army! When bridges collapse, call the Army! Now, when houses collapse, call the Army! The purpose of this post is not to argue that the events mentioned here are not of a serious nature; in fact, they certainly are! However, what I argue is that if the Army needs to be called for almost everything that is of a 'serious' nature, would we call our civic administration 'not serious'? How does this reflect on the state of India's civic administration that a force that is anyway understaffed to carry out its primary duty is being diverted for other purposes?

The natural question arises - what is the harm in making the Army a quasi - civic agency? Why should the Army be limited to defending India's borders, especially at a time when India barely goes to war? The answer is two - fold.

Firstly, the relative tranquility on India's border itself is because of the Army's heavy deployment there. It is because there is a credible deterrent on India's borders that they remain relatively tranquil. If ever our restless neighbourhood sees that India's vigil has lowered, we should be assured that a major offensive is in the offing.

Secondly, a quasi - civic agency has to be placed under the control of a representative Government. This is because the regions that are serviced by a civic agency are well - populated areas, and hence there is a need for greater accountability. This makes the decision - making process less quick. The army operates in an environment where a certain level of accountability has to be forgone, in favour of greater preparedness. For this reason, the army should never be subordinated completely to the legislature or the executive of a nation. However, this does not mean that the Army should be allowed to turn rogue, like in our neighbourhood. Instead, the army should be under the joint control of the legislature, executive and the judiciary, especially the last, but not under the control of any one of them.

Now turning to the other side of the story - the lack of efficiency in our civil bodies - such as the police, the municipalities, the disaster rescue teams etc. These agencies have been eroded due to repeated interventions by the political class, and operate in an environment of dreading accusations of insubordination. The question that I leave the reader with is - how can we make these institutions free of political interference without removing them from the watch of the civilian Government?

Microfinance in Assam - June, 2011

Microfinance is a very popular tool to uplift poverty by bringing in economic inclusiveness of the lower class, which is very essential for the holistic development of a nation. The concept as we know, had been started as the ‘Grameen Bank – The community development bank’ in Bangladesh by Professor Muhammad Yunus in 1976. It is centrally themed at the idea that the poorer sections of the population have the ability to be economically and financially included in the mainstream and can harness their abilities in contributing to the development of the nation and increasing the GDP.

When I studied about the Microfinance scenario in Assam, I learnt of how prevalent and useful this concept was in here. I had worked with a small, emerging Microfinance Group, called the Nightingale Microfinance Institute. Started in 1997 in Assam and 2005 in Guwahati, they had made marginal progress and have helped a commendable section of people in the rural backdrop. They had an industrious army of Credit Officers who braved plains, terrains and hills to reach out in the backwaters of the city and the state, where people need it the most.

We went to many hilly rural localities in the countryside of the city. One such incident was my experience in Birikuchi, Bonda. It is an area which is about 10 kilometres from the main city hub. Firstly as the rule goes, we had to investigate the houses of the appointed families. We had to check their financial status, and their living and housing facilities to approve them of the loan. There are certain criteria one has to fulfil in order to be eligible for the microfinance loan. There are two means of Micro financing schemes followed in Assam. One is the SHG-Self Help Group and JLG- Joint Liability Group. The JLG is popular and prevalent in this part of the state as the time constraint and the bank liabilities aren’t that big an issue. The crux of JLG is the Soliditary Lending System, where a group of five women borrow the money each, and when the time comes to pay the interest, they encourage each other to do so, and give it holistically as a group. There is an inbuilt peer pressure which helps built the liability and the responsibility in every borrower to give the interest regularly and on time. The houses of all the five members have to be in close vicinity in order to facilitate communication, networking and circulation and dissemination of information. Once that is done, we have the CGT- Compulsory Group Training, where the members are taught the ethics of being a part of Microfinance League. This help is predominantly given to married women of the age of 18-50, with a stipulated monthly income and a pre-planned and income generating Investment and business scheme. There is the GRT – Group Recognition Test, after this, where the Branch Manager tests the members, interviews them and then sanctions the loan. There is the Loan Disbursement Process where the cheques are handed out and the interest slips are given, where it is clearly mentioned the time an dates of the weekly interest payment proceeds.

Some important things which I observed in my surveys was most of the people invested the money in Weaving, Fishing, and Cattle Farming. The MFI also monitor and examines the success rates of such ventures so that any chance of loan default and collapse is eliminated. There were a lot of women who were pressurized by their husbands to borrow money for alcohol and tobacco. In this way, a lot of loans got piled up from different institutes and banks, and one loan was actually used to pay for another one. In this way, the whole purpose of the scheme was eroded. It is actually aimed at economic inclusiveness and woman empowerment. Giving the power to the woman of the family makes them more included and legally involved in planning out the economic avenues of the family, which in a way secures the safe interest of the family in terms of education of children and family business and promotes savings within the family.

Micro financing also is a way to promote and encourage savings. Though that is a bit hard to implement n all parts, but the very banks which lend money to the MFI’s encourage people to open fixed deposits in their branches, which plays a double role. It helps banks branch out and earn more, and it also keeps some safe money in the vault for these poor people to cope with emergencies and much required start up capital for new business ventures.

Now, it is for time for some bit of stats and facts...

The micro finance service providers include apex institutions like National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), and, Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK). At the retail level, Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks, and, Cooperative banks provide micro finance services. Today, there are about 60,000 retail credit outlets of the formal banking sector in the rural areas comprising 12,000 branches of district level cooperative banks, over 14,000 branches of the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and over 30,000 rural and semi-urban branches of commercial banks besides almost 90,000 cooperatives credit societies at the village level. On an average, there is at least one retail credit outlet for about 5,000 rural people.

Though for now, because of the time constraint, I have to go back to college but I resolve to resume back for this project in my later course of holidays. At the cost of sounding absolutely cliché, it has brought me a bit more close to humanity, if at all. I walked and braved the scorching sun for the surveys and this made me see how hard people are working just to survive. It’s important to realise that upliftment of this section of people which makes about more than 40% of India’s population is the only way to actually bring about holistic progress of the country.

-

To be continued.

My Life, My Way

Typically, we wish for room-mates, friends, people, or in short, the world around us to adjust ‘our way’. The origin of this being the notion, that if things churn out as we want, we’d be happier and life would be more comfortable as there would be lesser reasons to fret over. But, what we fail to realize, is that even this statement does not eventually turn out to be true. There is always the thought ‘kaash, aisa hota!’

 ‘Is it so hard for you to understand?’…is one question we’ve all asked, somebody or the other. But how many times have we been posed the very same query? Loads, isn’t it?

This proves, that we are all ‘inflexible’ creatures, in the heart of hearts; sometimes not listening to others; and at other times discontented, because we aren’t appreciated. In a nutshell, we are all in the same boat; yes, could be different sections of the boat, but the same vehicle at the end of the day.

The above, however is simply a brief of the problem; the problem of always living with that something which is not complete—in the ‘head’ or in the ‘heart’. Next the doubt arises: What is the solution?

It doesn’t lie in one word, neither is there a shortcut to it. But the basic key, to making one’s life comfortable, is to ‘be-the-change-you-want-to-see’. By this I simply mean, that the next time before labeling somebody under the ‘Go-to-hell’ or ‘I-hate-him’ categories, just take a moment and think, what would you have done if you were in that ‘somebody’s’ shoes? If your response is what he is doing at present, then why do you not approve of it?

That, now, is because all of us want to be treated with utmost care. We would prefer someone who values us; who is there when we need him or her to be; who supports us when we face tough times; or in short, one who we know ‘will-always-be-there’.

So, first and foremost, all of us need to ‘WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE!!’ (Or Chai, for tea-aholics like me :p) Primarily, instead of seeking support, try being supportive for once. Rather than waiting for someone to call for help, try offering it ourselves. And as a substitute of expecting the other person to amend his lifestyle, fine-tune our own attitude.

Indeed, our own life isn’t a bed of roses; hence changes aren’t easy to deal with. It is hard to solve, or for that matter, even listen to someone else’s issues, when one is going through a bad phase. But that is a fact for all, right from a roadside rickshaw-puller, to Dr. Manmohan Singh (well, with all the media pressing on him these days, it must be tougher for him :p), thus even accepting that ‘Everyone has problems’, is a big realization. Is it not? 

At the end of the day, life isn’t that bad. Being an optimist is tough, but not impossible. And if u don’t believe me, the next time you feel ‘all-is-not-well’, close your eyes, and remember the last time you were really really happy. A smile is what you’ll end up with :). That doesn't solve anything, but atleast helps one lighten!!

The warning is that I haven’t myself tried all of what I’ve written till date; but am on my way. So follow at your own risk…….. :)……………………………………………………[and do comment if it helps!] 

-Suhani

Social Media and Subway Surprises

Nothing makes up an evening post a tiring work day better than a healthy subway sandwich. It is something whose marginal utility takes a while to swerve down after reaching the cliff. So I entered the subway outlet on my way home the other day, my gaze fixed on the giant menu board above the counter. The lady on the other side of the counter smiled and interrupted, “Hi”.

I looked down to smile at her remembering Tim Harford’s view of smiling waitresses. I realized it was part of her job to smile at weary customers and that she was remunerated for the same. Nothing unusual about that.

Concentrating on the mouth-watering picture of the sandwich, I ran my eyes over all of them displayed and mused over my choice until I heard another voice from across the order counter.

“Hi Jalnidh”

Now that wasn’t written in The Undercover Economist. Did Subway start paying them for guessing names too? I looked down to find a neatly dressed guy in black with a matching black turban, smiling gallantly. I was kinda befuddled. Let me confess I am not accustomed to people bumping into me at random places to say “Hi Jalnidh”

“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you”, I said trying hard to recollect any scintilla of familiarity with the figure.

He introduced himself, stating his name. “So how is your project going?”

The first shock was too much to face the second one now. “Which project?” – the word project reminded me only of the depository participants and derivatives I had been working on in the stock exchange during the course of my internship these days.

“Your project – the one you are working on for quite some time…”

“Oh! Éclair* - Ah! That is going good!”

The guy turned out to be my senior at school who was working part time at the outlet. I had never met him at school and never had the faintest trace of him apart from the fact that I had accepted his friend request on facebook out of sheer courtesy and second that I had seen his comments on some on my éclair photos with the kids.

And then the perfunctory stuff I am asked, continued – “Where is it working? Can I éclair? How can I help? I really wanna contribute…” More than the sandwich, a genuine outpouring of someone’s passion for volunteering made up my day.

The sandwich was done and packed, the bill paid and receipt handed over. I realized that social media had penetrated into our lives so deeply and subtly that I should be prepared for little surprises like those around the corner. Inspiration and enthusiasm spread in fountains through social media. Today éclair owes much of its success to Mr. Zuckerburg more than anyone else.

*Éclair is a street school chain being run by the author and some of her friends that aims to get street kids, especially kids of migrant laborers enrolled in regular schools through an informal rudimentary class taught in open parks.

Is the Government subsidising the Delhi Metro?

The title of this post is slightly misleading. Firstly, the Government already subsidises the Delhi Metro. For example, electricity used by the DMRC is subsidised by the Government. Secondly, this is not some serious article. It is just an observation that I want to share with the world.

The Delhi Metro has always intended to raise a significant part of its revenue by means of property development and advertisements. My contention is with the second. While travelling in the Delhi Metro, the advertisements that I most often come across are ones by the Delhi Government (especially the ladli scheme), public sector banks, MTNL and a few private universities. I also observe that a lot of metro coaches don't have advertisements, even though space is left for them. The third observation is that even though advertising space has been outsourced to private companies such as BigStreet, most such space has still not been booked.

Can it thus be concluded that advertising on the Delhi Metro is not as attractive as it is made out to be? If, for example, most advertisers on the Delhi Metro are Government - owned, is it fair to assume that they are free from Government control of their advertising? If the Delhi metro has not been such a success as far as commercial advertising space is concerned, then is the Government playing a greater role than what meets the eye in making the enterprise profitable? This all leads to the question - is the cost of the metro to India greater than what meets the eye?

On the flipside, one can argue that even PSUs have only a fixed advertising budget, and what they are forced to do (if at all) is to divert funds from one form of advertising to another. However, optimal allocation would require equi-marginal utility in all forms of advertising. However, given that marginal utility from advertising (especially online forms) are extremely hard to monitor, a proper economic argument against such a diversion is nearly impossible to make. What could be done in this regard is to consider the ratio of public to private advertising on the metro to that outside the metro, and see whether it is significantly different.

Till then, chew on this thought!

- Subhashish Bhadra

Parkinson's Law

“WORK EXPANDS SO AS TO FILL THE TIME AVAILABLE FOR ITS COMPLETION”

A person interning in a company is asked to update the facebook page of that company and is given an hour to do that. In actual, the work requires only 15 minutes. What one expects is that in one hour the person will do the work efficiently and comfortably. The end result is that the person hurriedly completes the work when 5 minutes is left. What he has been doing till now is spamming friend’s wall with notifications. And at the end of the day he complains of been over-worked from 10 to 6.

It is raining and you are asked to deposit a cheque in the bank and return in an hour. You will take an umbrella and leave. But if you are given 5 hours you will probably admire the rain and wait for it to stop and rush to the bank only at the last moment.

In both these examples, what we see is that enough ‘internal’ work is done. What I mean by internal work is the work that is not needed, avoidable and useless and which unnecessarily keeps you busy. The fact is more the time you get to complete the task, more complex the task becomes.

Think about it. DU gave us 15 days to prepare for our subsidiary papers. We worked for those 15 days. If we had 2 days we would have worked for those 2 days only. Suppose it normally takes two days to prepare our syllabus. What will happen? Some will say that in the former case we will be able to prepare well, for we get more number of days. But that’s actually not true. In the former case, you’ll work for those 15 days but the ‘real’ work done will be just 10% of the total work done. The rest is useless. In the latter case there is a deadline and in order to meet the deadline you will be more ‘focussed’. The quality of work is bound to be worse in the former than the latter because of a large number of distractions. In the former case, you might spend a few days watching movies, then a couple of days deciding how much to study in a day, then another day or two to find the syllabus and at last it will be only a day or two left when you will study somehow.  Ultimately, you yourself will realize that you could have done better with a shorter deadline. For it is 2 days or 15, people are found with the books even at the last minute.

The conclusion is Parkinson’s Law stated in another form : “ The amount of time one has to perform a task is the amount of time it will take to complete the task.”

It’s important to be clear what is meant by ‘Work expands’. When we say work we refer to the ‘real’ or actual work. ‘Work expands’ doesn’t mean the amount of ‘real’ work increases. If you are given 15 days syllabus won’t increase. But, the work increases figuratively in mind. It is human behavior to think that the work has increased. A person thinks he has worked for 8 hours in office but in actual, he has done work equivalent to 4 hours. Now consider two statements:

1.      Limit tasks to the important to shorten the work time.

2.      Shorten the work time to limit tasks to the important.

There is a great difference between the two. Take the first statement. Suppose in the earlier example, it takes 3 days normally to complete the syllabus but you are given two days. What will you do?  You will restrict yourself to the important topics so that you can do well in the subject. The idea of ‘smart work’ will be tested here. This is not Parkinson’s Law.  The second one is the Parkinson’s Law where it takes 2 days to complete the syllabus and you are given two days and if you ‘work hard’ and be ‘focussed’ for those two days you will complete the syllabus.

What I want to achieve through this is to tell the readers that ‘Delay is the deadliest form of denial.’ and to show how absurd some of our thoughts can be. I am sure most of us must have got trapped in Parkinson’s Law sometime in our lives. Don’t believe in Parkinson’s Law because it’s just a law. Parkinson’s Law doesn’t work in many situations!

So try it out! Think of a time to complete a certain task and see if you can finish the task with a better output in that time. You will be astonished to see that you are not at all over-worked!

Funnynomics - Can you guess what is it?

HI. I know this is funny. There is a micro economic concept illustrated through the picture above, yes it makes perfect sense. Lets see if you can guess. Do give it a try. Good luck :)

Young Diplomacy

Just last year, I had witnessed my first college election voting. I was very keen to vote. Having heard so much about voting rights, with democracy being the buzzword, the mere thought of how my vote could contribute in how a college government would shape up, gave me an inexplicable sense of responsibility. My friend, Andrila had clearly, confessed to me about her absolute disapproval towards indulgence in elections of any sort. She maintained that “diplomacy was the best policy”.
                             Sadly, that’s the plight in our country among most of the youngsters and their attitude towards the Government. In India, there are many unspoken, diluted but nonetheless evils in the form of developed and orthodox mindsets, both on the sides of the generation above 30 and the generation below that. People have a natural tendency to believe that experience and at that “years of experience’ is the only viable and feasible solution to acquiring enough efficiency of skills and thought, in order to be adept enough to make concrete, changes such in the Government. Youngsters are thought to be irrational, rash and lacking in depth and stability. They are restricted to only being “cool, rebellious and happening”.
But perhaps, we can see a changing scenario, looming in the backdrop with the advent of dynamic personalities like Agatha Sangma, Sachin Pilot, Rahul Gandhi and Omar Abdullah calling the stops in the Government. . One of the most violent phases of Youth politics came with the attempted self-immolation by Rajiv Goswami, in protest against the implementation of Quota system under the Mandal Commission. Other remarkable instances to follow are - Omar Abdullah, 38, was sworn in as India’s youngest Chief Minister in the New Year. Barack Obama is just 47!
                                   Thinking and contribution from youngsters in unhampered, devoid of manipulation, as it is not influenced by any partial view of reality. J.K. Rowling has aptly said: “Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth”. In today’s knowledge-based economy, what you have is more important than what you’ve experienced and that’s what we find in the youth.
                                    Youth involvement would also bring in a fresh surge of new innovative ideas, and most importantly a lot of spirit and enthusiasm. Going on the lines of the Anil Kapoor Starrer – Nayak, where a 32 year old man becomes Prime minister for a day and the whole functioning of the Government changes!!
If we as a nation have to move ahead and build the country of our dreams, we have to use politics as a medium to ensure that the Government remains sensitive and accountable to the people. We need developed and young minds instead of corroded and corrupt minds.
The youth shouldn’t get perturbed by old conventions and disapproving, lashing tongues. As a saying goes- To change the system you have to be in the system”. The country desperately needs some young leaders who personify energy, enthusiasm, morality, and diligence. During Independence we have leaders from all across the country like Jawarhar Lal Nehru and BR ambedkar active on the political forefront but sadly today politics is an avenue more so for the hierarchy, and the security due to the fact than rather a venture which people want to join as a result of their driven passion for their motherland. We have a handful of young leaders who are very much within the circle of politics, hailing from big families who have built empires in politics and the work affiliated to them, presumably for this very reason lacks passion and devotion. They are driven more by an obligation to carry the family trade on then rather a morale inherent sense of duty to their country.
Youth, clearly don’t consider politics as one of the most sought after, lucrative and comforting job avenues to venture into. But at times, when the youth so actively is involved in issues like the Jessica Lal murder case and reservations, their actions and their passion for fighting the cause totally negates any illusion of disinterest harboured by them towards politics. Second reason may be that young people are not given opportunities to prove themselves claiming that they are not equipped with experience to participate actively in the governance of the country. This somehow seems relatively more plausible and a reason as the monopoly of old leaders in almost all avenues of politics is disarmingly prevalent.
                              What I passionately desire is that voting should be the first step to establishing an inlet for fresh blood. Youth should actively campaign for the cause and themselves should be active participants in the voting process. Last year, there was so much of hue and cry about voting, the media coverage the publicity was phenomenal, but the outcome was pathetic. In fact superstars like Priyanka Chopra and Shahid Kapoor who had actively campaign for the cause, had themselves refrained from participating in the process.
                                The idiosyncratic laidback attitude and apathy associated with the voters, young and otherwise should be removed. We shouldn’t forget that complaining about all the numerous problems and defects in the Government is not the only way out. We should move and fight and strive for all the change that is possible at our level. It’s only then, can we witness a change in the functioning of the country. And for most of us, who think that they really don’t care about the way things function, then I presume we should really think about all the villages which don’t have electricity, all the women who are raped and yet haven’t got justice, for all the families who have lost their loved ones and the murderers are at large, looming free. Who are we fooling... our country, our people or ourselves?
-Priyanka Dass Saharia

The Special Ones

A rather impulsive post this is!!

I recall sitting in my school bus one rainy morning last year, looking at the road. We reached Dwarka, and thanks to the water-all-over, vehicles honked more than they moved. I saw a scooty stop, a young pretty lady got off, lifted her daughter from behind, made her wear the Hannah-Montana school bag, and holding her hand, waited for her school cab. The daughter, dressed prim-n-proper, hugged her mom, and said ‘Mujhe school nahin jaana!’ .Oh Gracious! I thought, that was so me (junior version)!!

Having nothing else to do, I continued staring at them. The mother wiped off the baby’s  tears, and promised to make her sweets once she returned. The child, reluctantly, but did, sit in her cab, and waved goodbye. Mommy-dear stood there till the cab was out of sight, and was off on her scooty thereafter.

It brought to mind the fuss I used to create, when forcibly sent to school. I too was promised sweets, told stories on the way, and even dropped to school at times. And now, at the age of 19(well, almost!), I have become a college girl. Blah!! Gone are the days when my maa shopped for me, n dad took me out for a movie. Times have changed, and so have I.

Living in the same house, the only ‘quality time’, we spend together as a family is at dinner. But, deep down, what we know is that we are all bound, by a strong thread, ‘Love’. A feeling, though hardly expressed, it keeps us together. What we forget is expressing it, putting it to words, bringing it to the forefront of our lives.

And this isn’t just about me, but all of us, who find it so difficult to spare a few minutes to tell their parents how special they are. They’ve taught us almost everything, about work and hope; to always do what is right; to remind ourselves what goes eventually comes back, and hence to be true to oneself throughout this journey called ‘life’. So go ahead, take a moment off, give them a hug, and let them know how much they mean to you!!

Till next time……..:)

-Suhani