AYODHYA visit

 A few days back, Ayodhya got added to my 'been there' list, as I thought it worth my while to take  two & a half hour  drive from Lucknow, where I am putting these days. Reaching Ayodhya, saw self styled guides  with smeared  forehead and face chasing us on scooter offering to facilitate our darshan of Hanuman Garhi, Sita Rasoi and Ram Mandir for an amount ranging between ₹200  & ₹ 400. Not taken in by the offer, we parked the vehicle, took a three wheeler and reached Hanuman Garhi. The large crowd of people lined up haphazardly  to have darshan, simply put us off and we bowed our heads in reverance from a distance. In coming days Ayodhya will be witness to yet another mega event  signalling Pran Pratishtha at the Ram Mandir.

Teachers Day

 By the way :

As is the practice and convention, every other Facebook post today is about Teachers & Teachers Day, and rightly so. This is an occasion to remember and celebrate the Teachers who have shaped us into what we are and where we stand today. There are National and  State level functions to bestow Awards on teachers who have made their mark in the field through sincerity, hardwork and dedication to make the difference. The Schools are having their own celebrations to mark the occasion.

What do we remember our teachers for !

I think  not only for excellent classroom teaching but much beyond that, setting example for truth, sincerity, honesty, dutifulness.. etc. etc.

A teacher's achievement lies in making a subject interesting and easy to understand, inculcating  moral and humane values in students. A teacher should be a good communicator, encouraging queries and satiating the urge for learning.

This is the ideal state.

On the flip side there are teachers who are peevish, short tempered, biased and lacking in moral correctitude as becomes evident by news about  some unpleasant incidents take place. There are also rowdy and indisciplined students misbehaving with teachers. These together ring alarm bells  for future.

There is need for a concerted effort by teachers and parents to  take remedial steps to set things right.

Happy Teachers Day 🌹🌹

Cricket World Cup 1983

 Forty years ago this day India won the Cricket World Cup defeating West Indies. The Captain's knock of 175* by Kapil Dev is still fresh in mind. I listened to the running commentary tuned in by someone on transistor set at the CTO Shimla.

The Sunny days of Indian Cricket !!

TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY :

Not a shopaholic by any stretch of imagination or definition, I have loved to spend money on books, which I happened to read also. No other item or object  caught my fancy when I was in service. As for clothes and dresses, I always relied and depended on my wife to get these for me.  It has been Raymond for trousers and spun fabric for shirts. Later I switched over to readymade shirts which my wife bought for me. I never bothered about brands though I knew a few of them like Zodiac, Van Heusen, Arrows and the like.

Post retirement  I started ordering books and readymade  shirts online and getting trousers stitched time to time as per requirement. Then came the Covid phase which resulted in forced stay at home and later restricted movements. Even though situation is much relieved and relaxed now, I still adhere to the regime of restricted movements outside with Shimla city. My only visits have been to places outside Shimla where kids live.

With all the spare time at my disposal I keep browsing through Amazon etc., and come across pictures of fancy branded shirts. The cheapest  Zodiac shirt comes with a price tag of ₹ 2499/ -.Contemplating to order one, I stop midway, as what is the utility of buying these if I am to stay indoors !

 Same is the case with books. My reading habit has also taken a back seat. Quite a few books are waiting to be read. So why buy more to  lie unread & gather dust ! Still I ordered one last month.

A big dilemma...... indded !!

MC Elections

 Shimla is heading for Municipal Corporation Elections  scheduled to be held on 2nd of May, 2023. The elections to rhe local bodies  carry a flavour of their own  as the voters are to elect a Councillor/  ward member from amongst their fellow local residents . There are only local development issues at stake.  This time the Government have decided to hold the MC election on party lines,  which on the face of it appears a wise decision as  even in the previous many elections,  the political parties have  jumped into fray  in support of one candidate or  the other,  though contesting on an independent non-party symbol.  Thus it is an open secret that the  it was a proxy contest between the political parties , though some independent candidates also  contested and won. 

The new decision makes it a direct  contest  between party candidates.  Whether the decision clicks in favour of the party  ruling the State or boomerangs will be seen after the results are  declared.  Previously the candidates had the advantage of getting floating / cross votes  but this time the things are going to turn out differently.  Traditionally,  the ruling party for whatever reason has had the slight edge. Nevertheless,  the contest is going to be tough and interesting.  The repeated candidates have  their achievements  to showcase,  while the new candidates will come up with a new fresh roadmap.  The ruling party candidates too have to canvass hard as they  cannot afford to  sit  smug and complacent.

Random Thoughts

 In the mid- '60s or thereabout,  The Illustrated Weekly of India once started a series of articles by retired or serving ICS officers with the title 'The ICS and I'. I, a school going  boy then and not much into reading    English  just glanced through  some of those,  not fully  comprehending what was written. The ICS fascinated all,though the successor service  IAS was already in existence.  We had read about  Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose qualifying the ICS in 1920 and quitting  it  to play his role in the Indian freedom struggle. 

During the '60s Newspapers and magazine carried the names of ICS officers like Kewal Singh, T.N.Kaul,  B.K.Kaul, C.D.Deshmukh,  L.K.Jha and the like who excelled in the various fields though belonging to a generalist service. 

As of today,  the charm of Civil Service remains in tact. Besides the IAS  & the other Group  A services  , the Engineering Services and the Indian Forest Service attract a lot of young talent and thousands of aspirants appear in examination to compete for a fraction of vacancies every year.

One commonly hears of deterioration setting in these services,  with reasons not far to seek. The political bosses rule the roost and  civil servants are literally at their  beck and call.  We see a lot of fawning,  cringing civil servants- bureaucrats and technocrats  , a very few of them having the courage to have spine  and put their foot down. Ironically the same fawning,  cringing lot  become arrogant while  dealing with public.