I don't VOTE

Newspapers tell me to vote
But I simply don't care
I put on my branded overcoat
and say politics is so unfair

Radios tell me to vote
But I simply don't care
I hurriedly change the fm station
Unmindful out of the window, I stare

TV channels tell me to vote
But I simply don't care
I switch on to a music channel
and get lost in the blare

Websites tell me to vote
But I simply don't care
I turn on to social networking instead
And chat and rant with flair

My friends tell me to vote
But I simply don't care
I argue relentlessly on top of my voice
vanquished, throw my hands up in the air

And then I tell others to vote
and when they don't care
I give them a piece of my mind
and a 'responsible' look, I wear

An afternoon in blueline

In a lazy afternoon, when you have barely anything to do and a long journey ahead (even small distance seems long then) and that too in a blueline bus, crowded by all kinds of people who give u a why-don't-u-get-down look as you manage to grab a seat, you don't have any other option but to look outside the window pane.

These 'gentlemen and not so gentlemen' passengers have one thing in common -- they all have their eyes set on those all important seats in the bus, which they envy alike. Often it that pursuit they even try to elbow each other and shove across to grab their space, placing themselves tactically in front of the seats, grabing with both hands the handles of the seats, making sure no one else gets their ass on those seats and attimes that wait stretches beyond the span of one's journey.

With all these happening all around, what you can do apart from turning deaf and blind after all you too want that piece of wood for your bisected piece of flesh. So you shun all morals and ethics and follow your heart and get lost in the humdrum and
cacapony of the world outside the window, only to face another challenge -- keeping your eyes open.

The otherwise monstrous-looking blueline, which lives upto its reputation whenever it touches down the roads of Delhi, spreading its menace in all and sundry, all of a sudden will look like a tortoise which has lost its way. Moving languidly with an amazing irregularity it will stop at all stops, attimes making its own stops where there are none, as you wait for the ordeal to be over.

You inhale the carbonmonoxide and suspended particulars along with oxygen, look at the hungry faces of the roadside kids selling pens if not begging, scan through the rush of an ever-burgeoning crowd at the redlights, the mannequin-like souls standing on the divider, waiting for the vrooming vehicles to pass to cross the road, the birds and scavengers scrambling the litter left outside the VIP mansions, the begger having a nap with his head on his sack, rustic souls enjoying the sun along with the dog lying side-by-side as you get lost in a reverie......

When you open your eyes, you find yourself amidst a new set of 'gentlemen and not so gentlemen' passengers but equally hungry for that seat that you have been occupying for so long and before you could realise what had happened to you, you see your bus
stop nearing and infront of you a pool of humans. Soon you too join the party and indulge in some ignobly act, hostling and shoving your way through the crowd, out of the bus, mumbling to yourself of never boarding a bus again, only to ride it again in the evening on your way back.

Delhi bus dairy

In the last two years of my stay in Delhi, i have been daily bus passenger and on many occasion I have been taken for a ride by these conductors and bus drivers apart from the literary bus ride. Well, I screamed, argued, criticised and also shed sarcasm but all of those have fallen flat on the deaf ears of the perpetrators. I didn't have an option and so I decided to do the safest thing or the obvious thing--just ignore.

Although I have travelled on the Delhi transport corporation(DTC) buses as much as i have traversed on the bluelines, I would have to say that the DTC buses are a shed better than their private counterpart. But their absmally poor service doesn't leave one with much option but to take the blueline service and we all know what is the general perception of the general people about this blueline buses.

Their obstinately bad behaviour and rash driving have earned them the infamous name of 'the killer buses'. They don't have any respect for human life, they are driven by a bunch of holligans, some of whom doesn't even have a valid licence, blah blah! blah!. Well, all these are true and as a passenger there has been many incidents which i have been part of. Here are some of those painful experiences.

Firstly the tendency of these buses to halt at a particular stand for prolonged periods and skip stands when there is enough passengers thus leaving the bystanders stranded for hours. But what is most annoying is the fact that at times they even dont drop the passsengers to the desired stands. For example 433 plying from Okhla to Jantar mantar has this tendency of droping passengers at central secritariat instead of Aakaswani stand. Or for that matter if it is late night they may all of a sudden park the bus at a far away place while initially promising the passengers something else. e,g one of my friend was once starnded at Khanpur by 502 while he was returning home from office at Old Delhi.Initially the conducter said that the bus will go till South ex but later all of a sudden it parked itself at Khanpur.

Secondly is the ticket issuing mess. While you might have done the exact tickets for the destination, the conductors keeps on troubling the passengers for the tickets thousands of time and attimes even misbehaving.

Then comes the issue of smoking while the bus may be flaunting big posters with 'No smoking' tag on them and the govt may be making hollow promise of making laws stringent for people who smoke in public places. In a bus in delhi, most often then not the drivers and conductors are seen violating the laws. And somebody protests he might well be forced out of the bus.

Fourthly, the issue of women seat. While in general people leave the ladies seat vacant when there is a woman around, there are many people who try to argue saying that after three stands a ladies seat doesn't stand valid. While nobody is sure what is the exact law, it creates a lot of confusion and hoopla in the bus.

While there are certain things which the common people should also undertsnad. A little patience from their part can make a bus journey a little easy.

I remember seeing an old man being almost slapped by a teenager. His only fault was that in the rush of the bus he had stepped on the shoes of the 22-year-old. And this is not an isolated cases. Everyday as people throng to the buses, people step in each other shoes or feet and what follows is an altercation or a fracas between them. while the common people are responsible, the conductors are also to be blamed as they keep on pushing people inside even if the bus is overcrowded.
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Well, I am actually feeling much better after shedding all my frustrations...anyways its time to go....keep walking!!!