A LITTLE LATE IN THE DAY BUT ANYWAYS A VERY HAPPY & HEALTHY 2010 TO ALL. I must confess that I had a fantastic end to the last year gone by and a more than rollicking and rejuvenating start to the new year. But thereafter it was back in the dumps and to the harsh cruelties of life...a true roller-coaster experience. If I may say so, then nothing less than "an enthralling and dismal melange of happenings". First, the reasons for a happy ending to 2009 : Watched and immensely enjoyed the biggest bollywood hit till date (no points for guessing...3 idiots it was) with my family on Christmas day followed by mouth watering Dominos ultra cheesy burst pizzas. At last most parents (after watching the film) would probably now allow their children to follow their professional passions even if they seem idiotic at first. The days of only choosing to be either a doctor, CA or an Engineer are passe. So mark my words that the Gen-Y kids undoubtedly would be happy and successful doing their own thing which they are truly passionate about. Then on the 28th, we had a Silver jubilee reunion of several of my old school friends and batchmates at Dublin, Maurya which was extremely nostalgic and full of lovely memories. On the 29th, I flew out of the country with family in tow to Dubai for a short vacation to usher in the new year. Next, the reasons for a happy beginning to 2010 : The first five days of 2010 were the best ever to start a new year till date, what with going the whole hog on cruises, snow parks, aquariums, safaris, dune bashing, belly dancing, binging, therapeutic shopping in the swankiest of Dubai Malls and having a high after watching Burj Khalifa ( the tallest building in the world) alongwith musical fountains...all in a week's time. Who said holidays are for relaxing??? But no complaints as mine was terrific since it soothed my mind, if not the body.
Alas!! the Roller-coaster had to start its downward journey. So the cracker of a holiday had to end and we finally landed in Delhi, rather forcefuly brought back to mother earth. Back home in Gurgaon we are welcomed by the coldest January in a decade or so, massive fog and darkness all over...what with 12-15 hour daily power cuts doing the rounds of the so called millennium city. I sometimes doubt whether we are still living in the 21st Century :-(. I think Pandora, the planet (in the blockbuster movie "Avatar") was any day better. The roads and water situation is equally deplorable...the infrastructure of the city literally sucks but the real estate prices in Gurgaon continue to rise unabated as if its the new Manhattan. I don't know why more and more people (unprecedented demand could be reason for the booming real estate) are flocking to Gurgaon despite the infrastructure being in shambles. Maybe the Fortune 500 companies with their swanky offices are attracting them to take up jobs here unmindful of their residential woes. I bet, the bubble will soon burst if the State and Central Governments don't wake up from their prolonged slumber and get serious about the pathetic infrastructure soon enough.It appears that the Government thinks that Gurgaon is inhabited only by the affluent who can in any case generate their own electricity. What a shameful thought to have in the largest democracy of the world!!!
And then out of the blue I had a date with rising food prices when my dear wifey told me about shooting prices of basic vegetables like onions & potatoes and items like sugar, pulses etc. The act of squandering dough on our just concluded vacation felt neurotic and queasy for a moment. Nah! Nah! don't be stupid, it was real fun and great bonding time with the family after a long time. Sometimes, I really feel sorry for single bread-earner families having monthly income of no more than rupees 5K. Can they even afford two square meals a day in these inflationary times? It's easy for me to write about it, but I can very well comprehend their daily plight and we should all consider ourselves truly blessed. However, it doesn't mean the Government and the well-heeled should stop worrying about them. The least the Government can do is to avoid making controversial statements like the one made by our flip-flop Agriculture minister about rising milk and sugar prices and their scarcity. It was the last thing one would have expected him to utter during his press conference. Sadly, it would have surely alerted the hoarders and black marketeers.
The roller-coaster downward slide still continues with the racists(???) attacks on Indians in Australia going on unabated and well into the new year as well. The Australian government is giving pacifying statements in the media that they are not racist attacks and they are booking the culprits but in reality all these statements are not producing any favourable results. If these are not racist, then why only Indians and not other races are being attacked. Looks like some Australian gang has caught fancy of the Indians. This entire episode is quite despicable and must stop immediately if we are to continue visiting Australia not only for education but for that matter tourism as well.
Last but not the least, I feel extremely despondent and distressed for the lacs who lost their lives in the recent Haiti earthquakes, their close ones and also at the massive devastation of the city. If your heart bleeds for the people of Haiti (like me) then please show some compassion by coming forward to donate for the cause to Red Cross at their American Red Cross website. The link is https://american.redcross.org/site/Donation2?idb=575848076&df_id=4437&4437.donation=form1
And by the way I am still waiting impatiently for the roller-coaster to take me up again fast...ha...ha!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment