It was not until I moved to Pune did I realise that it’s not only Bangalore’s junta that has a pathetic traffic sense. First day in Pune and it was easy to figure out that when it comes to roads, there’s worse in store for me to experience. I wonder if the term “rat race” was coined by one of the commuters from these streets. Vehicles overtaking from all sides, ready to trample you any moment if you do not obligate. Crossings are a nightmare. Assuming that this blog will never be read by my manager; when I say I get late to office almost everyday due to that one crossing that’s en route, you know that this time I am not faking.
Well, what I really want to highlight, is a concern more grave than this. Something which has spread and persists like an epidemic in almost all parts of our country. And that ladies and gentlemen, is our heritage- the inherent habit of “Honk At Will” (HAW). There is nothing that I hate so much than the exercise of excessive honking. We all talk about air pollution, water pollution...but nobody gives a shit about noise pollution which is so rampant all over; HAW being the major source.
Rationale and my experience on the streets lead me to few reasons why we Indians love to HAW. One reason is that it gives a feeling of superiority to many if the rider in front of you has to change his track due to the shrill thing that just emanated from your vehicle. They momentarily become the Kings of Their Kingdom. In other peculiar cases, I see a chap honks just because he wants to. Probably due to the utopia he is in, for whatever reasons. Then there are these pedestrians who never like to walk on their designated lanes. They cross the roads irrespective of the state of the traffic light. Worse is that they leave their life at your mercy, somehow sure that you are not gonna bang them. You keep honking, and they keep crossing with their heads turned away from you. Then there is always the bad road sense among riders that I have already spoken of earlier.
I dream of the day when all streets in India, amidst all the crowd will be sans HAW. There are a few ideas I have which if implemented may lead us to achieve this dream(no matter how surreal it may sound). We must make people cognizant of the ill effects of honking. The sad part is that most of us educated folks do not care. We too follow the herd mentality. Just like we have posters all over, “Speed Thrills, But Kills!”; putting ‘abundant’ posters related to awareness about noise pollution could help in this endeavour. We can reach the masses through blogs, posts in the newspaper, mags, television, etc. Unless we all start talking about it, things will remain as they are now. We must educate people that apart from affecting their senses, excessive honking takes a toll on the rider’s pocket too. More honking=more energy consumption from the battery=frequent change of battery=loss of money.
Folks wondering what the title of this write-up has got to do with its content; let me explain. The phrase “Horn OK Please” is predominantly seen painted on trucks in India, seemingly, encouraging us to honk more and more. With awareness of such kinds, its not surprising that we all love to HAW. For actual details, check this.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The Agony Of Being a Koirala
Foreword: “Dad, this one’s not against you”
Shakespeare very famously said and I quote, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
Our contemporary hero when proudly stated, “I am Bond, James Bond”, swooned the very sanity of all ladies around the globe, and they all fell for it. The actor has changed over the years, but the name has prevailed. If James Bond and Shakespeare were to get into a debate, James Bond would easily gain ground with the help of sheer statistics; attributing most of his fame to his name. How rhyming!
But this is all about the privileged celebs that have carved their identity and are world famous. What if as a mango man, the ‘aam admi’, your identity was to be defined by the identity of another mortal, that too a celeb whom you know as well as everyone else and the person questioning you? Confused? Read on…
Since long, I have been fighting this so called identity crisis created by the ubiquitous question when people meet me for the first time, “Are you related to Manisha Koirala?” My polite answer is “No”. I try to be honest and kind, knowing that the dubious person’s next query would be, “Then are you in anyway related to the former Prime Minister of Nepal, Girija Prasad Koirala (some folks are unable to recall his name, and I am expected to come to their rescue)?” Well, my polite answer would be again, “No”. It’s still bearable if they stop at this. There have been umpteen numbers of people who have rubbed it further asking me, “Are Manisha Koirala and Girija Prasad Koirala related to each other?" For Christ’s sake, how on earth would I know that when I have already told you that I am related to neither of them? Go and Google it for yourself.
This has been happening to me right since my kindergarten days. I faintly remember this question being shot at me for the first time. The occasion was an intra school elocution contest. I had bagged the first prize. Euphoric! The chief guest of the evening, while handing the prize, with a confident smirk on her face, asked me, “Are you Manisha Koirala’s relative?” As a kid, I was numb struck, not knowing what to reply. The name seemed familiar, especially the “Koirala” part. I politely replied, “I do not know ma'am” and left with the trophy. My mom explained it to me later, rather unconvincingly, that all we similarly surnamed people are somewhere related to each other in the family tree. Till date I furnish this version of my mom’s tale (did someone say “fairy”) whenever I am in a grumpy mood, and want people to stop at the cliché “Are you related to Manisha Koirala?” And trust me it works. I am yet to fathom how exactly it works, but it does! Probably for some strange reason like they get convinced that they’ve met one of her relative, so they no longer bother about the other prospective relation between Koirala (Manisha) and Koirala (Girija).
Nevertheless, these questions have helped many to break the ice and start conversation when meeting for the first time. I choose to explain when the person on the other side is someone I want to know more about.
P.S.: My name is Koirala, and I am not “related to Manisha”. (Karan Johar, I have nothing against you, but your movies suck big time)
Shakespeare very famously said and I quote, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
Our contemporary hero when proudly stated, “I am Bond, James Bond”, swooned the very sanity of all ladies around the globe, and they all fell for it. The actor has changed over the years, but the name has prevailed. If James Bond and Shakespeare were to get into a debate, James Bond would easily gain ground with the help of sheer statistics; attributing most of his fame to his name. How rhyming!
But this is all about the privileged celebs that have carved their identity and are world famous. What if as a mango man, the ‘aam admi’, your identity was to be defined by the identity of another mortal, that too a celeb whom you know as well as everyone else and the person questioning you? Confused? Read on…
Since long, I have been fighting this so called identity crisis created by the ubiquitous question when people meet me for the first time, “Are you related to Manisha Koirala?” My polite answer is “No”. I try to be honest and kind, knowing that the dubious person’s next query would be, “Then are you in anyway related to the former Prime Minister of Nepal, Girija Prasad Koirala (some folks are unable to recall his name, and I am expected to come to their rescue)?” Well, my polite answer would be again, “No”. It’s still bearable if they stop at this. There have been umpteen numbers of people who have rubbed it further asking me, “Are Manisha Koirala and Girija Prasad Koirala related to each other?" For Christ’s sake, how on earth would I know that when I have already told you that I am related to neither of them? Go and Google it for yourself.
This has been happening to me right since my kindergarten days. I faintly remember this question being shot at me for the first time. The occasion was an intra school elocution contest. I had bagged the first prize. Euphoric! The chief guest of the evening, while handing the prize, with a confident smirk on her face, asked me, “Are you Manisha Koirala’s relative?” As a kid, I was numb struck, not knowing what to reply. The name seemed familiar, especially the “Koirala” part. I politely replied, “I do not know ma'am” and left with the trophy. My mom explained it to me later, rather unconvincingly, that all we similarly surnamed people are somewhere related to each other in the family tree. Till date I furnish this version of my mom’s tale (did someone say “fairy”) whenever I am in a grumpy mood, and want people to stop at the cliché “Are you related to Manisha Koirala?” And trust me it works. I am yet to fathom how exactly it works, but it does! Probably for some strange reason like they get convinced that they’ve met one of her relative, so they no longer bother about the other prospective relation between Koirala (Manisha) and Koirala (Girija).
Nevertheless, these questions have helped many to break the ice and start conversation when meeting for the first time. I choose to explain when the person on the other side is someone I want to know more about.
P.S.: My name is Koirala, and I am not “related to Manisha”. (Karan Johar, I have nothing against you, but your movies suck big time)
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