Bangalorean’s – Do we have the spirit of Mumbai?

I stayed in Malad (one of the fastest growing suburbs), Mumbai for almost 10 years between 1991 and 2001, these were the most memorable period of my life. However, this period had many bad patches too. On Dec 6th 1991 when I was in 6th Std, I saw the Hindu-Muslim riots aftermath the Babri Masjid demolition, then in 8th Std I saw the trauma of March 12th 1993 bomb blasts and many other acts of violence by the underworld in Mumbai.
However, even after all these acts of violence or terrorism still the spirit of Mumbai never dies. Life goes on in the same fast track.

In contrast to the fast track of Mumbai is Bangalore – once called the “Pensioner’s Paradise”. Bangalore life has always been on the slow pace and Bangaloreans are comfort loving people. Though the IT–ITES Industry has increased the pace to a great extent but still it is no where in comparison to the speed or the spirit of Mumbai.
Though Bangalore has seen some acts of violence during Cauvery riots, Rajkumar’s Kidnapping, Rajkumar’s Death and the most recently the IISC attack but are we (read Bangaloreans) prepared to handle situations like the current Bomb Blasts in Mumbai?

Terrorism is no more consigned to the boundaries of Jammu & Kashmir nor it is any kind of freedom struggle or Jehad, it is pure disgrace to mankind, killing innocent people cannot be Jehad. Terrorism has spread to all corners of the country and Bangalore due to its recent advancement in technology and the global spotlight will surely be in the HIT LIST of the terrorists. The IISC attack did prove that terrorists have an eye on Bangalore.

The government of Karnataka can beef-up the security, take immediate actions on Intelligence reports, deploy additional police forces, declare a high alert and also might take the help of the large presence of army in Bangalore, but still is all this enough? Are the citizens of Bangalore prepared to handle such situations?

If we are not mentally prepared then it’s the right time to learn from our big brother – “Mumbai” – the solidarity shown at times of crisis, the presence of mind, the toughness to handle adversities, and the ever-resilient Mumbaikars spirit.

A Gesture - Very Memorable

All of us aspire to have better opportunities or a better prospect in life. But, how many of us actually think of sharing such an opportunity or a prospect with others? Very few - considering the amount of cutthroat competition we have in the current world. However I am glad that I met one of those “very few people”, who gave me an opportunity to be part of an event, which eventually has become a memorable event for me.

The person is Ms. Anna Lopez or in short Anna (Manager of iVolunteer –Bangalore) and the opportunity was to visit Vidhana Soudha and participate in the launch of “B-TRAC-2010” i.e. the Chief Minister's 10 Point Program for Improvement of Bangalore City Traffic on 11th May 2006.

Though I am a Kannadiga by birth and a die-hard Bangalorean day-in and day-out, I had never explored the monument – “Vidhana Soudha”. The B-TRAC 2010 launch at 5PM was postponed to 6:30 PM. This gave me an opportunity to explore the length and breadth of monument. Anna and me walked through the huge corridors and the pillars and enjoyed every moment looking at the architectural wonder of the Kempegowda era.

Then we both entered the conference hall where the launch was about to begin. First time in my life I had seen so many VVIP all together - The Commissioner of Police, Commissioner of BDA, BMP, BESCOM and ACP’s, State Ministers, various media personel and most importantly The CM. Well whoever might be the chief minister but the designation CM itself demands respect.

The B-TRAC 2010 launch stated off with a

• Welcome note by one of the ACP,
• Then a small presentation of the current situation of Bangalore traffic
• The Police Commissioner gave a brief overview about the 10 Point Program for Improvement of Bangalore Traffic and
• Finally a movie was played to explain in depth about the 10-point program.

After this the Chief Minister released the brochure of the 10 Point Program which is a rapid action plan to bring about visible improvement in the traffic situation in Bangalore city. The 10-point program covers a wide range of activities chosen for their immediate impact and to be implemented in a coordinated manner by the concerned agencies.
The 8th point is where we as volunteers can work on i.e. “Traffic Education / Publicity”. For further information you can visit http://www.bcp.gov.in/trafficpolice/press.htm.

Though the launch was over, the actual work for which I had been there started and i.e. “Networking with People”. But Hay! While networking I realized that I was in fact walking around with a VIP herself, yes our very own Anna. Every VVIP out there knew her and obviously iVolunteer.

The police commissioner was very enthusiastic about volunteering activities and invited me to meet him at his office for further communication. I did get similar responses from many of them, which has inspired me to do a Phase-II of the volunteer driven event on “Traffic Education / Road Safety Awareness”.

The event B-TRAC 2010 was over, but I will forever carry the joy and the pride of meeting the CM and the other VVIP in the beautiful monument Vidhana Soudha.
However all this wouldn’t have been possible if not for the kind Gesture of Anna to take me along to this memorable event. Thanks a lot Anna.

Success and Happiness..

Is this a blog of two guys ..."Vijay" and "Anand"..? The answer is No and Yes....are you confused!!! Don't worry, I will explain...

 

During the the initial stages of my life i.e. childhood, school days and even during my college days I always thought of "Winning" or "Succeeding" is everything in life. Whether is was winning a lemon and spoon race in Kindergarden or winning the 100, 200, 400mts running race in school or winning inter-dept or inter college tournaments.....I just wanted to WIN. Some times I won and some times I lost.....but failure never diminished my desire to WIN.

Even after entering the corporate world (IT Sector) I was still striving for winning ...either "Customer Satisfaction" or "Employee of the month" or "The Internal Job Posting"....

 

However, in this journey of winning.....I started to introspect..."what am I getting by winning?", "what is it that I want to acheive?", "Is winning giving me the happiness I wanted?", "What is happiness?", "what gives me happiness?".

 

This introspective mode, brought in the other charecterestic in my life that is "HAPPINESS". Now my life is more "Energizing". I am not in greed of winning any more, instead I look for HAPPINESS. Doesn't matter who is happy; it could be me, it could be my family, could be some stranger on the road, could be a begger or even an animal...but at the end all that matters is HAPPINESS.

 

However, this again hasn't taken away my desire to win, but the WINNING has HAPPINESS attached to it and hence its looks complete.

 

Hence the confusion is over, its only one person VIJAYANAND (that's me)....but the two charesteristics are VIJAY (WINNING) and ANAND (HAPPINESS).