Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Reporter's Diary

Upset by little monster

Love it or hate it, you got to live with the little monster (read mobile phone) for the rest of your life. The ever-ringing gadget has virtually invaded every facet of the life, be it a private party, a puja at a temple or an important press conference.

The pen pushers and byte gatherers at the District Collector's camp office, on the eve of the New Year, had a harrowing time, thanks to some scribes keeping their mobiles at their screaming best.

While District Collector Navin Mittal was busy spelling out the new initiatives and development plans for the district for 2006, the intermittent ring tones gave a nervous breakdown to duty-minded scribes, who were keen on jotting down all the information. Despite some hush-hush requests, many did not bother to put their mobiles in vibration mode.

The ring tone musical journey went on unabated through the 90-minute-long interactive session.

Transport officials took every care to launch the State-wide "Road Safety Week" here on a grand scale. The venue was decorated well and packed with the right of kind of audience for spreading the message of road safety. They organised cultural programmes also till the chief guest arrived at the venue. A warm welcome was accorded to Transport Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana. Bouquets were presented to the guests on the dais. Then came the turn of the Minister to unveil the themes of the safety week. Amidst beaming smiles and euphoria, the officials removed the cover of a laminated plaque inscribed with the slogans. The Minister read them out but made a sudden remark that left the officials concerned stunned for a moment. He said that the themes should have been written in Telugu. However, he went ahead with the programme much to the comfort of the officials.

If Buddhism is Tibetans' religion and has brought them to Amaravathi all the way from Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh and several places in Karnataka, `Free Tibet' is closest to their hearts. Forty undergraduate students, including four girls, pedalled their way from Mangalore to Amaravathi to make their point on `free Tibet'.

Wherever they went en route they freely expressed their views and for three days inspired thousands of Buddhists at Amaravathi. They earned kudos for their effort from all who support the Tibetan government-in-exile and dream of an independent Tibet. The academic calendar, however, forced the students to leave Amaravathi on Monday night for Mangalore without attending the Kalachakra.

Ironically, when they decided to leave, they did not have a penny in their pockets. They sold all their 25 cycles at a discount. The cycles they bought for Rs.2,500 were sold for Rs.1,500 - all for a cause!!

J. R. Shridharan and G. Ravikiran in Vijayawada and Ramesh Susarla in Guntur

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