World Bicycle Day

 Today is World Bicycle Day.

Down the memory lane !

As  I come out of Luxmi theatre ( or was it Sundar ! ) at 10 PM, after watching an old movie 'Navrang', the worry of reaching residence  four km away at Solan Breweries disturbs me, though not a big deal for a twenty plus  something  young man. I start on foot muttering 'dekha  jayega ' to myself. As I reach the end of the Mall, a bicycle stops, the rider asking me to sit on the carrier. Slowly he pedals the cycle and drops me at Brewery. A complete stranger- a godsend, a deus ex machina..... for sure.

Happened 48 years ago !!

Indo- Pak Conflict & Cease fire.

 By the way -

These last four five days have been full of anxiety for me and my wife like for most of my fellow Indians.There has been some  unpleasant exchange of words on Facebook with some esteemed friends who hold a different view in some matters. The crux of the matter is - जिस तन लागे सो तन जाने - so far as the armed conflict and its fall out is concerned. It takes little time for euphoria of any kind to turn into hysteria . The godi media has presented itself in bad light, not unexpectedly though. After many years, for 4-5 days, there was compulsive watching  of TV channels. While all praise to ground reporters of  most of the channels, the anchors made a mess of the job exhibiting utter lack of professionalism  mouthing lies that did good to no one, except perhaps misconceived  purported rise of TRP.

Personally, I found NDTV somewhat better than others.

The ceasefire has come as a relief to common man. Any prolonged conflict comes with a corresponding  heavy cost in terms of human & material resources, which not only retards development but also puts the clock back.

Humble tributes to the civilians and brave soldiers who lost their lives.

Media and social media will be rife with a lot of discussion taking place in days to come.

CIVIL SERVICES DAY

 Civil Services Day musings-

The Civil Services - bureaucrats & technocrats both included- remain under the scanner most of the time with little noticeable improvement over the years. The Political bosses rule the roost having the final say about who will man this or that post. No surprise then that with the change in Government at the Centre or in the states, there are transfers ordered at a mass scale. After all, the political parties have their own trusted blue eyed boys who they want to reward with plum postings. Sometimes, the bosses choose not to disturb the incumbants as regional considerations get the better of everything.

I feel no need to repeat the  recent HPPCL  episode in which a Chief Engineer was reportedly driven to commit suicide due to the alleged high handed behaviour of those at the helm of affairs.

In the light of all this the advice to the Civil Services would be to shed some of  their arrogance, insensitivity, aloofness, mocking stance and condescending attitude  for fostering genial environment at the work place to get the best results.

Sure, it will be a rewarding experience !!