A Blog begun years ago as a stroll on the Funny Side of Serious
Street, highlighting India's problems. Revived by adding memories of old
Bombay, including excerpts from Dreams of One Country.
BUSTED BUS-STOP COMEDY
Scene: A solid steel bus-stop with a steel bench. For years it has sheltered people from sun and rain on a glass-and-glitter commercial street that was wholly residential 15 years ago. Cracked pavements and road. Leaking water mains flowing by. Litter everywhere.
Day One of Drama: The bus-stop disappears leaving 4 jagged metal stumps that can injure the unwary.
Day Two: A new aluminium bus-stop appears at the same place. Around it big banners proclaim how much good the local elected politician has done for the people - including, building new bus-stops.
Day Seven: The new bus-stop disappears, leaving 4 more jagged metal stumps. But over and around the place a shamiana has been put up. Obviously, an indication that a political rally would take place there.
Day Eight: A bus-load of gun-wielding reserve policemen are camped around the shelter-less bus-stop. Obviously, the rally had ended in a fight between rival political parties. Broken pavement stones are scattered all around.
Note: Neither the cost of breaking or building a bus-stop would come of out any politician's pocket. It would come out of public funds. This true story of vanishing bus-stops is a tiny part of the national comedy - or, rather, tragicomedy - of fooling the people that has gone on too long.
Question: Can this kind of politicians help India develop into a country like Denmark, Singapore or the US?
Tail Lights:
1. India Cinemascopic
My novel Dreams of One Country - for download on I-phone, pad or computer from Amazon.com - is a moving panorama of young dreams and ideas inspiring India's people to come together as Ek Desh (One Country) and build a truly modern nation.
2. Finding True Happiness: Does it mean freedom from worries? In life that's virtually impossible. Making more and more money? Or being able to show-off, particularly to neighbours? Real happiness is in sharing moments of contentment with another human. We tend to forget happiness is also the satisfaction at bringing some happiness to others and, equally important, of not being the cause of unhappiness to anyone else.
1. India Cinemascopic
My novel Dreams of One Country - for download on I-phone, pad or computer from Amazon.com - is a moving panorama of young dreams and ideas inspiring India's people to come together as Ek Desh (One Country) and build a truly modern nation.
2. Finding True Happiness: Does it mean freedom from worries? In life that's virtually impossible. Making more and more money? Or being able to show-off, particularly to neighbours? Real happiness is in sharing moments of contentment with another human. We tend to forget happiness is also the satisfaction at bringing some happiness to others and, equally important, of not being the cause of unhappiness to anyone else.
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