Hartal, a total failure?

Kerala is known for many good reasons, though a few bad reasons stand out too, among the worst being Hartal.  Hartals in Kerala can be announced by anyone irrespective of power or strength,  from a strong political party to an action council which may just have 5 members. All have proven successful in terms of disrupting normal life but never for the cause it ought to be. It is a irony that Kerala would be the only state in India and probably in the world were the ruling governments declare strike.

Kerala saw a glimmer of hope today. Hartal was announced by Mullaperiyar Action Council. As usual citizens around Kerala switched off their alarm clocks and awaited the unofficial holiday.  School and colleges declared holiday, exams were postponed.

All of a sudden there comes the breaking news from Private Bus Owners Association[PBOA],  ”We aren’t going to support the hartal, we will run the buses.”  People started calling their work place, bosses asked their employees to come for work,  reluctantly many of them went, shops and business houses announced that they are open.  By 8 am in the morning everything turned normal.  The streets were as busy as it was yesterday.  People starting writing on their “walls” about the change.

For the first time in the history of Kerala, a Hartal was a total failure. If only PBOA had the guts earlier, many Hartals could have been avoided.  The next big question is, “Can today’s change be repeated.”

The fuel price hike is round the corner, that would just be the reason for LDF to declare another Hartal, will PBOA then have the courage to run buses? or will they support them for the sake of fuel price which hasn’t be reversed until now after repeated observances of Hartal or will they have the same attitude they showed us today?

The next Hartal will be the answer.

The new Library in Kochi !

Kochites have a reason to cheer, especially for those who spend time on reading. My friends, Romana Correya and Casey Nestor Fernandez has come up with an awesome library with some unique features.

a) You don’t have to visit the library. 

b) You can order books online.

c)You get the books delivered at your doorsteps

d) You don’t have to pay any fine as long as you read the books within 3 months from the date of delivery.

e) You don’t have to pay any extra cost after you have registered with the library.

e) After you have read the books, you don’t have to think about dropping the books back to library, they will come and collect the books.

Isn’t that enough for you to smile So why wait, get in touch with the owners of The Readers’ Web, or you can directly sign up here.

If you are an Facebook addict . They have a page for you to Like too. I know you don’t mind giving them a call at +91 80890 22387or mailing them @ read@26×7.com to find more about the new venture.

You can also see me in their page receiving the first delivery I hope you will  encourage their cause, Joys of Reading !

Thank you

Kerala Budget 2011-2012

The first thing that poped up on my mind while hearing the Budget for 2011-2012 is , “Will all this be a reality” ? I am gonna list down some unbelievable yet fascinating plans in the Budget presented by Sri. Thomas Issac today.

• Rs 40,000 crore Road Project for the entire state of Kerala
• 3500 acres already acquired for IT Parks in the state
• 6.2 Million square feet of IT Building inside Smart City another 5.2 million square feet of State owned Info Park adjacent to Smart City
• Rs 600 Million for Promoting Kerala Tourism
• Rs 400 crore for Exhibition cum Industry Park at Kinfra Kochi in 70 acres
• Rs 202 crore and Rs 250 crore each for roads in Kochi and Trivandrum
• Rs 20 crore for Delhi Metro Corporation for further studies of North – South Railway Corridor costing Rs 50,000 crore [Bullet Trains]
• Rs 1250 Core for Health
• Kannur Airport to be fully functional in 2 years
• Rs 2500 crore for Vizhinjam Project on BOT Basis
• Rs 1000 crore for Bypasses in the State
• Rs 2296 Crore for Higher Education Sector
• Rs 5 crore for One Women Police in all women compartments in Trains provided Railways Approve it
• 4 million people to be included in BPL List
• Fishermen irrespective of APL or BPL to receive Rice @ Rs 2/ Kg
• Rs 1000 crore project for Tender Coconut
• Rs 300 crore profit from Public Sector
• Kerala growing double the pace of India !
• Rs 7500 crore alone as tax revenue
• GST to increase tax revenue by double !
• Rs 10,000/-  per new born child insurance project
• Research Desk in Trivandrum Engineering College for road work and quality check . Rs 5 crore allotted
• Rs 20 crore more for  Mobility Hub in Kochi
• Rs 186 core extra allotted for Kochi Metro Project
• All roads in Kerala to be in good condition by April. Rs 700 crore already allotted.
• Rs 1 Billion for KSRTC
• Spice Route

Alright so if you think , This is it  ! You are wrong. All the plans mentioned above are just the beginning of projects planned for the 2011-2012 Budget and for the years to come ! But the questions remain. ‘Will this plans remain as mere promises ?’ or ‘Will all this be implemented?’. The history will prove us wrong but what lies in future is to be awaited.

Read more when the Budget will be official released in the official site of fiance department of Kerala

 

Writer’s Block !

Yes, I do not know what it is , I wanna write a lot, but some thing is stopping me ,I am seriously angry over it too, it was then I was ‘Googling’ , what the problem could be , and as always , wikipedia comes to my help.  It’s known as Writer’s Block,  but then it should be  for writers not once in a while blogger !

I am not professional, nor I am someone who comes up with fiction all the time, I just wanna write about myself, the things I see, but I cannot.  I wanna keep my blog updated , it’s been ignored for past few months, writer’s block or not , I wanna write, I am supposed to start a new blog  [will get paid too:)] , but I am still not sure, I am not liking this one bit …:(

Any possible solutions ? I am waiting !

The Murderer

It was a phone call at 8 in the morning that woke me up, I could hear my friend gasping as she was telling the truth she discovered about herself an hour before. I tried to recall what she just confessed to me through her phone.

I couldn’t believe it , I had to visit her to find out if it was true, I was ready in half an hour, the cab arrived to pick me, it took almost an hour and a half to reach her flat in Worli from Bandra through the busy traffic in Mumbai. I could see the construction of new Sea Link connecting Worli and Bandra. I wished if it was completed by now so as to reach her fast.

As soon as the door bell rang, she opened the door for me. She almost fell into tears as soon as she saw me, I hugged her tight, trying to comfort her, it didn’t do any good. I had to find a solution to her problem.

“Nitya, go take a shower, lets go and consult  a doctor”. She didn’t utter a word, she came back in about 20 minutes. We took the lift down and I drove her car towards the nearest gynecologist. She was in a relationship with her co-worker for almost six months now. I never thought their relationship would go so deep. But it has, the gynecologist conformed it after the check up.

We decided to go to Bayview near Marine Drive. She was still not talking, I said, ” Either you speak up,or I am leaving, this is just to much of silence.” She lifted her head from the table, her eyes still filled. I continued, “Aren’t you considering speaking about this with Roshan ?. “

She finally spoke, “No I can’t , he would not accept this, I don’t want him to be hurt.” I raised my eyebrows , she continued, “It’s like we behave just begun our relationship and never thought of marriage till now.” I interrupted ,”Huh , how could you not tell about it after all that’s happened with you.”

No Ajay, ” It’s just not happening, the day all messed up was partially because of me, I walked into his flat late night, he was drunk because he didn’t get the promotion he deserved, he asked me to leave but I refuted and spent the night with him. He was sorry in the morning and he did ask me take the pills. But I didn’t and I never told him.”

So what’s next Nitya ? ARE YOU GONNA KILL YOUR CHILD ? , she took off from the table in a hurry and I could see her getting a cab as soon as I reached the exit. I took her car to the flat, her flat was locked, I dropped the keys underneath the door. I got a call from her in the night. She asked me to come to a hospital , I was bit hesitant , but she forced me to. I was worried if she was gonna do what I had shouted her.

I reached the hospital, the hospital policies required another person to sign the document for abortion. I don’t know why I did it, but eventually I was part of a murder. From that day, things went different, we never spoke much.I did miss her, but the realisation of a murder kept myself away from her.

I was forgetting everything till the phone rang again, it only said , “You are a murderer.” It was a male voice.