The Hindu : New Delhi News : Inside Delhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 23, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Inside Delhi

A lesson on compassion

Not many Delhiites would invite a poor beggar to spend the night inside their home to escape a particularly chill winter evening but perhaps the rules are different in the animal kingdom. This Delhiite was taken aback when her pet ambled into the house after the usual evening walk with a rather unexpected visitor: a little puppy.

Walking straight to her bowl, the pet led the way for the scruffy but definitely cute little pup to drink the milk that had been put out for supper. As the little pup hungrily licked the bowl clean, the pet looked on, with not so much as a whimper. When the tiny fellow finally looked up from the bowl, he turned to the pet for further guidance. As the astonished lady of the house looked on, the pet led the way to her basket and tucked the little guy into the basket.

While the New Delhi Municipal Council is busy turning out women from their night shelter on to the street, a lesson on compassion from the animal kingdom might just be what they need.

Good job

The traffic arrangements made by the Delhi police for the India International Trade Fair now under way at Pragati Maidan are so good that one person was actually heard suggesting that it would be really wonderful for those travelling to the Capital's trans-Yamuna areas if the trade fair continues all through the year!

Even on Sunday, the day when people traditionally turn out in large numbers to witness the trade fair, traffic plied smoothly on all roads around Pragati Maidan. Much to the surprise of the motorists, let alone jams even the routine bottlenecks found elsewhere in the city were completely absent around the venue.

The reasons are twofold. One, there is sufficient deployment of manpower, and, secondly and more importantly, a lot of thought has gone into where and how the personnel should be positioned. With volunteers helping the traffic police personnel in performing the arduous task of personally controlling the movement of traffic at all intersections around the venue, the difference in traffic flow is quite perceptible. Also, the use of manpower in the job of controlling traffic has shown that there is no better option since maximum traffic flow can only be obtained when personnel themselves regulate traffic.

The coming up of a the foot over-bridge on Mathura Road and the subway on Bhairon Marg and their optimum utilisation through channelising pedestrian movement has ensured minimum interface between the public and the motorists around Pragati Maidan.

People driving through the place these days are not only lauding the role of the planners but also hoping that the lessons learnt from Pragati Maidan will be replicated in other congested parts of the Capital to make life that much easier.

An eye-opener

In the fast changing economic scenario, competition is getting tougher and companies are fighting it out to increase their business by improving their services and quality of products. But the Department of Posts seems to be lagging far behind in this.

A colleague received a rude shock when he went to the Department of Posts to deliver some important document by "Speed Post" service. "I had to send some important document urgently to Dehra Dun on Monday. Instead of relying on private courier companies, I decided to send it through Speed Post. But the treatment I got at the multipurpose service counter at the Parliament Street head post office was an eye-opener," he said.

"I reached the post office at 4-45 p.m. and found that of the four service counters only one was manned. As the employee behind the counter already had around a dozen packets lined up for booking, he rudely asked me to move to other counters. When I told him that there was no one at the other counters, he asked me to wait," the colleague said.

"Interestingly, at least three of his colleagues were loitering around in the office. When I asked them to book my letter, they bluntly refused. It seemed their boss was not in the office. So I had to wait before I was able to book my post," he said, adding: "I am totally amazed at their style of functioning. When this is the state of affairs in the Capital, one can well imagine how our post offices must be functioning in other parts of the country."

A big draw

They may be inmates of the high-security Tihar Central Jail, but that does not prevent some of them from coming out with paintings and furnishings that may give the private exhibitors at the ongoing 24th India International Trade Fair a run for their money.

At the Delhi Pavilion, items made by Tihar Central Jail inmates are up for grabs. A Singaporean inmate, Lee -- to be released from prison next month -- has shown that when it comes to crafting objects out of ordinary pieces of wood he is second to none. A table made by Lee has such exquisite designs that it seems to have been created by a professional craftsman. Others items on display include a replica of a battle tank and a rocking chair.

Another undertrial, Sanjay Kaushik, has displayed his paintings that include a tribal woman, a tribal boy clutching a goat and an emaciated girl eating a morsel. These paintings have been priced between Rs.5,000 and 25,000.

But the talented exhibitors would get only a fraction of the sale proceeds as the rest of the money would go to the Prisoners' Welfare Fund of the jail.

Madhur Tankha

By Anjali Dhal Samanta, Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar, Sandeep Joshi and Madhur Tankha

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi