The VIP culture in India: 2

I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and quickly brushed and had a bath. It was a big day today. My software for Airoli Check Naka toll booth was going to be inaugurated by few M.P.s and M.L.A.s (Wont name the ministers or the party). The car which was supposed to pick me up was right on time. We all were asked to be present near the toll booth by 7. I didn't care much about the ministers or the press just didn't want to miss the opening of one of my big projects.

I arrived just before 7 and heaved a sigh. Soon enough the police and security personnel came for protection of all the politicians. Well minutes turned into hours and it was 2 in the afternoon and nobody had arrived yet. It was quite frustrating and it was a hot day. Everyone was perspiring a lot. I was so hungry that I didn't bother if I would actually miss out on the whole inauguration ceremony. I went to the nearby hawker. I bought a cup of tea and missal and a vada pav. Okay ...no surprises I went for a repeat order, I was famished. Near the counter I saw a policeman asking the hawker what is the price of an omelet. The hawker said 7₹. He considered for a moment and then said "No just give me a tea .. cutting." I realised at that moment that all the policemen and security staff too had been standing there in the heat since last 6-7 hours without any food. The worse part was, they couldn't afford to buy even proper food with their salary. It didn't matter to the ministers, the people  protecting them were not even asked for food. It didn't bother them that they were ...ummm... 8-9 hours late and people were waiting in heat just for them to inaugurate the toll booth. I lost my appetite. They finally arrived at 4.

When they did arrive they were received with garlands and petals and media guys frantically taking their pictures. If I am late my friends would have just cursed me and went ahead with their plan or maybe kicked my ass. But these are VIPs. Some were so immature and media crazy that they were trying to fit in every picture. It was so childish. What was their contribution in all this? Nothing. Still their excitement to be on page 3 of some newspaper was that of a 4 year old.


This was in 1993. At that time the distance between normal people and the M.P.s was not that much. Nowadays if an MP wants to travel via road, the streets are blocked and nobody is allowed to even use cell phone as they are scared that somebody will blow them up by remote bomb. What they don't understand is, if they keep disturbing regular life of common people, somebody will actually blow them up. I believe that if they actually want to help people (the reason for which they are elected which they tend to forget) they should try to behave normally and try to face what normal people face in their life. This way they will understand what normal people go through.

For example, the railway minister should try catching a Virar train from Andheri at 7 in the evening or the education minister should try taking admission in a college going through all the procedures so they understand how much it takes to lead a simple life. They will diagnose the problems at least and maybe find a solution.

PS: "A simple solution for a complex world."

Dedicated to,
The software Engineer,
All the policemen,
All the commoners,
Thank You for reading,
From,
Hetansh Shah a.k.a Hetu :]

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