Blueline and the bleeding bodies – One more encounter with the truth

Crying faces, bleeding bodies, heart rending wails echoed Delhi sky once again on Sunday morning. This time the mishap took place on Mathura Road in Badarpur, near Aligaon crossing. The killer Blueline again created havoc by ramming into 15 people waiting for bus on the pavement. It caused death to 7 people and left few seriously injured and many panic stricken. It is alleged that the driver was drunk. He lost control and hit people standing on the road.

What’s going on? It is not the first time when such rash driving and irresponsibility robbed people of their lives. These series of accidents are occurring at a heart wrenching regularity and stopped to become just a matter of concern. But has become the hovering fear of death, ready to gripe any one from us. Who knows who will be the next victim? Whether one will get back home safely or not? And when boarding and deboarding Blueline buses itself becoming fear of invisible death, one's helpless boarder is always in danger to become a victim of cruel destiny, without any guilt of his or her own.

Buses are one of those amenities which are meant for people’s convenience but these accidents have brought forth the gruesome pictures of human error, negligence of moral duty and ignorance. Consequently, they are now posting most prominent threats to human lives, bigger than any of its kind in all probability.

Drivers and conductors often seem to be short-tempered, excited and indulge in speed competition with one another, apply sudden brakes to the buses and make passengers to suffer due to their whimsical and careless driving.

Delhi government has taken few concrete steps to stop these accidents. But still these life taking incidents are happenings.

It is important that the driving hands must be experienced. The man on the driving seat must be balanced, careful and vigil towards his duty as a driver. Driver and conductor must have friendly approach besides having professional ethics. Sufficient time must be given to passengers while boarding and de-boarding the bus.

On the other hand, traffic rules are being set to be followed but these accidents have implied clearly that rules are being violated by the Blueline buses. Moreover, speed-governors have also been tempered with by most of the buses. In this context, the government must take strict action against these violations. Deployment of PCR vans are not only the solution. The intentional crimes must be awarded with more stringent punishment, at par to that of ones for causing mental trauma, unintentional killing and anti-social behaviour.

Of course, we people also ought to be conscious of our rights as passengers and pedestrians.

BOGUS VOTING AND THE ‘NO-VOTE’ PROVISION…

For the ones’ fed-up with the political parties and their relentless bogus propaganda, a safe and logical option that crops into the mind is an allowance to cast ‘No-Vote’.

The same option also helps one to avoid being party to a ridiculous affair called ‘False Voting’ where someone else candidly votes in your name. And effortlessly ruin your chance and right to elect your representative. The process, needless to say, generates little confidence in the mind of voters to follow the democratic process, and hence the chosen ones, as obviously, are not always the ones most suitable for the post.

Talking about bogus voting, an estimated account of 40 per cent errors are noticed in electoral polls in many urban areas, and bogus voting in towns exceeds 20 per cent. The modus operandi of bogus voting includes purchase of votes through money and liquor, preventing poorer sections from voting, large scale impersonation, purchase of agents of opponents, threatening and forcing agents and polling personnel to allow false voting, booth-capturing, bribing polling staff and police personnel etc… and many more. However, for the practitioners of the ‘might is right policy’, this solemn act of mocking hapless democratic sovereignty does little favour for a vast country like ours. Where electoral landscape comprises remote areas of forgotten lands prone to encroaching and infiltration.

Leave alone interior areas, considering the situation that just about 60% of Indians vote (Indian election stats), surreptitious acts of false voting do not spare urban areas too. So to be true, let the reason be any thing, taking chance of our gradual loss of faith in voting process, beneficiary stands out to be the one un-wanted by the most.

So why to let these unscrupulous individuals count profit? During voting, one who is sure to stop any political candidate’s progression should caste ‘No-vote’...provided he or she is allowed to entertain the same option through voting machine.

Consequently, that little blue dot on ones’ finger would carry a true message, than being a warning sign of an unknown power hungry idiot gaining entry to political hierarchy through raping democracy.

Cinema Cinema

Really.., cinema today has reached to a stage from where it can provide a towering view of the society around. It is very true that cinema today is not just a source of mere entertainment, at times it works as the strongest medium of introspection of the self and the society in which one lives.

Just few days back, along side popular hits like The Da Vinci Code and Krisshh, I saw Samsara and Dombivili Fast.

If The Da Vinci Code carries along the expectation of the book of the same name and influences its enthusiastic viewers to gather a cinematic experience of the literature form, Krissh, which is a sequel of Koi…Mil Gaya, is enthrusted by its predecessor.

What amazed me was the gusto of two unknown directors to portray their believes and realizations in a very straight-forward and simple manner. I am talking about Samasara, and Dombivli Fast. Both these movies stood firm on presentation of stark reality in a rather simplistic yet artistic manner.

Samsara, which dealt with universal confusion in selection of path of spirituality to indulgence in worldly pleasure, was power-packed by splendid cinematography, commendable character portrayal, and richness in subject matter.

Moving ahead with the philosophy of Zen Buddhism, the movie subtly represents ‘forever role’ of women in this society as a ‘giver ‘and ‘sacrifier’. With the backdrop of Leh-laddahk, movie makes sojourn of the beauty of the place and guides viewer to the thoughts of a young monk questioning his existence in the world.

‘Dombivli Fast’ on the other hand, was a depiction of the muddle in the society. A middle-aged clerk, resembling any of the modern working middle class simple-yet-idealistic individual, was a smart replica of outbursts from different measures of oppression that all of us go through probably at each steps of our interaction with the society today. The protagonist chooses to answer blow by blow. However, ironically the society, for the betterment of which the character fights and diehard, relegates his measures to a frenzied act of an hyper individual. Even though the story during its course of progression, leads the optimistic viewer towards a probable positive (and happy) end, tragic death of the protagonist in the final sequence makes one to gulp the ending scene with a peeved heart.

The Da Vinci Code is a good movie. However, somewhere it leaves scope of betterment. Might that be because of its pace that leaves few interesting facts found in the book unuttered in the movie. Yah., of course a movie can never hold a complete novel in its limited time scale. But at times there were few facts and figures that found mention in the script either too hurriedly or in a way too short to understand. One should rather go through the novel first before going to watch the movie.

Krisshh… well, made me miss the uncanny mood of happiness and simplicity of its predecessor. Somewhere director was trying to make a blend of children movie with a topping of romance. As a result he stood true to neither of the two concept.

little future..

In the wake of stupendous economic growth, when a common man suddenly get bamboozled by sudden rise of BSE-SENSEX indices to 10000 points, India yells for its recognition as a major force to reckon with. However, side-lining this present status quo, could we focus on a simple yet indomitable issue that relates to few (!) poor children of our nation?

I am planning for a short movie on this very subject. Let me present my thought as follows.....

The movie represents three characters of our society who are young but burdened with works…. in fact loads of works to which they are subjugated at a very tender age. Their works do not provide them enough chance to study and become an educated member of this society.

I want to present a glimpse of CHILD LABOUR, a gift, probably endowing each poor child our country.

The three characters in this movie belong to different corners of the country, have a different story to tell, but are subjected to work, with or without their willingness.

In the movie I would try to ask what the best policy our policy makers could put forward to make them go to their schools…. in spite of their grave poverty?

I believe that a prized answer can change the society and the country as a whole.