When Harassment by Private Bus Staff Goes Viral Government Takes Action; But What if it is by Railway Staff?

Yesterday (29-04-2019) night me and my wife failed to get a good sleep. 

Reason: my newly married son with his wife was travelling back to their work place in Bangalore in train no.16319 'Band Humsafar Express' from Trivandrum Kochuveli Railway station to Bangalore Whitefield Railway station in  3AC coach B1 and they were being harassed by the TTE in their coach B1. He was asking for a fine of Rs.4000 or a bribe of half that because my son and his wife did the gravest mistake of boarding the train from a station not shown as the boarding station! 

To his bad luck, my son never carried much cash in his purse- he is from the new gen who believed the words of the Indian PM in letter and spirit. He likes doing all money transactions online using those Apps and cards! And the TTE had no facility to accept that either in black or white!

They had a valid and confirmed 3AC ticket reserved online (PNR-4503960607). Their ticket was from Kochuveli to Whitefield. Boarding was indicated from Chengannur, the station nearest to our home at Elanthoor and about 100 km north of Kochuveli.

In fact, I had made their return travel booking online using GoIbibo mobile app. We live in Elanthoor and the nearest railway station is Chengannur. My son's wife is from Trivandrum and Kochuveli is the nearest station from her house.

To be very frank, it was very difficult for us to confirm which station would be convenient for them to board the train because of this. During their stay in Kerala, they could be either in Trivandrum or at Elanthoor. If they are at Trivandrum, Kochuveli station is the best for boarding. If they happen to be at Elanthoor, Chengannur station is the best for boarding.

If I take the ticket booking from Chengannur to Whitefield and if they happen to be at Kochuveli, their travel practically becomes ticketless in the Kochuveli-Chengannur section. So I took the ticket from Kochuveli to Whitefield and gave the boarding from Chengannur. Going from my past memories, the railway people never made any issue for such an arrangement. And in the present days of online booking, I never ever happen to notice a facility for changing the boarding point later in any of the online Apps or the irctc website.

A day before their stay in Kerala, it was confirmed that they would be in Trivandrum and Kochuveli is their preferred boarding point. In a way that was convenient as it was the trains starting station.

My son was more informed than me and from Trivandrum he called me to make a change in their boarding station as it was me who did their ticket booking. First I tried to reason with my old man's logic in not doing so firstly because I did not know how to do it and secondly due to the user unfriendliness of the irctc site. Yet reluctantly I made an effort only to be informed that this kind of changes cannot be done if the time is less than 24 hours. I did not understand this logic of the Indian railways! And to be honest, one can never find full logic in several of the Indian rules and regulations!

I tried to reason with my son and tried to enhance his courage to travel with the online ticket that he had already passed on from my side. After all apparently they are not doing anything illegal as per our logic. We had paid the travel cost from Kochuveli to Whitefield and also all the other fees for reservation. The railways as a service provider did not charge any thing for change of boarding point. So we never imagined that this particular thing would be a point for a railway employee to harass the travelers travelling with ticket and reservation!

And that is where we made the grave mistake! The Indian government employees have this great talent of finding the minutest deviations in the rule books if it gives them an edge in making some quick money, both for their employer and for themselves!

To the bad luck of my son and his wife, the TTE did exactly that. He kept harassing them and in turn my son calling me for advise. Me and my wife lost our sleep in turn.

I advised my son to pay whatever the TTE is asking as penalty. My son informed that the TTE is asking to pay a fine of Rs.4000/- (incidentally the total fare from Trivandrum to Whitefield for the two of them in 3AC is only about Rs.3000/-) and he did not have the cash. Then he informed that the TTE agreed for a compromise of agreeing with half that if the money paid is without a receipt.

Dear reader, I felt so helpless and equally harassed as my son who was in the train in the night. My blood pressure went high and also of my wife. I felt this as a bigger harassment than the recent incident that happened to some young men in a  Bangalore bound private bus from Kerala  in one of the luxury buses operated by one Kallada Suresh!

There the physical misbehavior done by the bus staff to a few travelers got viral in the social media and the state government initiated actions against the erring staff and the bus operator.

But here, the harassment is being done by a central government employee with much powers delegated to him by the railway administration of India. They make rules and regulations to their advantage and hardly ever consider that they are also doing a transport service. The travelers in this case is availing a concession from the Indian government facility. What they say is the law of the land!

There is no way for the common man to know because of the arbitrariness of the Indian railway rules. What is the solution if a TTE is doing highhandedness like this to harass passengers quoting illogical rules supposedly existing to his support as made by his superiors?

To our great relief, by this time the train reached Chengannur and the TTE realizing that these people are not going to make any cash payments turned the plates. He allowed them to travel in accordance with their reservation.

My humble submission to the Railways is only this (if at all there exist anyone to hear and do the needful):

1. Consider Kerala as a metro area and allow outbound travelers from Kerala to cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi etc to board from any convenient station of their choice where the train has a stop, provided the ticket charges cover that station also.

2. Consider the full length of the ticket as reserved regardless of the boarding point.

3. Provide adequate training to the TTE to be logical in their approach with genuine reserved passengers and not to harass them to the extent that they are scared of Indian railways for life!

4. Do not make illogical rules, if they exist remove them and make it known to the travelling public.

5. Make the online reservation system logical and more user friendly. (For example: Why this irritating captcha always?)

6. Make arrangements to TTEs to accept payments for penalty, charge differences etc through approved online payment apps. Discourage all kinds of cash transactions in the train. This will help passengers to travel with less cash and more safely. It might also check TTEs accepting bribes!

I do not say the railway keep taking actions against the passenger unfriendly TTEs or staff always. But when they go irrational, it reflects on the railways and also on the government. If the railway superiors realize that well and good. 

If not what we can do? Nothing. After all Indian railway is part of the Indian government and government in India has not yet grown to serve the people. Many in it think they are masters of the public.

If the Indian railway take any positive action from this citizen feedback, we can consider that as real positive act towards good governance!

Websites You Might Need to Click-in for Your Tours and Travels in India!

Travelling beyond the limits of your local area of residence in India is not an easy task even when you have your own transport means. It needs quite some planning.

On the road by the side of an iron ore mine

on the border of Odissa state and Jharkhand state

That is because of many factors. I had written about some aspects of the present day road travel in many parts of this country in some earlier blogs.

I had also written about the railways, the major public transporter in India owned and operated directly by the government of India.

The air travel is not much different, even after the Indian skies and the Indian airports getting opened up for admitting the several private players.

But such problems would likely remain for the many years ahead as the travel demand in India is always ahead of its supply.

A View from Meghathipur, Jharkhand.

But we should admit the progress that we made in the information technology field. The internet has been a big boon. The dotcom companies and the thousands of their young software engineers have made things easier for the travel and tourism industry and their millions of individual customers. 

They keep helping us to find the best alternatives for getting our travel tickets and the travel options without much hassles. 

Can you locate the snake posing for this photo?

While the railway berth and air line seat reservations have come to us much earlier, the options of getting long distance bus tickets booked online and getting the reliable taxi service online in select cities began only later.

You may have to ask for directions from this one, sometimes!

While all these are improving with time, let me highlight a few of the most reliable of such websites that have become indispensable for our travel planning in India.

1. The IRCTC ( the official ticket reservation company of the Indian railways. This site requires that you sign up first before using their ticket booking facilities. In the recent days, the site has become more user friendly and has improved its response speed. You should require some online banking facility for taking full advantage of this site for railway booking. The site also provides other travel assistance in a limited manner for air line booking, hotel booking and taxi cab booking.

2.  Yatra , Make My Trip, GoIbibo, Cleartrip, are all dependable online private IT enabled companies that provide air ticket booking, price comparisons, railway booking, bus booking, hotel booking, etc. It is better to sign up and register with these sites before you attempt using their facilities. 

3. 90di is a site which would help one to find the best travel options by entering some search query questions in their search box. It has additional facilities to enter the start time of your travel option to find the appropriate bus, train or plane. It would search all the possible data from all the sites listed above and list them out for you to make a more informed choice.

4. PNR Status is a site that helps reserved air and railway travelers in India to check their Passenger Name Record (PNR) status. This will help them to know the actual reservation status, changes in flight or train schedules, etc. The site also gives some important information regarding railway booking, getting PNR status by mobile short message service (SMS) etc. For the Indian railways, this could be done in this Indian Railway Passenger Reservation Enquiry site also.

5. IndiGo, AirIndia,  AirAsia, Spicejet, JetAirways, JetKonnect, GoAir, etc are the major scheduled arlines in India. Air passengers can book their air tickets through these official websites and also get other important passenger information. Vistara is the newest airline which is about to start its operations in India. There are a few other small scheduled and non-scheduled air line companies also in India.

6. Visiting Andaman Islands could be done through ships. This facility at present is offered only by the Shipping Corporation of India. Details of the ships, the fare, the schedules, etc can be obtained on the web page of the shipping corporation of India. 

7. For those interested in booking houseboats in Kerala backwaters may try My Boat Trip website.

8. redBus is a reliable site that provides long distance bus ticket reservations connecting several Indian cities. The reservations could be done two weeks in advance.

9. India Hotels provides reservation information on hundreds of Indian hotels with tariff, availability, facilities, booking information, etc.

10. Olacabs, Uber, Carzonrent, Cabs4Hire, Savaari, Cabbooking, BookMyCab, etc are the now active online car rental websites that provide car rental online booking facilities for the major cities of India. There are  several other local level players in many major cities that provide similar services online.

11. Distancesfrom, GoogleMaps, Yahoomaps, etc are the reliable online map service providers which gives the most important geographical and route information for the travelers, especially those who wish to travel by road. Now-a-days, most android cell phones with Geo-positioning service (GPS) facility provide the much needed information for the traveler. Yet, I personally prefer to have hard copy print outs of the detailed route maps while I travel in India. The mobile connectivity and data service facility might ditch you any time while in India, unless you happen to use some direct satellite connectivity!

The Base for Infrastructural Development

In addition to the above there are hundreds of local travel agents with websites operating in most of the major tourist destinations in India. However, it is difficult to ascertain their reliability for sure. Travelers may use their discretion before availing their services.

Wild greenery in a Mining Area!

I would like to request experienced readers to share their real experiences about these sites or other such information useful for all those who wish to travel and explore India.

Inhuman Working Conditions of Indian Railway Loco Drivers: Think about it when You Travel!

Indian Railways being a central government monopoly would perhaps be one of the  whole sole business opportunity that the unconcerned bureaucrats and technocrats associated with the Indian Railways mismanage to the core unwittingly due to various systemic lacunae associated with the whole system.

The railways have a tremendous potential for business enhancement because the demand for its services are much higher than the supply. Unfortunately, either due to incompetency or due to various deep rooted vested interests the railway authorities at the top and at the bottom seem to keep the Indian railway services as a matter of perpetual scarcity. Had they managed it well, it could have provided much more employment than the present in a much more decent manner, besides giving satisfaction to the millions of its users. Indians as a whole would have some thing to showcase and be proud of. But unfortunately it has not been so ever since India got independence.

As a railway user, I would not have felt it as a problem to pay a little more, had they enhanced the quality of services, its availability and its safety.

The railways in India is a monopolistic business directly run as a governmental organization unlike many other government controlled businesses. Once upon a time the telecom business was also a similar governmental monopolistic organization in India. Telecom sector has since been opened up to the private sector. Some how those in power do not want to try the telecom experiment with the railways and lose the power and privileges they have been enjoying even from the British Raj days!

I had written about the Indian railways in this forum in earlier occasions too. When governmental systems try to manage business it causes several challenges and those challenges cannot be addressed with a conventional mindset. It requires forceful people who could remove the lethargy of legacy in government. Unfortunately lethargic systems of people hardly facilitate that. Even those who are part of governance become unaware and helpless to effect changes because the systems blind them from understanding the root causes.

What tempted me to write about the Indian railways again is a news that appeared in the national newspapers a couple of days ago.

The news was regarding the pitiful working conditions of the Indian locomotive drivers. Perhaps this news was a small synopsis of a detailed doctoral thesis paper published in 2013 in the IOSR Journal of Business and Management titled Work Life of Indian Railway's Drivers (Loco Pilots)  authored by Dr Rajesh Ranjan and Dr T Prasad based on their detailed investigative studies. 

I recommend all those who are interested and concerned to have a reading of this research paper for themselves.

It is most unfortunate that the Indian authorities have not considered it to take any appropriate actions to fill up the acute shortage of loco pilots during the past years that the shortage as of now is reportedly to the tune of over 20,000. This has caused the train drivers who drive the goods and passenger trains in India to work much more time on a regular basis than what is humanly possible. It is reported that the heavy work load has made the loco pilots to work on an average 10 hours at a stretch now. 

Instead of enhancing the rolling stock to cater to the ever increasing demand, the authorities have been trying to enhance the use of the available rolling stock (loco engines, passenger coaches, goods wagons, etc) to maximum use, sometimes even necessitating compromise on their maintenance, safety, inspections and replacement of spares. Since they have been adopting a policy of decreasing the manpower for enhanced profits and cash generation, the availability of trained and experienced personnel has been on a continuous decline over the years. This has caused difficulties in using even the available equipment optimally. 

It is all the effect of some foolish management consultants propagating the idea of reducing man power for better business sense that has been percolating the corridors of power slowly in such a way that the conditions that existed at the time of the original proposal is no more valid as time elapsed in years. With some bureaucrats getting the idea later, become proponents of the idea much later when it is warranted the least, we land into a situation of complex and contradictory policies!  Effectively, such a scenario causes the governmental systems to work in an antagonist manner always. The resultant is a non functional government which is under constant ridicule by the informed citizens and facing the ire of the common citizens! Under such circumstances, citizens feel pity about their political leaders who head the railway ministry and keep parroting the verses taught by the officialdom under them as explanations to all the ills of the railways that people keep facing day in and day out! 

Some years back there was a report in the news papers regarding Indianization of imported high power locomotive engines as suggested by some of the 'enlightened' technocrats and bureaucrats of the railway ministry. The foreign supplier was delivering air conditioned locos with much facilities to the loco pilots as was the usual practice as per the international specifications.

But some individuals of the Indian techno-bureaucratic system that manages the Indian railways wrote their expert opinions in the concerned files advising against the air-conditioning. Perhaps that had forced the supplier to charge more for removing a standard facility from their advanced engines in order to Indianize them! Unfortunately such decisions that take place within the system of governance hardly get noticed and the concerned technocrats and bureaucrats are never questioned by any one for their so called wisdom! More over the Indian political bosses hardly have the competence to overrule the recommendations of the techno-bureau-financial expert recommendations always. Virtually more often they are contented to act as rubber stamps giving approvals without the ability to get themselves convinced as the representatives of the common man before they give their approvals or disapproval.

Is it not inhuman and cruel that the loco men and women have to keep entrapped in their engine rooms under hostile environment for hours at a stretch even without the facility to attend the nature's call? 

Who are to be blamed if their human bodies succumb to the tiresome situation and their eyelids close for a few seconds and miss the signals while the engine haul them at tremendous speeds exceeding 100 km/hr? 

Are they responsible or those who sit in cool and comfy cabins to write their own opinions on the files without ever understanding what the railway or the loco are? 

Fatal rail accidents are a common feature now-a-days in India. The railway administration is very keen to penalize the loco pilots for all accidents.

Are they responsible? 

To be very frank, I have never ever imagined in the past that our railway loco drivers are discharging their duties under such compelling circumstances.

I salute them. They are our heroes. But what about those who try to exploit our heroes?

Think about it when next time you travel by the Indian railways! 

Kalka-Shimla-Kalka Motor Rail Journey: An Inexpensive Heritage Rail Experience to Try Out In India!

It was some 35 years ago, I had the first opportunity to travel by the narrow gauge rail line connecting Kalka and Shimla. 

Kalka is a small town in the Pachkula District of Haryana State of India and is about 28 km from Chandigarh- a pre-engineered city of India which functions as the capital of both  Haryana and Punjab States. Shimla is a mountain resort city and is the capital of Himachal Pradesh State. 

Kalka Railway Station in the early Morning Nov-2013

Kalka-Shimla narrow gauge rail line is about 100 km long and is a world heritage declared by the UNESCO. This rail line ascends continuously from an altitude of 656 M at Kalka to reach the 2200 M elevation of Shimla. To reach this 2.2 km height above mean sea level, one has to travel about 96 km through the narrow gauge rail passing through 100 odd tunnels, 900 curves and about 800 bridges.

The Rail Motor at Kalka just before the departure!

One of the best travel delight on this heritage rail line is the unique facility for the rail motor car journey. While decades ago I used the narrow guage rail line for my travel from Shimla to Kalka, I could not enjoy the rail motor car journey at that time. I have been waiting for an opportunity for that and I got it a few months ago when I had to visit Chandigarh to attend my friend's son's marriage.

Rail Motor at Barog Railway Station

The motor car trip was indeed a remarkable experience and was much simpler than I thought. While there are other narrow gauge trains, I was more particular about this rail motor car experience. 

The Rail Motor Car Locomotive Diesel Engine!

It is a single rail coach self propelled by a diesel locomotive engine with 14 cushioned seats considered as first class. It is not air conditioned and for that matter a/c is not essential for this part of the country as most of the time it is cold rather than hot. 

It is the brake of the Rail Motor and not the steering!

One can book the tickets in advance  using any one of the travel portals like yatra, makemytrip or irctc. The rail car that starts from Kalka to go to Shimla is named 72451/Kalka-Shimla Rail Motor and departs at 5-10 a.m and reaches Shimla at about 9.50 a.m. 

View of Simla from Simla Railway Station

In the evening, the same rail car departs from Shimla as 72452/Shimla-Kalka Rail Motor and departs at 4.25 p.m and reaches Kalka at about 9.35 p.m. 

View through the glass window of the Rail Motor Car!

The average speed of this rail motor car is about 30 Km/hr, but the car actually travels much faster. For example, when I traveled by it from Shimla to Kalka, it reached Kalka one hour before its scheduled arrival time! 

Experience the Rail Motor Speed by viewing this video!

Barog railway station about midway is the place where passengers can alight for about 15 minutes for refreshing. 

Tourist Places Information Board at Simla Railway Station!

The fare for a person in this rail motor car is Rs.292/- one way from Kalka-Simla or Simla-Kalka. It is quite affordable for a tourist. The timings are too convenient for any one who visits Chandigarh to spend a day in Shimla. But the taxi fare from Chandigarh to Kalka and Kalka to Chandigarh in the early morning and late evening could be more than three times the rail motor fare!

A View of the Himalayan Life from the Outskirts of Simla!

Simla is in reality very easy to access by rail or by road. The highway connecting Simla to Chandigarh runs almost parallel to the rail line at many places.

The sign board at Simla Railway Station declaring its Heritage!

Unlike other hill stations of India, one important aspect of the Kalka Simla route is its relative safety. The rail line and road are considerably safe as accidents are comparatively much less. Road and rail disruptions during snow fall or land slides are also much lower as compared to other hill station areas of India.

So, if you haven't yet gone to this place, plan your trip soon. And don't miss the rail motor journey!  

A Visit to the New Bio-diversity Park: The Latest Tourist Attraction in Ranchi

A couple of days ago, I had the opportunity to visit and spent some time in the newly developed bio-diversity park in Ranchi. 

This park was opened for public in 2012 and it is developed, maintained and managed by the forest department of Jharkhand State government.

The park is developed within existing forest land of over 500 acres. It is being developed with good intentions that the urban Ranchi people and visitors to Ranchi can enjoy the scenic beauty of the green forests and get some good idea about the flora of the forests.

Most importantly, the park is easily accessible from Ranchi. It can be accessed by road from the Birsa Munda Chowk near the Ranchi Airport within 15-20 minutes. See the location map of the park here. There exist ample parking space for the vehicles of the visitors. However, vehicles are usually not allowed inside the park.

The forest department had made a good informative website for the park which give much desired information to the public. You may visit the home page for essential information about the park.

The access to the park for the public is regulated with some nominal fees. Get the fee structure here.

The park now is in the developmental stage though many facilities have been already developed. It is a good picnic spot for groups who are interested in spending some hours in the wild serenity of the green forests without the usual dangers or difficulties  associated with such adventures. 

The park has two forest trails which are carefully developed. Visitors can walk through these trails and get a feel of the forest. 

A very attractive feature of the park is its horticulture efforts where many medicinal plants are grown. It is a good feature to see the rare medicinal plants many of which are used in the preparation of Ayurvedic medicine system of India. See some pictures of the medicinal plants grown in the park. It gives some opportunities for those interested in Ayurvedic research.

The park has a rose garden and a green house for developing various species of cacti. There is scope for developing a mini zoo too. However, presently such a facility does not exist. The authorities may think of this and try to breed those rare breeds of animals which provide raw material used in ayurvedic medicines.

No doubt this bio-diversity park would soon become a tourist attraction for the visitors of Ranchi in the near future.

Compulsory Crash Helmets For Two Wheeler Riders:Reason Why I Left Riding Those Cute Machines !

I purchased my first scooter way back in 1981 and it was an yellow Lamby-150, which was a modified version of the good old Lambretta originally made by Innocenti of Italy. At that time, it costed me about Rs.8500. During those days, the other scooters in the Indian market were the bulky, imbalanced Bajaj scooters, following the designs of Vespa of Piaggio, Italy and the Indian version of the Lambretta made by the Public Sector company, Scooters India Limited, in the desi name , Vijay Super.  

My Lamby was similar to the one above!

Picture courtsey: Google Images

During those days, the common men of India were just experiencing the pleasure of motorized self travel. There were a few motor cycles as well such as the Royal Enfield, the Java and the Rajdoot, the latter being the most preferred means of transport for the farmers of North India.

All these models of scooters and bikes had their dedicated customers. Scooters were for the urban class and bikes for the rural folks used to be the unwritten rule. Perhaps, the rural roads were not good for the small wheeled scooters. 

Being in a well planned city with relatively good roads, it was a pleasure for me riding my Lamby and I liked it very much. It was a perfect, well balanced and sturdy one. The only problem encountered at times was its starting trouble. Perhaps, this one aspect made the unbalanced Vespa models of Bajaj, the most preferred scooter in India at that time. These scooters did not give much starting problems. All one had to do was to tilt the machine to one side for the petrol to flow to the carburetor before attempting to kick the start pedal. With such an advantage over the other few scooters, the common man at that time was ready to pay almost the equivalent of a new scooter as premium for a second hand one even when it was almost a decade old. The Vespa never failed in starting, though proud owners of these scooters tilting them to one side before attempting the kick starter, used to be a common sight on the roads in those days. My Lamby too was not so unreliable. Only thing needed was to know the trick of starting its engine without the petrol flooding its cylinder causing an embarrassing delay in starting. Somehow, I knew the trick ! 

The only harassment the two wheeler owners of India faced from their democratic government used to be the insulting manner in which the policemen stopped them on the road for checking  the 'papers' which meant the license, registration book and the insurance policy. What they gained by checking these papers used to be an unsolved question for most of the owners and the non-owners of these vehicles alike. Perhaps the ruling class wanted to show their existence and power to harass those not in power ! Perhaps, they wanted to show that they are with the genuine owners and not with those thieves riding these machines without the papers in proof of legal ownership in their possession. Frankly, I have no idea ! But, it is widely talked in private that these vehicle checks are for aiding another form of  forcible tax collection in the form of penalties specified in the motor vehicles act. It acted as a means of filling both the official and unofficial coffers!

I was fortunate that I escaped from these police men's traps during those many years when I owned my scooters, the Lamby and then the modern gear less Kinetic Honda. I normally avoided those routes and times where these policemen in groups wait and catch their preys. Yet, I was caught one day.

It was an evening. A friend of a friend came to meet him. At around 9 PM, my friend came to me with a request of dropping his friend at the railway station to catch the late night train. In those days, perhaps even now, this city where I lived, did not have any worthy public transport. Interestingly, this city is a modern city of 1.5 Million people in central India. During those days, the population was around 0.4 Million.

My friend too wanted to see off  his friend. Thus, it was inevitable that we three make the trip on my Lamby. Though my Lamby and I were capable of  doing that, the police did not allow such things. And I told my reluctance to break the law to my friend. But, the situation was such that there was no other way than to break the law. The police would not be there any where at this time, was the assurance given by my friend.

So, we three proceeded to the station on my Lamby. For the first five kilometers nothing happened. Then, suddenly on an unlit square, they appeared, stopping me. We three tried to plead, argue and beg with the officer. No use. My friends decided to walk the other 2 kilometers to the railway station in the night leaving me alone with the policemen. After harassing me for about half an hour, they agreed to leave me making me poorer by Rs.100, a good amount in those days. The money obviously did not go to the official chest as the uniformed men were kind enough not to give me a receipt. If they make it official, it would give me more trouble in the courts ! That was their reasoning ! With the ordeal over I felt relaxed and was happy even with the loss of the money. More than the money, it was the mean minded looks and talks that these government officials mete out to the public that is common knowledge to all. The policemen are not normal humans who can recognize other normal humans. That is what  I felt that day !

So, whenever I see these uniformed men on the road, a kind of panic sweep my whole body. I have not broken any law and I am no criminal. But, a law breaking policeman could easily make me one if he so desires. That is my worry. I have known senior police officers, many of them perfect gentlemen and I have known many policemen as well who are also good people. Just as there are good and bad people there are good and bad policemen. Yet, my worry remains. In these days of democracy, many people take the troubles of gaining power through their involvements in the so called politics and try clinging to such political powers for getting some influence over this tactical government machinery. All over the world, it is like this ! They make rules to create a vicious organization with whimsical powers thinking that it would do good and then keep amending it thousand times for controlling it, making it a double edged sword that harms the good and the bad equally and always. A ferocious dog might give a pseudo security feeling to its master, but when masters keep changing, the dog becomes confused and no more be willing to obey some of its masters any more !

It is the invisible power of God that has been protecting me from such visible and invisible forces. That is what I believe. Yet, it is not wise to get in to the traps of such dark forces, knowingly.

And that is the reason, I decided to sell off my last scooter and decided not to ride one any more. The authorities introduced a new rule which made wearing crash helmets compulsory for bikes and scooters. The authorities are wise men and women. They know better than common people like me. They introduce rules and laws for the benefit of people like me. That is what we are all supposed to believe! But in a society composed of a mixture of good and bad, semi-perfect and imperfect beings, perfect rules and perfect justice can never arise !

They have found that riding scooters and bikes cause accidents. A good percentage of accidents become fatal for the rider. And the major reason for fatality is head injury. So, wearing a helmet can reduce the head injury and the fatality. That is the simple logic. Scooter and bike riders should be happy to wear the crash helmets to save their own lives.

But, given a choice, most riders do not wear the crash helmets that are now available in the market. Initially, I too purchased one helmet.

To my horror, I find wearing a helmet enhances my chances of making and accident. Without a helmet I am clearly conscious of the surroundings and the vehicles nearby. There is little chance that I hit someone or someone hit me. But with the helmet, my vision is hindered, my hearing is tampered and my perception is lowered. My chances of making accidents enhance many fold. Besides, my perspiring head keeps me irritated always. If I do not make an accident, it is only the providence of God !

So, I considered it wise not to wear the helmet while I ride my scooter. For me, prevention was better than a cure. Wearing a helmet increased the chances of an accident and also improved the chances not losing life due to head or spinal injuries. But it will not prevent you from getting other injuries and fractures. You can still be in the hospital bed for days or months. So, how do you make the choice ?

I had experienced the difference of riding a scooter with and without the helmet and I took a considered decision that not wearing the helmet was better for me. Because in this case my chances of making an accident is reduced. Unfortunately, it is difficult to prove this, unless the researchers take honest feelings of the riders into consideration instead of relying on statistical accident data for conclusions.

Regrettably, the authorities go by the latter route and preferred to take  away the choice of the riders. They made it compulsory and empowered their police to harass those riders without wearing these helmets.

I did not want to get into troubles with the police again. You see, there are good and bad ones there. The latter in more numbers !

So, I sold off my last scooter and became a four wheeler driver instead for my personal movements in and around. I know, it is not an energy efficient decision. Nor it is one I enjoy much.

There are many like me and now the roads are no more good for any smooth traffic.

The wise authorities are perhaps thinking to empower their police with yet other restrictive rules !

I am waiting to leave my four wheeler and walk for good ! I do not know whether that too could make me safe !

Penny Wise Pound Foolish Air Travel Business of India !

Long ago, I had the opportunity to have scores of foreigners as my fellow student companions in a reputed engineering institution in North India. Many of them were from poor African nations, deputed by their respective governments for higher technical studies in India where they considered the education cheaper than many of the western countries. They were having generally good opinion about India but some of them were outright candid in telling some things they disliked about India, especially about Indians.

I still remember their unanimity in telling that Indians are too money minded and greedy. At that time, I did not have much experience to agree with them. In fact, it pained me much when these young people considered those of my nationality of such bad quality in their eyes.

Some of them also used the idiom ' Penny-wise-pound-foolish' when referring to Indians.

The other day I had to travel from my home city Ranchi to another nearby city Nagpur which is about 900 odd kilometers away for some official work. Both cities are well connected by rail trunk lines and have good airports. But as matters stand now, there is no direct air connectivity between these two cities. More over, if you want to go by the cheaper railway, you have to plan at least two to four months in advance if you want to get the rail coach seat reserved for the journey. The two cities are connected by national high ways also, but only insane people in India would try to use the roads for long distance travel. I have written about it in some other blogs.

To tell you in short, I had to spend nearly Rs 20,000/- and spend nearly 12 hours in the airports and the airplanes to accomplish this short travel, that too just one way. They had to show me Delhi and Mumbai too before dropping me off at Nagpur ! Anyway, the loss is to my company. Why should I bother ?

To my surprise I find the flights connecting the metros flying with less than 40 % load factor and lowest fares while those to tier two cities like Nagpur and Ranchi flying 100% full with the highest possible fares ! Do not try to analyse the business economics or the business logic here. That is the Indian way of doing business !  

Spacious sans Passengers- A view of Mumbai Airport Reserved for Air India !

This perhaps happens because of the greed of Indian business men and the high headiness of the Indian policy makers alike. Both of them seem working complimentary to each other to bring about such irrational scenarios! It is common knowledge that with this kind of money, that I had to spend for covering a distance of 900 km in India, I could very well have a fully paid pleasure trip for a couple of days to some good Asian cities like Singapore, Malaysia, Bangkok and the like. It is not the shortage of the passengers or the planes. It is something connected with lack of brains or an opulence of it in some quarters connected with the planning and implementation of domestic air travel.

A Coffee n Snacks Stall of Delhi Airport where Seven Star Cofee and Tea are Sold !

In Delhi airport, I had to move all the way from one gigantic airport terminal to the other for catching the connecting flight to the next city enroute. It is a harrowing experience ! No one can dare to send their children or elderly family members or not-so-sophisticated ones not understanding Hindi or English alone on a flight from one city to the other where he or she has to alight plane in the metros like Delhi for taking the connection flight. No doubt, they will be lost for ever ! 

After the trouble in having the inter terminal transit walking with my cabin baggage I thought of taking a tea or coffee in the first tea shop which came to my vision. A so-so tea just as the one  you get any where including that you get in the AC first class coaches of the Indian Railways in the super trains like the Rajdhani Express. Only difference was the cost. I had to curse silently the greed of all concerned with this situation when I had to shell out more than Rs 100 /- for a cup of tea and the additional service tax. My country's planners are going to make lot of money for the betterment of the country this way !

Reserved Toilets for Staff at Passenger Area at Mumbai Airport !

In Mumbai I took shelter in one of the empty benches in the arrival hall waiting hours for moving on to the departure side to take the next flight. Here I was surprised to find toilets reserved for staff members only. Why do they want to show this arrogance to the passengers ? But then it is India !

The security aspects of the airports are now with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), thanks to the terrorist scare ! These paramilitary jawans are one of the elite class forces of India. They do their job nicely without much harassment to the passengers. But they do cause incovenience that too for mundane things with irrationality of the highest order. Some of them will not allow mineral water to be taken in the cabin bag. Some allow. For some the mobile phones and lap tops can be inside your bag sent for x-ray scan. But some of them will not allow that. They need those things to be taken out and kept in plastic trays. Imagine the confusion these things create in the long queues and the problems that they create for the passengers especially for those who are new. When things are like this here, one has to laugh at the manner at which the cabin crew routinely showing the safety drill as per the air traffic rules. It seems that the security jawans operate without such rules to guide the new passengers !

One of the Promising Indian Private Airline Airbus A320 waiting for take off at Delhi Airport

I watched a sign board at Delhi Airport which prominently and proudly displayed the number of passengers who used this airport last year. It said it was 11.4 Million.

 

Delhi Airport's Private Operator Proudly Displaying the High Traffic Record !

If those passengers decided to take at least one cup of coffe or tea from this airport, they made Rs 1140 million out of it. If such an amount is made, the major chunk of that would be going to the airport's private management who in turn got the right to make that kind of money by paying the government either directly or indirectly. But I seriously doubt about such a possibility. That is the nature of Indians. Even when they can afford, no Indian is going to pay exorbitant price for a tea or coffee which they can get at much lower cost just outside. Had they kept the tea at a reasonable cost of say Rs 10 or 20, most of them would have readily and gladly paid for it ! Obviously, the airport business fellows should have lost a good opportunity ! Regrettably, they seem to prefer killing the goose which lays golden eggs !

And all of them keep doing that.

Otherwise why there are so many of those planes costing billions of dollars that lie idle in the airports ? Their engines and mechanisms are rusting ! What if all these belonged to some business men like Mr Mallya ? What caused his company to ruin financially ? Is it only because of his mismanagement or it has also to do some thing with the irrational policies and irresponsible attitudes of the government agencies ?

Is it only the problem of  business men like Mr Mallya ? Is it not something of a problem affecting the people of India ?

You can keep arguing both ways !

I think I have to agree with my old African friends.

Indians are penny wise and pound foolish. Their penny wisdom blinding their pound foolishness always ! Their greed and egos rule their minds more than simple common sense driven by the passion to do good for others !

Why should even God think of saving this country ?

[View the linked list of all Blogs of the Author Here ! ]