Yes I did vote.....

So..... did you vote?

Yes I did vote....
So that some goon may rule my ward again.

Yes I did vote....
So that he may not visit my lane ever again till next five years.

Yes I did vote....
So that he may break all the promises from the day of his victory.

Yes I did vote....
So that my vote could be easily wasted and some strong 'party' may come to power than
the candidate.

Yes I did vote....
So that the winning candidate could rest for five years.

Yes I did vote....
So that the gutters in my area could remain unclean for days, months and years.

Yes I did vote....
So that mosquitoes could breed in it and leave me sleepless.

Yes I did vote....
So that the roads may retain their potholes.

Yes I did vote....
So that water supply could be pathetic.

Yes I did vote....
So that lanes could be used for two way traffic.

Yes I did vote....
So that garbage bins could overflow.

Yes I did vote....
So that water could be logged in monsoon.

Yes I did vote....
So that sweepers may not be seen. Not even their sign.

Yes I did vote....
So that hoodlums who eve tease girls passing by, standing at a pan beedi shop could be
called party workers.

Yes I did vote....
So that more trees could be cut down.

Yes I did vote....
So that state of muncipal schools could be tiresome.

Yes I did vote....
So that these only affordable schools for poor lot could be closed down.

Yes I did vote....
So that playgrounds could be sold to builders.

Yes I did vote....
So that slums would keep spreading wider.

Yes I did vote....
So that people in slums would continue to live in unhealthy and unhygenic conditions.

Yes I did vote....
So that people due to lack and unkempt condition of public toilets, could shit and pee on roads.

Yes I did vote....
So that street lights could remain unlit in evenings, nights, days and thereafter.

Yes I did vote....
So that hawkers could encroach on footpaths leaving no space on them to walk on.

Yes I did vote....
So that stray dogs could go on a biting spree.

Yes I did vote....
So that municipal hospitals could continue to be grimy and at times infectious.

Yes I did vote....
So that the free medicines for these hospitals could be sold to medical stores near them at hundred percent profit.

Yes I did vote....
So that sewages and drains could give us an idea of how our shit smells after decaying.

Yes I did vote....
Because it is my right. My fundamental right. And a duty as a responsible citizen.

Even though I knew that nothing would change. I did vote. Hoping that if many more like
me would do so....things would change. Also realising . That not many more but
much much much much much more were needed......for the change to take place.

Dimaag Ka B......

My net account was not working till yesterday. Couldn't recharge it. Was
collecting money. My service provider has hiked the prices

Road beside my house is in dire condition. Leave alone a vehicle it's not even
worth walking for humans. Yesterday evening an old man fell as his trembling feet
twisted into a pothole.

Main Road joining the road beside my house is dug up. They are laying a new
pipeline. Or perhaps a telephone line. Or some other line of some sort. Maybe a life
line. or a love line. Whatever. A month ago it had been dug up. For some line. Then
too. Now they've dug it up again. For another line. Don't know what all lines lie in
the belly of this road. Can crack a bad joke...'This road is linear'. Funny thing is, the men digging it up last time and men digging it up this time
are same...only companies are different. They came for a tea at the tea stall where we
hang aroung. Heard one of them say....'When will they hike our pay...It's been three
years now.'

The street lihgts at the edge of the road are not working. It's complete dark
there. Like my future. The darkness continues into the adjoining ruins of a disputed
building. Which stands so lonely that someone might mistake it for haunted. Somebody
snatched a necklace from a girl's neck while she was returning home from her office
that day.In that same patch. She's from my locality. I know her. I must say.She's damn lucky!!!

She said it once to me, when I was accompanying her co-incidentally on her way
back home, that she found it a waste to spend on an autorickshaw while returning home
as we aren't in much hurry ro reach home. Earlier it was affordable she had said. I
still remember.

Rickshaw walas queue up at a petrol pump where the main roads joins the
highway. It is their slack time. Can't earn a paisa in that time slot. Have to wait at
the petrol pump. To fill CNG in rickshaws. A long queue it is. So many rickshaws. So
less pumps with CNG filling facility. Some stay smart. They run rickshaw on traditional fuel. Petrol. They are very
much responsible for rickshaw fare hike. But at least they don't have to pause their
earning for an hour or three.

Once I met a rickshaw wala who was a graduate. B.A. in something. I could see
my 'tommorow' in him. Didn't get a job. So took to rickshaw driving. Before, he said,
he used to earn enough to feed his family. Now, he says, it too has become difficult
with so many rickshaws around.

Rickshaw walas literally curse the Traffic Police. They are the villians in
their story. 'Paandus' they call them. Paandus posses the ultimate power to stop a
rickshaw wala in the middle of it's journey. State rules. Known and unknown. And fine
them for breaking one of them. Later they settle the matter with a settlement amount
lesser than the fine and let them go. Rickshaw walas say that they do it only for the settlement money. They hold
them even if they aren't at mistake.

Sometime ago read a news in newspaper. A policeman had commited suicide. Weeks
later Yoga and meditation was introduced for Policemen. It was believed that it would
help them maintain psychological balance in stress. A TV channel interviewed some
policemen to find their say on this. One of the cop said "Ask them to reduce stress." Other asked for a salary at least. Forget raise and bonus. Another joined saying we
earn lesser than a 'office boy' in corporate sector.

A policeman raped a girl at Marine Drive. Don't know if he was cught trying or
he did. But RAPE is the word. Girl was a minor. He too has a daughter.

A man in Arthur road jail is under trial for raping his own daughters. They are
making a movie on him. It will release soon.

'Black Friday' hasn't released yet. Even if the results of the 93 Bombay Blasts
case are out.

It has taken thirteen years for the guilty of the 93 Bombay Blast case to be
prosecuted. Three more blasts took place in the meantime.

Bombay is Mumbai now. It is believed it was so before it was Bombay. Maybe. It
must've been. Who's seen?

Elections are due in Mumbai on 1st february. Everyone is standing strong with
their manifestos. Humour lies in this that they all are blaming each other for present
condition of Mumbai.

Mumbai belongs to Marathis say some. I long for an explanation. Till day I was
in a misconception that all of them living in Mumbai were responsible for it's growth.
Every single human being. Those dying in riots and bomb blasts weren't all Marathis.
Those working in offices aren't all Marathis. Still it is a property of Marathis...I am
weak at reasoning, can anybody help me with it???

People disgrace Mumbai for a place where nobody helps nobody. Maybe they
weren't here during floods.

Mumbai was flooded with water on 26th July 2005. Work on the drainage system of
Mumbai started on a war scale after that incident. On 4th July 2006 Mumbai was flooded
again.

In attempt to widen the gutters, trees were cut down and shops were demolished.
Those who lost their shops are waiting for compensation. Some having waited for a long
time have lost hope for any compensation. Some still wait. Amidst this there are some
who are waiting for the trees to be planted again.

In another attempt to prevent floods, widening of Mithi River was undertaken.
Oh there's also a river in Mumbai. I always thought we only had gutters and naalaas. Slums were also brought down in order to create more space in the city. People
lost their homes. They had no place to sleep.

A bunch of kids from Bandra drove over a family asleep on a footpath.

A family of Dalits was brutally murdered by a pack of high castes on the basis
of suspicion that they were provoking a police inspector to take action against these
men while he came to their place for his meals. The family included an eighteen year
old girl who was her college topper and aspired to join IAS. Before killing her, they
made her brother rape her. Her and her mother's body was found in a far away sewage
channel. Both were found raped first and then killed by forensics.

A man raped and killed kids, adolescents and teenage girls, also a few boys.
Ate their flesh and threw the bones in a gutter next to his bungalow.

Army Jawaans threw out a Kashmiri Muslim out of the train after thrashing him
up because he boarded their compartment in a regular train mistakenly. He survived.
jawans were sad about this.

Train was burnt in Kalyan near Mumbai by some angry Dalits in remonstration
against the desecration of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's idol in Kanpur. Quite close by were
these two places.

Dance Bars in Mumbai were shut down. Instead ladies service and orchestra was
allowed. Earlier girls danced on a dance floor farther from drunkards. Now they will
ahve to serve them at an intimate distance. In same revealing clothes they used to
dance in.

An actress was sued for wearing revealing clothes at a performance. It hurt the
suer's sentiments only because it was shown on the television. Had it not been shown.
He hadn't cared. Also on television are soaps where women wear backless blouses and
transparent sarees with their three fourth breasts peeping out of their low cut
blouses.

A son threw his parents off the balcony of their skyscraper house and mentioned
it a suicide. Cops however were successful at discovering the truth later. He wanted
the house to hereditarily come down to him, which wasn't possible without their being
dead.

Truth was disclosed later even in matter of three murders who got justice after
twelve and thirteen years. Before their murderers were set free by previous courts
where the cases stood before approaching the supreme court. Truth prevails at last.
Even if culprits don't last.

An IITan was brutally murdered by oil mafias when he tried to reveal an oil
scam. He studied all through his teenage and most of his youth for this moment.

An IITan murdered himself for reasons unknown.

A female military officer too killed herself. Again for reasons unknown.

Farmers in Vidarbha are killing themselves. So many of them that it appears to be a trend. A suicide spree. Since they aren't able to repay the loans they drew for raising a crop, which eventually never got raised.

As I think about all this.....something is happening in some part of the nation
simultenously. Someone killed, kidnapped, corrupted, bribed, raped, molested, sold,
bought, massacred, fooled, something or the other. It is a vibrant nation after all. As I think about this very fact, Dimaag ka Bhosda ho jaata hai.

Note: Bhosda(Bho-sa-daa)
1.Bhosda is an over used vagina. Used in reference to a vagina that has been
raped repeatedly over a large number of times.
2.A battered vagina.