Observations and perspectives from my visit few cities in India in January

[zebra16]

Share:

Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Share Link

hi sir,

nice write up and thanks for your appreciation..

next comes herewith...i visit everyyear chennai from USA....more than 15 years regularly for my LIFE CERTIFICATE SYNDROME

in november every year in chennai bank....

I think the present NDA government has put an end to this inconvenience and one can furnish proof of being alive to the pension authorities through video conference etc..

 

[tbs]

I think the present NDA government has put an end to this inconvenience and one can furnish proof of being alive to the pension authorities through video conference etc..

hi

even personaly approached concern bank....still they create problem.....this time i went to the concerned bank with my house

tenant...who is retired as bank manager recently...even he can't do anything...we have a lot of NICE ANOUNCEMENTS ...BUT

REALITY BITTER EXPERIENCES.....so i decided continue with LIFE CERTIFICATE SYNDROME EVERY NOVEMBER,,,,

 

[krish44]

Sri Balasubramani,

Your remarks resonate well with my limited experience.

In many places - be it Chennai or New Delhi or Mumbai or Pune or Kanpur - a pedestrian cannot be sure they can cross the streets safely in many parts of the town.

Many people on the road somehow just walk across without worry and having full faith that the auto or car or the bike fellow will do the right thing and not hit them.

During ride to this T-Nagar crematorium in one of the cars I was in, the host of the car was talking in general about how one never knows where Yaman is and how easily a person can pass away in a moment.

All I could think was, Yaman is riding on that water truck going at a reckless speed.

Delhi traffic is worse. One of my friends decided to drive with me to some place instead of relying on his driver. I could see that he was unsuited to drive since his blood pressure rising at each roadside behaviors of others. He could not stand the lawlessness! I told him never to drive again and just rely on his driver who has a cool mind to deal with the fellow drivers on the road.

In that trip, I also got re-educated about how profanities are uttered at others in the road. My deep rooted conviction now is that Punjabi language is by far best suited for delivering profanities in a sing-song style

When I first started driving a car in delhi, I was given a wise advise. Never look behind and pray the one behind has the wisdom to not hit you.

I held a record for driving at such a slow speed , it was a great irritation for those behind in a hurry.

The delhi abusive language few can match. One picks it up over a period of time and start even relish using selectively .

I gave up driving when someone tried deliberately to push my car off the road irritated at my speed of driving.

The side doors got banged and ended crumpled.

I ended up with mostly shock and a few bruises.Only a bashed up car to be sold off was the outcome.

Now I have a big sturdy car with a driver.

I learn fast what not to do in delhi

 

[tbs]

When I first started driving a car in delhi, I was given a wise advise. Never look behind and pray the one behind has the wisdom to not hit you.

I held a record for driving at such a slow speed , it was a great irritation for those behind in a hurry.

The delhi abusive language few can match. One picks it up over a period of time and start even relish using selectively .

I gave up driving when someone tried deliberately to push my car off the road irritated at my speed of driving.

The side doors got banged and ended crumpled.

I ended up with mostly shock and a few bruises.Only a bashed up car to be sold off was the outcome.

Now I have a big sturdy car with a driver.

I learn fast what not to do in delhi

hi

in delhi...the car never banged is rare...generally maximum cars some kind of scrach and bumbed in front/back side......hitting

from back very common in delhi....

 

[vgane]

Driving is an art..I do not have the patience to drive in the over crowded Gurgaon...I too use the services of a driver...But even with driver there are accidents but I am sparred the tension..For those who think & drive it will be hazardous...

 

[V.Balasubramani]

I simply wonder how people are able to put up with such steep rise in prices almost on a monthly basis.

tks Ji,

Just five years back that was in 2011, cost of one litre of milk was around Rs.16/= and today the same costs Rs.46/=. One kg of tur dal was Rs.68/= and today it costs Rs.180/=. Bus fare was Rs.10/= and today it is Rs.23/=. Electricity charges which was Rs.500/= is now Rs.1400/=. With levy of new VAT, monthly grocery bill has gone up from Rs.2000/= to Rs2,800/=. One load of sand which was Rs.3,500/= roughly has gone up to Rs7,200/=now.

For a family with four to five members, the monthly budget will be around Rs.6000/= few years back, to lead a simple life and such families require a minimum of Rs.14,000/= now.

People voted for the Government, with a fervent hope that the Government will take all our efforts to control the prices.

But what happened actually?

On the contrary, there is steep hike in the price of essential commodities including provision, oil, milk, transport, power, gas, petrol, medicine, Insurance, etc etc

During every summer season, it has become a customary to enhance the price of milk.

The prices of gas and petrol soar intermittently.

When there is monsoon failure, prices of vegetable, fruits and grocery items will soar with immediate effect.

When there is hoarding by wholesalers for obvious reasons, the cost of onion or tur dal, etc will soar.

And when there is poor supply and more demand, the cost of such product will soar.

But IMHO, the salary or income of an individual may not have such number of opportunities for hike.

If he is a Government servant, he will have two DAs hike every year, besides annual increment and this applies to pensioners also.

But in the case of retired persons from private sector who don't have such terminal benefits, what will they do? Especially those who depend upon their wards, who are already facing the challenges of running a family and finding it difficult to make both the ends meet.

A couple of days back I met a friend and during our chat, he mentioned that lives of most of the downtrodden has gone several years backward economically with all their hard earned assets and valuables gone with the flood.

Are they happy with the freebies and subsidies? What is the level of corruption? What is the average per capita Debt?

Where is Achhe Din?

Perhaps this may also be one of reasons for rise in offences like chain snatching, pickpocketing, etc




PS: Prices quoted to approx

 

[tks]

tks Ji,

Just five years back that was in 2011, cost of one litre of milk was around Rs.16/= and today the same costs Rs.46/=. One kg of tur dal was Rs.68/= and today it costs Rs.180/=. Bus fare was Rs.10/= and today it is Rs.23/=. Electricity charges which was Rs.500/= is now Rs.1400/=. With levy of new VAT, monthly grocery bill has gone up from Rs.2000/= to Rs2,800/=. One load of sand which was Rs.3,500/= roughly has gone up to Rs7,200/=now.

For a family with four to five members, the monthly budget will be around Rs.6000/= few years back, to lead a simple life and such families require a minimum of Rs.14,000/= now.

People voted for the Government, with a fervent hope that the Government will take all our efforts to control the prices.

But what happened actually?

On the contrary, there is steep hike in the price of essential commodities including provision, oil, milk, transport, power, gas, petrol, medicine, Insurance, etc etc

During every summer season, it has become a customary to enhance the price of milk.

The prices of gas and petrol soar intermittently.

When there is monsoon failure, prices of vegetable, fruits and grocery items will soar with immediate effect.

When there is hoarding by wholesalers for obvious reasons, the cost of onion or tur dal, etc will soar.

And when there is poor supply and more demand, the cost of such product will soar.

But IMHO, the salary or income of an individual may not have such number of opportunities for hike.

If he is a Government servant, he will have two DAs hike every year, besides annual increment and this applies to pensioners also.

But in the case of retired persons from private sector who don't have such terminal benefits, what will they do? Especially those who depend upon their wards, who are already facing the challenges of running a family and finding it difficult to make both the ends meet.

A couple of days back I met a friend and during our chat, he mentioned that lives of most of the downtrodden has gone several years backward economically with all their hard earned assets and valuables gone with the flood.

Are they happy with the freebies and subsidies? What is the level of corruption? What is the average per capita Debt?

Where is Achhe Din?

Perhaps this may also be one of reasons for rise in offences like chain snatching, pickpocketing, etc




PS: Prices quoted to approx

Thank you Sri Balasubramani for sharing more details on specific prices.

In this trip I had a chance to visit my school (IIT Kanpur) to give a talk. I could not recognize most part of of the campus easily. The progress is very significant and impressive.

In New Delhi I had a chance to visit a house we used to live (as renters) decades ago. It is in a place in South Delhi called Defense Colony. The house we used to live for almost a decade had been rebuilt to a magnificent structure. I was astounded to hear the possible price tag for such a house being about 25 crore Rupees. I am not sure if this valuation is correct but still the ballpark amount is simply unbelievable.



There is no way our family could have kept pace with such a valuation and inflation if we had continued to live there.


I hope better days are ahead.

 

[vgane]

Yes TKSji...You have to cough up 2 crores to get a decent apartment with 3 BR in a decent South locality....Prices have stagnated or dropped a bit in last 2 years fortunately..Otherwise we do not know where this madness would have peaked & collapsed(?)

 

[tbs]

hi

many apartments in NCR /greater noida area slashed prices....defence colony in south delhi always hot cake.....

 

[kgpal]

My Observation on Delhi

Many impressions expressed by members on our Capital, Delhi are valid. The city has grown beyond recognition. I had lived in Delhi for more than 23 years, of course, during my formative years in my childhood and youth. I had completed my education there and also started my career in Delhi. As I grew, I moved away from Delhi to live in other parts of India and abroad. I had been visiting Delhi on and off for official work frequently till about a decade ago but then have not had any occasions, official or otherwise to visit Delhi in the recent past. I have even lived in about in the late 90s for a period of two years after our family wound up from Delhi in the early 80s. Would I go back to Delhi again to live there, though personally I had no problem in negotiating the city?

Though it retains a very few plus points of yore, in terms of infrastructure, colonies, park & open space, Jungle in the middle of the city, Etc., I would still not go back to live there any more. It has grown beyond imagination, crowded, polluted, insecure and above all cost of living has gone up. Besides, politics and political connections dominate dialogues, day to day interactions and relationships between individuals. It probably still retains its uncouth culture of indifference, plain show-off and discourteous behaviour of neighboring nouveau-riche rural societies of Hariyana and these have got accentuated. There are many more cities which are more livable, with reasonable cost of living, affordable, less polluted, culturally more active and more friendly to the aged and disabled than present day Delhi is.

Very absorbing and interesting thread and discussion. Thank you TKS ji. Gopal K

 

[tks]

Many impressions expressed by members on our Capital, Delhi are valid. The city has grown beyond recognition. I had lived in Delhi for more than 23 years, of course, during my formative years in my childhood and youth. I had completed my education there and also started my career in Delhi. As I grew, I moved away from Delhi to live in other parts of India and abroad. I had been visiting Delhi on and off for official work frequently till about a decade ago but then have not had any occasions, official or otherwise to visit Delhi in the recent past. I have even lived in about in the late 90s for a period of two years after our family wound up from Delhi in the early 80s. Would I go back to Delhi again to live there, though personally I had no problem in negotiating the city?

Though it retains a very few plus points of yore, in terms of infrastructure, colonies, park & open space, Jungle in the middle of the city, Etc., I would still not go back to live there any more. It has grown beyond imagination, crowded, polluted, insecure and above all cost of living has gone up. Besides, politics and political connections dominate dialogues, day to day interactions and relationships between individuals. It probably still retains its uncouth culture of indifference, plain show-off and discourteous behaviour of neighboring nouveau-riche rural societies of Hariyana and these have got accentuated. There are many more cities which are more livable, with reasonable cost of living, affordable, less polluted, culturally more active and more friendly to the aged and disabled than present day Delhi is.

Very absorbing and interesting thread and discussion. Thank you TKS ji. Gopal K

Sri kgpal - Thanks for sharing your comments.
Now that I think about my Delhi stay, I did notice the sky being covered with smog. At nights it is not possible to see any star on the sky at most parts of Delhi

 

[tbs]

Sri kgpal - Thanks for sharing your comments.
Now that I think about my Delhi stay, I did notice the sky being covered with smog. At nights it is not possible to see any star on the sky at most parts of Delhi

hi sir,

my family is living in delhi more than 50 yrs.....even i got married in delhi....when i was posted there....i did my ph.d from

delhi university....still delhi is grown up beyond...its called NCR region.....

 

[vgane]

Sri kgpal - Thanks for sharing your comments.
Now that I think about my Delhi stay, I did notice the sky being covered with smog. At nights it is not possible to see any star on the sky at most parts of Delhi

Why only Delhi...All metros be it Chennai or Bengaluru have gone in hyper mode vertically and are expanding as if there is no end! There is more congestion and pollution everywhere!

I first stepped first into Delhi in Sep'89..

Delhi has a laid back attitude to work!

The call centers changed all of that!

The metro network going into almost every corner of Delhi is a blessing & sign of orderliness in the chaos!

The International Airport is another major landmark that changed the face of Delhi! New Delhi Munical Council area (less than 5% of Delhi) however still retains the charm on account of the sprawling bungalows, landscaped gardens, colonial era architecture and well maintained roads!!

 

[krish44]

To appreciate delhi, one requires a mindset a thick skin.

Gopalji has described with colourfully both the city and its residents.

Delhi is a mini india.

if one lives couple of decades here, one gets attached to it and the people.

I would not ever think of moving elsewhere ever.

Roads of new delhi , vgneji are good.Only Aurangazeb road is in new avathar as Abdul Kalam road

 

[V.Balasubramani]

When will the Delhi get Statehood and show progress in clearing the accumulated garbage and filth, potholed roads, dingy streets, highly polluted air, crumbling infrastructure, feeble law andorder and lack of basic amenities like water, power, etc.

It is LG, MHA, DDA and MOUD who rule Delhi actually.

AK is busy doing his political gimmicks to garner more media attention.

During my deputation, I lived at Delhi for a couple of years. It is a prohibited area with tight securitycover. We used to do outing and shopping only during weekends.

Delhi has number of parks and I love the green cover.

 

[tks]

I have some general questions.

1. What is the cost of funeral these days? I am talking about cremation, death certificate etc
2. What is a typical vaddhyar cost for first day and then last several days (including Dhanam etc)?
3. What other expenses exist (I guess food etc?) to get an idea how much a person has to save for this final expenses in a TB family?

I am sure there is a range to this cost - I am trying to get a general idea of how people cope up with this expense.

On a different topic, I found in this visit that this Vastu Shastram focus has taken over India. I do not know when this because mainstream. 20+ years ago I was unaware of this obsession. Even my friends (not TB) who are atheists made sure their new homes are vastu-proofed because they want to make sure it can be sold easily if they ever have to do so.

 

[krish44]

By an estimate , delhi requires 2cr flats/houses. NCR has 1.2 cr which are completed or work in progress.

Since they are distant from centre of delhi and do not social infrastructure-schools,hospital ,hospitals besides good transport by road or train . They do not have

guaranteed power or water.

Within delhi , there is room only for vertical expansion . They can be 14-15 storeyed in posh new delhi and other places where old british days houses are getting

demolished. Here also power , water, road capacity besides last mile connectivity for metros are issues.

DDA can very well build these multi storeyed flats as they built lig,mig,hig flats in delhi.They have the expertise and the people.

 

[krish44]

Cost of a funeral can be on an average between 30-40 thousands for 13 day period in delhi.

It is 5-8 thousand on day of funeral and the balance between 10th to 13 th day.

The maximuum is on tenth and thirteenth .

If you are vaishnavite , you will end up paying a few thousands more as vadhyars are in short supply,.