MY MIND IS NOT MADE UP.......

My latest writing project just got over and so I am at a loose end. Well, not really. I have a couple of projects in my mind but that also means the rains can't have a mind of its own. Brilliant sunshine in the morning and there I am singing with the finches (do they sing?) and then it gets cloudy, humid and pours incessantly for 15 minutes and then stops.

I seriously have nothing against the rains. So what if our CM, KCR garu has got us both the Krishna and Godavari waters to our taps. It is the rains which puts the smile back on the farmer's face, at least for a period of time. It is only then that greenery takes on a new hue.  (A poet friend the late Prasad wrote, `pacche rang ki pacche essi nattu').While I will not deny that there is a certain charm in this season, of having a roasted corn, even as the warm embers of the coals dry up your face. Or having a hot cup of ginger tea from a roadside stall while you are inside the car. Or having steaming hot bajjis, again inside the car and steaming up the windshield and the memory remaining in the waft of the eaw onions eaten alongside. Or going for a ride on a slightly less crowded road (I remember my good friend P S Jayaram and our longish ride to Gandipet and back and when it poured relentlessly). Or when you are on the ORR or the airport road and see the grandeur of nature. Those yellow flowers make your heart soar and bring the tears, all at once. It is way too beautiful. Some parts of this season.

And if you are caught in the rain while running errands, it is a pleasure to be in a four-wheeler for the two wheeler guys take shelter under the bridge or a building. These days, thanks to the Metro pillars, you'll see a bunch of them parked waiting for the rain to abate. That is a good time to be on the road. On the main road. You see, these roads are good and clean for these are the thoroughfares taking the VIPs into the Hi Tech city or Cyber City, a world of its own. If you are in a by lane, then you definitely need a traffic cop directing the unruly vehicles or God's blessings. For here you still have manholes, open if you please. Or some merely covered up with a rock, which is covered by the rain water, not visible to the driver, till the water flows away. Because Hyderabad is the most livable city and we have won so many awards repeatedly. But can't help it because our young Minister of MAUD is at home resting his twisted ankle. And of course it is only then that the contractors can rework on the already several times re-worked roads.

While I romaticise about the season, the students of IIIT, Basara complained about bad food being served to them. While I cannot say how often I have read this story of  hostel mates complaining about bad food, it definitely gets a lot of media attention, but there is never any follow up on whether the food conditions have improved. Surely there is a bureaucrat sitting at the Secretariat watching over the government hostels. He/she can take a surprise visit and sort out the problem. But then as civilians the solution seems so simple.

Then of course let me congratulate Hyderabadis for a brand new 'UGLY' building called the ICCC (Integrated Command and Control Centre). The police, which seems to be slightly out of control, with number of cases against individual cops adding up, get a brand new building. Though it has reflective glass and is also spotted from the PVR Narasimha, imagine the building during the summer months and the hefty AC bill.

It was designed by Shapoorji Pallonji Group with inputs from L&T Infotech and other organisations and cost a whopping 600 crores. And we still serve bad food to students studying and staying in government facilities? The government will not sensitise the police or spend money training them, but they get a control room from where they will apparently help the common man. All 100 calls will be directed to this building.

My other main concern is that now the ride across Rd No 12 will no more be comfortable. And I wonder if the cops will be able to keep watch while we buy booze from that huge shop opposite the Control Room or if we are sipping tea at the Niloufer Cafe? What will happen to all those fancy cars and equally fancy youth which keeps hanging outside the Cafe. By the way, an expensive place.