Bus shelter blues

Two letters to the editor in GN:

Shelters, please ...
Despite my letter requesting a shelter for passengers waiting at the Rolla bus stand in Sharjah, there has been no development. Most of the time buses do not come on time for Dubai-bound passengers and they are forced to wait in the hot sun.

The authorities concerned should act fast and provide shelters, at least for the sake of elderly passengers. There is no need for air-conditioned bus terminals, a simple shelter to protect from the sun will do.
From Mr K. Ragavan
Ajman

... here too
It is surprising that there are no sheltered bus stops inside the Jebel Ali Free Zone. It is difficult for people to wait for buses in the hot sun.
The poor labourers, after working the whole day, can be seen waiting for buses in the sun. Dubai Municipality should fix some shades there.
From Mr R. Qamar
Dubai


November '05 to the present.
7 months for a simple driving licence and it keeps slipping from my hand.
Ajman has lesser number of people to sign up, and therefore the slower they issue licences, the more the revenue. However, this is not the case in Dubai. The faster they issue, the more the number of people who queue up.

I was often told that life begins in the sandlands after receiving a licence. Oh fine, I thought. I've driven my car back home for 2 years, the maximum time it would take was 3 months. 7 months past and 6 tests later, I have no clue on when I will finally get it in my hands.

Days are getting hotter, it's getting difficult to commute in buses. Air conditioning simply fails and even worse is the complete non existence of 'bus shelters'. No, not the 'proposed' air conditioned ones. But a simple roof over my head. I was at the Ghubaiba bus station. It's a major bus terminal, and they don't have one for buses that ply to Sharjah. So we - the impoverished lot of would-be licence holders and the voiceless common man, stand shoulder to shoulder in the hot sun at noon. We form an impromptu line. This line would help us get into each mini bus without putting up a fight. The number of people exceed the seating capacity of a standard mini bus. Yet it's extremely rare that we find a bigger bus at this major terminal. Sweat begins to pour down, and theres no sign of the bus. I begin to fidget - my minds racing. There has to be an alternative route.

But then the expressionless faces around me told me a different story. Their nonchalant stance signifies their daily struggle to just survive here - much less to commute. No grumbles, no frowns. The blinding sun doesn't even bring a sigh. Twenty minutes later, the bus finally arrives. We have executives in suits to site workers in overalls. The irony of a broad spectrum of society in such a narrow bus. Just as nauseating as the sweet smell of sweat and perfume.

How to get rich

"How to get rich" is the quintessential question that stares at you from thousands of 'matchbox bookstalls' across India. We all want to get rich quick, and what better way than our self established real estate mogul known as 'The Donald' to help us about it?

Donalds book is the first 'how to get rich' book I've ever read. I came across 'The Dummies Guide to being a Millionaire' and I was completely put off by the juvenile standards of American Self Tracking. The American Self Tracking System (AMSTS) is a system developed by many writers to judge your actual worth. Since Americans are bombarded with ads and fake news right from the time they get off their bed, the AMSTS serves as a 'reality check' to rein them back into their real lives.

All AMSTS usually follow a common path - Keep listing whatever problems you have and figure out a way to mitigate them yourself. Ofcourse, the AMSTS are designed to make a 50 page book fatten it's way to over 200. Advice is dispensed in such miniscule bits and pieces, that you have to make another chart that they never ask you to make.

Anyway, back to The Donalds book, Trump never goes about any of these charts and self realisation techniques. We're here to know how he became rich and gain insight into his intricate workings. We first begin with Trumps childhood. Little is said about Trumps father, who really jump started his career. Ofcourse he pays homage to him and his greatness, but the real meat is in how he created his wealth. Page after page flies by, you get detailed reports on how journalists have attacked his hair, his wife, and his financial losses. Trump goes after everyone - often by name - visciously like a KG kid with a plastic fork. He questions the journalistic prowess these petty humans possess - and also makes predictions to where they're headed. Where else could that be - anyone who attacks The Hair, goes down the drain.

We're told that we must be ruthless in business. Check.
We're told that we mustn't trust anyone. Check.
We're told that we must chase anyone who's ever chased us. Check.

Thats pretty much it. I didn't make a list of what Trump subconsciously projects once every 10 pages, but the above is pretty much the gist of it.

If you are a budding entrepreneur this advice is misleading to the extreme. You'd be blown to smithereens if you start to act pompously with nothing in your pocket.
If you work under someone, like most of us do - we cannot afford to go by any of this advice. You'd end up hearing what Trump has almost patented - "You're fired". This time it's for real and not on the telly.
If you're an established businessman, all of these points make sense. You're in control - you are the master of your ship. You've built it painstakingly, and people admire you for it. And thats why no one can question you when you choose to steer it whichever way you choose to. But that ship has brought you a lot of returns, therefore you can afford to steer it.
Would this businessman read a dumb book, most of which he knows without reading in the first place?

Real advice is what Trump provides in 30 succinct seconds on 'The Apprentice'. They come right after a basic flaw in one of the 'interviewees' is exposed. They're golden pieces of advice, and this is what a 'get rich' book is to be made of.

Anyway, the kind of false propaganda his program purports is astounding. Thank god for the Wikipedia article, it truly describes who the real Trump is. It's his dad - Fred Trump. Now did most of us know that?

India's Forrest Gump

Budhia, the wonderful four year old from Orissa, who made it to the Limca Book of Records is now at the centre of a controversy. The Human Rights body of India has finally awoken from it's slumber and is in the process of 'freeing' the poor kid from the shackles of the great E word. Exploitation, something which is so alien to the Human Rights organisation.

There's no doubt that he's a prodigy in the making, and is beacon for so many impoverished kids. But how would this inspiration help those who canot afford themselves a meal everyday? In a country where nepotism is rampant, and bureaucracy and corruption flows alongside the river of greed, there's nothing much we can do. We become silent spectators of a drama that ensues when a 4 year old kid breaks his way to the front page of a newspaper.

Where are the corporations, those who are listed on the NYSE? Is it too much to ask for some company to sponsor the child and light his path to an enlightened future? Are they all waiting for the poor kid to run out of steam, now that doctors have warned that such marathons could harm his body? The govt refuses to take care of him, that's not much of a surprise, it's has been a rotten one and will always remain one.

1.3 billion people and the only dent we made in the 2004 Olympics was one silver medal. Time's running out, in a nation that fundamentally shuns any sport save for cricket, he could be long forgotten in the avalanche of page 3 news that has made it to page 1.

Budhia, how I wish that one of the 11 bastards on the cricket team would lend you a helping hand. You're too young to stand up, I wish someone would keep his contracts aside and be a human being for once.

Run, Budhia, run.....

A consulate of any purpose?

GN's 'Letters to the Editor' on the topic of 'minimum wages' brought in some interesting and hard hitting letters. Nowhere did we see any psychos terming this as a conspiracy, and every letter pointed to one thought in unison - you have to set minimum wages. No one is going to buy into the crap of negotiating their wages after they set foot here, with not more than a few thousand Rupees in hand. And how do illiterate workers negotiate anyway?

But what everyone forgot to write in was how the Indian Consulate also plays an important part. During recruitment, why does the consulate remain mum on the sorry state of affairs? Aren't the consulate supposed to educate workers regarding such problems? Is it too much to ask for the Indian bureaucracy to sort out a solution and nip the problem in the bud? Is the consulate here for it's members to play around electing some idiot year after year for bragging about their business dreams at some five star hotel to be later photographed and featured in...you guessed it right, GN itself?

Even though I cannot confirm, Sri Lanka has refused to send any more garment/textile workers because of the increasing problems with non payment of wages. The Sri Lankan consulate immediately remedied the situation.

People aren't thinking straight, or the newspaper doesn't favour their thinking.