are you game?

Today while I was walking to the station today I thinking about how dirty we keep our public infrastructure. The city is so dirty. The civic body cares two hoots about cleanliness. The bridge I took to the station was tarred and there were so many cracks in it. I thought about Singapore and the fact that the pavement was smooth and devoid of any hazards. In Mumbai you look down and walk, else you might just trip. Look at the photo of my bridge.
I was cursing us when I suddenly realized. I realized that those cracks have allowed me to play a game every single day walking on the streets ever since I can remember. Not stepping on the cracks. Ensuring only one step between two cracks, or two steps for long gaps. If a right foot steps on a crack the next crack must get the left foot. And many such countless variations. I played them as a child I play them now.
If these cracks go I will miss them. Walking might be so boring. This is what they call interactive art installations. The rich are now striving for them. We have had them since ages. Now look again at the photo and let your imagination run a while. Don’t you see a beautiful checkerboard. A kid fantasy of being part of a large life size board. Of avoiding the snakes or passing through their bellies, perhaps climbing the ladder, jumping over other pawns. You decide the roll of dice, the rules and the competition. After all dude – you are the game.

service any one???

I love these PSU’s . the way these government organizations will have customer weeks. So if you are a customer you are only requested to come alive during the week and the rest of the year you may die waiting in the queue’s with cobwebs around your ears. Its been a few hundered years since I last went to these banks and saw the aunties (not) process the work. Man they used to treat you like shit and the customer is like an interruption in their serious conversation about, about,… god knows what. But human nature will not change. The new kids on the block are the spanking new designer clad super hyper active banks. I like to call them the ‘big box’ banking. With the obvious mantra of customer king and more such mantra’s they rae here to take your money mange it and return a profit (not to you, their share holders – idiot). One such bank (promoted by a housing finance company), suddenly decided to send me a letter. You are no longer receiving a salary in this account therefore this is not a zero balance account. Chalo theek hai. Will maintain minimum balance. Next letter 10 months hence. You are not receiving a salary in this account so we are closing this account in 30 days. RESPOND OR DIE! Abe chutia, have you seen my minimum balance? Its 50K. Why would you want to close the account unilaterally, especially when this is a profitable account. So I go to the branch and they say sorry, this account will close becoz some one in product management took this decision and so basically SCREW YOU. I am requested to open a new account with new account numbers and my existing auto debit credits can jump in the well. So I take their case, drop a few names and request to see the branch manager. The poor soul decided to hear my case and make a ‘rare’ exception in my case. Main bach gaya maa! Main bach gaya… Its not about customer week, its about customer orientation!! Another big box bank with the logo ‘i’ gave my wife big time pain on some real piddly issue of transferring money. Same ruse worked. Coolly screwed the agent by taking his name down on a book, asked for his reporting hierarchy, said I work in a bank, dropped a few names in his senior management and walked off. Surely --- his call came apologizing! Hmmm, work gets done only if you do your research well and know some interesting names. Not the big boss name that come in the press but one or two down the line.




Coming to the second photo. Our dear BMC was paving the pavement at VT station with noble intentions (random question: if the pavement is not yet paved, then can it be called a PAVEment? Therefore can I run the car on it?) So somebody dumped the entire sand pot on the place where the bus line works. So pray tell us how would the line flow?






The third is a lovely photo of the HOLY COW wanting to bless our train with its HOLY URINE. OH sooooo holy. We are truly blessed. Location? I don’t remember… probably somewhere in the ‘cow belt’