They say “accidents do happen” and when you are in front of a mindboggling audience with millions turning to Washington and may be many more millions glued to the TV sets watching history being made, there is bound to be tension and a few words exchanged.

I was witness to some tension and exchange of a few words during the Presidential Swearing In Ceremony, albeit literally. Read on…

John Roberts, the Chief Justice, was responsible for swearing in Barack Obama as the 44^th President of USA. While he was reading out the swearing in words,

As per the American Constitution, the words that make up the oath is written as

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

But when Roberts was swearing in Obama, he exchanged few of those words, saying:

“I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully.”

Roberts faltered, Obama watched on and the crowd had some good moment of laughter.

But that’s ok…Never mind..Let’s move on !

Image credit: bobster1985

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When was the last time you saw a bus or a truck stalled on the road? Within minutes it immediately grows some branches and leaves… and the driver faithfully places a few stones (and an occasional rock) to mark the perimeter of ’safety’. Amusing as it may seem, the leaves indicate the immobility of the problem and the stones a marking of territory.

The situation is greatly enhanced when the patient is a government vehicle… especially something of larger proportions – like a city bus. When the drivers of these vehicles join for work, they seem to sign a secret contract. Something that says – all such vehicles, when stalled, will always be placed in such a spot as to create maximum obstruction and discomfort to other road users. This is done to gently remind our citizens that there is actually a government in place and it takes care of road safety.

For the past few years there has been a secret road war. There is the segment of drivers that wants to make us another America – drive on the right side … always. And there is this growing percentage of secret vehicles with no lights whatsoever – right from the petit Lunas to the gigantic Tatas and Leylands. We have always relied on brain-mapping… that’s the reason a majority of the vehicles don’t need any working indicators. Even if they work, the drivers expect the vehicles to understand their movement and turn these on and off.

It’s always good to carry more. Right from our manufacturers, all vehicles are designed and tested every day to withstand three to four times of its rated capacity. To ensure that these tests are carried out to the highest possible standards, the government ensures that the roads meet universal standards prescribed for craters on Mars. It is indeed heartening to know that in 500 years, we will use all this data to compile a set of standards and roll out the world’s best vehicles.

Guided missile carriers are not new on the road either. Every two-wheeler and rider combo is a machinery of precision to test speed, flexibility and endurance of Man and Machine. They can put the famed Kamikaze to shame. Wherever available, there are larger combos of highly unstabilized moving mines marked in black and yellow, popularly known as auto rickshaws. Of late in the so called IT cities, we have also seen a rage of a white Ninja force – always in a hurry, manned by a force that doesn’t get enough sleep; they are otherwise called the call-center cabs.

If it were not for the roads, our vocabulary would be so limited. There are so many words we would have perhaps never learnt. And if not for the lives lost on the roads, our population would grow out of control. Safety is never an issue…we are the safest place to drive. Everyone is at their wits end and is so much cautious.

That leaves me, the pedestrian, cursing them all. But as soon as I get into my car, I get transformed and curse the pedestrian.

After all, it’s he who reaches his destination that wins.

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“Yet again the communal clashes in the city has left the streets  burning with the flames of hatred killing thousands of people all over “.

This is Naina Sahay reporting live from Mumbai, Kal Tak. 

Naina was a young, flamboyant journalist who had earned herself a lot of accolades for her brave reporting and blunt comments that supported the truth. Her parents passed away when she was barely the age of 12 in an accident leaving behind a lot of responsibilities and a younger brother to take care of.

As she grew up she started working at a very young age in order to give her brother the best of life she could. She gave him love of a mother, father as well as sister. And in the process earned a living through whatever jobs she could lay her hands on. Naina got introduced to the field of journalism through a friend and since then there was no looking back. 

Naina just kept on climbing the success ladder to earn herself a life she truly deserved. From scratch, today she owns a good house, car and everything. But what Naina truly cared for was Armaan, her younger brother. She could never live without him. A slight fever and the girl who could report under waist deep water during Mumbai floods would go paranoid.

A small wound on Armaan would make her go berserk  and a drop of tear from Armaan’s eyes would just make Naina depressed. Probably that’s the reason why Naina was unmarried because she could not live without her brother and would want to give him her undivided attention.

But then one incident shattered her life.

In the year 1993 communal riots broke out in Mumbai .People were behind each other’s lives. Dead bodies were lying on the roads. Injured unattended and bloody and gory sight’s everywhere. People were scared to get out of their houses yet Naina risked her life to deliver news to people.  So many times the bullets must have just missed her but even through such tensed situation she would remain calm and help the injured on the streets. While doing her duty her finger constantly clicked Armaan’s number at the interval of every half an hour to ensure his safety.  

Suddenly one day Naina heard a cry of help. On drawing closer to the sound she realized there was a man badly injured and was probably taking his last breadth. The man in a hushed voice called Naina closer. Naina hesitantly went closer. The man revealed a sensational news that would rock the nation and he also had photo evidence to back his story. Naina was shocked at the evidence. Before Naina could ask him any questions the man closed his eyes forever.

The man said that the current Chief Minister was involved in the clashes of Hindu and Muslim communities and he had started communal rights in order to degrade his political rivalry. Naina had a very important evidence and also the power to stop the future bombings that were planned to kill the leader of the opposition party which would leave the entire city burning and spoil the situation even more.

Naina hurried to her house and kept the photograph with Armaan. She went to her Head Office to make arrangement for her breaking news. But what Naina wasn’t aware of was the man who followed her to her house.

While Naina was in the office preparing for the prime event the man entered her house. Armaan heard the noise and went in the front room. The man attacked Armaan, Armaan resisted and tried to fight back but the man just removed a gun and shot down six bullets into Armaan. Armaan’s knees gave away, he fell down and instantly his life was snatched by the cruelty of the world. The man ransacked the entire house and found the photograph and ran away with it.

Naina with her boss returned to her house. Her feet trembled, beads of sweat trickled down her forehead, she collapsed the darkness was’nt only for the moment but for the rest of her life.  Seeing the pool of blood which Armaan was in, disturbed the mental state of Naina.

The news was’nt deliverd but the death of Armaan resulted in the suicide of the courageous self of what Naina used to be. Yet again the politics of our country silenced the truth. She lost her mental balance, she lost her voice and what was left was a silent suicide which was never recorded..

Statistics have shown thousands of people suicide due to different reasons but have we ever thought of the loss of individuality that people suffer at the hands of our ignorance…It is high time we follow the philosophy of LIVE AND LET LIVE… It is high time we understand that we are not divided on the basis of religion, caste, creed or sex but we all belong to a much higher sect that is Humanity.

We all have 2 eyes 2 hands 1 nose 2 feet, so why the heck are we fighting for our so called differences. Let’s all join in this human chain of understanding and love so that we make India, a better place to live in.

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I am starting this series on Driver Licencing in India with an objective that someone in the central or state government transport ministry will read this and make use of the free recommendations given. That might be too much to expect but that is what I am going with. If it really happens, I will be on Cloud 9. If not, it doesn’t matter – at least I will go with the satisfaction that I have made an effort , expressed my concerns and put my view points across in a  simple and straight forward manner.

Why am I writing this series ?…

• I recently read about Sanjeev Nanda and his escapades with the Indian judiciary system – the imbroglio involving defense counsel R K Anand and the public prosecutor.
• I had a friend who passed away a couple of years ago in an accident
• Having lived in different parts of the world now I am in a position to criticize how pathetic our transportation system in India is and that no one is doing anything to improve the situation
• I am concerned with the growing number of Indians who die every year due to road accidents
• I am concerned that the government is not doing its due diligence in overcoming this menace
• I love my people and I don’t want to see any of them die young
• I want my children to grow in a safer and more secured environment where there is respect for the law of the land
• I do not want money and power to dictate who will survive and who will perish

In short, I want this road menace to end. Period.

If you don’t like what I write, please feel free to give your critical feedback. If you do like what I write, even then leave your feedback. I will definitely take a look at them impartially and incorporate wherever applicable.

Lets start the journey. Speak to you in the next article.

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