In our daily life in the mega city of Kolkata, problems almost start cropping up right from the morning. Though living in a metro city has its advantages, nearly every individual citizen of the city has to face varying degrees of problems.
The problems arise in the most unexpected manner and in the least expected areas. In the morning one may wake up to find that due to leakage in the flash tank, all the water in the overhead tank got exhausted. Thus, no water is available even for basic needs. You will need a plumber right away, but in Kolkata that is not so easy.
Pleading may get you God in this city, but getting a plumber required to fix the problem is a herculean task. Even if you stay in the heart of the city, finding the right guy is as difficult as in the suburbs. Worse, it may so happen that suddenly one fine morning our great Kolkata Municipality Corporation stops supply of drinking water without proper notice in advance.
This precarious condition can put every family in great trouble as there is hardly any tube well in your vicinity. Even if they are available, they are not in working conditions. Filling up water from a tube well is not easy, especially if you are old and your sons and daughters are settled outside the city. In the end you may have to buy Mineral water to quench your thirst.
Sometimes due to electrical maintenance, our great Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation suddenly makes a temporary load shedding right in the morning for few hours or even during the night. So other than sitting without electricity, you face problem of running your pump and getting water in the overhead tank for various daily usage.
Transport problem is one of the greatest problems in our daily city life. Regular tussle between State and Central administration along with Bus, Taxi and Auto operators put the general public in a pathetic & helpless condition.
People find enormous difficulty in the schooling of their children right from infancy. This continues till the children grow up and gets employed after finishing their educational career.
Other major problem is our regular health hazards due to city life's various polluting & other unhealthy conditions. Getting admitted to the hospital or Nursing home without any reference is a tedious task. If you have Mediclaim facilities, some nursing home will bill you as if the sky is your limit. Getting that money out of your Mediclaim provider institution is another tedious task.
There are other problems with the regular essential service providers like Municipal Corporation, Electricity authorities, Banking & Post Office operations, Telephone & Cable operators for TV.
Is there any permanent or temporary solution to get rid of such problems ? Apparently it seems that there is no solution. I fully agree that many problems cannot be solved by an individual or a group of small individuals. But then again in some situations you can get your problem solved through persistent trial and error method.
I am now 76 years old & physically not very much strong and mobile to move around. However I am mentally still very strong and very tenacious in nature. I can work untiringly to vent out some of my problems by reporting to proper authorities merely through phone calls and emails. I can go on pursuing the same till a solution (positive or negative) is found..
In this way I have been able to solve some of my problems, which I would like to share with everyone to make you believe that everything is still not lost on problem front in this city.
The common man has actually some power which unfortunately he/she is not aware of. In my coming blog post I will share my problem solving encounters in this city. If this helps the common people, that will be my utmost satisfaction.
The problems arise in the most unexpected manner and in the least expected areas. In the morning one may wake up to find that due to leakage in the flash tank, all the water in the overhead tank got exhausted. Thus, no water is available even for basic needs. You will need a plumber right away, but in Kolkata that is not so easy.
Pleading may get you God in this city, but getting a plumber required to fix the problem is a herculean task. Even if you stay in the heart of the city, finding the right guy is as difficult as in the suburbs. Worse, it may so happen that suddenly one fine morning our great Kolkata Municipality Corporation stops supply of drinking water without proper notice in advance.
This precarious condition can put every family in great trouble as there is hardly any tube well in your vicinity. Even if they are available, they are not in working conditions. Filling up water from a tube well is not easy, especially if you are old and your sons and daughters are settled outside the city. In the end you may have to buy Mineral water to quench your thirst.
Sometimes due to electrical maintenance, our great Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation suddenly makes a temporary load shedding right in the morning for few hours or even during the night. So other than sitting without electricity, you face problem of running your pump and getting water in the overhead tank for various daily usage.
Transport problem is one of the greatest problems in our daily city life. Regular tussle between State and Central administration along with Bus, Taxi and Auto operators put the general public in a pathetic & helpless condition.
People find enormous difficulty in the schooling of their children right from infancy. This continues till the children grow up and gets employed after finishing their educational career.
Other major problem is our regular health hazards due to city life's various polluting & other unhealthy conditions. Getting admitted to the hospital or Nursing home without any reference is a tedious task. If you have Mediclaim facilities, some nursing home will bill you as if the sky is your limit. Getting that money out of your Mediclaim provider institution is another tedious task.
There are other problems with the regular essential service providers like Municipal Corporation, Electricity authorities, Banking & Post Office operations, Telephone & Cable operators for TV.
Is there any permanent or temporary solution to get rid of such problems ? Apparently it seems that there is no solution. I fully agree that many problems cannot be solved by an individual or a group of small individuals. But then again in some situations you can get your problem solved through persistent trial and error method.
I am now 76 years old & physically not very much strong and mobile to move around. However I am mentally still very strong and very tenacious in nature. I can work untiringly to vent out some of my problems by reporting to proper authorities merely through phone calls and emails. I can go on pursuing the same till a solution (positive or negative) is found..
In this way I have been able to solve some of my problems, which I would like to share with everyone to make you believe that everything is still not lost on problem front in this city.
The common man has actually some power which unfortunately he/she is not aware of. In my coming blog post I will share my problem solving encounters in this city. If this helps the common people, that will be my utmost satisfaction.
Note : Cartoons used in this blog post have been taken from my Royalty free artwork collection CDs.
8 comments:
First of all I'd like to welcome Mr. Asim Gupta to the world of bloggers.
I have really enjoyed the post.The topic is very unique, the content is great and the cartoons have added more spice in the post.
Fantastic blog jethu.... Unique concept. Will keep reading the same regularly. All the best !!! Bappa
The art of getting anything done is to out-harass the other side. For a retired person, time is in his side, so he has a good chance.
Certain problems can only be solved by personal suffering. See this http://kitchenpain.wordpress.com/about/
Dear Amlan, Thanks very much for your appreciation about the Introduction of my blog. Your encouragement will help you to proceed with further writings.
Dear Bappa, Thanks very much for your appreciation.
Dear Lokendra, Your comments are well taken. But,time is the only factor to outharass other persons to overcome his problem.
Very nice write up, sir. The first line of your blog is an unique to start with. Eagerly awaits your next blog as a learner. At least I can try to solve some such problems. Thank you.
Bikas Das
Dear Mr. Gupta,
You have raised a topic of importance and of relevance. If we see that compared to developed countries the struggle for getting the absolute basic things in life are so enormous that we are being restricted to excel in anything in our lives and we we all collectively fail to excel the nation fails. Getting the mundane things done for survival is a huge struggle day in and day out and I feel the common middle class is the worst sufferer here. The rich has the wealth and manpower at their disposal, the poor has nothing to look forward to, this struggle is the way of life for them, they don't think beyond.Its the middle class who want to do something with our lives, do not have money or the financial power to tackle the day to day hardship. But at the same time we are the creators of these issues. Lets just check this example. A govt. servant would complain about irregular electric supply and curse the company for failing to provide service. Now lets presume he is a staff of PF Office or a bank or a Post office. The same person we go extra lengths to harass an old person on his PF, harass somebody who has come for a banking transaction without a thought assuming he is God's gift to mankind. This is just one example, we see it everyday everytime, we crib about poor service, harassment and we do exactly the same thing to others. I personally feel that we are a nation of insensitive roughes, devoid of any discipline,who are to be dealt with a whip and kept on leash all the time. Thats the only way this nation will ever work and there will be some discipline. But then question remains who will do the same, we are incapable ourselves to lead. I will be waiting eagerly to see what suggestions you may have up your sleeve but personally I feel that everything will change once we consciously change ourselves.Next time before we crib on something we should also think have I been the reason for somebody to crib as well? Once that happens, we can hope to progress. Cheers.
Dear Bikas,
Thanks for your encouragement. Please see my actual experience for solving very known problems known to all. Only will power to protest is essential for such remedial measure.
Dear Mr Sen,
I am really moved with your exhaustive feeling expressed for the root cause of these problems & our inaction to do anything in return.
Good start kaku,
Keep writing, waiting for the next expisode...Jolly
Post a Comment