Sunrise/Sunset for 4th May Twilight start - 5:10am Sunrise - 5:35am Sunset - 18:58pm Twilight end - :19:23pm. Meerut Latitude : 29.0 deg N, Longitude : 77.5 deg E.
Did you notice ? Walking distance from Citi Bakers on Circular road two fancy new retaurants have opened up one is TFC. This has been open for over a year and is still getting off the ground.The other is Empress Court on the other side of the road. Another thing. Meerut does not have much of an eating out culture. 'Bahar ka khana' is a no-no in many homes. Drudgery in the kitchen takes the lady of the house eventually to heaven.
Well those of us who own a car use the Internet etc. don't really see 75-85% of India. Even here in Meerut it is very difficult to locate someone who does not have a car. Except in the diminishing section called domestic help. However the fact is there are less than 13 million car registrations and that constitutes a little more than 1% of the population. Those in the Metros and towns really see a village only while passing through.
However the picture is very different when it comes to cellphones - just about every 2nd or 3rd person has one in even small(<2000 pop.) villages. More of our peculiar environment.. Notice the candle on the shelf. Their only source of light at night? NEW walls are built with recesses which can hold diyas and candles. Right, the year is 2010. ( There is an Electric light bulb in the picture , can you locate it?)
Somehow skipped my attention. However I get reminded that there was one, at the fuel pump. And everytime I think of us the Common men and the Government. The relationship is a fascinating one. It is a prepaid contract. Where we pay much in advance without knowing what will be the returns:) That is left to the honest souls of divine integrity to decide.
There are those who think that our multitude of unschooled people who do not understand excise duties and percentages are unaware of the incidence of taxation on countless daily use items. They are mistaken. In fact the people have a much better idea. They simply observe the difference in prices of stuff in Army canteens and market. For example RIN sabun is Rs.8 in the canteen and Rs.14 outside.Do the people mind? Of course not! They understand that exquisite statues do not come cheap. They would rather gaze at the royalty they depict than have Electricity and hygenic surroundings.
Superstar at 60 is the heading of the lead article in MEERUT PLUS of 26th Jan . This was the 60th Republic Day of course. Quite an original write-up by Sushreeta Mohapatra. Here are the amazing lines near the beginning.."Former Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary K.N. Govindacharya.. has asked to jettison the existing constitution which was modelled on Western Parliamentary democracies.It ought to be framed keeping in mind India's Culture and tradition ..". So what is India's Culture and tradition today.. Raja's and Maharaja's? The current constitution is far from perfect but the aware Indian mind now finds the idea of any kind of nobilty VERY alien.
Are you aware that we have finished one decade of the current millenium? The hype surrounding the transition into the year 2000 is still as vivid as if it happened yesterday. The things that jump out without trying are the dotcom doom, 9/11, the tusnami of 2005 December and our most recent calamity of 26/11 2008. 9/11 of course knocked off an avalanche of questions. A country with astronomical Defence expenditure could not protect its most well known landmarks. The third(forgotten) target was the White House. That survived because of the bravery of just one unsung civillian. US movies are still made proclaiming that citizens can sleep soundly because of the brave security forces.
This was an annual function with a difference. Lots of items interspersed with magic shows. However what carried the evening was the Principal Dr.Seema Tyagi's recount of the terrifying experience of Dussehra night. The family with friends had gone to Lansdowne Saahil her son started from Delhi around 11pm . As luck would have it, he had an accident in Bijnor at around 2:30am. It was the overflow of help from strangers which astounded the family. Two persons were closing their Teashop and a Punjab National Bank Employee was supervising some work in the office. Saahil dragged himself out of the wreck and was then taken by the three who located a Doctor who could perform some initial surgery at that hour. Without their help things could have been very different. They also rang up Rajiv and Seema who rushed down with Arun in his Qualis.I have some idea what those 3 - 4 hours must have felt like. The three were the chief guests at the function. The first thing which comes up about UP is its backwardness. Maybe we are proud of it. One thing is certain people feel first and think later..... Saahil had the seat belt on which certainly helped avoid more grevious injuries.
Carol singing at Christmas lunch at St. John's.
Feeling too happy ? Then just look at TV Newspapers and other things they call the media to cure that. Limit your World to family and friends and you will usually find little to complain about. That is if (and a VERY big IF in INDIA) ,you have some of the basic amentities of life.. well OK,what the rest of the World calls basic. We have also been suffering from a strong dose of Communism for a long time. In fact longer than the originators of the concepts. And here is reason for happiness . There is strong evidence that it will soon wither away. Reason enough to be Joyful :) :)
Never too early to listen to soothing music. The word 'German' brings up images of World Wars and Hitler first. Yet this same country has provided the best Music, Literature, Science, Maths, Engineering to the World. Food for thought.. It is said that "two of the worst written books had the Maximum impact on the last century" *. Which ones? Mein Kampf, Das Kapital yes, both from German authors.
* The statement came from the book The Books that changed the World by Robert Downs. Should come as a surprise to those who think the greatest impact was through technical upheavals.