2. A chain of cheap fruit juices like Bangalore

3. Paid pool in car system: Locality based

4. A chain of South Indian restaurants. Those cheap ones. An idli plate at 35/- bucks is criminal.

5. I am still thinking !! Pitch in your idea.

I take this opportunity to speak to millions of you out there on the roads…But why? you would ask me now.. OH thats because .. with an interaction with you guys .. I gain immense satisfaction…

Cos of those 5-100 bucks you let go on an a shirt…”Thankyou Bhaiya”

Some places where i’ve found you and made you a part of my life are Sarojini nagar, Janpath, Kamla Nagar and my favourite Lajpat Nagar. I’ll narrate here my interaction with you today:-

__________

Location: Sarojini Nagar

Item on Sale: : clothing(woman’s t-shirt)

Me: Bhaiya- yeh kitne ka hai

Bhaiya : Madam : ek sau paitees ka

Me: Baap re:…Kaisee batein kar rahe ho?? Ek shop khol lo yaha pe, itna mehenga lena hota toh showroom se na le lete…(a little aggressively..)

Bhaiya: Madam, toh jao showroom se le lo (getting indifferent)

Me: Achha batao kitne ka lagega (bringing back his interest)

Bhaiya: aap ko bola na madam.. ab aap bata do kitna doge.. achha ek sau pachees de do…

Me: (to my friend) chalo yaar!

Bhaiya: Achha kitna dogey?????????

Me: Pachaas

Bhaiya: Madam itna margin nahi hai …. (knowing that I know it all) achha sau de do….

Me:rehne do…

Bhaiya: Pichhatar de do… ( now he’s talking)

Me: 50 final???? (me, gesturing to leave… without any intention)

Bhaiya: Achha le lo Madam(Both of us smile.. deal was final since the beginning )

Madam: Mein kehi rahi thi.. roz mein aati hu .. wahi jagah .. wahi daam.. toh jyada kyu du…

Now in my mind :

Bhaiya ji: Maan gaye .. aapki parkhi nazar… aur bargaining skills dono ko )

—————

But for you guys…our saturdays and sundays would have been spent in malls… in those lost worlds..

And I must mention here.. your biasnees towards the fairer sex… gives me a cause to beat my male friends hands on…. The wayback machine takes me to year 2001…

_________________

Location: SRCC

Me: hey, CASPER… (he was wearing a t-shirt with casper fabricated on it)

Him: Like the t-shirt eh…

me: Of course !

Him:

Me: Got it from Sarojini

Him: abbey .. dheere bol

Me: achha kitne ki khareedee?

Him: (Smirking) onnnnlllyyy sixty five:

Me: (a devils smile on my face) ohh hoo hoo… bees jyada de diye… maine bhi same khareedee (.. and i walk away with a triumpant grin)

_________________

Therefore I champion your cause…

With great admiration,

Axe

Reader Update: Exceptional Delhi Daredevil photo above. Thanks Puneet.

My subjects today are the usually common people on the road who drive a ‘green’ and ‘ello’ vehicle called an Auto Rickshaw. My experience with this species spans three cities. Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. And I am keen to brand them basis their attributes and key characteristics.

1. Bangalore Badshah: The species in Bangalore can be termed as ‘Badshahs’. This moustached, no nonsense aristocratic breed are interested in going nowhere. The passer by is a fool, a lesser mortal, who was unable to purchase a vehicle. ‘Do the passer by a favour, give him a lift, ofcourse he will pay the autowallahs moneys. The money goes as a ‘dakshina’. Read a general situation to below to understand the case better.

Situation : 15 mins on the road – No Auto yet. Then I see a badshah coming towards me… I beg… Badshah stops… “Will you go .. Indira Nagar?” … cluck cluck … and the Badshah speeds away… makes no effort in using his god gifted voice… CLUCK CLUCK .. THAT’s IT …

2. Delhi DareDevils: Yes I am inspired by the IPL name… but then there is definitely a similarity in aggression. Although, none other. The basic tenets of their existence are aggression. supression. And that too without any mission. Some terms do not exist in the dictionaries of these species. eg: Traffic policeman, Meter, courtesy, Fear. More in situation below

situation: “Bhaiya, Ashram”. “Nahi Jaana”

“Bhaiya, Ashram”. “Nahi Jaana”

“Bhaiya, Ashram”. “Nahi Jaana”

“Bhaiya, Ashram”. “Chalenge”. “Meter se?”. “Meter nahi chalta madam”.”Accha, rehne do fir”. “Aap batao madam kitna dete ho? 40 de dena”. ” Nahi Bhaiya. 40 jyada hai. 20 hota hai”. ” Madam 35 de dena”. “Nahi Bhaiya, Jao”.” Thik hai madam, 30 dena hai toh bolo, varna jao”<aggression starts here>. I look around. No other Auto. “Thik hai. Chalo”<keep reading. it doesnt end here>

“Madam utro”. “Yahan nahi aage utarna hai”. “Wahan se koi mod nahi hai vapas aane ka. aap yahi utro”<supression starts> I succumb. OK. ‘huh’

And last

3. Mast Mumbaikars – Remembering them now. I feel glad.

Sincere. Open to learning new ways. Honest. Wonderful. They are the only hope in this black and ello world. The situation says it all -

Situation: Board tha auto. Command – “Bhaiya Santa cruz” …… zooom zoom and then

“Meter down… down.. down down down down…”

Hail Hope. Hail Mumbai!

Update: I cam across this wonderful post by another tortured fellow: click here to read a wonderful composition on Bangalore Badshahs

What has triggered off this blog post is a news flash late evening today: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked the media to take a “larger view” of daily events.

He says…..”It is this three roles that give the media a special place in a democracy,”

Noting that media has been an “important healer of our democracy”, he said the combination of providing news, of shaping views and guiding society is what gives the media a special status.

So … is the objective so forgotten, that all we see is aimless bantering today?

The bus corridor is a wonderful case study … – While it captures 10″ x 8″ media reporting on front page everyday, few reporters have gone in depth to find out the reasons for Delhi Govt to bring in the bus corridor, Or have I missed it completely in the paper i read everyday – which calls HCBS the Killer corridor

Disintegrating the role of media here :

Provide News – Record: State facts…as is visible ad behind the scenes as well. Investments in to the project and expected returns… keeping the larger objectives of public convenience and judicious use of Public money in mind.. rather than mindlessly hyping traffic jams.

Guide the society: State precedents, sucesses and failures worldwide in bringing in a better transportation system… state ways of curing the system in the short run keeping in view the nature of the problem. In short suggest ways of solving the problem of traffic jams

Shape views: Bring debates – catch opinion makers on the front page… heal/aggravate public anger based on expert insights

That is all. Objectively.

Will Media go back in time and be a healer again.