Don't Malign India - Common Wealth Games

A few days back the government of UK released a set of guidelines for its citizens - which clearly warned them to watch their behaviour while dealing with people of different nations - who would be visiting the Queen's land during London Olympics 2012.

``French are rude, Belgians take offense at people snapping their fingers, never mistake Canadians for Americans, who can be very direct, Australians use coarse language and Indians are, in general, impatient.''

Here they go again.... more to come against Indians.... ``Indians like to be attended quickly and it has been observed that the more affluent they are the more demanding they tend to be... Also, stay away from Indians, who do not like to be touched by strangers and may be suspicious about British food...''

It was weird and quite offensive to an extent the way people of different nationalities were described by the government of UK.

Yet, the British authorities should be forgiven for they are ignorant. They have not experienced the beauty of various cultures. Their spectrum is not wide enough to absorb the values, which different countries follow. Their world (food, language and life style) revolves around Queen's throne. So, they can be pardoned.

What offended me to no limits were the guidelines issued by the Indian government for the tourists who would be visiting India during the Common Wealth Games.

Here is a sample of these guidelines issued on a website prepared by the Games authorities.....

• No public display of affection (no hugging - no kissing).
• No discussion on religion but can have a debate on politics as Indians love to discuss politics.
• Use bathrooms in hotels as the public toilets are few and filthy.
• Carry your own wet wipes and tissues.
• Take off your shoes while entering an Indian house.
• Think twice before driving on Indian roads. It is not advisable to drive on Indian roads with all that traffic.
• When shopping at roadside shops, be ready to bargain - quote 50 percent of the price and settle for 60 percent of what the shopkeeper has quoted.
• Indians are curious by nature and therefore, if you are stared at, don't mind.

After going through these guidelines I wondered if the Games authorities feel we Indians are still living in 17th century and we behave in such uncivlised way!!!

What I suggest to Common Wealth Games authorities is that instead of giving this ugly image of an uncivilised nation where uncouth citizens live, they could have tried to improve the basic infrastructure in the country to enhance the image of the nation.

Then I tried to analyse why we Indians behave the way we behave and found out that there are reasons behind our acceptable or not so acceptable behaviour. My analysis goes like this........

• Indians follow centuries old culture and do not allow strangers to kiss and hug. Reason: the stranger might be carrying some infection!
• Indians do not discuss religion because we are the most secular society and we respect and honour all religions and try not to hurt the religious sentiments of people.
• We love to discuss politics because we are evolved and aware. Any debate on politics is welcomed in the world's biggest democracy because here everyone is free to have his/her own political opinion.
• The public facilities are less as the government does not care. If there were toilets which were kept clean and were equipped with tissues and rolls, people in general would have learnt their proper usage. The poor people of Indian who can't afford two meals a day cannot be expected to learn the use of toilet roll and buy it for their daily use.
• Most Indians take off their shoes before entering their houses because a house is not a mere house for many - it is a kind of religious place because a family lives there and nothing is more sacred and pious than a family. Besides, we avoid bringing germs and bacteria inside the house therefore, take off shoes, which we have worn outside our homes.
• Indian traffic is mental because politicians and bureaucrats invariably love to flout the traffic rules and people generally follow their leaders.
• Many Indian items sold on roadside, are available at fifty times more their original price in other countries, which are making money by selling them. Then why not let our small time businessmen make some money from these foreigners, who come to India thinking everything is cheap here.
• Indians are curious because in the race of development we had been left behind and now to make up we want to learn everything and we want to learn everything fast so that we can emerge as competitors for other nations.

Does anyone in the Common Wealth Games have to say anything in this matter???

Traffic Park - for whom ?

The government of Uttar Pradesh has constructed a Traffic Park in the capital city of Lucknow. The park is spread in over 2,500 acres and is equipped with especially designed infrastructure and educates the visitor about various traffic rules and road signs. The aim behind setting up such a park is to teach traffic rules to the children.

Very good idea indeed!

But what I think is that in this city it is not the children who need to be educated about traffic and its rules and the road signs but the elders who badly need tuitions in traffic rules.

Of the elders, it is basically the drivers of politicians and bureaucrats (zooming in ambassadors/MUVs/SUVs with red and blue lights on top), who urgently need to to be educated about traffic rules.

Then there are roadways bus drivers - who drive so rash that they take one life invariably every day - and also the drivers of school buses - who speed recklessly while ferrying our young ones and speed - they require proper training in traffic rules.

Also, the drivers of roadways buses and big lorries like dumpers - carrying construction material - which too kill one or two people on a daily basis, need to be taken to driving classes and pumped in some sense of traffic rules.

Lastly, the auto drivers of the city, who in a fight to be ahead of each other block the whole road, they also require to sit through driving classes.

The government should organise formal visits for these aforementioned species to the traffic park, where they should be asked questions about various road signs. I am sure a whole lot of them would look as dumb as dumb can be as to them the traffic rules and road signs are nothing but Greek.

Once these elders have learnt how to drive like civilised persons, the children will automatically learn the rules and regulations.

It is a known fact that children learn faster by seeing and copying their elders.

Some LuckNow For Our Lucknow

The moment someone mentions Lucknow, the picture of a place emerges, which has some leisurely grandeur, where nawabs (Muslim royals) roam in their traditional attire of kurta, achkan and churidaar, their interactions/conversations reflect tehzeeb & adab (respectfulness), and tameez (ettiquate) , where the culture of pehle aap, pehle aap (after you) results in these nawabs missing their train.

Lucknow is not the name of just any other city on this planet. Someone has said... Lucknow ek ehsaas hai jise junoon wale hi mehsoos ker sakte hain (Lucknow is a deep-felt feeling, which only passionate people can experience).

One of my friends from Delhi has grasped this essence of Lucknow. He comes and visits me once in four-five years just to enjoy the leisurely life. He insists on getting a Tonga ride and finds it amazing that shops in Hazratganj (the most modern and happening shopping place of the city) open only about noon time.

What made him fall in love with this city was his first ride in an auto rickshaw in the city. The auto met with an accident with a motorbike and the bikers, to his surprise instead of picking up a fight, said to the auto driver, ``bhaiya itni bedardi se brake na lagaya karo'' (brother, don't apply brake so heartlessly). ``What a place where people show their anger in such gentle and romantic language!'' His reflection.

According to him the kind of sukoon (peace) and itminan (complacency) he finds in beggars' and rickshaw pullers' eyes in Lucknow, is rare. ``They are happy in whatever they have - no rush to get more... this is a feeling, which people in the other parts of the civilised world can't even imagine''. His comment. Unfortunately, this time he could not find the same Lucknow what he experienced 24 years back. He was devastated to see the mall culture overpowering the Mughal heritage.

He was right! Lucknow is fast changing into any other growing mega city.

A bunch of evolved people from this unique city, who are in love with this Indian city and who are also concerned about its growing urbanisation, increasing population but deteriorating culture, have come together to find ways to bring back the glorious past of this legendary city of India.

The bunch includes noted film maker Muzaffar Ali, his designer wife Meera Ali, retired Indian Revenue Officer Parveen Talha, Chairman Confederation of Indian Industries State Council Jayant Krishna, General Manager of Taj Hotel Shekhar Walavalkar, known heart specialist Dr Mansoor Hasan, writer Ravi Bhatt, historian Yogesh Praveen, ace photographer Ravi Kapoor, and many more alike.

A few of their concerns are :

The city is getting less and less tourists with every passing year.

The arts and crafts, such as chikankari (fine hand embroidery), Awadhi cuisines, fine silver foil making, which is used to decorate desserts, antiques etc. etc. are dying a slow death.

The generation Y from the city is not aware of their rich heritage.

The majestic Mughal monuments are suffering from constant encroachment.

The narrow lanes of the old and traditional city are threatened to lose their existence due to sheer neglect.

The concerned minds have come up with several suggestions, like Muzaffar Ali says tourism can be promoted only when people have a passion to share. They can share their food, their buildings, their crafts, their arts and so on. Now, it is up to people to decide what they want to share individually or collectively.

Very well said indeed, as the Taj General Manager Mr Walavalkar pointed out that Goa is a big tourist hub not because it has some of the world's best beaches as it does not have even the best beaches of India, but in Goa tourism has flourished because of its people, who have a passion to share their surroundings, their culture and their heritage with the rest of the world.

The suggestion came with a warning; ``please do not give the tourism related work into unprofessional hands, rather involve the best talented professionals from any part of the world for the simple reason that when you invite people from worldwide, you should give them the world class infrastructure and services as well''. Mr Ali explains.

Also, while doing all this keep a pace with the world, use internet for wide publicity and easy access, make CDs of the monuments and cultural heritage so that the tourist gets authentic information and is also not fleeced and fooled by the uninformed guide.

One very important thing that draws unanimous concern from the like minded people, is the identity of Lucknow airport, which was known as Amausi Airport but was recently renamed as Chowdhary Charan Singh Airport.

The name does not coincide with Lucknow and does not denote the city's character in anyways whereas an airport is the gateway to a city and it should reflect the city's essence and character and should spark the imagination of the visitor.

Unfortunately, this name can't be changed but there is hope as a new building for the international airport is soon to come up next to the existing airport building. Now all those who love Lucknow even a bit need to lobby for naming of this new building as either Begum Hazrat Mahal Airport, Lucknow or Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Airport, Lucknow.

The time is perfect for such lobbying as Hazratganj is all set to celebrate its 200th year of existence and lot of work is already underway to make the event a memorable one. The shopping area is getting a face lift to transcend people to the `ganjing' era (when people used to come to Hazratganj to just take a stroll or to have coffee and pastries). A series of festivities have been planned in December.

This year the railways too, are starting a Maharaja Express on the pattern of Palace on Wheels, which marketed Rajasthan very well. This Maharaja Express aiming to market the Awadh region is the most expensive train ever (costing US$800 per day) and it promises its guests a real royal experience.

So, there are people who have the inkling and the time too is appropriate to bring back the lost glory of Lucknow. But, this would require lot of hard work on the ground as mere conferences, talks and seminars will not change the face of this new Lucknow we are living in.

Let's begin with hope and let each one of us take up our share of responsibilities.

Decide not to litter our roads and surroundings and check others doing the same to keep the city clean.

Take a vow not to use or use as little as inevitable, the horns in our vehicles to minimise noise pollution in the city. Those who do not drive themselves should check their drivers for the same.

Try parking your vehicle in the parking even if you are a bureaucrat or a politician. Learn to follow traffic rules to minimise chaos on the city roads.

Try to form a queue wherever there are plenty of people to show the world that we belong to a civilised world.

Have a regard and respect for elders at home and also on the road, whether they are driving or walking.

A bit of consideration and courtesy in our daily lives can bring the change and make Lucknow the Lucknow.

So best wishes to us and to Lucknow!