Similarities.

As I read my daily newspaper- The Hindu- and the Austin Statesman (On line), I find there are quite a few similarities in the attitude of civic administration in the respective places, i.e., Hyderabad and Austin, as reported by this media.

The state of roads – many stretches develop pot holes, soon after the rains. It takes a while to get them repaired. The citizens blame the Civic authorities for poor construction, and delay in the resultant maintenance. This happens season after season. Poor laying, improper slopes, choked drainage system along the edge of the roads, are some of the reasons put forth by all. But, never set right while repairing them, or when laying new roads by the contractors.

I can attribute this apathy to: Casual approach to the work, usage of sub-standard material mix, poor workmanship, uneconomical value of the contracts, and delays in receiving payments. Despite all this, same contractors are hired again and again.

Why all this? Familiarity with these works breed contempt. The nature of work is such. To them, small is NOT beautiful.

At the lower levels, the civic administration is invariably run by ‘run of the mill’ people who are trained to do a routine work, not using their own intelligence. They are there to do what they are told to do, which again they don’t do properly! So, the citizens endure all this with a sigh!!

The civic administration is at all times – Short of Funds – reasons are always many and justified by it. So, they keep raising taxes.

And the citizens, ever the complaining breed- resist the tax increases.

The financial reports are made public once a year, or as deemed fit. They may be on the website, but few see and understand them. Figures are tricky. They can be made to look alarming or comfortable by comparisons.

What is the remedy? That is life! Just get along, and put up with it.

Good Samaritans: - Their breed is far and few between. Yet, they exist and contribute their own might to civic duties that are inspirational.

In Austin, a bus shelter was erected under heavy rain by such two good Samaritans. Hat’s off to them. They showed concern for fellow human beings. Although the shelter was pulled down by Civic officials, their act suggested for its need.

Recently, a portion of a Flyover collapsed in Hyderabad during construction stage, following heavy rains, resulting in the scaffoldings and concrete slabs falling on cars down below crushing them. Persons from the crowd immediately helped extricating the injured from the debris.

Such accidents do happen in a split second. Unfortunately, the citizens are not trained to render immediate assistance. Discussions are held, but soon forgotten. Life again moves on.

Small Groups: To get things done to their advantage with public institutes, functional groups are formed to represent their pleas effectively. They also get the strength to do collective bargaining, and are a force to reckon with during negotiations.

That’s part of democratic governance.

In Austin, the small-business group is to present a petition to the city council to prevent tax incentive deals for retail projects. One group or other always calls for ‘Level Playing fields’.

And so in Hyderabad, similar business groups/associations keep petitioning the civic administration/state government to offer incentives or a rebate in taxes.

In other words, the public demand facilities and whine on increase in taxes. The Administration wants to hike taxes and short on providing facilities.

This see-saw game is akin to Tom & Jerry cartoon show.

As citizens, we must all air our views – politely and firmly till a satisfactory workable solution is implemented.

Prayer

I offer my prayers to those innocent and wonderful souls who lost their lives Six years ago on that unforgettable day- September 11, 2001.

I also pray god to punish those who were responsible for that heinous crime.

Turbulence

Monday, September 10th, 2007.

For most part of August month, my mind was swirling with endless thoughts ranging from domestic to state to nation to the world. The thoughts were often raging with anger to despair to disgust to disillusionment, yet they did not suck me in to a state of depression.

This state of mind would often strike individuals who have an organized mind and are a bit idealistic. I belong to this category. I do not regret a wee bit for having to go through this phase, for I know that I hold some values and principles that are dear to me, which are generally in agreement with the thinking of a civilized society.

As I open the print version of the daily newspaper, there are headlines in each page about conflicts. The media seem to hype the news that evoke anger, and disgust. They seem to transport the readers to an area where crime, violence take the center stage. The political news airing the views of politicians on issues governing the Indian nation, be it a nuclear deal with USA, and be it bomb explosions in Hyderabad, I get a feeling that every one of them is talking with half knowledge of the issues. For they say something only to be denied later, getting away with that irritating remark that they have been misquoted by the press!

I skip these topics, and keep the paper aside. But the disgusting thoughts remain, and I keep on questioning why these things are happening, the way they are happening.

My wife chips in with a remark why I should get irritated, as it is beyond me to set things right since neither I have the authority nor power to have a say. Mine is a voice in the wilderness! The more I get involved mentally the more I harm my own body. There is some truth in this.

The recourse is a reading of The Bhagavad Gita. This has the power to lift your thinking out of morass, gives a mind of serenity, and to view the issues with detachment.

But then one has to come back to reality, and have ones own views. I begin to wonder how in the world some countries believe in violence to achieve their ends. How followers believe the insane despot Bin Laden’s utterances asking the western world to convert to Islam. Even god would get bewildered! And certainly would repent why he created him?

What a period we peace loving citizens are passing through?

At least, I feel relieved when I am making these turbulent thoughts public.

Bridging the Gaps

September 8, 2007

Along with family members, I had the pleasure of crossing the Detroit River from Windsor to Detroit over the Ambassador Bridge, on our way back from Toronto. It was a momentary decision to return over the bridge, as we went through the Windsor Tunnel under the Detroit River from Detroit to Windsor on our way to Niagara. Both ways we all felt the thrill of darting across from a country to another in a few minutes. We did marvel at the ease of travel, for all reasons, facilitated by the Countries to their respective Citizens, despite cultural differences. That visit was about a little less than three years ago.

The Ambassador Bridge was in the news, for a different reason. It was surprising to know that this bridge was NOT owned by either of the countries, or together, but by a Detroit-area businessman Manual “Matty” Moroun. Readers may read the entire story, an interesting one at http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0802/p20s01-lign.html.

Mr.Moroun wants to build another one by its side, and that is creating a problem. The need is there, as all agree due to its importance as that would increase trade enormously. But exact location is being disputed, as there are apprehensions that it would conflict with interests of certain sections of the community. It would anyway get sorted by the people in course of time.

Be that as it may, another bridge was also in the news – the one over Mississippi river in downtown Minneapolis, which collapsed, resulting in tragic loss of many human lives. It has become an eye opener to concerned establishments, and Americans to introspect the need to examine all the bridges and its age old highway infrastructure too, which they consider as an important arm of its economy. Many of its citizens are genuinely concerned about the crumbling of many of its physical foundations, as per the editorial of NYT online.

Now about Bridges: There are countless bridges spread across land and cities in every country. They are symbolic of traditions, of usage, of friendship, of love, of hatred, and on human sentiments they all last long. Sometimes they are even cursed! Stolen too!!

Yes, Stolen. The following report of Reuters on 31^st August 2007 is reproduced:

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police have detained a 45-year-old municipal worker for stealing a bridge.

The 5-meter span metal bridge disappeared from a river crossing in the Ryazan region, east of Moscow. Police said they tracked it down to the man, who had used his work truck to remove it, and then chopped it up and sold it for scrap. In a statement, Ryazan region police called it "the bulkiest theft of the year."

The mention of the word – Bridge - flashes in the mind as a physical structure that connects two pieces of land that are distance apart. It is the spirit and ingenuity of humanity to think of physically reaching out to the other side, to explore the vastness beyond. It often takes years to construct a bridge, but a moment to collapse.

But the Bridge, we all require now is between War and Peace; between developed and developing countries; between equality and inequality; between ignorance and enlightenment, and bridging all gaps of misunderstanding.

If American politicians think that they want to be a super power, they need to take the initiative to bridge these gaps. Do they have the wherewithal? Sadly, their present posture does not reflect so. In the present day world, lasting peace can be in place ONLY through diplomacy, and continued discussions. All peace loving citizens HATE terrorists and abhor violence, for the simple reason that it brings in misery to the body and mind.

Sometimes the ground realities are bitter and harsh to eschew and fathom as well. But, they have to be faced with the sole aim of bringing in peace. Mahatma Gandhi had always held the view that the Indians were not against British people, but against their regime in India during India’s Independence struggle, which ushered in Democracy. Similarly, many of the educated Indians have experienced the Life in America, and have a great admiration for its people, but certainly have reservations about its Foreign policies.

Many of these gaps can be bridged through dialogues with an open mind of trust and transparency. Lot of things can be achieved globally if only self interests, personal advancement, and personal philosophies are set aside, and instead explore common interests, develop countries, and pursue the philosophy of co-existence.

A very interesting article appeared in The Christian Science Monitor from its August 8, 2007 edition, written by Ben Arnoldy, elaborating why Minneapolis is rated No: 1 in Volunteerism.

Woven throughout the reflections offered over the past week during church services, rallies, and by onlookers on the riverbanks, has been the metaphor of rebuilding "human bridges." "We need bridges between people," says Kathy Hintz, explaining why she came out for a prayer vigil held Sunday night. "We have to trust each other because other people made these cars and these bridges. It's pretty amazing that anything works as well as it does. And if you can't trust each other, you can't have a community."

What a wonderful Concept! Its time we pull up the politicians and force them to start constructing “Human Bridges”.