Service Lax @ 12.24%

2 Vodkas Rs. 320
1 Sprite Rs. 50
Total Rs. 370
VAT @ 20% Rs. 74
S. Tax @ 12.24% Rs. 45
Total Rs. 489
That would what a simple enough bill at any decent bar in Delhi would look like. ( This of course is only indicative and to initiate a thought not a comment on my binging habits. )
After paying an exorbitant amount, on a couple of drinks, which accounts for the ambience, seating and other 'services' . The amount that is most unsettling component of the entire bill happens to be the Service Tax. What is this for? It raises serious concerns in both my high spirited or sober mind. Let me shed some light.
Why Service Tax? For service or the apparent lack for it? If the charge is for excellent service then it would have been deserved and awarded as tip by any self respecting customer. If this a charge they levy for training the staff on how to serve customers, oh-so then thats so much required isn't it. Maybe they should have struck with this idea much in advance. Legally speaking it is a provision for tax collection from vendors and service providers who offer their services to an individual or organisation. Perfectly right! The sad part though is that this is very conviniently imposed onto the customer itself. Not right definitely not right and also unethical! I wish I could impose my income tax liability on my employer.
Any choice to pay or not? The possibilities existing with most other forms of taxation are on inidividual discretion whether to pay or not. But here no. Even if I am discontent with the service I have to shell out the dough.
The there is always the question whether the money actually makes it to the government coffers. To me it seems that most of it certainly does not. If restaurants evade sales tax and income tax they very clearly abstain here too. So the government has established a yet another neat mechanism for more black money generation.
The ideal legal situation - Assuming that everything functioned smoothly and all the parties involved legally fulfilled their obligations it still raises a more fundamental question perhaps the most disturbing. Whatever happened to quality?? There was a time when people across the counters would be courteous, charming and normal to deal with if not delightfully nice. On several occasions now ever more frequently I encounter rude waiters, attendants and staff. It seems to me that coming to them is a favour I do to myself. Miscalculating bills, wrong orders, late service, lack of etiquette and the worse of them all lack of knowledge are some of the problems I can recollect offhand. Two reasons I can cite: Lack of Attitudes and Lack of sincerity.
When most things come easy for people they become complacent, carefree and a sense of folly develops. People dont struggle to get into such service oriented jobs be it Call centers, reservation offices, restaurants or information kiosks. The paucity of staff in new establishments and old businesses with new ventures means that people can be demanding and afford not to enhance their skills and at the same time be arrogant enough not to pursue a corrective path. They can get away with almost any incompetency and lapse. To make matters worse, the sheer number of people representing any segment of the market is substantial to cover up any problems. Moreover, when all the players in the market are in the same category there is little the poor customer like me can ask for. Tsk, Tsk a pitiable situation.
Is there hope down the tunnel? Is there even a silver lining? Currently, since things are on a downside there doesnt seem to be but there is always hope no matter how lost a cause is. So next time I say cheers with friends...I wish to be genuinely like the ambience and remember the experience.

An evening at the Border

Very recently I had the chance to visit one of the friendlier and popular segments of the indo-pakistan border the - Waga border. With not knowing what to expect on visiting a national border we headed there in the hot summer afternoon enjoying the countryside and open highway. Surprisingly there was nothing much to distinguish the villages from the ones elsewhere in rural india. What was I expecting battered houses? empty villages? military all around? Yes, but this was not somewhere around the LoC or Rajasthan.
With the auto rickshaw driver feeding us with trivia out throughout the journey like the fact that Waga is actually the name of the village on the Pakistan side. I forget the name of the Indian counterpart.
Anyways we reached about an hour and a half before the scheduled time for the change of guard. Lots of time to have sumptuous Indian snacks, a look at DVD recordings of previous events and also click a few snaps in the wheat fields along the border and the bunkers. Quite an opportunity.
So after spending time in these sundry activities, it was almost time for the gates to be thrown open and so they were. So began an exodus of around a couple of thousand people running to grab some seats for the best possible view. Joining them we crossed an electrified fence, botanical inspection centre, immigration offices and all which all seemed quite incongruous amidst the wilderness. There was also a nice walk along the border for a stretch where we get a glimpse of the Pakistan side very closely. So after much walking around we finally reached the seating area a really huge amphitheater sorts for atleast five - six thousand people and literally it was full. Crowds just kept pouring in by the minute and suddenly the wilderness was no more and it looked like a suburban farmhouse area with people awaiting a cultural and entertainment filled session. One remarkable difference between the two sides was the color factor. The indians I did not notice such starkly ever are extremely colorful with their dressing while the other side was seemed to be in monotones from a distance.
So after great difficulty the security forces managed to get the crowd in the right places. Finally, they started the fanfare with bollywood music playing loud enough to drown out any trace of sound from across the border, whilst they tried the same. Each trying to get one up on the other. The likes of recent patriotic movies' songs, peppy numbers to boost people playing created a surreal atmosphere. It was like a jam session with a cheap DJ playing to rouse the crowds all intense numbers to which crowds could howl out a few prescribed slogans to keep from becoming fanatic or get too carried away. No anti-national and no religious slogans was the stipulation. To further the already frenzy environment created two indian flags came out of nowhere and suddenly volunteers were drawn out from the crowds to rush towards the border waving the flag and rush back again with the same gusto as if to crash into enemy gates or more heroically place the flag on an enemy post. Without a doubt there were queues building up for this exercise with everyone up for grabbing their two minutes of fame as little kids and youngsters danced to peppy tunes keeping people in spirited moods. All this probably to divert attention from the fact that from most part of the seating area there's actually nothing visible of the border gates. Had there not been a few flags flying around a picture of this evening would have easily been mistaken for an open air musical or talent show event!
Once in a while a person in civilian dress would walk around roping people into the act of clapping and shouting loudly. He was later joined by some admirable senior citizens tearing their lungs apart to bring the crowds to their feet and transfer some of their patriotic zeal. While I doubt anyone would remotely feel patriotic at these moments everyone just joined in to have a gala time and my perception and the imagination of the event was totally rubbished.

A grim, sombre and serious affair I thought with a probably a tear shed from all eyes and thought spared from all minds as a tribute to our jawans and all those who spend their lives protecting our borders was not to be. Which made me ask myself if perhaps this was the only way we could wrest emotion and sense of national pride and identity amongst today's population? Wouldn't a simple affair without the dramatics do any good? The indulgence of the forces itself is surprising attempting to amuse the public with all this. Was it they who designed the event or the public that 'demanded' it? It may be hard to say but the sad bit for me was that a truly formal and orthodox event had been metamorphosed into mockery. It may serve the immediate purpose of an emphatic and emotional response from all but it gives them nothing to take back home. Soldiers for them become entertainers and actors and military customs and discipline a new form of act. Shouldn't we use the few opportunities of getting people identify themselves with nationality in a meaningful and effective manner?
Some random thoughts which popped in my mind as I waited for the main attraction only to be able to steal a glance from between the leaves of a huge peepal tree.
Fortunately I was spared from any further musings on the drive back because the great Indian landscape just wouldn't let think of anything else. No doubts no complaints when you drive around countryside at dusk with the wind through the hair and torso leaning out of the auto. Ah! I could never have it better. I found my national pride, my patriotism, my ultimate happiness this land always gives me and it didn't need any melodrama. I love my India! no matter what.

I am legend

Very recently I watched this movie 'I am Legend'. A fictional story set in the future where a deadly virus takes over the entire world and wipes out almost all of mankind, well all mankind. That's what Will Smith or Dr. Robert Neville assumes. He lives in New York City alone with only his dog to give him company. Heck I always had this dream and more often the desire to take his place.
A long time back I dreamt about waking up one day and finding no one around me, every street empty every house empty and absolute silence everywhere. For some reason it did not scare me or get me asking questions. Very stoically I accepted the inevitable and sat down to decide a few things. I realized that I would need food and power. So I set out to rummage through all the shops to get as much of canned food or processed food I could get. I also got hold of a huge SUV to help me move a lot of stuff around easily. This I thought I would have to do on a daily basis. Another thing I did was to get hold of a few generators capable enough to run my place. I located these far from my place to avoid the noise. I decided it was crucial to learn some important tasks for survival. Growing my own food, learning to use a weapon and curing basic aliments. Out of these food wouldn't be an immediate concern. So I get hold of a gun to keep with me at all times. I felt I needed a gun to keep me safe from any beasts. I ransacked a book store and pharmacist and get hold of a lot of medicines. I then prepare a strict schedule for myself for each day from exercising to watching movies to searching for other people like me. I actually hated the thought of running into someone else. I enjoyed this loneliness and in a weird manner the power I yielded. I could do anything I wanted without thinking having everything in the world at my disposal. Omnipotent I felt. On the other hand I knew I had to keep myself entertained or else the same loneliness would get to me and make me go mad. I decided to read a lot and watch a lot of movies. But even this was temporary I felt.
I decided to travel the world and see all the beautiful exotic places. I had anyways started reading books to learn flying a jet. It was time I felt for real lessons. I would goto this flight trainer's airport each day. Very soon I also started deciding on the destination and route. In between all this I snapped out of my sleep and every time I have the same dream it always ends here.
Watching the movie was real nice to see my dream alive. Of course I didn't have aggressive transformed beasts after me at night time, but to see Will Smith doing almost everything I dreamt of made me feel real good. I knew would enjoy such an experience and I knew that I was well prepared for it. I read this book 'Life of Pi' which also dealt with a similar situation only that the protagonist is stuck on a boat with a tiger. Robinson Crusoe, I am Legend and Life of Pi all are works I really enjoy because they teach me so much about survival instincts and how to be independent and alone not just in life but if possible in the whole world. I look forward to this dream come true.

A Winter Evening's Nightmare

For quite sometime I had a yearning to watch a professional play on stage. I have a liking for plays watching then right since school days and even in college didn't miss many inspite of lack of company or schedule. With the same spirit and hope I was looking forward to a professional version which would be executed technically and aesthetically better, no doubt. So I got this opportunity to watch a play on Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's dream' directed by Tim Supple, a very critically acclaimed one. But as things turned out it was nothing like I expected.

The play on the whole was repulsive and outrightly ridiculous. The first turn off was the fact that for some weird reason the director or some fool decided to have the play in multiple languages at once. It's novel I must grant that, I have never seen use of several languages throughout the duration of the play. But it makes no sense. The whole point of conveying the essence is lost if the audience is unable to comprehend the dialogues. The last time I checked a play was about expression which is the acting, depiction which is direction and importantly about dialogues. Apparently some one forgot that. On top of that the director claims to have toured quite a lot of India and the idea behind this approach is to glean or absorb several aspects of the multicultural diversity and vividness India possesses. What could be dumber? A friend of mine made a point that since expression knows no boundaries it is not required that it be presented in a language the audience understands. Comparing it to a very different art form called mime where there is no concept of language. In my opinion, Mime is an art form where the actor has given up one mode of communication in order to prove his/her skill in communicating with expression and movement. But in a play we dont have that! The actors aren't doing that and they enjoy the luxury of speech. So its little excuse to squander it on a funny idea that seems to be pushing intellectuality on others. If in theory, language should not be a boundary why do we not have plays in baby-talk or some arbitrary verbiage. Not only would the actors save time in memorizing verses but also a lot of effort spared for the audience trying to make sense of what is being said.

Another disturbing aspect was the use of verse. In these times when people have little reason to understand or be patient enough to listen to long convoluted speeches it is awfully foolish to have long boring speeches or what appeared to me as poems being recited one after the other. While the style of speech is 'considered' no doubt beautiful and aesthetic, there are many many instances I have seen in movies or in real life of how well writers frame dialogues being witty, appealing and also literally beautiful. Plays should be representative of the present era. It's not that the logic doesn't apply anywhere. For instance, the play itself boasts of having incorporating modern day influences in style etc. So why is this approach selective in the most trivial aspect where it should have been?

The whole event brings to mind the reasons for the decadence and growing irrelevance of art forms in our lives. Art definitely has started lacking mass appeal and also suffers a disconnect from the masses. So while at inception such events and forms were directed towards widespread promulgation of ideas and concepts modern day art forms have regressed moving towards darker and abstract ideas which are hard to grasp and appreciate. Most of popular contemporary art is at mercy of a few critics who would judge its worth and then brand it. It has become an easy way of cooking up strange ideas, wild imagination running amok with little need to justify or make sense. Art's definition itself has come to award them this misused freedom where we as receptors have little to ask and expect for. When everything is justified as an interpretation and ingenuity what is the difference between a skilled artist and a lunatic. Given a set of tools with some luck both may end producing the same result in any art form, for different reasons of course, or is it the same reason? Inspite of this as I write this there is an auction on somewhere where a twisted sculpture is being sold for an average person's lifetime savings a hundered times fold.

It's sad to see that plays have become the way they are now. I would still love to watch those school and college plays - cocky, cliched and always entertaining for sure. I still long to see such plays and hope that there is some director or actor out there who cares for some sense. Till then I'll stick to movies. No more nightmares for me.