My initial enthusiasm at the beginning of the week when India Registered its second win over srilanka to take the lead in the 5 match one day cricket series, finally saw its logical end when india clinched series, with a win over srilnka yesterday.The fact that i was with my friends in front of big screen to see the final moments of some glorious batting by Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina added to its charm.Now the last mmatch is only for records and may not kindle any specific interest.
Monday was spent by me in a meeting of Retirees where in i could see some old pals and rewind a bit, It also showed the strength of the retirees as a group , taking the second innings in great gusto ( if not by all atleat by a significant percentage).Seeing such people is an inspiration in itself.
Tuesday was really disturbing to start with The sad news of tamil nadu express coach no 11 catching fire and the subsequent loss of lives ( 28 as i am penning this blog) once again made me to curse with anger at the systems in place with scant regard to common man's saftey,Though considering the size and volume of traffic handled by Railways,in INDIA, ACCIDENTS OS SUCH NATURE ARE are bound to happen once in a while, the lack of adequate precautions to reduce their recurring , is what adds tothe agony.
When i was working at BANGALORE as a visiting faculty with MUBC when ever i have travlled toBANGALORE , I have been frustrated with the journey, time and again because of simple reason,Viz The unreserved passengers occupying reserved compartments at their own will and fancy, making the system of reservation of tickets it self , to be a mockery, as neither a seat/berth nor safety of reserved passengers is ensured. Added to this the TTEs always appear helpless in controlling such passengers who occupy the
compartments, meant for reserved, I have taken thepains to send SMS to railways helpline atleast 3 times, pointing out to the conseqences of such unreserved passengers blocking the path ways and toilets, with scant regard to resrved paasengers, and had been greeted with a standard ack every time regretting inconvenience and promising remedial action.But nothing ever happened and the trajedy at TAMIL NADU EXPRESS confirmed my worst fears.
It had come to notice that the unreserved passengers occupying the door ways, vestibule space and toilets prevented the escape of reserved passengers during the accident which took away precious lives. The worst part is that since the entire bogie was burnt and the passengers charred to death, it had become difficult evven to identify bodies as in a compartment which is supposed to carry 72 reserved passengers , more than that number have travelled and succumbed.It is a pity that the near and dear notonly lost their loves but were also not able to do the final rites because of difficulties in identification.Unless and until Railway force takes stringent action againsst such unauthorised travel and also control the crowds in train to some specified numbers (even if it be the unreserved general compartments) and also prepares itself to attend tovictims with first aid in the least possible time, these tragedies are going to make us speechless and dumbfounded.
To overcome this trajedy, the meet with friends late in the evening helped in a significanr manner. And i was also able to take care of the requirement to complete formalities relating to registration with a couple of entities(with an eye on assignments to flow in the year 2012-13( which helped me to overcome atleast to some extent, the gory details of the trajedy which struck in TN Express.
And Mr Chidambaram back as FM in ministry is the latest news with mixed response.It is no doubt a great honour for him, but whether he will do good to the sagging economy is to be waited and seen.
To be continued.
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