Thursday 31 December 2015

Unreserved Chaos

The other day I had to rough it out in the ‘cattle class’ (general compartment) of a superfast train for a three-and-half-hour long journey, for want of an alternative. As it was around 6.30 pm and the train was nearly criss-crossing the country from Ernakulam to Delhi, I did not even take a chance to try my luck in a sleeper class compartment.

Earlier while buying the ticket at Koyilandi (a mofussil station near Kozhikode) for Mangalore I had enquired if it was any way possible to upgrade it. The woman at the ticket counter replied in the negative and warned that as it was already dusk I might risk getting fined if I travelled sleeper class with an ordinary ticket!

Having travelled many times in the reserved sleeper class for long trips (lasting 2-3 days) I was all too familiar with the inconvenience caused by those without reservation. Hence I decided not to be a cause of their misery and braced myself for the din, bustle and stench of the general compartment.

They are generally the first or last compartment of the rake and are the most unkempt ones. The train arrived about 20 minutes late and I made a dash to the last compartment, which looked already full with little foot space left. 

I did make it to the passage of the train and moved further into the aisles aiming to get a seat. A couple of years of commuting 'sardine class' in Mumbai’s suburban trains have taught me that getting into the aisle was the best way to ease suffocation, prevent achy shoulders and even get a seat in the bargain. 

About two stations later lady luck smiled, though the seat I got was hardly comfortable. Nearly six passengers were squeezed into a row seat, which was actually meant for 3-4 people.

The passengers were a mix of locals who were going on short haul journeys lasting a couple of hours and the migrant workers, who were in for a long haul to their home towns in the country’s cow belt. This under-class also happens to be the mainstay in general compartments of almost all the trains that chug along the Indian Railway’s expansive network. 

As for Kerala these migrant labourers provide the much-needed brawn to its acute shortage of manual labour, thanks to the upward mobility of its natives, who prefer white collar jobs or migrate to Gulf countries. After months of back breaking work at construction sites and other places that require hard labour, they were on their way to meet their near and dear ones. 

From the snatches of conversations I overheard I could gather that some were going to attend marriages, some to fix the roof or flooring of their houses and some even to reclaim their dues from recalcitrant and shifty borrowers.

In Loop With Wireless World

Though the way they live or travel may not have changed from their predecessors (could see the same old padlocked antique looking trunk boxes and cloth bags stocked under the seats), there was one tangible difference.

The new generation migrant workers have definitely got a toe hold into the wireless digital world, all thanks to low call rates and the entry of cheap mobile phones in the market. The presence of large number of smartphones (mostly of the Chinese and Indian make) in the compartment came as quite a revelation to me.

These labourers may be light years away from following the Mahesh Murthy-Mark Zukerberg free basics vs net neutrality debate and the ad blitzkrieg by Facebook, but they appeared quite savvy and nimble fingered while handling the devices they had in hand. Almost everybody was busy playing games, listening to music and watching downloaded movies to sustain them for the long journey. Some were even WhatsApping.

A couple of them were on the lookout for sockets to plug in their phone chargers. I am sure some of those ancient trunk boxes may even have power banks stocked in them!

A couple of years ago there was a news item stating that India has more mobile phones than toilets, a finding that was not so flattering and pointed to the skewed priorities of our countrymen. Now the day is not far when we may hear that the country has more smartphones than toilets!!

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Thursday 3 December 2015

Sink-ara Chennai

The second spell of heavy rains have made floods in Chennai reach frightening proportions, with aerial photos and videos of arterial roads turning into rivulets with flyovers acting as markers, stranded people being herded out of their homes by whatever means possible. Things had reached the tipping point during the first wet spell, which lasted nearly two weeks, but the current one brought the city face to face with catastrophe, with even the airport being shut down.

Ironically the city was once synonymous with perennially hot climate, scanty rains, water shortages with long queues and high decibel quarrels before hand-pumps dotting street corners in the older parts of the city. Weathermen used to rationalize the city's aridity by claiming that Chennai happened to be in a rain shadow area.

Even when it rained it used to be more like dew drops and those driving cars had to first switch on wind shield washers to make it wet enough for the wipers to clear the blurry wind shield. Heavy showers were very rare and those carrying umbrellas were dismissed as being sissy. 

A perceptible change occurred after the region was rocked by Asian tsunami in 2004. As the north east monsoon hit Chennai in 2005 the raindrops were far bigger and lethal, the showers were of much longer duration. That was the year hurricane Katrina struck US and Chennai too had its own 'cyclone season', some of which brought heavy rains that crippled the city.

I happened to be there in 2005 floods and it used to be quite an eerie feeling while crossing the Chintadripet bridge on my bike with a swollen Cooum in full flow. The water levels were just 2-3 feet shy of overflowing the bridge and the river's current was quite intimidating.

Another factor that puts Chennai at a disadvantage vis-a-vis floods is its soil composition. It has a heavy clay content and the absorption of water is poor. Hence inundated areas remain waterlogged for long, due to low percolation. They soon turn into a haunt for cattle, mosquitoes and flies, thereby posing a health hazard to nearby residents.

Like all Indian cities Chennai too has its own share of encroachments on the banks of waterways, lakes and tanks, all thanks to the usual suspects - corrupt political class and bureaucracy, unscrupulous real estate barons and a huge demand for housing.

Moreover, whatever was left of these water bodies was allowed to accumulate silt and indiscriminate dumping of waste, both by factories and households. Hence apart from pollution and stench, the carrying capacity major waterways of the city such as Adyar, Buckingham Canal, Cooum got severely depleted, leaving excess waters to flood low lying areas.

Many trot out the argument that if any city gets a month's rain in a day, it won't be able to cope, however well planned it may be. But this no way absolves the authorities, rapacious builders and factory owners from their guilt in bringing Chennai to such a pass. If the waterways were free from silt, garbage and encroachments then the magnitude of floods would have been much less and the excess water would have drained off to the sea at much faster rate.

After the first wet spell when a cab aggregator came up with the service to supply boats to the distressed people, it invited incredulous smirks and many dismissed it as nothing more than a publicity stunt. But with the second spell the reality, quite literally, sank in. Boats and dinghies became a lifeline to rescue the marooned.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat