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Of Cattle
class, holy cows and “Indian Style”
toilets
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Philip P. Eapen |
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Author's webpage:
http://philip.eapen.googlepages.com
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I was thoroughly amused by the ruckus
kicked off by our print/television media and by our
netas during the past fortnight! A light-hearted remark
by the honourable Minister Shashi Tharoor on the World
Wide Web was misunderstood by political leaders and
media persons. They left no stone unturned in creating a
storm in a tea cup!
The minister said, in his reply to a journalist’s query,
that he would fly “cattle class in solidarity with all
our holy cows.” Heard the story on idioms and idiots?
That’s what followed! Our movers and shakers who did not
receive a quality English education jumped at it!
“Cattle class?” they wondered. Are all who fly in
economy class cattle, they asked. Who are these “holy
cows?” Did Mr. Tharoor insult the highest family in the
land? Our netas did not know that “holy cows” are not
individuals! Our commentators did not realize that
“cattle class” is a common expression for economy class
– an expression found in English dictionaries. It does
not mean that people who travel by economy class are
cattle.
And what’s the environment that sparked off this debate?
The Congress Party had initiated an “austerity drive.”
It had ordered all its MPs to fly economy class instead
of flying business class. Sonia Gandhi flew economy
class and that made headlines. Rahul Gandhi chose to
travel by train!
What magnanimity! What austerity! The Aam Aadmi’s Party
does not tell us that a large number of aides
accompanied Rahul in his railway chair car or that
several seats around Mrs. Gandhi’s seat in a plane’s
economy class were left vacant. However, the Party
highlighted its leaders’ austerity measures in a season
of drought and poverty in India.
The ordinary Indian is unable to differentiate between
business class and economy class flights. For him,
flying is a luxury. All this boasting about choosing to
fly economy class does not make any sense to poor
farmers who are bearing the brunt of a bad drought. If
our ministers and MPs will choose to travel by Sleeper
Class in Indian Railway or if they will travel by road,
then our people will perceive such a decision as a
measure of austerity or cost-control.
Recently I drove along NH-17 from Cochin to Ankola—a
distance of about 700 km. We spent 19 agonizing hours
along this stretch! The highway, which is supposed to be
the backbone of the Konkan coast, along with the Konkan
Railway, is now a back-breaker. Most of it is so broken
up that it looks like lunar surface. The so-called
highway’s condition is worse than that of most village
roads!
If only our netas would travel along NH-17 and similar
“roads” to discover for themselves the pleasure of long
distance driving along broken roads! I am sure that our
Union ministers who would dare to undertake such a
venture will call for an immediate cancellation of our
lunar mission. Why spend money on a risky lunar mission
when we can find similar terrain here?
I do appreciate the government’s investment in
developing major highways such as those that form the
“golden quadrilateral.” However, majority of India’s
roads are not worthy to be called “roads.” They are
death traps. If our governments can find money to make
expensive airports and terminals, why can’t they find
money to develop roads, flyovers, interchanges, and bus
terminals? Why can’t the Railways use its surplus profit
to make life easier for weary travelers? Even as we
boast of leaping into space age, the common man has to
perform acrobatics in the “Indian” style toilets to come
out alive and well!
That makes me ask our pseudo nationalists and patriots,
“Why do we call these railway toilets ‘Indian’ style
toilets?” Did we invent the squatting type toilet? Is
squatting in toilets an exclusive tag of Indian
identity? Don’t people of other nations squat in
toilets? Why then do we have the label “Indian Style” on
the doors of railway coach toilets?
These dirty and wet railway toilets should make every
Indian ask, “Why is the Railway offending Indians by
calling these toilets ‘Indian style’ toilets?”
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This page
is updated on Oct 6, 2009
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PRAISE THE ALMIGHTY
10 YEARS CELEBRATION
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