The Hindu : New Delhi News : Inside Delhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 14, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Inside Delhi

Unique journey

Thirtynine-year-old Tribhuvan Nath Tripathi got relieved from the Army after completing his 20 years as technical staff on December 31, 2005. Next day, he set out on a bicycle journey from Bangalore to meet President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and apprise him of some of the problems being faced by lower ranked personnel.

Having traversed a distance of 3,125 km, the ex-Serviceman reached Delhi this past Saturday and submitted his application at Rashtrapati Bhavan seeking an appointment with the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. However, since the President had gone to Visakhapatnam for the Fleet Review of the Navy, he was asked to wait.

Hailing from Kunda tehsil of Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh, where his wife and eight-year-old son stay in a rented accommodation, Tribhuvan rode his bicycle from Bangalore to Delhi passing through Tirupati, Thirumala, Nagpur, Jabalpur, Chitrakoot, Lucknow, Sitapur and Bareilly en route. And in the process, he created a record of sorts by cycling non-stop on the 18-km hilly stretch from Tirupati to Thirumala. "I was unaware of the feat, if ever it was, but some senior Army officers told me that nobody had driven a bicycle non-stop on the uphill trek," said the former Army man, who also holds a post-graduate degree in Sanskrit.

Tribhuvan's immediate concern, however, is to meet the President and also the Prime Minister. "I am not going to leave the Capital without meeting the President and the Prime Minister," says the former Armyman who has braved the entire journey without support from any quarter whatsoever and cycles over 70 km a day. "I could have taken a train to reach Delhi," he says, "but I preferred cycling all the way because I also wanted to see what real India is like."

Prashant Pandey

Mending ways

It might sound surprising but it is true. Most auto-rickshaw drivers who earlier behaved brashly and demanded unreasonable fares from commuters seem to have undergone a transformation of sort. And residents in West Delhi are thanking the Delhi Metro for this turnaround in attitude as it has brought about a change which the Delhi Government and the Delhi Traffic Police could not bring about all these years despite various measures.

The other day a man on his way to his New Delhi office waved at an auto-rickshaw at Rajendra Place in Central Delhi.

As soon as the three-wheeler came to a halt, the office-goer -- to avoid yet another round of heated conversation over the fare -- quoted what he thought was a reasonable fare, asking the driver to move on if he wanted more.

But to his utter amazement the driver replied: "Why are you in such a bad mood, Saheb? I would not ask for more than the amount reflected in the meter."

Not believing his ears, the office-goer asked the driver to repeat himself and when convinced that what he had heard was true, hired the auto-rickshaw.

Repeatedly witnessing such friendly behaviour from almost all the auto-rickshaw drivers he encountered over the next few days, this office-goer could not held asking one of them about the reason behind the change of heart. At this the driver said: "Metro trains have started on this route, due to which there has been a substantial decline in people opting for auto-rickshaws. In such a scenario, if we begin quarrelling with prospective passengers, we would lose them too."

Devesh K. Pandey

Shopping manual

This season Delhiites are going all out to "shop while the sales last" and shops around the city have issued their own personalised "Checklist For Sale" to prevent large-scale pilferage and make shopping a profitable endeavour for both shopkeepers and shoppers.

Sample an in-house recommendation list that was found buried under a heap of clothes at a popular shopping mall in the Capital. The list makes for interesting reading for shoppers trying to make "hay while the sun shines".

The list of recommended do's include: keeping a watch on trial rooms for any pilferages, keep the white cloth on the tables clean, be aware of the various offers that are available during the sale period and ask all customers if they require alterations and make alterations by yourself.

And as the list goes, the don'ts state that sales staff should not keep tables in front or close to mirrors or have tag-less merchandise on the floor. It also asks the staff not to leave the section till their partner/reliever comes back from his/her break or have hangers on the floor, use and block lifts and leave the customer unattended.

In fact, so high is the adherence to this 37-point instruction manual issued at a particular shopping mall in Delhi that the staff here swear that all of them know the list by heart

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail