Aam Aadmi problem No. 128421

 

But this piece is not about the ‘aam aadmis’ that are selling like hot cakes, are in vogue and capture headlines. It is about lesser mortals and their humongous problems that ‘system’ inflicts on them. One such prominent problem is rendered by the Indian railways. The world’s fourth largest rail network, having over 14 thousand trains running daily, used by millions of people, is nothing short of an ordeal to deal with. An ordeal that steps on your fray nerves and tramples it. An ordeal that reflects the frustration that the ‘aam aadmi’ has to deal with, day in and day out.

Having left the confines of home 12 years back, to pursue higher education, and then to work, travelling thousands of kilometers by train has become an integral part of my life. I sometimes feel a personal account of the vagaries of train travel spanning over a decade could be an ideal topic for a novella. But if the novella materializes, it will depict a picture that will not be beautiful. With each passing year the deterioration in quality of train travel is on the rise, the inefficiency, and the lackadaisical attitudes almost nauseating.

Time keeping probably would be at the bottom of the list of complaints, it just follows the national standard in that department. I have had trains arriving up to five hours late, without any foreseeable pertinent issue. But then if the comforts of the coaches were excellent one could bear with the delays; just to provide yourself some solace. When I started travelling regularly more than a decade back, at least there were no cockroaches or mice inside the bogeys. But now they have become permanent residents.

You might be wondering why pest control cannot manage the situation. A recent travel early this year revealed that both pest control and the pests are updated, that is, the date of last visit was recent, yet cockroaches were also visible. During Lalu Prasad Yadav’s regime, toilets cleaning at major stations was introduced. It was a highly effective measure which has seen considerable dilution in the subsequent years. And mind you, it is not about the Sleeper class toilets that I am talking about, even the 3A and 2A have pitiable condition. When I pointed it to the TTE on Vivek Express a few weeks back, he assured that it will be addressed. We however travelled for close to two days in unclean conditions.

Over the past few years I have observed the over pricing of goods both inside the train by the caterer and by shopkeepers in the platform. And the over pricing occurs to the tune of 5 Rs on a 10 Rs product! Haggling with a shopkeeper, while your train is ready to depart, can be a truly harrowing experience, which unfortunately is increasingly occurring. The AC coach attendants indulging in nefarious activities, especially supplying demanding passengers with illegal substances is best not discussed in detail. The price of meals in trains have shot up exponentially and its quality spiraled down like economy. A visit to the pantry car could help your resolve to stay away from food that come through that door.

That was mostly about the Express trains. The condition of local trains, the intercity trains is all the more pathetic. No TTE, no security guards patrolling, unhygienic berths, unclean toilets, are hallmarks of thousands of such trains. While the attitude of the masses needs to be severely criticized in lieu with civic sensibilities, the onus falls on the railways to ensure them instead. A travel of hours in such a train will instill the belief in you that the country is actually left to rot.

But how much of it is news to you? If you take the aerial route, certainly you wouldn’t be aware of such distresses. If you do not travel long distances by trains, or just travel the Metro, or the select few elite Rajdhanis and Shatabdis, you wouldn’t alight with the thought expressed above. But if you are that ‘aam aadmi’ who is at the mercy of Indian railways, you will identify with the excesses that this state machinery causes to you. The helplessness, the powerlessness of the common man to change the sorry state of affairs in railways, which is the only source of your travel to your home, your relatives’ house, your workplace, your dream destination, is stifling. Prolonged stifling is not healthy for a nation.

 

 

AAP Jaisa Koi...

 

AAP is the talk of the town! In fact many towns, many villages, though the latter needs to be ascertained. Television debates on every other subject related to governance, draws comparisons or corollaries with AAP and its moves. Newspaper headlines are captured by AAP, so much so as to prompt other party ideologues to refute it as ‘paid media’. Twitter hashtags and facebook updates have AAP written all over them since a long time now. The reality of a newly formed political outfit, translating rhetoric to required seats in assembly, believing and walking the talk of a radical change in style of politics; shifting the onus of power to the ‘common-man’, ‘mango-man’, ‘aam-aadmi’, listening to their pulse and acting accordingly, has begun to settle.

Perturbed nay-sayers, confused mouthpieces, doubting Thomases and suddenly-woken-up-from-a-slumber electorate are a common feature harboring on becoming a phenomenon these days. As a natural response, discrediting the newly formed Delhi government's socialist leaning schemes, tirade on the lines of damn-if-you-do, damn-if-you-don’t are afloat in plenty. Cautionary words are being written by ‘political watchers’. However all this while, AAP membership is exponentially rising, their political ambitions, and their ‘populist’ or ‘promised-in-manifesto’ schemes too, depending on which side of the fence you are.

Does AAP comprise of a set of novices, with left of the centre ideology, delivering through theatrics, who will ultimately trip over their own high wall of expectation? Or are these the new age netas who will take the subway to work, like few of their ilk in Germany or France, will make massive reforms to fight corruption and in the long run, and change the way politics works in India? Only time will stand testament to the above possibilities. But what is for certain is the fresh breeze of clean air that AAP has circulated in a space that is murky, congested with corruption, bred in family lineage, marketed with obnoxious muscle and money power. And this fresh air of change has ruffled feathers.

What did the fresh air bring along with it? Salient features which the common man makes a sense of, identifies with and desires for.

The credibility of its leader Arvind Kejriwal. The non-political lineage of its members. The humble backgrounds they belong to. No display of money or muscle in campaigns. The acceptance of non-VIP culture. The stance against corruption. The reclamation of faith that politics is to serve and there is a way to enter that arena. Door-to-door campaigns and finding top pressing local issues. The dire failure of mainstream political parties to find common ground with the distressed public. A cocktail of these above factors, punched with multiple other smaller components, has brought about an unprecedented positive response.

The Congress and BJP by discrediting AAP’s every move are only drawing the ire of common man, who seeks a positive change, but has been bogged down by lack of options. While a scale up at the national level may not happen for the forthcoming general elections, not because of anything else, but for logistical and organizational reasons; AAPs victorious endeavors in few pockets might create a stir in the political scene. Established systemic rot that parties have pulled since years will also take time to shake off.

These few words expressed here are just adding to the millions being written since few weeks on AAP. It is just an attempt to drive a few points across, from a common man, observer of political actions, in a developing with great potential India.

The greatest achievement of AAP is perhaps not making a government in Delhi, but breaking the barrier of entry into clean politics. The greatest challenge of AAP will not be killing corruption in one fell swoop but perhaps be fighting corruption at the level of that corrupt contractor or babu or various mafias. Its national ambitions might take time to realize, its realization in greater scheme of things might be another part of the story, but the fresh breeze it has brought along with it will find greater meaning if it can convert the established perverted systems to sync with that of the masses. That will be the real achievement of AAP.