A road trip and some thoughts!

Last couple of days, I was thinking about my first script to hit the blog. Finally the spark came this morning while driving to office, when my vehicle fell in a pothole. Whenever I drive over bad roads, it feels like I have reached God’s own country. There people will always be driving their way out of potholes, and rarely get a chance to drive over well asphalted plane.

I used to drive back and forth in the Kochi – Bangalore route, in company of my friends or family. I hail from the queen of Arabian Sea, and work in the Garden city. I do remember travelling to Bangalore by bus during my schooldays. The journey used to take more than half a day, as it rolls down through the narrow roads of Kerala, Tamilnadu, and Bangalore. As a kid I felt sympathy for the driver who drove the vehicle through these narrow roads and flurry of vehicles.

 It was not a surprise when these imprinted thoughts regurgitated, years down the lane, when I decided to drive down to Bangalore. Of course I was not alone; there were friends to take turns behind the wheel. I was very dubious about the journey as my mind was fine tuned to that long and tiring journey I had through the narrow roads. But the thoughts about driving past those misty mornings to the office kept me going, and my vehicle started rolling towards Bangalore. The journey was not that great, as work had started to convert most of the single lane traffic to four lanes in Kovai – Bangalore stretch. So we had to drive past muddy roads full of potholes and numerous diversions. As I travelled past these roads, I became worried about my trip back to Kerala, simple because of my experience with Kerala road construction activities. I have witnessed many such never ending activities in my home state, and such a fate to these roads will make Kochi- Bangalore journey nightmarish.

Anyhow, the return trip didn’t happen soon, in fact happened a year after. So we started our journey back to Kochi for a long vacation, skeptical about the road condition. If the road construction have inherited Kerala model, definitely the ride is going to be bumpy. But we were in for a surprise, with lion share of the construction activity completed, culminating to a driver’s paradise. In Kerala even a single lane of road will take years for completion. So this time with memories of a good drive through the roads of our neighboring states, the journey back to Bangalore was much better.

Years passed by, it’s another trip back home, this time through really world class roads till our GOD’s OWN COUNTRY (I am afraid! God seems to have checked out of this place!) Such world class roads in our state can only be seen in the vicinity of a politicians or bureaucrat’s house. 

My intention of this blog is to draw a sorry picture of my home state, where all those development ideas unfurl first, but being realized around us, in neighboring states. Our state gives birth to lot of innovative ideas, but the corruption and political tonic used to nurture these ideas hinders the growth. In all our neighboring states in spite of corruption, cross party allegations, inner party fights and all those current political dramas enacted, some sort of development will also happen in parallel. Our counterparts don’t have the state’s development in their agenda, or are they incapacitate? Definitely they have the capacity, but to bulge their wallet and loot the people who voted them to power!

So coming back to the story- Once I started my journey from Bangalore, my brake and clutch pedal was squabbling with me for not touching them quite often, and instead being friendly with the accelerator pedal. But soon the issue was sorted out, as the vehicle hit the Kerala roads. I become very much friendly with them, and was on top of them till I reached home. My car’s suspension was tested to extreme levels, and even an ayurvedic massage is not going to save them. On the Kerala stretch, I saw many fly over’s and four lane stretches which were started even before my first trip to Bangalore by road, and begging for some fresh air of breath. Only those contactors and politicians who sprouted around those starving creatures have flourished and blossomed, have Merc’s at the parking lot replacing the legendary Hamara Bajaj.  Kicking out the horrible Kerala stretch, the only stretch now remains to be converted to a four lane is the Coimbatore – Avinashi stretch, for which the construction has kick started. Within no time it will be also be drivers delight. Infrastructure is being developed in a faster pace around our state, but  I don’t think even my grandson will be able to travel through such world class roads in Kerala, because even during that time, the grandson’s of the current nasty politicians will be enacting the anti-development drama, flooding up their bank account and looting the poor tax payer.

Having hit badly at my state, I still love her, for the serenity, greenery, backwaters, festivals, food and many more. And I realize that the greedy people out there - be it politicians, be it bureaucrat’s, be it the general public, is carving her out, making it a dry land, devoid of greenery, devoid of brotherhood. Till my land takes her last breath, I would love to be in this beautiful land, and no other place in this world can be god’s own country! Believe me, god can never check out from this dream land!

Cheers!

As we are putting up strikes against each and every development opportunity, pretending  to study and identify the needs and concerns of the communities affected by such developmental activities, also spens some time in realizing that there are lot of success stories unfurling around...Excerpt of an article published in the mathrubhumi daily...(Apologies to the non-mallu readers)