Being a Leftist at Home !

Please don't get me wrong ,i don't subscribe to the warped and extremely limited world view of our communist friends. Its just that today i realised that unwittingly i was acting like the Left parties as far as home affairs were concerned.For the past three years i was at home and extending 'outside support' to my mother in the administration of home affairs.This support or the lack of support very much resembled what the Left front was doing with UPA govt.I wanted the power to interfere in homely matters without taking any responsibility for the exercise of that power.My criticism and opposition to certain essential activities often bordered on foolishness and sometimes went even beyond.I opposed and continue to do so every constructive or construction activity in the house out of the force of habit very much what Left was doing with the nuclear deal.The opposition was sometimes more for the sake of opposition as is true for the Left front.Yes,occasionally my opposition proved right but such instances were few and far between.Now,i have started working and have withdrawn my outside support to home activities as has the Left.Both me and Left will continue to oppose but knowing pretty well that the opposition is the end in itself !

Traffic Signal !

Traffic signals are supposed to make traffic orderly and avoid mishaps, but even a good thing if taken to the extreme can turn out to be counterproductive.Now Delhi Traffic Police has gone on a traffic lights installing spree and are putting these signals at the unlikeliest of places and making the lives of road users that much more risky.
So,one day last week i started for my office at around 10 am and usually i take the U-turn below savitri cinema flyover,but that day there was a huge pile up of cars and i thought that better i take the U-turn from chirag delhi flyover.I climbed up the savitri flyover and took the U-turn from under the chirag delhi flyover.I was feeling smug at the thought of being cleverer than those poor souls who must still be stuck in the traffic jam at savitri U-turn.So i started accelerating as the road is usually clear from there till Nehru Place.But the traffic police have installed a signal near savitri cinema flyover(moving towards nehru place side) which you can see only if you want to see it.Some drivers see the signal and some don't and there are some belonging to 'i see it but i won't stop' variety.Now ,this makes for a potentially deadly cocktail.As i was approaching that camouflaged signal i saw it turning slowly from green to amber and i accelerated in the hope that i can make it past the signal before it turns red.As i was about to jump the signal(i am usually a law abiding citizen !)i saw a traffic policemen cutting a challan about 15 metres ahead.This sight automatically made me ease my foot on the accelerator and apply the brake.I brought the car to an abrupt stop just on the line,two other vehicles stopped on either side and as i looked in the rear view mirror,blood drained from my face.A motorcyclist was following me with similar (bad) intentions of jumping the light and i saw him hitting my car at some speed and immediately falling down.I was totally shocked by the turn of events ,some bystanders rushed to help him ,I removed my seatbelts and was thinking of getting down when he appeared in my rear view mirror holding his head.Thank god he was not hurt badly and was just dazed by the impact.He was led to the pavement by some people and the light turned green.I drove very slowly as the incident had shaken me badly and i also thought that the traffic policemen up ahead would stop me,he did not.I reached my office and parked my car and while closing the door i managed to hit the door on my nose(quite inexplicable but absolutely true) and the only saving grace was that i did not bleed otherwise it would have led to further ignominy.
Today while on my way to the office ,i took the savitri cinema flyover u-turn and what do i find - a young woman pacing up and down the road,a stopped I-10 car ,a motor cycle lying on the ground behind the car and a person holding his head looking dazed.I plan to write a letter to 'The Hindu' to bring it to the notice of concerned authorities before something serious happens on the stretch not because of absence of traffic light but because of its presence !

What's The Big Deal ???

So,what do we have in front of us once again ? The great Indian political drama continues and it has so many twists and turns that it can give any Ekta Kapoor made serial a run for its money.The leftists can never be 'right' ,can they ? Well even they will agree that they are not right but maybe in a different context.But, nobody can deny that Left is living in a time which is past.For them,making irrelevant demands is the only way they can be relevant in Indian polity.Barring West Bengal,Kerala and Tripura ,Left has no existence in Indian political scene and the mere fact that they were able to hold the UPA government to ransom these four years points to the lack of spine in Congress.Congress is also trying to be too clever by staking its continuance on power on the Nuclear Deal and thereby diverting public attention from the more pressing issue of price rise.The opposition ,especially BJP is also trying to make castles in the air and thus opposing a deal which was its brainchild to start with.But then in politics everything comes secondary to serving your own interests and national interest last of all, if ever.
There are deals being made for staying in power as well as to throw the govt.out of power.My guess is that the government will survive ,but Mr.Manmohan Singh will lose his claim to being a clean politician,because all is being done in his name.Everyone knows that at least the nuclear deal is not the issue ,but nobody is willing to tell the emperor(in this case Mr.Prakash Karat and his henchmen)that he is without clothes.The galloping inflation is the real threat ,both to the Left and to the Congress.Congress is going to feel the heat because it is in power and Left is going to burn because its keeping UPA in power.So ,the leftists are trying to play it smart by trying to prop Miss Mayawati to decimate whatever is left of governance in the country.I know ,nobody is above board in this dirty politics ,but the Leftists are the real culprits and one can only hope that free and fair elections are held in communist ruled states and people show them the door to political wilderness which they leftly deserve !!!

Parking woes and Road rage Combo !!!

Well ,well ,well ,all the denizens of delhi are no stranger to parking problems and display of road rage.Psychologically speaking(or should it be writing..err typing),the desire to safeguard your parking spot at any cost (to others) comes from the territoriality instinct(mark ones territory) of humans.It is more pronounced in case of males than females, that is why one usually sees only men fighting tooth and nail for parking spots.I got a taste of this parking problem when yesterday morning i started my drive to office.Soon i realised that my car's power steering was not functioning well as it was requiring too much effort to keep my car on a straight line path.I stopped the car to have a look and found that the front tyre was deflated and that was the reason why car was veering towards the right side.On further inspection ,it was found that it was an act of sabotage as two other tyres were also on the verge of deflation.Why did this happen ?...just because the night before i had parked my car in front of a building which is empty but for few caretakers.One of these caretakers did take care of my car in the night or early morning.Lesson learnt the hard way:don't ever park your car in front of anyone's gate ,its not worth the physical effort and emotional trauma !
Road-rage :every day one reads about one or the other case of road rage in newspaper.While driving ,i usually listen to FM106.4(FM Gold),they play good old songs which helps in making the drive less stressful.Only a few days back i encountered a traffic pile up near Nehru Place and when i got nearer to Lotus Temple turn ,i saw an old man involved in a shouting match with a motorcyclist.I was disgusted with their lack of self-control.This evening while coming back home the car in front stopped in the middle of the road,i also had to stop and waited for the backseat passenger to alight.The fellow came out slowly and started walking towards his home,at this point i honked so that the driver in front would allow me to cross.Suddenly,this (un)gentleman turned and shouted at me and i was totally taken aback.Was i supposed to wait endlessly or what ,i lost my composure and shouted back and he was gone.Later on i thought about the incident and came to the conclusion that if the person had smiled and said that please wait for a while ,i would not have reacted in the manner i did.The reason i think i shouted at him was because i felt that i was the aggrieved party as i was waiting for him to get down and only after that i honked .One other factor which might have played a role is the loud horn that i have installed !!!