No Big Deal...

Developed countries have always attracted me a lot – as a child watching the skyscrapers with an astonishing look on his face, as a teenager aspiring to put his foot down on a land so hyped in India, as a working professional to experience the culture they breed, the disciplines they follow, the lovely beauty of the place and also as a potential future home.

Things were not so bad for me in the motherland until the time I did get a chance to set foot on a foreign land. I had always seen it in movies, television programs, heard through friends etc. I set foot down on the airport just to be struck by its massive size, extraordinary cleanliness, polite staff, pleasant faces, well planned premises and an extravagant display of architectural designs. Completing all the formalities I came out of the airport just to be driven in a luxurious Lincoln limousine. Unmanned pay and park ticket collecting booths – the first ever I saw, HUGE roads, heavy trucks doing speeds only the luxury segment cars in India do, beautiful looking cars, homes, lovely office spaces, and most importantly, the discipline followed on the roads, I just fell in love with that place. It was about an hour’s drive from the airport to the hotel I was booked in and not once did I hear my car honk. Neither the others.

The courtesy in which unknown people greeted each other in public places – just a “Hi” was sufficient to bring a smile. I just felt like having the time of my life. I unpacked my stuff and thought about hiring a taxi to the nearest mall to spend the evening. And I was happy to know that the hotel offered a complimentary taxi service to the place and also to my office. So far so good. It was like a goody picture painted which had suddenly turned to life. The same evening I called up home to let my parents know I reached safe and also to describe my journey, my experience and my excitement.

I was not all that exposed to the culture there in the US and hence couldn’t make my first trip a memorable one. Definition of a memorable trip generally goes something like this: A trip wherein you enjoyed to your satisfaction, been around, seen places, bought sovereigns, clicked about 500 snaps and then returned. Being exposed to their culture here doesn’t mean attending the mass on a Sunday or taking part in a traditional custom. What I mean here is the feel of the place, dealing with people, confidence of handling the different situations one might get into, going to a pub or a sports bar etc.

I came back in a month, things were routine again once back in India – the same pot-holed roads, unruly traffic, unclean and stinking by-roads, a very ordinary airport – the least to mention of. But I overcame the huge difference in a few weeks time. The US might be about 200 years ahead of what India is at this moment – year 2009.

The most recent trips – the one from which I returned a few days ago, had a great impact on my mind. I was chatting casually with one of my friends back in India and she happened to ask me if I missed India. I was not able to answer that question. It took a while and some impatience from my friend to write “no” in the chat window. And she went “What!!!???” I thought for a while and then told her that all I miss when I am away from home is my family and friends.

This does not mean that I have disrespect for my country or I dislike being a citizen of this country. I love my country and that’s the only reason I would feel bad if things are not working in favor of the country and its citizens.

I had another argument with another friend of mine on the same topic yesterday night. I told her about my plans to shift base into another country in future and that I had no interest staying back in India. I reasoned it out by certain examples. Let me discuss a few things with you here:

1. Why is there no “required” infrastructure development in the cities in India? Safe roads – where are they? There was this Autocar show on a news channel I saw the famous anchors comment on the state of roads. As a citizen, when you pay taxes, that’s the least that one would expect. Good roads, good infrastructure, a good environment and reforms for the betterment of the society.
2. There are only talks about increasing the road tax amount on purchase of a vehicle and introduction of carbon taxing. Why is there no thought about adding to the efficiency and usefulness of public transports in India? The public transport buses are the biggest cause of the traffic jams that the cities face these days. No proper training to the bus drivers and the truck drivers is provided. So these people just bully the other smaller vehicles on road causing serious accidents. Is the government looking into this?
3. There’s a quite foreseen problem these days in almost all the major cities facing the population and industrial growth – transport. And in Pune, Mr. Suresh Kalmadi came up with a very profitable idea (ofcourse for himself) by introducing BRTS (Bus Rapid Transport System) on the Katraj-Satara road in Pune. A venture of about 4 kms resulted into a totally chaotic condition for the other traffic to ply on the same road. Why? Half of the road was taken up by the BRTS project leaving just one lane on either sides for the other traffic. Another half of the remaining stretch is always encroached upon by the haphazard parking of vehicles – mostly of the shop owners. And no one can blame them for this. And despite this failure comes news. And yes, no prizes for guessing it, another BRTS project for the IT park in Hinjewadi – Nashik chowk to Kalewadi. I don’t understand what kind of a survey they conduct before announcing such stupid projects. I bet, this work would continue for the next 5-7 yrs during which most of the JNNURM money would go down the drain and into the Swiss Bank Accounts of the famous politicos.
4. When I lashed at the bus and truck drivers, why spare the Indicab owners?? This is the latest breed of drivers around. Picking up employees from their homes and driving them through the city traffic to the IT park recklessly to make it in time. Not only are they risking their lives but also the lives of the employees travelling. And this is nothing new. The city has already seen innumerous cases of road accidents and in some cases deaths of the people travelling in these cars. Cutting lanes, honking for no reasons, road rage are some qualities a cab driver has. Again, I’m not saying this applies for all – but the good ones get overshadowed by the bad guys.
5. The private car owners are not any different. They follow a similar way of driving. Well almost. Cutting lanes, not letting a vehicle pass, over-speeding for no reason and paying no heed to traffic rules, signals. Its just a sorry scene out there. Drivers get frustrated at people of their parents’ age and I am no exception
6. Well, even the pedestrians are to blame to an extent. There is some kind of unwritten rule I think. No pedestrian crosses the road when the vehicles halt. They only want to cross when the signal for the traffic to pass turns green. Creating chaos. And its always the pedestrian who gets favored incase there’s an accident.
7. When we are discussing abt the traffic chaos, how can we leave our two-wheeler rider alone? They are everywhere, either going around, parked elsewhere, met with an accident, caused a traffic jam somewhere or just trying to get past a speeding car or a heavy vehicle. These people think they are at the MotoGP every time they set their bike on the roads. Terrific driving, trying to fit into the gaps between 2 cars at the signals and also on the highways just add to the fatalities.
8. Improper and insufficient parking areas are another problem that looks the government and the citizens in the eye. The number of vehicles on the roads increases day by day but the roads remains the same. And only the government is to blame for this. There is a thing called as “anticipation”. The government had and always has all the required information and resources to track and anticipate the growth of a particular city for the next few years or maybe even decades. Development plans for roads and other basic infrastructure should have started about a decade ago into all the metropolitan cities and also the upcoming important cities.
9. If the government has anything to learn from its own past, it would agree to the statement that the initial famines (1950-1964) that hit a free India were basically cuz of the poor infrastructure it had during those days. Areas which had plenty of food grains available were not able to provide help to the affected areas due to this reason.

Well that was past. The BJP came to power in the glory years and pulled out a phrase “India Shining”. No one knew what that meant but it sure had started the rise of the Indian power. India was the hottest destination for off-shoring business. It had talent. It had the most important resource – man power and it was nowhere short of it. During the same period, the then PM Hons. Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced the Golden Quadrangle project, a multi crore Rs project which was spread over a span of 5 years and had a novel idea of connecting the 4 metropolitan cities of India via expressway roads. It took off well, India appreciated the move for better roads and for sometime things looked pretty good. But then came the old Congress to the power and they just stalled the project citing financial reasons. The move to create a road link was criticized severely by the party in rule and all work stopped. It took another 3-4 years more to end the stint that the BJP had dreamt of. This was one of the many instances that proved that democracy failed for the internal wars of the parties.

10. Politics has played a vital part in hampering the growth of India whereas at the same time, a few reforms have helped it grow to the position it is at the current moment. It’s quite ironical to even notice so.
11. Riots on religious reasons, political party clashes are just rampant.

All this for the sake of an argument with a friend. I always thought this was a healthy argument. But it was never so. Suddenly the patriot in my friend had awakened and she said harshly to me, “Kuch bhi ho… desh to apna hai na, u’ve been living here from the past so many years just to say this today??”

N I was like, y, wats wrong with that? Don’t I have the right to pull out of this place if it is not offering me anything? I agree, India’s developing. But wat what pace? Things that are available in the western world right now are made available in India after a long long time. Why do I have to deal with an unruly traffic everyday going and coming back from work? Why do I have to wake up every morning and read the headlines saying either this political party had a clash with this party and violence erupted in this part of the country burning several vehicles and killing so many people? That some political party in India commands what a girl should wear in public? That the Left is not in sync with the govt, in power for the Nuclear treaty with US when it itself doesn’t know what the treaty is? That there are highly uneducated people ruling the country as MLA’s, MP’s, CM and so many other important posts in the country who are only interested in filling up their bank accounts while they are in power? Just keep pondering when even a child going to school knows that the corporator of his city is a corrupt official, why does the police not do anything? I don’t know whether I could afford to buy a luxury car like a Merc or an Audi in a few months time after I assume office at a mere salary of 14-16 thousand per month? Yes, that’s the salary offered to an ACP of Police Dept. Still this guy manages to pull off a Armani tux at a film star’s party and drive in a vehicle no less than a sedan?

I know the scene here is changing towards better day by day. But it’ll take a long time before India can match the western world. That means by the time India sees these infrastructure developments and social reforms happen, I’d be in grave. Why should I live with all this? Anyone coming with a novel idea is kicked out of the corporation office. There is a saying in Hindi “Talaab mein rehkar magarmacchh se bair nahi karte” which simply translates to “try not be enemies with the crocodile if u choose to live in a lake”

I have been fortunate enough to atleast experience the western life for some time in my life. And no doubt that I have been fascinated by it. I do have a choice here whether to keep myself exposing to such ridiculous management in the country and crib about everything all the time, or to go into the system and try to change it, or pack my bags – say thank you to the motherland and find a new home elsewhere. I know there have been a few films promoting that idea of young crowd getting into politics and trying to bring change (Yuva, Halla Bol etc.) but those are better off only in films. All the NRIs would support me here if I think of changing my nationality. And a question to people opposing this idea… What harm would it do me if I change my nationality? I’ll only get some better facilities, a good future to my next generation, better technology, better infrastructure? That’s what they are opposing?

I know each country has its own set of problems. There is racism prevalent in many parts of the world, especially with Indians. But what am I getting here if I stay in my own motherland? Schools which demand exorbitant donations? Colleges which do the same? Moreover, reservations for the n number of castes and creeds in India, also for women? Indifferent police who are more interested in extracting money out of the citizens’ pockets and supporting the corrupt politicians? Violence which kills our own people?

No wonder why our surrounding countries can attack us whenever and wherever they want to. There is a dialog in a very popular hindi movie, “hamara dushman bahut khushnaseeb hai sir, use aatank machane apne log nahi – sirf hathyaar bhejne padte hai” That’s the status of our country today.

I am not taking sides here saying this that the west is right and we are on the wrong path. All I want to state here is an individual from this country deciding to leave it forever for a better life elsewhere – is NO BIG DEAL and whatever discussed up here is REALITY.

Expectations

I should tell you that this topic hasn’t popped into my wise brain. It was an “expectation” from a friend of mine that I should write on this someday.

How often have you caught yourself thinking over how someone had expressed angst or worry about how you did not deliver or do what that person had expected?

Well I am sure there must be many such instances. Atleast I’ve come across a few. Not meeting your girlfriend / boyfriend at the agreed time, you hear either of them saying “I expected you to be here at 5.” Or “I thought you’d pick me up from home” or even “I thought you would understand” (deadly one na!!)

At home, when you are late – “I expect you to be home on time – atleast for dinner” or “Call if you are going to be late today”. Married people get to hear “I expected you to help me with the dishes honey...”

Children are most hit by expectations. Parents expect them to get up early, expect them to study hard, expect them to take part in sports, expect them to behave well, expect them to get good marks than their peers, expect them to get a rank in the boards, expect them to excel in graduation, expect them to be a wise and a good teenager, expect them to do well in their lives and to be good with others. Wow… too many expectations. But all of which I just listed here sound too fair to raise any kinda objection.

There are expectations which one seems is “too much”. I have heard a lot of people saying “You expect me to do that!!!???” or “I had expected you to perform well in this exam / work / project… you have turned me down.”

We often complain about such expectations and rate them as irrational rather than giving it a second thought and analyzing whether the expectations set are fair for the capability you have and the kind of responsible person you are. There are so many instances where we feel like people around are expecting too much from us. Its human tendency to expect something from the person they know. Expectation to help in crisis like a financial emergency or for that matter even some help during the annual exams, expectation from elders about so many things that I can’t think of listing down here, expectation from children to get them something on that birthday that they have longed for…

Life seems to be full of expectations. There is an expectation and then there is hope to tell a human that their expectations would be fulfilled. Each person has some or the other time, at least once, expected some miracle to happen in his / her life and then expected God to fulfill the wish. Isn’t this expectation from God to make something happen? Even God isn’t spared from this.

I don’t know if I should expect you to appreciate this article and don’t know either if I’ve been able to write upto the expectations of you readers.

Cheers!!!

Rules Woes...

Long time huh!!!

Maybe I was busy with some work finally :)

Things do change over a period of few days. Ya take for instance, I turned 24 in the last month, the month has changed since my last post, things must be definitely changing for the accounts guys in every company for this month-end, its appraisal time for employees (I’m not sure!!) and tough time as well as they have to work very hard on their appraisal forms and prove that they did something in the year 2008-09 that made a difference to the function they are a part of.

Ok so I won’t go into the intricacies of appraisals. It’s a very sensitive topic to discuss on a blog you know… my boss mite peek in here.

Let me wish all the ladies a very happy women’s day. I know it’s a bit too late, but there is a saying in hindi – der aye durust aayi. I know it doesn’t go with the situation. But I wanted to use it somewhere from a long time.

Things are hot these days… election seasons, kids having summer vacations, the sun shining like crazy (maybe it’s the sun or its just me!!) I’ve heard many people commenting on the heat… like – “it’s very hot these days!!” or “this heat is killing me…” but I’ve seen no girls in skirts as yet (there are many types of skirts as all know – I won’t list them here). I can still see them in full sleeve gloves, a turban around their face with a 2 cm gap for the eyes to see what lies in front of them – that too mostly covered with glares and then I can hear people commenting that they can’t look around if they are made to wear a helmet!!! How ironical.

There has been a traffic rule implemented in the city where I live. Use of helmets and seat-belts is compulsory. Der aye durust aayi… yess I got it right this time J. And quite amazed was I to see a t-shirt with a cross stripe in the fashion street market. The real reason behind that was to avoid the fine imposed for not using the seat-belt. From a distance it does look like u’ve put on the strap!!! Clever minds at work I must say!!

The other day I was driving one of my friends to his place. As for the rule, I asked him to wear a seat-belt. He gave me a look as if I had insulted him. I was quite amazed and pointed to him that he had no problems to wear a seat-belt when he was in the rear seat of a car in a foreign country and he had put it on without hesitation. Rules here in India are just made to be in the books I guess – or newspapers if you would like that.

A couple of days ago I saw a proposed fine chart by the road traffic authority. It had said – tinted glasses would attract a fine, fancy number plates would not be allowed, no talking on cell phone while driving, jumping the stop line at a signal etc. I had a few questions popping up and those have been left unanswered.

1. The cars usually come with tinted glasses these days (a fine green tint). So how exactly does the RTA define a “tint”?
2. If it’s a film coat on the glass of a car, why are there film manufacturing companies manufacturing heat reflecting n blah blah doing films to be put on a glass window of a car?
3. The cars used by government authorities carry a glass as good as a mirror. How is that justified?
4. The car accessories dealer always say that the film that they are going to put on ur car is infact RTO approved. I never got a certificate saying so.
5. A maximum of fancy number plates are owned by politicians. Pawar, Nana, Dada, Raje are very famous amongst them.
6. Are there a standard color (yellow esp. for commercial vehicles), font and size and dimensions for a car / bike / any vehicle?
7. If you are not supposed to go beyond the stop line at a signal, where is the stop line in the first place?
8. Why should I have a reflective red tape running across my front bumper and the rear bumper of my car? Doesn’t my car have any look factor? And I would put that happily if the government vehicles atleast carry a tail lamp – or say any kind of a lamp.
9. RTO checks the PUCs’ of the regular traffic. Do they ever notice the thick cloud of black smoke coming out of the government vehicles? Including the public transport vehicles… it almost blinds the person behind them.

I have been trying to get an answer to these questions from a long time. But it seems to be jungle rule everywhere. An Rs.100 note solves all the problems that you might face if you end up with a traffic cop.

Speed limits are really unrealistic. A few days ago I read a board which said 28 kmph. How am I supposed to maintain a speed of 28 kmph? I do not understand how they arrived at that figure in the first place!! The express highway reads a sign board of 80 kmph. I bet the slowest person would be doing that speed.

Toll booths are another wonder I feel. Normally roads are built on a BOT (Build – Operate – Transfer) basis. I’ve seen the toll booths ever since the road has been built and they just don’t stop operating. What is the cost of that road? Have they studded it with diamonds and gold?? I bet they must be recovering the cost of the road built every month or so. Also, people living in the vicinity, area ka bhai, politicians and the ilk are exempted from paying the toll. And then I do not understand what exactly is the Road Tax amount that you pay to the government when you purchase the vehicle. I assumed it was for using the roads built out of tax payers’ money.

Bikes are not provided with a registration number if they do not have rear view mirrors. Yet, almost 90% of the bikes on roads do not have rear view mirrors but they do have registration numbers.

All these questions and more – is there going to be anything that would put and end to all these questions?

Well, let me know if any one of you have answers to the questions I have and I promise to make my next post a bit interesting :P

Righteous Expenditure?

There was this personal budget planner tool that I happened to download from the internet. It was very neatly designed keeping into mind every small expense that an average individual might incur. Right from transportation, entertainment, health and medicals, house-hold expenditure, EMIs and even dry-cleanings and laundry were included into the budget planner.

I entered all the amounts into the respective slots and discovered how less I save every month. The pie chart that displayed the expenditure distribution was even more terrible to watch. Almost 70,000 as miscellaneous expenditure, another 80,000 for transport (including the car EMI) and around 15,000 over entertainment and other stuff. Though there was a huge amount of 45,000 in my life insurance slot, these other figures overshadowed this important investment.

I just thought over looking at the pie chart – what kind of money am I spending? The figure in the “Miscellaneous” portion caught my eye. 70,000?? And I am sure it would be more than that. This includes my yearly shopping, fuel bills, occasional trips to the chemist for hygiene stuff etc. Though this stuff seems necessary, the amount seems exorbitant, esp. the fuel bills and shopping. I realized that I shop almost every 4 months. Being single and the fact that I don’t have to spend a dime at home, it seems alright to indulge in some shopping and spending some amount for weekend spins across the city and dinners with friends. That’s how a bachelor’s life is supposed to be. But there was this guilt that I felt when I realized the amount of money I spend on myself. I have the option of spending it only on necessary stuff – shopping only when I really need to, rationalizing the use of the car over the bike, keeping a tab on the usage of credit card, keeping tabs on weekend expenditure. I think doing all this would help me save a lot of money over a period of a year or so.

As I mentioned above, this kind of spending is the reflection of a bachelor’s life. To add an extension to this sentence, it’s a reflection of a bachelor who has little foresight about the future requirements and is highly materialistic. Given the fact that there is no responsibility on this guy at home, he is free to spend all the money he has the way he wants. So as said above, dinners, mindless spins across the city, shopping every few months and also impulsive shopping becomes a part of this guy’s life. He knows that he has the resources to buy the stuff he ‘thinks’ he wants. Maybe he gets stuff just because it was a “steal”. The weekend spins across the city in a car normally blows off around atleast 500 bucks and atleast half of it on a bike.

The budget planner did compel me to think on my spending styles but has it impacted me enough to change it is a different story. I will sure try to rationalize the use of the vehicles and lessen the shopping bills too. But the weekend expense would definitely not curb. Atleast 500 bucks on a weekend seems to be a necessity. I could well relate to a TV commercial wherein a couple is shown enjoying a cup of coffee in their car when they happen to overlook an elderly couple deep in love. A fear runs through their thoughts when they see the elderly couple missing a bus ride. It’s obvious that they are worried if they could lead the same life they are leading at the moment. It is the same case with every young earning member and this fear haunts every youth atleast once in their lifetime.

On the contrary, I keep wondering over my college days when I was happy with the things as they were. There wasn’t enough money left until the month-end, but still there weren’t any complaints. That sum I used to get as pocket money in college was meager as compared to the salary that gets deposited every month into the bank account. Yet there is always an imbalance between the inflow and the outflow of funds. Things used to be very different in college. Though the inflow was less, the expenses were well within the budget. Money management was perfect in those days and there was always this thought that it’ll continue to be so when regular earnings start. A slip of hand during the initial days is understood but then why does it get carried over to the coming years?

There is a nice video that is aired on you-tube these days. It’s a media survey of different class of the society asking people of different age groups and different strata of the society what would 500 rupees mean to them. The answers were interesting. A child from a not so well background said he’d pay his tuition fees while a college chap said it’s a month’s fuel bill and a rich girl said it’s a days’ expense.

I did try to think about that video every time I spent a few bucks at a coffee shop or at buying something at impulse. It did help, but it also stimulated a guilt feeling on each expenditure. The two mind concept stood applicable here wherein one thought was that it’s really unfair to spend on something which is not all that necessary at the current moment while the second thought was that if I am earning, why on earth should I be guilty to spend!!!

It’s a debatable topic per me. But looking at the pie-chart budget, I have sure decided to cut expenses wherever possible. Hope this starts a new beginning to a spender in me.

V-Day Special

Let me make this more interesting by telling you that I am not going to write anything about any political party and/or the “moral police” disrupting the days’ proceedings.

So what am I writing about then? Let’s see, how about the V-day preparation? The young and the newly weds are the people who form this gang.

So what is the big deal on a V-day? Finding someone for being with him or her. And why? Just to show ur friends that u are no loser… that even u are a babe magnet and that even u can manage to get a date. (normally it is the only reason). So how does it all begin?

A week before the V-day, the singles have a tough time figuring out a partner for themselves for the day. He scrolls thru his phone book contacts to find out if he can ask any girl out. He leaves no stone unturned (read: he asks every girl in his phone book). If there is a shortage (demand > supply), he goes to the cyberspace to check if there are any girls on the networking sites who mite be ready to come out with him. Its rush hour if he doesn’t find any here too. Then there are a few classifieds that set u up with girls / guys for that day. Of course there is some enrollment fee that they ask for (don’t ask me, I have no idea).

Lets assume that he manages to find someone who wud go out with him. Is the valentine day set-up for him? No ways. He still has a long way to go. What do I wear? What shd I gift her? Where do I take her? How shd I behave? What do I talk to her?

He can wear a formal dressing (mgmt professionals prefer this. They like the western ishtyle). Well groomed for the day, a bunch of fresh Dutch roses, a small chocolate cake, Godiva’s chocolate collection and a reservation at a fine dining restaurant. Or he can opt for the faded jeans and a funky print t-shirt to show that he is a cool person along with just one rose, a dairy milk chocolate and maybe a love song / rock music CD. A pub wud be the place for this guy I think.

Well, things mentioned above (roses, cake, chocolates, CD) are just a part of the gift list. There is a lot more that a girl mite be expecting on this day. Esp. if you are committed or are having a strong relationship. Maybe a life-size teddy (remember it HAS to look good and she shd appreciate its looks), a greeting card (I bet handmade wud work wonders), partners may even have to gift a jewellery set.

The place you take her to shd be appreciated as well. It shd be the best dining in town or the best pub around. You are expected to tell her how beautiful she looks and how special she is in his life. Remember dates when u first met and the date when u proposed her. The best way to win her that day is probably present her a rose / present each for all these important dates. Some romantic talks are a must. “Die Hard” fans please be prepared to watch “When Harry Met Sally”, “The Heartbreak Kid” or some romantic movie after dinner. A silent walk (if your surroundings and the "moral" police permit) goes down the books as a great initiative (Guys U have to say that before she does).

Well, I do not intend to give tips here as I am no player in the game. But thru all these years at college and friends in my group doing these things (read: trying), I cud jot down a few things that wud make this day a memorable one for the couple.

I do agree that a nice home cooked candle-light dinner, soft music and a movie late night wud be more than romantic. Even more winning wud be hiding gifts for each other at home and then opening them together. Talking about their journey together over several cups of coffee and then retiring in a cuddle for the night.

Here’s wishing you all a very Happy Valentines’ Day.

Being Single...

It’s been observed that more and more youth in urban India are single. How do you find that out? Just Google for the answer guys!!! Why do that either? You might just want to get on any networking site and select 10 random friends from your own friends list and check their relationship status. No surprises, most of them flaunt their relationship status as "single". Why is it so?

Is it the way that the youth today think? Is it cuz youth have no time to get along with ppl they mite really like? Is it cuz of the work pressure? Is it cuz of the “freedom" that one gets otherwise, or is it cuz of the fear of getting into a relationship? The fear of commitment? Or is it just by choice?

Well, I think it’s a little of all and Freedom gets the premium. The youth today are engrossed in their work schedules. Late working hours are a norm these days. A person leaves at 9 in the mrng just to return by 9 in the evening. Does this leave him any gap and energy to socialize? I guess not. Leave aside the working professional groups. The students? They too are engaged with classes, colleges, projects and what not. But these are the people who hang out the most. Most end up finding a partner and some end up being single. When in college, you are not single cuz of choice but mostly cuz of lack of opportunity and of course luck. But these people too are joining the bandwagon of a single status. They don’t mind hanging around in groups but they don’t want to get along with someone. They just want to be single and then this Freedom part comes in. All argue they want to be free from being bugged with questions and want to avoid responsibility.

Ask your friends who are single and I bet most of them would say they are single by choice. And it comes as no surprise. Most of them would reason it out saying they have a certain set of goals and they won’t enter into any relationship before they accomplish them; quite acceptable and fair enough while some others tell upfront that they have the fear of commitment. Some say Freedom is what they enjoy being single. That they don’t have to answer anyone where they are and what they were doing with that girl / guy. Some argue that they get to spend all their money on themselves. They say they have to keep gifting their partners once a while and a movie and cozy dinner plan over the weekend costs them dearly.

This can be understood at a student phase in life. But why are the professional generation people avoiding this altogether? They earn well, do attend parties, they like watching movies and they like being with someone. So does dating someone solve the purpose?  I think, yes. These days, dating has become as acceptable as in the western world. They go for a movie, they dine together, maybe spend a day together and the craving for being with someone is satisfied.

A few put up a strong argument that they don’t want to get into a relationship and assume responsibility until they are “ready” for it. So what does getting “ready” involve? The answer is – a steady career, a good bank balance, good standard of living, job position (generally linked with status in society), cars and mostly material wealth. And this holds true to a great extent. No girl these days agrees for a wedlock until she finds that the guy she marries has all or atleast most of the things mentioned above.

Girls these days are also part of the working professionals equally. They too have career prospects and ambitions and they too deny getting into a committed relationship. Marrying at an age of 28-29 is more than acceptable now unlike in old days when our parents got married. They must have had us by that age :)

The bottom line is that more and more people are opting for a single life. They have all the freedom and money to themselves. They do not have to answer questions and take up responsibilities. But somewhere in the back of their minds, there would be a voice asking them questions like – Do you really think you are enjoying this life? Don’t you need anyone to share your feelings and emotions with? Don’t you need anyone to care and be cared by? Don’t you long for a vacation with this loved one?

I think it's just a phase in life and someday everyone finds their perfect match. Its just the matter of time...

Travel with Tourism Companies

Open a newspaper one fine morning during a summer vacation or a Diwali vacation or a Christmas vacation and what dots the newspaper the most during these days are travel packages to different locations. They cater to each of the class in the society. They have a cruise which starts off from Mumbai to the Lakshwadeep islands off the coast or then to some tourist destinations like Kerala, Goa, Rajasthan, Delhi, the north-eastern states or the ever famous Jammu-Kashmir.

All the tourism companies have very competitive pricing – at least on the advertisement, with small asterisks marked on the pricing. The footnote is even more illegible which normally says “Conditions Apply” and sometimes accompanied with “Exclusive of taxes, local taxes as applicable”. So for e.g. if you happen to come across a Singapore trip for just 19999/-*, that really means that the amount stated so would just happen to be the lowest airfare to Singapore, the lowest cost hotel room and basic sight seeing that too exclusive of taxes. Do not forget to add your visa expenses in addition to the brokerage to the travel agents and the taxes on the air ticket. So after all the talks with the concerned travel company, that same 19999/- turns out to be somewhere near 40000 per person (now this is inclusive of all taxes)

Ok let’s leave aside the monetary side. Let’s have a look into what other things do these so called organized tour operators offer.

1. FREE pickup from the start point of your journey. i.e. you are expected to travel to a particular place in order to participate in the tour. For e.g. if you are planning to tour Jammu and Kashmir, you’d be expected to report at the Katra Junction and then onwards they take charge of your tour. Remember, they wont wait for you if the train / flight you take to that place runs late.
2. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included in the package. (If you are charging a whooping 25000~30000 just for a Jammu Kashmir trip per person you bloody have to give it.)
3. Local sight seeing. Now there’s a catch in this freebie. Suppose you are on your way to worship Vaishnov Devi, these tour operators wont rent you a horse ride to the top. But you are free to hire one for yourself. All they would do is take you around in an air conditioned luxury bus in winters and I bet the bus won’t be air conditioned if you happen to visit in the summers. Argue with them and you would get a reply close to “the summers here are so pleasant, try to enjoy the fresh air”
4. Shopping time. Yes, for 3 hours in the evening and that too just for one or two days out of a 2 week trip. Well, the husbands here welcome this idea.
5. Time to Rest. Or something like that they put into their travel catalogue. One would wonder looking at the number of times this Rest day or rest time comes into the whole travel plan. Are the tourists supposed to pay you for arranging a free time for them?? Oh and well, anywhere you go on the rest day or the rest time, you are on your own. No transport would be provided.
6. And on the contrary, you never get any free time at places where you really need to shop or take rest.
7. They give you free merchandise. A Tee shirt of their company brand and a cap to wear on compulsorily so that you would not go amiss. Good thinking I must say. How lovely would it be to take photographs of your loved ones in uniforms!!!
8. They give you wake up calls (at 6 in the morning when you are on vacation). And they won’t disturb you if you don’t report in the hotel lobby in time. That’s so generous of them!!
9. They make you get along with fellow travelers. That’s a good part of the trip though. But not everybody enjoys doing stuff like enacting some film scene or singing a song or telling something about their personal lives to people whom they’ve known just for a few days.
10. When visiting places, they make you hear their guide out all the time who, by the way, has all the knowledge of that place and tries his best to bug you with it when all you want is some time with your partner / family.
11. As if all this wasn’t enough, they make you fill up feed-back forms at the end of the trip.

All have different opinions as regards the arranged tours. There is an argument that you don’t have to worry about the whereabouts of the place, what places to visit, no worries about the logistics and neither for food and accommodation. Having heard this from many families, I finally came to a conclusion that such tours are often good only with the elderly members of the family.

Imagine going to Goa with a tour operator!!!

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen. This is Goa, the beach capital of India. Beautiful beaches and exotic restaurants and night clubs dot this place. It’s always on the top 10 places to visit on any person’s List of Places to Visit in the world. And then you would have a guided trip to the Aguada fort, the baga beach and the Panjim area”, not to forget the old Goa where instead of beaches, you’ll mostly find temples and churches. Though they are adorable, I don’t think that’s what you go to Goa for! And the guide yelling to you before you leave for the beach – “2 hours here and we assemble at this very point to head to another beach which is just 10 kms away from this one” or even better – they just drive you around some nice night club saying “this is one of the best night clubs around in Goa” and then he goes on saying “the place where we would be staying for the next 10 days is about an hours drive from here”

Whatever opinion others may have on this, but I am quite sure I won’t be touring any place with these guys.