Where is the kind bystander?

I: "Bhaiyya, yeh kahan padta hai?" flashing out a piece of paper with an address.

The kind soul round the bend: "Siddha jaao, doosre chowraste pe Majjid hai, Majjid kane se right leke kamaan ke andhar se teesra right. Khareeb khareeb 3 km padta yahan se".

Dear God,

A typical exchange when locating an address. Hyderabadi gullies and their unending complexities can be truly overwhelming and at times, scary too. If you were having a bad day, heck! they may seem like points of no return!

Not when the friendly, kind bystander is around though. The dialogue above should give you an idea of how well he knows these bylanes and the precision with which he can lead you to your destination.

But not anymore, Google Maps, SIRI and their ilk have made in-roads here too. Something about men and directions - our egos never let us ask for directions. That is slowly but surely turning true with the advent of the digital era.

Today the said apps take me straight to my destination providing a running commentary through the course, with the same (mostly, better too) precision that the kind bystander was equipped with.

Yet another death, yet another opportunity for communication lost to time!

The kind bystander is no more....

Who the hell is running this place?!?!

Dear God,

Sunday's debate has caused a stir, so unprecedented and of such a magnitude in political circles of not just the US but also in countries that are closely following an impending change at the White House.

A lot is being said for, against and about the sparring probables. The now infamous video that went public last week has gotten the bigwigs within the GOP to distance themselves from Trump. And as I write this, I gather that there are many more who want to keep him at bay.

Less than 30 days from the Big day and with Trump losing faith (swiftly at that) within his party, a few questions piqued my interest - What now, what next, where does GOP go from here, does Trump still continue work and most importantly, who fills in for Trump if his nomination were to be cancelled?

A bit of reading around the web got me a few possibilities. Apparently, there has never been a situation as such and hence there isn't (or so it seems) a clear solution to any of the afore-stated wringers.

It all boils down to three possibilities, as I understand - A) the candidate is rendered incapacitated, B) is deceased or C) withgoes the race by own volition. With less than a month away, fielding another candidate who can amass the kind of support that Trump has from citizens and party workers alike is going to be an implausible task. Be that as it may, will GOP still bet on Mike Pence to conjure up something?

Knowing Trump and closely following his comments after the second debate, it seems unlikely that C) were an option at all. His confidence, I suspect, is at an all-time high. He looks ever-more resilient and unwilling to quit just yet. In recent times, he and his team of medical practitioners have emphatically insisted on his pristine medical condition, weight issues, notwithstanding. And so, dare I say, A) is ruled out too.

I believe, there is another possibility. That Trump runs for office nonetheless and should he win, he is persuaded to accede office to his running mate, who in turn assumes office as a caretaker President with full powers.

That possibility, in the meanwhile, gives GOP the necessary time to huddle up and make some crucial amends.

All of this leaves me amazed at how a perceived, near-impossible event can truly stump even the most powerful nation on the planet and leave its law makers and policy books delinquent and inadequate!

Of morals

Dear God,

Circa 2 million years ago - As per a 2013 post on LiveScience, the earliest evidence of ancient human ancestors hunting and scavenging meat.

Picture heads of two families sparring over a recent kill. Before long, they are at each others' throats over who takes home the spoils. In the meantime, the shrewd and ever opportunistic Hyena is seen slinking away with the prized catch.

As the head hunters watch in dismay, they are compelled to come to a sharing agreement for all eventual kills (I guess, through gestures).Obviously, they realise that it benefits to talk and mutually agree on terms than let either party starve. And thus began the long course of sharing as we know it today.

Such and many more agreements that followed were classified into virtues, morals, codes of conduct etc. 

Begs the following questions:

1. did you design the situation? 

2. were you there as a pacifist propounding that theory of sharing with the neighbour?

3. what triggered the sharing agreement - common sense?

4. did you thus introduce common sense?

One may come to a reasonably sane conclusion that values, morals, principles et al. mostly (I daresay, always) arise out of changing times, circumstances and most importantly, convenience.

As with evolution, all the aforesaid adjectives (values, morals...) always existed. Some will retire, extend and yet others will be born. A trigger was all it required for them to kick in. Of course, therefore, it may be increasingly futile to qualify something right or wrong. Only relevance will remain and count.

To that effect, may I therefore say (with caution) that if one attributes the adjectives to you, as do many I know, they are wrong. Horribly wrong!

Correct me.

Just another working day

Dear God,

It has been a while (more than, actually) since I did anything worth a mention. Amongst several reasons, a catalyst to the preceding sentence is a recent change in work location.

Office has now moved farther by 8 kms. As a result, the distance one way to work is 28 kms. It is no longer a simple "going to work" day. Actually, you will appreciate by the end of this precis why it feels like going to the gallows and back, only to go back again!

As if the number 56 weren't stressful enough, the actual ride makes it worse. Let's start with Traffic, the good old, disciplined Hyderabadi traffic. A 5-10 min deviation from the start time at home means you can kiss punctuality goodbye. Because by 8.30 in the AM, the roads are spilling over with people from all over. Certainly, one in every household is riding to an extreme end of the city everyday.

Back to the traffic situation. So it is like going into battle constantly maneuvering the bike, navigating through tapered lanes and sometimes over namesake roads. A bit on the roads here. They are, as you will know, a facade. Can you put your finger on one good stretch in all of the twin cities? They are perennially punctuated with potholes and speed breakers. Rains just add a new dimension to the non-existent roads here. Islands of stagnated water here, overflowing potholes there, all make for a joyous ride. Appa, on one of those rare occasions quipped that having ridden these roads, it is going to be impossible to ride on a 'good' road, if that were ever to happen!

If that didn't put fear in you, here's who makes it eventful - the good old, Hyderabadi. Pedestrians, drivers and all others in the taxonomy seem to have it taken upon themselves to stop me from reaching on time. Spit missiles, cigarette buds shooting out of car or bus windows is commonplace. Traffic jams on the main lane provide for a rare sighting - motorists plying on walkers' tracks or sidewalks! You know what they say about the Hyderabadi - idhar chala liye, to kahin bhi chala lete - loosely, if you can manage riding here, you can ride anywhere else too. I say, true that! Pedestrians and two-wheelers especially, can interject when you least expect it and worse, when you cannot engage brakes in time! A unintentional nudge here or an inadvertent move can at the least, get you snarls, the kinds that can drain the blood streams, leaving you blanched. In extreme cases, it can help update your expletives' lexicon. Your immediate kith and kin are fondly recalled in sweet Dakhni.

After all this, I get to work in a little over the usual 1h 30m. Battled and bruised, I hope for a smooth day. "Ram! why haven't you completed the document yet?" The familiar greeting of the Boss!

Ciao, until next time!

Of petty jibes

Dear God,

So on one occasion a while ago, at dinner with Mentor, we were going round the table introducing ourselves and sharing our interests/hobbies.

When we got to me, I proudly said that I was learning how to play the Violin. A holier-than-thou, smart Alec quipped, "Even villains in our movies play the Violin these days"!! Yes, that was totally unprecedented and unwarranted. Worse, it wasn't remotely amusing, if that was the intent.

But guess who came to my rescue. Mentor, no less! He was quick to retort, almost like a slap in the face, "But Einstein played the Violin too, didn't he?" The look on smarty pants' face......priceless!