by Amartya Ghosh on June 27, 2009
Hey guys and gals, today the 27th of June, is birthday of our beloved friend Nipon Haque, who is a great guy, a great blogger a great friend of mine and owner of bongbuzz too. It’s for him we are getting a chance to let the world know our feelings and outbursts. He is a rare combination, continuing his medicine studies along with being tech-savvy. Nipon, as you say, I also say may the good God shower his/her choicest blessings on you and give you success in all you endeavours. do well, make well, serve people. Once again
“Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you
happy birthday dear Nipon,
Happy birthday to you”
by Amartya Ghosh on June 7, 2009
Many of you must be thinking why this man is upto writing such a post in a bloomy Sunday evening not struck by the forecasted Aila? And afterall what is it all about? Well it’s nothing but my outburst, considering all a number of intolerable cases I have been facing in recent days happening to me, in neighbourhood, in roads in hospitals in ticket counters in auto rickshaws, in buses, shops, medical stores, theatres, temples, hotels, in day, at night and so on. Actually the count would have begun long back, but my thought process never used to push me so hard. And through this outburst of mine, i don’t want a sympathy or a protest, a mass appeal etc. I know that there are thousands like me who face the same day to day problems in and out, and they also feel disgusted and in a way feel like banging their heads with the walls and shout ‘why am I no a VIP, but an Indian?’
Directly I want nothing, but indirectly I would like my co citizens, my countrymen to think: is it not better to be a VIP in India, anyways and anyhow than to be a normal common man to thrive in a better way? Is not a highly educated and well to do man with maybe fifty-sixty grands salary less secured and less benefited than a so called VIP, in whichever segment maybe, who has a much less qualification, dignity and potential to offer?
Let me share some instances with you which may make the adrenaline run faster in you.
Case1: Go to any temple in any part of the country(no hard feelings regarding temple or mosque or church, I’m just sharing my experiences); there’s a long queue you will find and you will find a fraction of a second to touch the holy Idol after waiting for four to five hours, that to getting pushed like an ill fated sheep in a flock with hundred percent risk of getting stampede. And if the occasion is like Rath yatra or Kumbh mela it’s better you better pray to your almighty beforehand so that you may return home safely.
Case2: Go to any hospital, specifically the government one’s as private hospitals are not meant for common man, you will be made follow a number of steps which will make you feel you are important, but the very next moment the assured thought which will come to you is, ‘Alas! I’m undone’. Considering a normal appointment with a doctor and not an emergency or a surgery, first go and make a card for yourself and WAIT, doctor calls you after two hours as he is the only doctor on floor tackling some fifty patients, then get his consultation and again WAIT, this time some tests are needed to be done. Again an occasion of waiting comes when you are going to get the reports of tests. total waiting time increases exponentially to around seven hours. Then again doctor calls you to give you judgement and ask you to WAIT to make you meet a senior doctor to get his valuable words on your test reports. At this point you will feel that you are a guineapig. And after waiting for some long ten hours you will get a very whole hearted welcome from them; they will ask you to get admitted for better observation and surely no senior doctor will ever come to meet you. After all it’s a business. But had you been a VIP; just go in, get yourself checked and come out, the press will follow you.
Case3: In auto rickshaw, you will feel yourself to be the person with least due respect as anytime the auto rickshaw may ask for any amount for your journey, he may assault you using slang, he may ask you to take another auto rickshaw anytime in the middle of the road, he may drive it as rash as possible and you have to be the silent listener as they have something called union and you don’t.
Continuing likewise many such day to day cases will come up and at the end of the day one will get nothing but FRUSTRATED. So that’s what I was trying to ask, will things go on like this? Are these happening to me, to Ram, to Madhu, to Peter to Azhar and every next door guy and will continue the same way?
With a population of a hundred and twenty crores will the ten to twenty percent VIP’s get all the privileges or better to say avail the rights and rest remain neglected? It’s time to think and get oneself a position where he is privileged, else he will remain in the nowhere zone as the rest if Indians.