Punjab Bandh

All institutions, malls, markets are closed since Saturday. Encroachments cannot be seen anywhere. The roads are deserted, even the beggars are taking a day off . Police personnel is everywhere.
The reason for this situation is bad enough but still the forced changes that have been brought about in Ludhiana are very surprising. I did not know that my city's roads were so wide, the markets are looking actually spacious in the absence of encroachers, the police staff is polite and helpful. But on the flip side, the sewerage pipes of our locality are again blocked and ofcourse, nobody will bother to come here, after all Punjab is bandh, bhai!! If in normal circumstances, the administration chooses to look the other side , then now it is their right not to report for duty !!

Some people will actually go out of their way to disrupt the smooth flow of life, smash anything and everything which comes in their way, throw stones on even school buses, uproot trees, dividers and what not. I suppose these are those people who don't have family values at all. These are uniquely self centered persons who want to show us that they are not to be ignored. So what if they cannot work for our betterment, so what if their energetic and so called charismatic personalities cannot be used for making fruits,vegetables, atta, dal cheaper; roads better; schools donations-free;politics corruption free; so what!!
Punjab is also a land of babajis, maharajs and gurujis. Why should there be a bandh at all if everyone is so religious ? Surely, they can help us to fight drug addiction and the falling family values. Or are all the teachings meant to be followed by the over zealous punjabi inside the deras only ?
Anyway, children are getting anxious to go back to their schools , elders to their offices, ladies back to the kitty halls and I want to go again for window shopping in my favourite mall.

POWERS IN THE POWERLESS PUNJAB

Power.
Quite a powerful word especially if politicians are involved.
But a powerless word in the power starved state of ours in terms of electricity.
The worst time to be in Punjab is most probably the summer because to add up to the woes of the heat-struck residents, the Govt. insists on imposing 9-10 hours of power cuts ,sometimes even unannounced. Inspite of the tall claims made by almost all of them, the water and power supply remain elusive.the irony is that even if the rain gods choose to favor us, the power supply is still off due to maintenance, roads suddenly start caving in and those which do not cave in remain flooded due to bad(turning to worse) sewerage pipes.
Welcome to Ludhiana .But forgive me because I can't really welcome you here because I am a common man. My inverter and refrigerator are on a strike , they chose not to be left behind when the power itself is on a strike!!How can I invite anyone here when I, one of the voters, am not being provided the basic amenities? For the last 13 years now, my road has been continuously getting eroded , if at all it can be called a road now. No chances still of it getting recarpeted inspite of the fact that the Circuit House and the PAU (both places being regularly visited by the CM himself) are in the radius of 3-4 km from my house. But then I am a common man.
There is no dearth of money in my city. And I can safely say that there is no dearth of intelligence too , after all we boast of a University, an Engineering College, two Medical colleges and hospitals and a variety of other institutes .
Then why is it that we can't use the rain water properly for rain water harvesting ?Surely it will solve the problems of not only our farmers but the residents also?
Why can't we use the power judiciously and opt for a greener environment?
Why can't we speak firmly to the cablewallahs and the electricity guys to simply ban the loose overhanging cables which pose a live threat to all of us?
Is it so much to ask everybody around us,including the all mighty politicians, to be honest at least for one hour a day?
I think it can be done . It can be done by only the likes of me because I am indeed a common man and I want to have a better life.
I am paying the taxes for it and ofcourse, I am worth it.