Women Power-WCP

Oppression of women, equality of sexes, women’s lib (eration) and what have you. There is so much talk about injustice being done to women ( all of which I agree with) why not talk about the innate power which most of the women can and do yield. It is literally in your face and we never talk about it (I know it may leave you speechless but some one has to speak about it some time and this time it is me) it is the Cleavage Power which all women yield. One can easily say it is more of a western phenomenon and not so much true in India but my experiences suggest that things are fast catching up (or shall I say hem line is fast going down).
So what is this Cleavage Power all about? When do when women use it? Why do they use it? What can we men do to fight it? Well let’ start with the dress, these days ladies dress is shrinking from both ways – top and bottom. While it is their right to wear what they want, I just want to ask why is it not the right of guys to see what they want? A recent e-mail discussion we had amongst a close group of friends was about this photo of a few Indian cricketers staring at the carelessly exposed mid riff of an Indian cricket fan. All the ladies in the group were gaga about a senior player who choose to ignore it while the young lads in the team were ogling away to glory oblivious of the paparazzi. My only question is that when the girl has all the right to wear any kind of dress she likes, why cannot the guys look at what they like? Why is it unethical for the guys to stare at the same areas which the girls want to expose? Is it some kind of exam or quiz or a challenge? I believe it is this right to behave in this unethical manner and then use it to your benefit should be called as Cleavage Power.
Women use this as the last line (pun intended) of defence when they feel they are not getting their way they just yield the power (how it is yielded is left to readers imagination). What can men do? Well to be fair Men cannot go Scot free in this power game, they have time and again shown their vulnerability to this kind of Power. This dates back to mythology when one of the dancers from Lord Indira’s court was sent to Earth to break the meditations of a saint on Earth. I feel it is time for the men to accept and play this power game. The Art of war clearly says that draining your opponent’s strength is one way to victory. So I would suggest that we men let women yield the CP and let them think that they are successful in it and once their powers are drained we continue with our regular work as if nothing has happened. The next time a woman calls a man MCP, we have a response-stop using WCP.

3 decades of life

As the London Sun sets much later these day. Days become longer; I am nearing the end of 3 decades of life on Earth. 3 decades oh my God (yeah you remember him when you get such shocks) mom said son you should have a son, I sit up and wonder - am I past my youthful life- the best part of life? Am I now well and truly an uncle? Hairline has not gone back very much and the grey hair pops once in a while (and mysteriously disappears) the ponch refuses to reduce in size. We have stopped fitting with each other coz we know how the other person behave and what s/he wants (this is a real achievement but it was very easy). Do I take this in a stride and say I can now enjoy another phase in life or mourn that I am past my best. Some one please tell me what is there to look up in the 4th decade in life?

@ changes

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

London Bridge has not fallen down

Thank God "London Bridge has fallen down" did not happen. This was a tune I used to play in my Schoold Band and the whole school used to march past to that (I am sure they never cared to know about it). First weekend in London and we decided to check if the bridge was still intact despite all the cacophony we used to create. The Bag piper is what I used to play ( not drink please I am strict non drinker- of whisky, its rum for me). This piece of useless history apart, standing on London Bridge was a real great feeling, you can see the forcefull Thames river beneath and the Tower Bridge at a distance.

Smoking in London

No! I am not back to smoking again. But during the first few days in London, I cannot but notice the huge number of smokers. My God! This city is full of them. Seems smoking makes them forget their civic sense (no wonder they get kicks from smoking) and they throw the cigi butts all around. It is called as the financial capital is it also the smokers paradise ?

Widening Bangalore-Bellary Road or shifting bottle necks?

Any one who has come towards North Bangalore must have surely experienced the Hebbal flyover. Though normal by International standards, but by Indian and more specifically Bangalore standards it is a nice piece of work and the most scenic part of the journey is the view of the Hebbal Lake on the left. As some one who has seen and stayed North part of Bangalore much before the flyover came into existence. I must confess the construction was never delayed and it came up just about the right time, unlike other structures in Bangalore which come up much after the need is felt. But are the things really rose? Don’t we face problems as other road construction projects in Bangalore? Honest answer- Yes and No.Yes once you are on the flyover. A big no before you hit the flyover. There is big bus stop just before the Flyover and the road s not very broad. So you have multiple traffic issues:

1. Bus which move Northwards towards Yelahanka generally travel on the right lane, move to the left to pick up passengers at the bus stop.



2. The same buses then cut to the right once they are ready to move.



3. Passengers boarding the bus are anxious to enter the bus first to grab that precious seat on the bus.



4. Pedestrians want to cross the road and act as part time traffic constables, showing the stop sign to approaching vehicles. Some smart pedestrians form small groups and show that they have the numbers on their side ad all approaching vehicles have to stop.



5. The small road on the left of the flyover is the route to Boopsandra and is a one way towards North. But for some drivers it is the shorter route and hence the preferred route even tough it happens to be a wrong way. They cause more congestion as they have to take a U turn to proceed on the flyover. Considering the width of the flyover they sometimes have to take a reverse after they try a U turn. This causes a real bad jam. The wrong side vehicles cannot go further and need to reverse, the vehicles moving towards North just want to proceed further (rightly so) and want to teach the erring driver a lesson and come up as further as they can. But by the time their anger subsides, they cannot go back because vehicles would have already pilled up. The vehicle behind are going crazy and just honk, this happens dung evening office hours when every one is tired and wants to go home. What a jam!



6. Some vehicles have to take the road on the left of flyover to Boopsandra, but they know that the left lane is slow because the Bus stop, so in the small area between the Bus stop and the flyover, they swivel to the left over taking the buses, avoiding pedestrians and just about squeezing through without touching the flyover. Best of luck to them if there is any vehicle coming on the wrong side ( Point #5)I have tried to show these in a diagram. Point #6 is too difficult to show. So it is left to your imagination.

Relief is on its way and the State government has a plan to expand the Bangalore Bellary road. If you were one of those pessimists who say that it will remain a plan then you will be surprised that work is already in progress and expansion of the road and tree felling is on brisk progress. I am not one of those guys who say NO to tree felling for road expansion, so what is the point I am trying to make?My argument is that expansion will only make the drive upto the bus stop comfortable, the issues addressed above will remain the unresolved. One of the flaws which cannot be resolved without a major reconstruction is the fact that the flyover is two lanes and even if you make the approach road three lane, there will be a bottle neck to enter the flyover.Let me put forth my suggestion for this problem:

1. The flyover cannot be expanded, so to avoid the upcoming bottlenecks, the buses should continue to move in the leftmost lane and not move over the flyover. The barricade should be removed and buses should cross the Red light under the flyover and rejoin the road proceeding towards Yelahanka after flyover.


2. Over head pedestrian walk way to be constructed, a large barricade to be constructed on the median so that pedestrians do no cross by walking on the road.


3. Hopefully, with so much bus traffic, people will stop coming by the wrong way.
   The below diagram explains the proposed solution.
   
   
   

Let me list out the drawbacks of the proposed solution:

1. Bus travel will increase slightly
2. The waiting period at the Red light will increase for traffic on other side direction (Ring road traffic).
3. Utilization of the bridge will reduce.As per me view the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, this problem would not have arisen had the Hebbal flyover been three lanes.

However as I mentioned the flyover is a good piece of work by our standards and we should think of how we can address the immediate issues, instead of blaming the past.

About the AuthorSrikant Suddekunte can be contacted as articlesfromsrikant@gmail.com. He is working in the IT industry and writes articles on new developments in IT industry and on latest issues and trends.

Court TV

Sunday, May 6, 2007
NDTV recently had a program on "Indian Judiciary in 60 yrs" and one of the speakers remarked "we should have in house cameras to cover court cases" I came up with the following idea.
As an extension of Realty TV we could have COURT TV. This could add to the ongoing debate of judial activism and the increased influence of public and Electronic media (as was experienced in the Jessica Lal case). The content and time slots for such a channel could be:

10AM-5PM--> Show court proceeding of prominent cases, based on parties involved( Film stars etc example Mumbai bomb blast) or viewership interest ( Jessica lal cases) or current socially debated topics (IIM reservation issue)

5 PM- 10 PM-->
1.News and reviews of days court cases from public, imminent lawyers and special speakers.
2.Viewers dial program to discuss cases
3.Informational programs to educate public about laws, their right, duties and constitution
4.Showcase old cases and history of indian judiciary
5.World view of judicial systems
6.General news

7 AM- 10 PM--> Discussion about the days upcoming important casesThese are just what I can think top of my mind, surely an innovatove media person can think of more.
Now lets cover somemore aspects of this business idea:

REVENUE:
1. Public interest in high profile cases is very high, this could be utilised to place ads.
2. Reputed legal firms would want to showcases their abilities through this channel and can sponsor many of the evening programs

SOCIAL RELEVANCE:
1. Increased public awareness of the Indian legal system
2. Greater debate and public involvement in the socially relevant cases
3. Better source of legal advice in the call in programs

Finally, I should also list out what could be the hurdles or pit falls for such a channel
1.Biggest of course is that it requires a big legislation
2. Willingness of the parties to be on camera
3. Social stigma because of being involved in crimes ( we all see people covering their face to avoid recognition).This can be overcome by making TV coverage optional.
4. Infrastructure investment though high would not be a bottle neck

These are my view, what do you say? Is any media mogul listening...

Self Sufficient Towns n bangalore

Self sufficient townships is the answer to Bangalore traffic woes

As some one who travels around 90kms to work, I often wonder is there a better way to city planning? I am sure others who travel lesser but end up traveling for long hours share the pain. As the city admin grapples (atleast gives an impression that it cares) I realize that it is not just me who suffers but I also end up straining so much of the city resources. So can something be done which is a win a win?
I think the solution lies in going for self sufficient townships, but before we discuss let me tell you that this idea is as old as Nehruvian era. Many defense establishments are built in such a way. They have all the facilities like schools (KV), Banks (SBI), hospital and even cinema halls. Jalahalli in North Bangalore is a perfect example.
Building self sufficient townships in Bangalore is easier said then done. When the city is still developing, and there are many vacant areas city planning is easier. So how does one build self sufficient towns for work place like electronic city? It’s a tough question and a city planning expert can better respond, but here is my two cents:
1) Do a quick poll from the people working in E-City who all would like to settle in this part of Bangalore if they are provided all the facilities which they would want (like the ones listed above). Also ask them what one additional facility they would want.
2) Asses the existing housing facilities in a radius of 6-8 kms in Electronic city.
3) Get a list of facilities which are in excess, deficient; add the most wanted facility from #1.
4) Pass a govt legislation to slow down excess facilities and encourage the deficient ones. Have a 10 yrs horizon when you do this.
5) Discourage coming up of more offices in the self sufficient area.
6) Provide mass transport during weekends to other parts in the city.
7) Encourage and provide use of non polluting transport inside the area during week days. Have shuttle buses
8) Before finalize all this, engage the public through workshops and proposal discussions.