A day of sirens and roadblocks

Yesterday was one the worst days i had faced after coming to Chennai. The mercury had hit one of the highest ever, peaking at around 42 deg. centigrade. And during my mid morning commute to office i took the heat in its full. This is when i feel jealous about people travelling by car, they at least have an option for an AC. But this is all something i got to accept. There is nothing anybody can do about this. But what I hated yesterday was the problems created by men, or shall I say, Leaders ?

Yesterday was our chief minister's 50th year in legislature. I must say, they sure have a flair for finding out reasons to celebrate. Well its up to them to celebrate whatever they want, i have no problems with that. But should that be at the cost of public comfort ? Should the taxpayer bear the brunt of all this ? Should he be writing cheques for the hundreds of extra security and police personnel deployed to provide a smooth passage for this so-called VIPs ? And believe me, i am not the only one who feels like this.

There were roadblocks in almost every major road the connects Chennai to its outskirts. The reason ? Well, our highly valuable, MLAs needed protection from the very own people they represent. We are all a potential security threat, u know. And i am forced to ask, do we really care ? Are these people so valuable to be afforded such protection ? Well if u ask me, there are only two people who deserve such protection. One, The President and Two, The Prime Minister. And if you are wondering, no, MadamJi doesn't deserve it. And that's the way it is in most of the Democratic (what a joke that has become here) countries. Sirens are reserved for The Head of the State, Police cars, Fire Trucks and Ambulances. Not for Tom, Dick and Harry, with a three or two letter word as their qualification (for the uninitiated, MLA and MP). And there were at least two Police escorts for each convoy i saw. And there were many of those convoys. What a waste of fuel, that too when the prices are soaring. But who cares, its taxpaying foolish junta's money, after all !

And if you are wondering what i was doing when i knew this was going to happen, i was helping a friend of mine catch a bus home. Thinking how many people like us would've been stranded like that is any body's guess. They put so many people to utter discomfort. Yet i don't see even a single newspaper reporting that. I don't know why media i so keen on taking sides. And i don't know why people have become so complacent. Why all i can do is simply blog. I don't know. We really have got to do some soul searching here.

BTW, my day ended on a bad and frustrating note. Its something personal to be described here, but nevertheless, it was due to some totally irresponsible behaviour from my best friend.