Sreedharan Retires - Visionary beyond doubt

This post is small tribute to the visionary called E Sreedharan who retires on 31st December 2011 as the Head of Delhi Metro. He would hand over the reins to Mr. Mangu Singh, a great responsibility to shoulder I must say.

E Sreedharan changed the way people travel in Delhi, a visionary who laid foundation of one of the finest piece of infrastructure at the most appropriate time. It was hard to imagine Commonwealth Games without Delhi Metro ! Delhi had a virtually non existent public transport system which was evident from the dubious record of  highest number of four wheeled vehicles across all Metros in India. The only public transport were the Blue line Buses and DTC Buses which were not preferred by the elite or babus of Delhi.

The greatness of this man is not in his Engineering acumen which is by far the best but also the administrative skills demonstrated by him to handle bureaucracy across state and central governments in Delhi. Issues like land acquisition which are the prime constraint for any form of development were solved by him at mind boggling speed.

We must also salute the Indian Railways who gave him an opportunity to hone his skills as a Civil Engineer in his younger days. We must not forget that the bulk of team members from the Delhi Metro have come from Indian Railways. We have the necessary skill set, it just takes a man like E Sreedharan to bring out the best in them and an opportunity to show case them.

I take pride in the fact that I am amongst the select few who has seen this man face to face and shake hands with him. This opportunity was bestowed upon me while I was part of the team which executed the Civil works for Mandi House Metro station. He would surely not remember a lesser mortal like me but his presence was highly inspirational and motivated the entire work force.

To top this achievement we have his impeccably and  unblemished image. Not a single allegation of corruption or improper way of managing funds worth crores of rupees. We have many things to learn from great men, he showed that we can change things in India as well. Nothing is impossible, we only need tremendous will power and ability to think beyond horizons.

India produced one of the best Civil Engineers in the world Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya and I have no hesitation to add that E Sreedharan is second only to him. One thing I must say, he failed to develop a successor who could shoulder his legacy and carry forward the good work done by him.  

Changing Cities merging Identities

I visited Indore couple of weeks ago, to be precise the same day when Sehwag cracked a double ton in the One Day Cricket match against the West Indies. Indore seemed to just like Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai or Delhi. It had lost its originality. I was walking on the main road, near Bombay Hospital and I felt I am on the Pune Nagar Road, near the Airport, or near In Orbit Mall in Mumbai, or near EDM, New Delhi. It all seems to be the same. The more things change the more they become (remain ) the same.
Big wide roads, full of pot holes and dust. Abutting these roads, there are huge multiplexes which were replica of the ones which are seen in other cities. Box type structures with glass panels and Alicobond sheets on their facade. Big Bazar, Vishal Mega Mart, Nokia Priority Dealers, Adidas, Nike , Reebok, Cantabil... the list  is endless. You simply cannot make out whether you are in Indore or Ahmedabad or Lucknow; it is all the same.
Blame it on our Town Planners who fail to show any sense of originality or Architects who blindly and without any shame keep on doing their copy paste works to build replica after replica.  After few years we may not have any diversity left, rather its would be the same boring scenes all around, be it Mumbai, Delhi, Pune , Indore or Ahmedabad. 

Anna again

I am writing after a long time, had many things to write but was travelling non stop, add to it did not have a laptop. Now it is Anna Hazare once again, now this gentleman is going to fast in Mumbai. May be he could not enact his high profile drama in Delhi. Developed Cold Feet I guess ! It is rather disturbing that this man wants his own version of Lokpal, as if it a final solution to all the problems in India. Team Anna is behaving as if they are the only saviours and know everything under the Sun, nobody else can decide how the Lokpal Bill is to be drafted. The Legislature is empowered by the people, it has framed some Legislation, accept it, suggest changes. But this man wants it his own way, giving scant regard to any other thought process. This is plain Autocracy. He does not have the courage to convince politicians, get elected and then bring in reforms. He does not have any mandate except for few sycophants who have nothing better to do in life. Anna and his team is more interested in creating a big scene and hence this time they have planned to sit down for a fast in Mumbai. 

Anna had the audacity to knock the doors of the Mumbai High Court and seek concession for using the MMRDA Grounds for their high profile drama. Common sense prevailed and the Courts came down heavily on their demand seeking concession. It is the biggest paradox, you criticize the Government, go to the same Government seeking concession for fasting on the MMRDA Ground. If you want to undertake a Satyagraha why do you need such a big ground, just sit inside your house and fast till you wish. But no, this man wants publicity and more publicity.

Quoted from Times of India ...

Disapproving of the agitation despite the Lokpal Bill being tabled in Parliament, Justice Majmudar asked, "How is country's interest involved? We are a democratic set up. We have elected a government. Wouldn't your agitation interfere in the functioning of Parliament? The bill will be debated in Parliament where our elected representatives will plead our case".

The court further said that as judges they have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution and law. "Under which law are you (petitioner) asking for exemption? It might be Satyagraha for you but for some other factions it might be a nuisance," it said.

This old man is simply interested in furthering his own vested interests, publicity hungry thy name is Anna Hazare ! The High Court has thankfully upheld the Constitution and slapped them hard, who were behaving as if they are the only one who are interested in protecting the common man. Anna had started on a good note but his agitation has gone awry mid way for sure.