Sombre scene

The grand old Scindia Villa in New Delhi perhaps never looked so forlorn as it did on Monday. And those who see it every day claimed that the silence surrounding the villa was eerie.

Travellers who pass by the imposing complex located vertically opposite Bhikaiji Cama on the bustling Ring Road day in and day out claimed that the villa, cordoned off by a red brick and bamboo structure, looked ``very different'' today. Some justified the strange atmosphere due to the deaths ``so close at home'' -- it had shaken them and made them realise once again that death is the greatest leveller.

Disbelief was writ large in the talk doing the rounds. ``Can you believe that Madhavrao Scindia who went to Kanpur for such a short tour never returned....could death be so cruel? Was it his mother's disappointment with him that worked against him?''....statements, questions and introspection happened side by side.

People looking out of buses pointing to the villa and talking amongst themselves said. ``Death chooses the most unlikely victims and you never know when it comes. The young journalists who were killed -- most of them were expected back for dinner that night.''

And somewhere during the conversation, an old man philosophises : ``We need to learn how to live each day as there is no tomorrow and should give love and compassion without holding back. You never know what will happen the next minute.''

* * *

Road hazards

While cruising on the road, a motorist's worst nightmare is suddenly finding an object or a hole on the tarred surface. And in Delhi, there are any number of places where holes on main roads pose a major threat to the life and property of vehicle users.

The problem of such holes on roads assumes an even greater dimension when they happen to be on highways or expressways, for here stopping a vehicle moving at a comfortable speed becomes next to impossible, especially because of the traffic coming from behind.

Incidentally, this problem, which can be solved through simple and timely road repairs, does not find a place of importance on the agenda of civic agencies. `A stitch in time saves nine' policy is definitely lacking in Delhi.

So, there are numerous places as near Gazipur crossing on National Highway No. 6 and even near the ITO flyover, where small but potentially lethal holes on the roads make motorists take evasive action. But therein lies the inherent danger. For, in trying to avoid running into these holes, the vehicles normally take sharp turns which, in turn, pose a threat to other road- users.

But while there is urgent need for evaluation of such traffic needs, Delhi also requires a proper method of undertaking minor road repairs -- one which is distinctly separate from that adopted by Noida, where large patches of tar-coal have made a mess of well-laid roads.

* * *

Short-changed

``Once book, knowledge and money go into another person's hand, they become useless,'' goes a saying. This happens more so when they are most needed, as a commuter on board a DTC bus found out the other day.

The man forwarded to the conductor Rs. 6 -- comprising rupee-five and a one-rupee coin -- as fare. The conductor, instead of accepting it gleefully, asked him to give a hundred-rupee note promising him change.

Though puzzled by the strange offer, the commuter took out a hundred-rupee note and gave it to him. In return, the conductor gave him a fifty-rupee note. Then he dug deep into his money bag and amid clink of two-rupee coins, counted 22 of them and handed it over to the commuter.

The bewildered man pointed out that it would become too heavy for his wallet and insisted on the currency note being returned. The conductor assured him that he will give him notes in the denominations of 10 and 20 as and when more commuters board the bus. That was not to happen as it was already around 10 p.m on a Saturday.

As his destination neared, the commuter's anxiety about the remaining amount increased and so did his insistence on getting his hundred-rupee note back. The conductor refused to give in and finally the man got down, ``heavy'' with defeat.

When another commuter questioned the conductor's behaviour, he retorted with a triumphant ear-to-ear grin: ``Saab, aise hi kar ke 200 ke khulle nikal diye (Sir, this is how I got rid of coins worth Rs. 200).''

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The buzzword

Scientific reasoning may be the buzzword these days but if sales at book stores are anything to go by, astrology has not lost its charm. Ever since the terrorist assaults in the United States Delhiites have displayed their belief in astrology as bookshops across the Capital have recorded an unprecedented sale in the prophecies complied by the 16th Century seer Nostradamus.

And this increase in sales is not restricted to established book stores alone, even book sellers on the pavements know there is something special about that particular book.

``Everybody wants this book these days,'' says a pavement bookseller in the PVR Complex at Saket, as he propped the book by Nostradamus against an oil lamp, putting it in the ``limelight''. ``Earlier, practically nobody asked for this book. But ever since the events in the US, this is one of the most popular buys,'' he adds.

- Contributed By Bindu Jacob, Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar, Prashant Pandey and Anjali Malhotra).

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