Another general elections are round the corner. Crores of rupees will be spent to elect our representatives who may rule over us for the next five years. Whoever loses sits in the opposition and just opposes everything the ruling government does or plans to do. They think that they are there to just oppose oppose and oppose. These opposition leaders think that they can do better and manage better whatever the situation. They never agree on anything and thus goes on our government delaying things.

So these very opposition leaders if chosen by the people to form the next government, they take an year or two blaming the previous government for the lapses and bring about all sorts of excuses for their inability to set right things. Take for example the galloping inflation, the newly formed government may not find it easy to rein in and the previous government will be reprehensible. After a couple of years they should settle down and do all the right things but again the blame will go the the opposition who won't let them do anything. This tug-of-war between the ruling and opposition parties continue eternally.

Previously there used to be one majority party and a collective opposition party but now the ruling party is also divided as they have to reckon with other supports from inside and outside making things even more convoluted. The present UPA government has left party that is almost in the opposition bench. Price rise of essential commodities, fuel price rise and nuclear deal were the major issues that the Congress had to discuss without convincing with the left party. Opposition is in a relaxed position as the infighting in UPA goes on.

To save the people and the country from the enormous expenses of an election that can very well be used to pay the oil companies and thwart further fuel price hikes. Why we need an election when no party can come together to solve the problems of the common man? Just give a chance to all the parties one by one for an year or two and see the performance. Any vital decision should be allowed to be taken after consulting with eminent personalities of that field. As for example, the left parties are opposing vehemently the fuel price hike and are going to hold demonstrations across the country. They certainly have some other ideas that will not necessitate the fuel price hike. Let them be on the drivers seat and see whether their ideas can pay dividends. Of course, we cannot afford to experiment on such things but when we see for every move the government makes there is an opposition. People are left wondering who is right and who is wrong.

My newspaper reading was interrupted by a thud and a crashing sound, one following the other in quick succession, as I saw a vase coming down to rest on the floor after enduring a fall from the table. Next my eyes caught sight of a fallen sparrow, which obviously had suffered a lethal blow from the rotating blades of the ceiling fan. It was a female sparrow and the first thoughts coming to my mind was ‘good riddance’ but as I picked up the dead bird, my heart was filled with pity. Although I am neither an ornithologist nor a great lover of birds but the sparrows taking shelter in my house compelled me to pay attention to their behaviours.

Soon after we had moved into that rented house which had been lying vacant for a couple of years, all uninvited guests – spiders, lizards, rats, cockroaches, flies, mosquitoes and scores of other visible and barely visible tiny insects followed by a couple of pairs of sparrows wanted to share my accommodation. Barring the sparrows all other creatures came to an amicable settlement and chose their corners and crevices for their habitat. 

After prolonged discussions and arguments, the site selection for the nest building was over for the sparrows. One pair had chosen a site on the hook of the ceiling fan and the other over an unused shelf in the other room. Soon, they began to accumulate thistles, small dead branches of shrubs, threads and feathers amid a lot of chattering. When they started to litter my house with their building materials, I had to put my foot down. Chasing them away is certainly an exercise. They exit from one window and come back through another. After a few days of chasing them around and repeated demolition of their unauthorized constructions, the sparrows gave up and I thought I had triumphed.

     After a few days, one fine morning, I noticed a pair of sparrows chattering continuously upon sighting me. A while later the reason was evident. They had earlier retreated from their selected sites from where I had chased them away but had selected another site inside the electric meter box and had worked quickly. There was no doubt that it was the same pair, as I had identified the female bird that had a distinguishing limp. May be they had adopted diversionary tactics when I was going after them inside the house or when I was away since my wife would not mind them.

     The sounds coming out of the nest was of a couple of newly hatched young sparrows. The adult sparrows have probably read some human psychology and knew that once the young ones appear, the humans may not want to use their bulldozers (brooms and sticks) to destroy, demolish their habitats. The young ones’ sounds would cease when they heard the warning from their mom and pop who would chatter continuously upon seeing me. May be they were cursing me at the same time telling their chicks to remain quiet as the danger was near. Again it was harassment as the sparrows went on feeding spree to their chicks and in this process, dropped more of crawling creatures and other insects inside the house.

For some compelling reasons, I had to shift my residence again. At the new place too, as soon as we moved in, a pair of sparrows flew in and began their frantic search for a suitable place to build their nest. They consulted between themselves in hushed tones perched over the tube light, over a wooden box on a shelf, hooks of the ceiling fans etc. They pondered over the safety aspect too as cats and rats were frequently sighted inside the house, occasionally a snake slithering in the bushes outside. Their nest had to be in some place above and safe. My shoo-shooing posed no problem to them as they completely ignored me with my threatening look. They seemed to know that man would kill the insects, rats and snakes with no compunction but would rarely hurt a bird.

     A small brown pigeon had built a nest and had laid two eggs high above over a ventilator. Since this pigeon was not a nuisance to us, we never disturbed it. As a matter of fact, I was eagerly waiting for the eggs to hatch and to see the fledglings. May be the sparrows perceived that and got jealous. My wife told me one evening after my return from the office that there was a lot of commotion in the afternoon as four to five sparrows were making a lot of noise. When she came out to inspect, she saw the shattered eggs of the pigeon lying on the floor and its nest partly hanging outside. She also noticed two sparrows there. She was sure the sparrows had damaged the nest and pushed down the eggs. My assumption was – the sparrows had sensed my being inequitable and had turned their ire on the poor pigeon.

     The sparrows continued to build their nest over the tube light fitting unsuccessfully as everything would fall off as soon as they are placed there. My advice fell on deaf ears and my shouting or chasing them away did not deter them either. Long ago, I had tried a trick of placing a mirror near the nest of the sparrows; they had seen their own reflection and had assumed that they had some rivals. Their nests forgotten, they had continuously pecked at the mirror. I tried that same trick again but it did not work now. Exasperated, I took out the tube light fitting and replaced with an incandescent lamp. The sparrows did not give up and a few days later I heard the chirping of young sparrows from another place.

     All this happened more than a decade ago. Now suddenly one fine morning, I remembered those sparrows and realized with a shock that they are no longer there. I went outside in the hope of just spotting one but not a single one was visible, neither flying around nor on the trees. I went to other places in the city, no sparrows in the residential areas. The favourite places for pigeons and sparrows are the railway platforms where they are usually found as abundant places suitable for their nest building are available but these birds are not found there also. Probably chased away from everywhere a la hutment dwellers.   People in Gujarat are partial to the pigeons as they feed them and make shelters for them. These birds are aplenty over there. Crows build nests in high places preferably over masts but as they are driven away from there also, no nests are found. Man has chased them away from masts and their homes (as I was doing) which was the favourite nesting place of sparrows. I also noticed that the crows, eagles and vultures are also not to be seen in the skies. (At least in the skies where I reside)  Some articles were there about the vultures’ dwindling numbers but I did not come across anything about crows and sparrows. It is time somebody took up these too.

     I received a gift article from my son's friend. It was a toy bird, which sings as you clap your hands. This artificial sound of a bird is the only one that is heard amidst the cacophony of man-made sounds (vehicle engines, horns, loud speakers playing music and of course the artificially created chirping of birds) in the city where I reside. May be very soon we all may hear only these and not the real ones.

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UNHEALTHY LIVING:

I am a diabetic and a patient of IHD. I visit my doctor once or twice in a year to have my blood sugar checked up and along with it host of other tests relating to my ailment. Doctors advice to have weekly check of blood sugar and get the dosage of the medicines adjusted accordingly. But years of being a patient of diabetes and being aware of my body signals, I could judge for myself fairly enough the levels of my blood sugar. I also adjust my medications along with the physical workouts to keep in check my blood sugar. I also know the signs of hypoglycemia effects and take effective measures to normalize it.

I take sweetmeats, chocolates, sherbets, ice creams, fried items, fruits and other things which are taboo. I also smoke and drink in moderation. I have been smoking for the past thirty three years but not exceeding five cigarettes a day. Eating things which elevate my blood sugar and triglyceride levels is also not a daily affair but within limits I have set for myself. I also maintain a constant weight watch and BMI which is well within limits.

When I observe people eating and drinking at stalls and restaurants many of the so called unhealthy foods and beverages, I often wonder why there is no epidemic of heart diseases and large scale deaths? I also observe people smoke and drink and survive till their late eighties leading a very healthy life. Ashok kumar of bollywood who was known for his chain smoking habits died when he was in his nineties but his younger siblings – Anoopkumar and Kishorekumar who abstained from smoking, died much younger. In the yesteryears when tobacco consumption was not considered a killer habit and people used these products to their hearts content, there was not an alarming situation of people dying at very young age. Similarly, people have been known to consume what they liked and many lived a full life displaying their pot bellies. Now-a-days it has become a fashion to be a vegetarian but in the olden days people had taken meat products all their life and died at a ripe old age as most still do. No clogging of arteries and no colon cancer.

What I am getting at is in spite of the counseling done in public interest through various channels of the media on healthy living, most people ( that includes me) just ignore and take anything they like and live a life without a care in the world. I think no statistics are available of people who smoke, drink and consume so called unhealthy/unhygienic foods and beverages in moderate quantities and live to their eighties. Take any doctor’s advice on the TV channels or on the print media, they will all say to avoid samosas, puri pakoras and variety of fast food available. If everybody had taken to their exhortations, the road side samosa wallas and bhajiya wallas would have to close shop. Take for instance the water being consumed by the general public of India. Most of the people consume directly from the tap, well, river, canal or lake water which is visibly polluted. As a matter of fact I had observed a mentally deranged man for months taking dirty drainage water and wandering the streets without any sign of getting unwell. Their immune system levels go on the high. Give a glass of our tap water to somebody who is used to taking pure filtered water daily, very next day he may fall ill displaying symptoms of various diseases.

Self medication is very common among many. Advertised medicines are taken for some minor ailments but many take drugs prescribed earlier for similar symptoms or as told by someone who had suffered with similar symptoms. Ninety-nine out of hundred get well and save a lot of money and time.

My question now is, to what extent we should take all the advice which is available aplenty over the media?

Mr. Ramdoss is contemplating a ban on advertisements of all junk food now and has advocated the film celebrities to abstain from using tobacco and alcohol. If he has his way he may ban the sale of oils, fried foods (Bhajiyas, samosas, farsan) and aerated beverages.  People who smoke, drink and eat in moderation all the items, do not have to fear I think.

Many television channels, especially Hindi and regional languages, have started a programme on Fortune Telling. Some read tarrot cards, some interview a saffron clad person on how the day is going to be for people born under different stars/horoscopes, some give predictions on when you will be getting married and so on. Recently a TV channel had aired a programme predicting the time you will say good-bye to the world. These fortune tellers are now using computers and claim that their predictions of the future is more advanced now. And there are some more who predict earthquakes, an important leader's demise, wars, sunamis and such things. These astrologers are claiming that their predictions are scientific and can be reasonably accurate. If that is the case then the government should use their services in almost every field. An astrologer's post should be there in all government departments. I am not against these fortune tellers but I wonder why these people cannot be used when so many have faith in them. In the railways and airports they can prevent accidents and take preventive measures. In some important dealings such as the nuclear deal, they can know before hand whether it will go through. Police department can utilize their services in apprehending criminals. As a matter of fact, the astrologers who can predict earthquakes could have predicted major crimes and prevented them. Nithari and Patan could not have happened, Mumbai blasts and terrorist attack on parliament could have been prevented. In cricket matches they can predict the wins and loses so they should be in the selection committee. If we go on like this the representation of astrologers in every field will greatly improve our country's future.

The recent racism row sparked off by the Harbhajan Singh - Symmonds episode got many to ponder about the racist attitude of we Indians. For most this came as a surprise that we are unbelievably the most horrible racists. This is not a recent happening but has been there down the ages. Our forefathers divided us all in many ways and the division continues to this day. We have been calling people by their profession since long but after being educated many did not take the jobs of their ancestors and then only it became hurtful to them to be called a harijan (a more derorgatory word B***i that was not so offending to them earlier). Now the dalits do not mind being called a dalit but they would not like to be called a harijan or a chamar even if they are doing the job they had been doing since centuries. A harijan's son is employed as a clerk some place then he certainly should not be called a harijan but people will call him a harijan's son. That definietly hurts. But people have that tendency to associate the caste, colour of skin, looks or even disablility to call them. This practice has been there and is still prevalent amongst most of us.

Bollywood had mimicked the accent of south Indians Hindi, Bengali Hindi and have even acted their mannerisms. All are aware of the sikhs jokes and the recently aired "Laughter Challenge" shows. The thing is we should not be concerned about such matters and try to minimise this practice. A suggestion is given by the 'IDEA' mobile ad wherein it is advised to use the mobile numbers instead of names. It is not just laughable but a serious thought is required on that. Instead of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bengal states if some number is assigned, then there may not be situations of the likes developed in Mumbai recently. Doing away with castes and surnames in the application forms may be a step in the right direction.

After the Indo-Australia second test controversy erupted, all we get to see in the news channel is cricket, cricket, cricket and cricket. If the same incident had happened in any other sports nobody would have paid any attention and those sportspersons would have swallowed the insults and injuries. The media would not have been present at all and even if they had they would have advised to take it all sportingly. I had great love for cricket once (playing the game and watching it on the screen) but diue to this excessive cricket on the television, it has killed my interest and all I have now is just disgust for the game. A couple of years ago also there was not that much interest for the test matches but now it occupies the front pages and headline news slot. Even if a person wins 10 golds in one Olympic event, he would be a non entity before Sachin Tendulkar. Leave alone the general public, the electronic and print media will also not give the olympian more importance than Sachin.

After some deaths caused by the Blue Line busses in the capital they were withdrawn after a public outcry. With the ever increasing population of people and vehicles on the roads such things are bound to happen. We must not blame only the bus drivers. The other road users, pedestrians, two wheeler riders, autorickshaws etc cause such a chaos on the roads that anybody can loose their temper. For the bus drivers there is more tension weaving through the traffic. Pedestrians and small vehicles try to get across before the slow moving bus comes at them. The buses have to make frequent halts and people and two wheelers mill around when it resumes the journey. These days everybody want to get ahead of others and not allow a slow moving vehicle to move at its own pace. It has to further slow down. The drivers have to keep their patience else there are bound to be accidents. Lack of traffic sense among the public, traffic policemen being very few, old and defective vehicles on the roads all lead to more and more accidents.