Every time one goes to a foreign locale, first thing that strikes him or her is the neatness and cleanliness. Not at the airport- airports are clean in India too- but the moment you step out! It could be Munich, Zurich. Cape Town, Johannesburg or closer home Singapore and Dubai! The roads are clean and so are pavements, railings and walls! Buildings are aligned and well maintained. Loosely dangling wires are no where to be seen. The question of slums and pavement dwellers doesn’t arise.

There’s no point lamenting about the above facts, because howsoever we may try through Swachch Bharat campaign and all that, the above mentioned stuff is simply not possible in India! With the population bursting at seams and not enough pucca houses to shelter them, people have no option but to build shanties and hutments wherever they find place and worse stay on pavements and roads! Mumbai may have been declared free of defecation in open, but we all know how serious the problem of availability of neat public lavatories is! And how can we ever dream of having neat walls till our favourite pass time is eating Pan stuffed with tobacco and getting ultimate pleasure in spitting all over! Government sees lots of risks in smoking and drinking, but pan is a matter of our culture and tahzeeb!

However, certain things we can certainly do. Instal CCTVs at every 500 meters to catch road hogs, honkers, speedsters, Lane cutters and law breakers. A disciplined nation’s first identity is discipline on its roads. The cost of investment in CCTVs can be recovered in one year’s time by saving on fuel, medical emergencies and police intervention. Have cleaner fleet of city transport and make it mandatory for private vehicle owners to maintain their vehicles well or face the music. Let cabbies, bus drivers, truck drivers wear proper uniforms and be taught personal and road etiquettes. CCTVs will also catch spitters and other nuisance makers (throwers of garbage- poor Anushka need not fight them, drug addicts, mentally deranged- all of who are risk to society) making our streets safer and better. Can we also check with one of these countries why don’t we see stray dogs, cats, cows and pigs on the roads and streets and how they deal with such strays humanely yet preventing them from being all over!

How do you start your day? By thanking God for waking you up to see another glorious day? By doing Surya Namaskar? Or by greeting elders and seeking their blessings ? The actual answer is by running towards mobile phone and checking WhatsApp messages!

How do you end your day? By thanking God for another day fruitfully spent? By doing meditation to get over the day’s fatigue? By pressing the aching and tired feet of our elders? The actual answer is again WhatsApp!

In flight, train or bus all passengers are busy either reading or sending WhatsApp messages? On roads, in lifts and all other possible places of existence, no one is concerned about anything except WhatsApp!

I start receiving WhatsApp messages from 5 am onwards while being still in slumber. These are good morning messages from a particular friend, who is an early riser. Little he cares whether others have woken up to imbibe his wishes and assimilate his heavy philosophical thoughts! Then starts a barrage that includes messages of all hues and colours- forwarded, re-forwarded, re-re-forwarded and many times re-forwarded messages! Then there are wild, wilder and wildest rumours! Tiring, more tiring and most tiring preachy messages! Cure all remedies claiming treatment of everything from commonest cold to most uncommon cancer! There are cheap porno material, dirty jokes and weird facts! It goes on and on till you drop dead on the bed after checking your last message to start the process all over again the next day!

Why forward if you can write original stuff? Why spread rumour if you can check the facts? Why untried cures? If you’re not sure of such stuff yourself? Why send objectionable materials when it’s known fact that all members of the family access the phone? Why preach that you don’t practice? Why forward blindly that you yourself have not cared to read or liked if read?

A study has shown that good morning messages choke all internet capacity in the morning and these messages are least read! Let’s channelise energies for a good cause rather than this bad curse ! Social media is to be used for betterment of the mankind and should be ensured accordingly by pleading and wielding stick if pleading doesn’t work!

Two quick short stories from my favourite source of inspiration, Pakistani Urdu daily Jang’s daily feature “Story in 100 words”.

Story no. 1

My friend Dodo was very excited about the ongoing FIFA World Cup tournament. He was most excited about the two stars Messi and Ronaldo’s likely showdown in the quarterfinal playing for their respective teams Argentina and Portugal. I am hardly a sports aficionado and do not much understand or follow any sport except a bit of cricket. My response to Dodo’s enthusiasm was rather tepid. A couple of days ago I bumped into Dodo again and didn’t forget to check up with him the outcome of the likely showdown between the two soccer stars. This time Dodo’s response was rather lukewarm saying that “showdown did take place albeit not on the field but on the airport where both of them were taking return flights back home after premature exit of their respective teams. ”

Story no.2

My son returned from school and I enquired about his result. He sheepishly admitted the fact that the result was indeed out. “Is Dodo the topper like every time?” I asked. “No papa Dodo was sick and couldn’t write his exams”, my son replied, ” Then it must be Babloo”, I probed further. ” No, Babloo didn’t deposit fees so he was barred” replied my son. ” Oh, this would have given Pappu a godsend opportunity to top the tables this year? I questioned him again. “No Dad, his dad has been transferred “, replied my son rather tiredly. “How many students are there in your class? ” I asked wondering about the situation. ” I am the only one”, my son murmured. “Oh, I see so you are the topper?” ” No dad I have failed “!

Hardly had IPL fever waned, Afghanistan cricked team came to India for a short series. Indian team is now in England for a long series, after a short tryst with Ireland. French Open became memorable for Rafa’s great show, but before this great event could sink into our hearts and minds, Wimbledon has started. Of course, currently FIFA World Cup soccer has gripped the world in its frenzy and it seems that European dominance is once again going to be the order of the day with Latino teams already back home! Yesterday sports aficionados were spoilt for the choices with simultaneous live telecasts of France Uruguay quarter final match , India England T20 match and Wimbledon initial rounds!

Still remember those days when sports lovers were so starved for action that they would not only follow cricket match between Sri Lanka and West Indies, but eagerly await for evening live telecast on DD of DCM or Durand Cup match between JCT and East Bengal or a Ranji trophy match between Railways and Delhi! But why only talk about sports! This is true about several other things too where we have moved from starvation to over dosage and I intend to cover these in my next blog!

Tag lines, catch lines or slogans – whatever you call them – lend an identity to the companies using them. In fact, a few of these tag lines have become as famous or well known as the corporate using them! “Just do it” has an immediate recall of brand “Nike” just as “I’m lovin’ it” reminds you of McDonald’s. Some are even simpler like “The City never sleeps”, which signifies global presence of Citi Bank.

The fact that we miss out is that much before some of the Indian and global companies adopted these catch lines or slogans, Indian banks, currently under fire and in news for all the wrong reasons, had started using tag lines. These might not have caught on in view of the staid nature of the industry or rather localised and sparse presence of some of these banks. However, if you look at these catch lines closely, some of these are quite creative if not outright brilliant. Let me quote a few of these-

“Good people to bank with”- Union Bank

“Good people to grow with”- IOB

“Your faithful and friendly partner”- Syndicate Bank with a dog as mascot, who is both- friendly as well as faithful

The name you can Bank upon – PNB – most in news Bank with one of the highest reported frauds, this old and very dependable bank used this great tag line in a very innovative manner making it part of its name itself – PUNJAB NATIONAL you can BANK upon.

For years it used “Growing to serve, Serving to grow” before changing to “Together we can”- Canara Bank

There are several others using catch lines, mascots ( e.g. star for Bank of India) and colour codes but alas, the fraudsters with their con acts have pushed these old and esteemed institutions to such an extent that existence of a few of them seems to be in question! Some of these have survived extreme situations such as partition of the nation before and hopefully, they will manage this comparatively smaller exigency too!!!

More than 33 years ago when I joined banking industry, a senior banker, who had come to address the young officers’ batch that I was part of told us “ If you think you are into a cosy place with luxury of having an easy job, you should quit and join some Government Department, because banking is going to remain anything but a cushy job.” Of course, he was speaking in a different context for at that time, 2 years of rural stint was about to become mandatory  should one desire elevation to senior roles and some of the Bank branches were indeed located in remote places with virtually no accessibility or infrastructure.

Come circa 2018 and banking indeed seems to be getting extremely tough. While the perpetrators of frauds are merrily ensconced in exotic places such as St Kitts and London, poor bankers, some of whom are leading retired life, surviving on their PF and other retiral benefits in their respective native places, are being summoned for their acts committed by them several years in the past, which would not be in their memory too! In fact, recent arrests of few senior bankers has sent a wave of panic amongst working and retired bankers fearing who next?

Credit decisions are matters of judgment and discretion and unlike small loans, the larger loans go through series of checks, including vetting by Risk Department. If certain executive decisions are not timely taken, the very economics of a project can go haywire. Moreover, for one check applied by the banker an unscrupulous borrower can have multiple surreptitious ways of siphoning of money! It is not to say that all bankers are clean, but then there are black sheep in every profession!

Government, regulator and law enforcement agencies should focus on the fraudsters instead of witch hunting poor bankers, who would have already professionally suffered for bad credit decisions! Let the bankers work and retire in peace. They should be treated as innocent unless otherwise proven through clear money trail and solid evidence.

Yesterday I was reading an article in the Economic Times that explained why Modicare programme of the Federal Government might not be getting readily accepted, especially in the non BJP states. For them Mamtacare, Naiducare or Kejriwalcare would sound better names. Whether it’s adopting a programme or name of a place- politicians cutting across ideology display the same hue!

When we used to study geography, we were taught that India had 4 international airports – Santa Cruz, Palam, Meenambakkam and Dumdum. Today this answer will fetch me zero marks as all these airports have been renamed. High Courts of Chennai and Mumbai are Madras and Bombay High Courts, though I am not sure whether Calcutta High Court has been able to retain its original name.

Pedder Road, Crawford Market, VT, Altamount Road, Flora Fountain, Connaught Place, Duplex Road etc. still exist but you may not be able to reach there with the original names.

The names have been changed purportedly to change the slave mentality that these were representative of. But change has to be inner and not cosmetic. We would be truly liberated when we get over female foeticide, dowry deaths, casteism, communal hatred, dirty habits etc. Till that time whether we call it Swachch Bharat or Clean India, it hardly makes a difference. Not these names but our own thoughts are representative of our slave mentality.

Certain places have an iconic aura attached to them. Fort in Mumbai, Connaught Place in Delhi, Parry’s in Chennai, Dalhousie in Kolkata- the list is endless. One such iconic place that I got lucky to be associated with for last 16 years is Juhu. What comes to one’s mind when the very name Juhu is mentioned? Chowpatty or beach, Pav bhaji, bhel puri, Prithvi theatre, Amitabh Bachchan, ISKCON temple…… one can go on and on. When I moved to Mumbai some 17 years ago, we started life at Four Bungalows, Andheri , but soon shifted to Juhu to a larger accommodation and in proximity to our daughter’s school, which was Maneckjee Cooper. Some 16 years later, when our young school going daughter is already grown into a beautiful lady, a mother of a sweet little and relocated to Johannesburg, it’s time for us to move back to Four Bungalows, albeit to a dream home of our own!

When I told them of my Juhu coordinates, people envied me for my proximity to beach, film stars and other glitterati. But I hardly ever went to beach after the initial euphoria, seldom waited to see the film stars, saw very few plays at Prithvi, ate more Pav Bhaji at restaurants than at the beach, yet the luxury of having all that close at hand was always available. While excitement of shifting to our own, well furnished, designed to our taste home is inevitable and moreover our new residence is just about 2 Kms away from the current residence, somewhere deep in the heart is a tinge of sadness of no longer be able to call ourselves Juhu residents. After all, only a lucky few get to reside at such an iconic place and 16 years is significant period of one’s lifetime.

Eid is celebrated by communities around the world and with special fervour in India that has large Muslim populace and where secularism takes a precedence over religionism of any kind. With social media now the order of the day, I haven’t seen so much messaging on FB, WhatsApp, Twitter across social, office and other groups! As I observed earlier in one of my blogs, Social Media, if put to good use is not all evil.

I am a self taught connoisseur of beautiful language called Urdu and look for materials of interest published in the language around the world. Search once took me to the website of popular Pakistan Urdu daily “Jang”. The paper and the media group is known in India for having started “Aman Ki Asha” initiative with “Times of India” Group, a commendable effort to bring the two nations at loggerheads together, but it became a victim of border tensions. Though the news in the paper are full of jingoism as regards India and Kashmir are concerned, painting our great nation as an evil in perpetuity, there are a couple of daily writings that touch the chords of humanity through sheer sincerity by commenting on the day to day affairs we grapple with. One is a daily couplet by Anwar Shaoor that sometimes become a full verse on the special occasions like Eid. The other is a short story in 100 words by Mabshar Ali Zaidi that weaves magic of deep messaging in few words.

I thought let me wish my friends a Happy Eid through this special blog, where I make a sincere attempt to translate the above two posts appearing in the yesterday’s newspaper. The poem first that reads

How can anyone celebrate Eid,

When there’s despair all around, hardly any good deed!

Supplies are bloody so expensive,

And requirements have become a luxury;

Household are struggling for daily needs,

The common man is in a quandary!

Discordant notes can be heard from shops, factories and Offices,

And people don’t know where to proceed;

Every moment is mired in uncertainty,

How can anyone celebrate Eid!

If dark clouds continue to hover overhead,

And Humanity does not succeed;

Moon will be sighted year after year,

But people will say Whose Eid? Which Eid? Why Eid?

Though translation can never capture the essence of original language, doesn’t the poem say it all and doesn’t it apply equally to Diwali, Christmas and Gurupurab?

Now the 100 words story:

Modern technology has brought the world closer by reducing distances, said my son enthusiastically. He was making a video call from US, where he’s employed. This year also, he’s not visiting Pakistan for Eid and therefore, he is calling on the moon night. “Papa, distances are shrinking. We speak to each other 4 times in a day. We can hear each other’s voice on real time basis and can also see each other live!” I replied, “That’s fine sonny, I can see you, hear you, talk to you, but I can’t hug you to wish Eid Mubarak.”

I wish Eid Mubarak to all of you whose support to my blog has made me share more and more with all of you.

The news of the former prime minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee having being admitted to AIIMS for respiratory and renal complications brought back the memories of the achievements of this rarest of the rare personalities and one of the tallest leaders in Indian polity.

He sat in opposition for the longest period and brought lot of dignity and stature in the role of the leader of the opposition. His views were always widely respected and accepted and he never fought shy of collaborating with his opponents if it meant good for the country. He worked with Pt. Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira, VP Singh, Charan Singh, Morarji Desai, Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao till he himself became the Prime Minister and completed one of the best phases of rule in this country. People chose to punish him for his “India Shining ” campaign and he chose to bow out of public life and active politics with utmost grace to spend his ageing years with his foster daughter and son-in-law’s family.

An orator par excellence, a moderate to the core, a poet, an amiable person and a titan amongst his contemporaries, he lived a simple life setting the highest standards of probity in public life. He seamlessly merged his RSS ideology with a statesman like maturity that encompassed secularism as the core ethos of existence for this country. Politics were so much more dignified and decisive when he led either the opposition or the Government.

His medical bulletin says he is critical. I don’t know whether he will be able to defeat the death this time, the eternal winner that he remained his entire life. But may be the ruling and opposition parties will fulfil the man’s desire of CO-existence for the betterment of this great nation and give a befitting respect to this great personality who will always remain revered- in his life as in his death. Let’s pray to God to help the great man fulfil whatever he wishes in this last leg of his life’s journey. Such persons live eternally, inspiring a whole lot of generations to come by the sheer example they set in their lifetime. This is not a premature obituary for, as aforesaid, ABVs never die; they are eternal!!!