Footloose

Of blackened lips and reddened eyes... ! - II

The expression “blackened lips and reddened eyes” referring to addicted young persons -- men and women -- in the last edition of ‘Footloose in Bhopal’ became a subject of discussion in many groups through-out the week. Many responded to the subject positively, and joined the loosefooter to express a serious concern about the decline of the standard of young conduct (in whatever percentage). This evidence of the social concern of large numbers of people about young people falling prey to addiction ..

Of the baffling 5-star political culture !

 By vijay Phanshikar :  COME winter and the city of Nagpur is assailed by a five-star political culture. For, stepping in winter’s footsteps arrives the Maharashtra Government for the winter session of its legislature -- Ministers, Me..

Of blackened lips and reddened eyes ... ! - II

The expression “blackened lips and reddened eyes” referring to addicted young persons -- men and women -- in the last edition of ‘Footloose in Nagpur’ became a subject of discussion in many groups through-out the week. Many responded to the subject positively, and joined the loosefooter to express a serious concern about the decline of the standard of young conduct (in whatever percentage). This evidence of the social concern of large numbers of people about young people falling prey to addiction ..

Of blackened lips and reddened eyes ... !

BY ANY standard, every young person in the group was handsome or beautiful -- and also well-dressed. But the group of 7-8 young people -- boys and girls -- had a terribly serious problem. All of them were smoking almost continuously for over an hour standing outside a restaurant. Standing a few feet away from the group (with the sole purpose watching the young group), the loosefooter felt really, really sorry for the young people with blackened lips and reddened eyes -- obviously from the toxic smoke ..

Of two groups... !

AS USUAL, the cafe in a posh area was crowded around 4 in the afternoon. Individuals, groups, couples sat at tables, engaged in following their respective culinary pursuits -- and also in discussions, some in quiet whispers and some in loud assertions. There was laughter in the air and a general sense of merriment prevailed in the large room with several tables. Waiters and bearers moved around effortlessly serving the customers, many of whom appeared to be regulars in the place. Two groups -- sitting ..

Of the lack of cultural sophistication

THE municipal authorities in Nagpur were seen engaged in a drive to book people who spit in public places or urinated anywhere at will or threw domestic waste and other garbage in open spaces. In one single day, as the reports have us believe, the authorities booked as many as 96 cases and collected a fine of Rs. 46,000/- All this sounds good, so to say ! Yet, given the size of the Second Capital of Maharashtra, the achievement should be termed as very small. For, anyone can see literally hundreds ..

Of the Top Cop’s advice to Traffic Police ...!

THE advice is full of wisdom -- by Nagpur’s Commissioner of Police Dr Ravinder Singal to the City Traffic Police Force -- ‘Be polite and full of kindness while managing traffic.’ This leadership action by Dr Singal -- aided by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP-Traffic) Mr Archit Chandak -- will certainly go a long way to mould the Traffic cops into a force with finer culture. The fact that the Commissioner of Police himself sat with the newly-appointed personnel in Traffic Police for the training ..

Of the poor, helpless traffic cops !

ANYBODY can see and sense the helplessness of Traffic Police in Nagpur. No, the purpose here is not to defend the cops and show them as symbols of goodness. They, too, have their own failings, all right. On occasions, they are slack and even indifferent to their own mandated task. Yet, they also find themselves pitted against larger numbers of people who appeared to have made it their mission to flout traffic rules and regulations. Against such (anti)-social menace, any police force would find things ..

Of young resolve against addiction

THE human chain formed by children of a school (Shri Ram School -- Hindi and English Medium) and Gayatri Parivar to highlight the dangers of addiction of banned substances made one feel happy that young people appear to realise the risks and dangers of wrong habits. From the point of view of scale, the event may be described by some as small (because possibly of numbers). Yet, the fact that school children could be motivated to form a human chain and show solidarity with the cause of fight against ..

Of the blatant, brazen blokes among us

THIS ISSUE -- of people’s unruly conduct on roads -- has a tendency to keep cropping up in public discourse again and again. There may not be any social conversation in town without a reference to the uncouth and brazen behaviour of the people in Maharashtra’s Second Capital. Unfortunately, we can see people from all walks of life -- from all economic segments -- indulging in blatant, brazen misconduct on roads or public places, breaking all rules and norms, and also defying common sense. In the process, ..

Of the lament of a son of the soil

NO MATTER the new (?) increasing numbers of cement roads in Nagpur and their paved sidewalks, the first impression one gets while moving around town is that the city-roads suffer from bad maintenance -- countless pot-holes, countless water puddles, countless street corners needing urgent repair, countless boulders and cement blocks at critical turns on roads ... ! There are countless spots on different city-roads where people keep tripping and hurting themselves and their two-wheelers or even four-wheelers..

Of the mockery of tall claims by administration

THE pictures tell the story without words. The pictures ‘The Hitavada CityLine’ published on September 25, 2024 -- of the pools of rain water at Kachipura and Bajaj Nagar squares -- actually mock at the tall claims of the city leadership that they are modernising the city’s road system. The two pictures prove that the claims are just hollow. Both the intersections are in the city’s prime area, and yet give a clear impression of a failed civic management. One small rainy spell, and many areas in ..

Of ‘Bada Talab’, the city’s signature

EVERY Bhopalite will agree with Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Mr. Vishwas Kailash Sarang that the Upper Lake -- Bada Talab -- is a Nature’s gift to the city. Its size is certainly a matter of pride for every Bhopalite. But more importantly, the Bada Talab has become an integral part of the city’s personality. In other words, Bada Talab is the city’s signature -- by which the city is known and talked about everywhere in the country. So important Bada Talab is to the city’s psyche that nobody can ..

Of an inexplicable apathy: Some troubling questions !!!

THE story of Ganesh immersion in Nagpur has changed altogether. Lakes are being spared from the immersion. Instead, innumerable small tanks come up everywhere to accommodate small idols every year. The civic administration, the Police as well as countless voluntary organisations stand together to ensure that the lakes are not invaded by over-enthusiastic devotees to immerse their Ganesh idols into actual lake waters. This is, of course, the most welcome development. For, when the lakes are kept free ..

Of the question of fine culture

ARE we -- the Nagpurians -- the people of a fine culture, or more precisely, a fine civic culture ? This question haunts not just the loosefooter but also everybody with a good sense of public conduct -- in Nagpur. And there are countless dimensions to this haunting question -- of the sense of personal responsibility towards others in the society, of the sense of dignity of one’s own and of others, of the importance of smoothness and polish in collective conduct ...! In almost every social conversation ..

Of so so so many complaints !!!

SO, THE Union Minister received as many as 840 complaints about the Nagpur Improvements Trust (NIT) and the Nagpur Metropolitan Regional Developmental Authority (NMRDA) -- at his ‘Janata Darbar’. And a few days earlier, people had thronged around him to present to him as many as 1,500 complaints about the civic issues such as bad roads and water-logging in the city, at the first ‘Janata Darbar’. The people’s throngs were so thick and sticky that the security formed a cordon around the Union Minister ..

I-Day musings

THE trigger is obvious -- Independence Day -- to indulge in a free-wheeling thinking on the meaning of Independence for common people. So, the ‘I-Day musings’, so to say. Of course, the word ‘Independence’ -- or ‘Freedom’ -- has multiple nuances, as highlighted by poets and writers of all shades of different ideologies. But, among the most important of these nuances is one of a sense of well-being under self-rule. And an important dimension of well-being is good basic standards of living. This ..