Fix Responsibility

(Letter to friends in media, public & government)

Dear friends,

The point is well accepted that responsibility must be fixed once a mistake has been made. This ensures that those responsible for the mistake are held accountable and others get a message to tighten their belts and work with more sincerity and devotion. Such must be the case for the stampede that recently happened at the Elphinstone Road suburban station in Mumbai.

While accepting the above, we must also remember that we are a democratic country so we must follow the process of law and give due thought before holding anyone guilty. We are not like the country where a king wanted to fix responsibility for some wrong and hang a person for it. So when no one could be blamed or held responsible, he ordered the guards to go to the city and bring the first person they find who is ‘x’ ft tall and hang him, just because someone must be hanged. So let us look at the whole issue in a dispassionate and logical manner.

In the incident at Elphinstone Road station, deaths were caused due to stampede at the foot over bridge because of overcrowding. Overcrowding happened because passengers were not getting out of the station as it was raining and perhaps there was a puddle at the landing of the foot over bridge. Those who know Mumbaikers, know that they are very well prepared for rains during the monsoon – wear rubber shoes, carry raincoat or umbrella and keep a pair or two of clothes at the office for contingencies. They maintain this routine during the monsoon season which is usually over by mid-September. So the rain at the end of September must have caught many who were not prepared for it. Those familiar with Mumbai rains also know that often it rains for a short duration (4-5 minutes) and slows down or stops. Obviously, passengers, not prepared for rain and not wanting to get wet, did not get out of the station and waited at the foot over bridge for the rain to stop. Now, ‘locals’ in the Mumbai suburban system know that ‘locals’ running with a gap of 2-3 minutes between them and bring about 3000 passengers each time. With those at the exit point (foot over bridge) not getting out and every 2-3 minutes hundreds of passengers adding to the crowd resulted in chaos. Imagine the situation – it was office time, rain was not stopping, passengers not getting out of station, more and more passengers were getting off the train so it was natural for the crowd to swell up at the exit point.

Now, the question is – how do you control the crowd in such a situation? You cannot push the passengers out of the station and you cannot also stop the trains from adding to the numbers at the station and of course you have no control over rain. Well, one can say that railways should have thought of making a bigger and wider over bridge. Yes, but then we arrive at the question of optimum size – how big should the foot over bridge be? One must also remember that for every size and design there is always an issue of maximum capacity it can bear and there is every possibility that the number can and will go beyond the capacity. What is the solution?

Can you stop the trains at the previous station once the platform are crowded at a particular station? Surely not, because it would add to the problem at the station where you stop the train. Stopping it in mid-section will give rise to another set of unacceptable situations. Can you control the crowd physically by stopping them from taking the foot over bridge? Yes it should be possible but then the numbers will swell at the platform and one cannot eliminate possibility of someone getting pushed down and coming under the incoming train or even getting caught in a stampede.

Now let us look at the question of ‘apathy’ and ‘official callousness’ at not building the bridge and completing the works which are already approved. Well, works are examined and are approved in regular course and those familiar with the budgetary process, know that Indian Railways is large not only in terms of the size of its passenger network, manpower etc., but also for the number of already approved works in the budget.  Yes, the railway projects have long gestation period and the ‘shelf life’ of projects is generally long but the situation is such that if all the projects which stand approved, as on date, are to be completed it will require about 10-12 years or so if no other work is sanctioned in this period. Availability of funds/money is one constraint, availability of material and skills in the market is another, and like this there are many other constraints because of which all these cannot be completed in 2-3 years. How did it happen that such a large number of projects got approved and these are not taken up? How can ‘babus and netas’ be so indifferent and callous not to take up and complete the sanctioned work immediately? There are many more questions which can be asked and many of these will be hard to answer.

But before raising these questions and finding their answers, let me mention a few peculiarities of Elphinstone Road Suburban station, where the tragedy happened. I have worked in Mumbai in an office in Lower Parel which is in that area. Mumbai is served on the western side, by the Western Railway suburban network and on the eastern side by the Central Railway suburban network. There are a few stations, like Andheri and Dadar, which are served by both the networks. Parel station of Central Railway is on the eastern side of Elphinstone Road station of Western Railway. There is a foot over bridge connecting the platform of the two stations so that the passengers coming from the eastern network can move over to western network, and vice-versa at these stations. Since Dadar is more crowded and one has to walk a longer distance to switch between these two networks, passengers often switch over at these two stations – Elphinstone Road & Parel. While dealing with the issue concerning passengers at these stations, one also has to remember that there were a number of mills in the area, which got closed and a very large number of officers have come up in the compounds of these mills. These offices are serviced by Elphinstone Road station. Therefore, the number of passengers crossing over at Elphinstone Road- Parel has gone up many fold and obviously the capacity/facilities at these two stations have not gone up in the same proportion.

Why has that happened – perhaps on account policy of following ‘coalition dharma’ all these years. For many years the post of Minister of Railways was filled by coalition partners of the ruling party at the Center and perhaps because they followed a ‘look east’ policy, the western system did not get the attention it deserved. It is a fact that the Mumbai suburban system has remained neglected. The focus of Mumbai Rail Vikas projects have been different (AC-DC Conversions etc) and it was not focused at bringing out all-round development of the network at the desired pace. This is not to find faults with the Mumbai Rail Vikas Projects because Mumbai Suburban Railway network would have completely collapsed by now if the projects under this scheme had not been taken up.

There is a myth about the Mumbai Suburban Railway System – it is loss making system. This is not true. Moreover, one must remember that Metro Railway System of Kolkata too is a loss making system and so are a number of other loss making segments of the Indian Railway networks which did not get/remain neglected over the years. I remember that just before ‘Y2K problem’ pulled all resources, a study had been conducted which had shown that these two suburban networks of Mumbai were not loss making provided the costing exercise is done by working out the ‘cost drivers’ based on ground realities. The calculations show a loss only when one adopts the out dated cost apportionment ratios for working out profit/loss of the system.

Mr Suresh Prabhu was doing great work as the Railway Minister and had taken up lots of long awaited important items. Unfortunately, Indian Railways have a system where the minister and senior management are held accountable even for gross negligence of the lowest staff. Just compare – one accident in railways, and heads roll - the Minister, Chairman and Member of Railway Board while in Pachkula, a larger number of people died and nothing happened even to the lowest functionary. The crisis in the Agriculture sector is another example that despite ‘Farmers’ suicides’, no one has been held accountable in any ministry.

So how do we sort out this problem of ‘disproportionate accountability’ in railways? We must have a similar system in railways as being followed in the other ministries so that the Minister, Board Members and senior management is well protected, and continue their good work despite such incidents and are not asked to go as a result of public ‘outcry’ or a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction!!

Women executives - issues, thoughts and advice.

Family priorities: It is a fact that women give higher priority to family and a large part of this in on account of the fact that women are expected to attend to the families no matter what position they occupy or how busy they may be. In most cases, particularly in India, men do not share equal responsibilities of household chores and therefore, responsibilities to see that children are woken up, got dressed and dropped at school and later picked up and homework etc. are the jobs which have to be attended by women. Very happily I have noted that no matter what position they occupy in organizations they attend to most of these.
Some time while choosing teams there is a negative discrimination against women who shoulder these responsibilities particularly when the job contents require uneven working time or late hours. One good thing is that women’s prioritizing family higher than office work and leaning towards family work actually depends on the importance of the office work. During the CWG days there were women, perhaps they had made adequate alternate arrangements, giving higher priorities to the office work irrespective of the late and uneven working hours.

Therefore I think that though women, perhaps rightly, give higher priorities to the family and are often discriminated against, can and do immerse themselves in the work and perform as well, if not better than men, when the job really demands and is very important and critical.

Pregnancy/Maternity leave: These relate to physical realities and special care that is to be given/taken is understandable. I do not think there is any misgivings in any section on this account. I have noted that women in these condition get special attention and are allowed reasonable concessions and such action is considered acceptable. I do not think there is not adverse discrimination on this account except when physical efforts are required in the job.

Sometimes when women do not proceed on maternity leave till the last day even when they are not able to work or even sit is very odd. This is criticized by different groups. I have often noted that senior women executives counsel these women.

Security Issues: This is a real issue and there should be no compromise on this account. Safety and security comes first. Co-workers are expected to assist in this and quite often the do. During the CWG days men co-workers used to drop women colleagues. Due care must be taken while travelling in the public transport and/or taxies. There should be no compromise on this particularly after the Pune incident where a young programmer was attending to the office on holiday and was killed by the guard.

They must be vigilant against stalkers. Cultural difference must be understood and how casual non-verbal signals can be misunderstood have to be learnt and accepted and care to be adopted so that one blamed at a later stage as being an aiding/abetting party. Due care about drinks and food at parties has to be observed and non-verbal signals triggered while accepting parties at certain location and time has to be kept in mind.
Women must be advised on this aspect as the first thing when they must examine/take up when they join a new job or join a new office. Any concern must be discussed with HR and highlighted to the office.

Harassment: This is an issue and has to be examined and dealt with firmly. As we all know these days couples prefer working partners, young colleagues in office approaching each other is understandable. The men must understand and accept when the girl is not interested or says a clear ‘no’.
When a casual approach or contact crosses the line and becomes harassment is clearly understood by both the parties and unfortunately harasser does not pull-back/stop even to the discomfort of the other. Women must be told to talk about it to other women and to HR and seniors. There is no shame in reporting it and there is no stigma.

Working for long years in Govt I have handled some of these cases very firmly. In our social groups there are enough ways to impress upon the harasser to pull back and mend his ways. There must not be any hesitation in initiating/taking action against the harasser.

Leadership Roles: At the outset I must admit that half of my working life was under women bosses. Among the women and men leader that I have seen, there is one distinct difference in the leadership styles. I have found women to be more considerate and humane and not as crude/crass as some men are/can be. One of the lessons I learnt from one of my lady bosses was that ‘aggressiveness’ and ‘assertiveness’ were distinctly and entirely different - it is possible to be assertive while being very polite and without any aggression.

Besides the above differences, I did not find much difference in them. Among the peer group and colleagues too I have not noted other differences. 

Glass Ceiling: This has been defined by the United States Federal Glass Ceiling Commission as "the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements."

My advice to the working women is that do not believe that any such barrier exists and it will disappear. Yes, believe me that it will disappear if you do not believe in it and do not accept that it limits your achievements. Mind is a strange machine. If you believe such barriers exist they will operate and restrict you and not otherwise.

One must remember that the world neither not fair as per your yard-stick nor is it supposed to be fair because it is the real world. It is essential to believe in God yet remember there is no one who is sitting and passing judgements on issues being fair or unfair as per your thinking/yard-stick. In the long run the things will square up and in short run small/big bends, turns, ups and downs will be there and one has to take them in his/her stride.

DMRC FeedBack Part - II

This feedback marked "DMRC FeedBack Part - II" may be read in continuation of the earlier piece written written by me and marked as "FeedBack to Metro". It is not that this piece requires prior knowledge of the earlier one. This is an independent piece and covers additional areas.

In Mumbai we have three systems of ‘local’ trains – the Western Railway, Central Railway (Other than Harbor Line), and Harbor Line.  One may argue that the Central Railway controls and runs second and third system Line and therefore they should be in the same category. My request and advice to such readers is – ‘Please travel on the two systems and you will know how different they are’. When one travels in these three systems one realizes how different these are from one another – not just in the routes but in upkeep, maintenance and cleanliness systems (levels of tolerances are different) besides the socio-economic-political variables of the population they cover are also markedly different.

The Area under the DMRC primarily covers Delhi but it has a part of the line and its terminals at HUDA City Center [Delhi University-Gurgaon Line], Escorts Mujeswar [Kashmere Gate- Faridabad Line] in Haryana and NOIDA & Vaishali [Dwarka-Vaishali Line] in UP. I had always thought that DMRC being a modern organization will not have difference in the levels of service, maintenance and cleanliness when the different lines are compared with each other. Unfortunately the differences are there and are quite visible and easy to notice. I hope DMRC will make a conscious effort to even these out for good. I am highlighting a few in the following paragraphs:

• Cleanliness: I traveled on the Dwarka –Mandi House stretch and found that at certain stations the Lifts and walk-ways were quite dirty even at 8:50 in the morning. One could make out that the dirt and papers lying we relying form previous day and had not been thrown in the morning. The cleaning staff was not available. The Karol Baug station is not very clean when compared to the level of cleanliness maintained say at Kailash Colony. This side of the town is better maintained and just yesterday at Kailash Colony I found a boy cleaning the floor at about 2 pm.

The Stations at Gurgaon are quite a different story. As you come down the steps of the lift you are welcomed by a strong stench. I do not know who build toilets there and then decided not to keep them clean. One also finds a number of ‘pan’ stains. Since the area is covered under CCTV it should be possible to catch people and fine them. Do what you want and what you can but please do not keep the place so filthy. It spoils your name.

• Recharging the Metro Card: I have found a number of recharging machines at Kendriya Sachivalaya, Mandi House, Moolchand, Nehru Place. Karol Baug has only two of these; Dwarka had only one (the day I was there) and that too was not working. I had to be in queue for over 40 minutes to get my card charged. It is also strange that while using the machine you could charge it to Rs. 100, the person at the counter recharging the card demands a minimum re-charge of Rs. 200. At one time due to shortage of change I found a person opting for a new card at Rs. 150 rather than re-charging the card for Rs. 200. He had Rs. 150 and one note of Rs. 2000.

• It should certainly be possible to see the usage pattern of these recharging machines and/or the queue length outside at the stations to re-locate them so as to lessen the problems of the traveling public.

• Maintenance of Lifts etc: By and large the lifts are well maintained and well kept. I have already brought out the difference in the levels on the different stations and that needs to be attended to. Yesterday, by mistake, I had got off at Mevla Maharajpur. I found that the lights in the Lift Number 1 were not working. A few of the gentlemen switched on the torches in his mobile and one of them mentioned that the light had not been repaired for over a week despite the fact that he had regularly complained about it. It is also noted that the electrical panels are not locked and they are left open despite having ‘Danger’ sign on it.

• It is noted that at quite a few stations the Lift and/or the Escalators are switched off during the day, supposedly, to save electricity. These should be put on ‘auto’ mode and depending on crowd they may be switched ‘on’ or ‘off’ – larger crowd – both may be ‘on’ and smaller crowd only one may be ‘off’.

• The Side support at the staircases are not maintained. The one in picture has been like this for over a month and it is not possible to hold the side support while using the staircase. 

• Late running of Trains: On 23^rd May 2017 I was traveling from Badhkal Mor station in Faridabad to Mandi House. The trains were exceptionally crowded and running late. I could not get a place to sit or to stand comfortably so Got off at Badarpur Station. The train had taken inordinately long time to reach Badarpur. Later on to reach Mandi House I got into a train starting from Badarpur. Got a place to sit but the train was very slow. I wonder what was wrong with their systems. That day despite reaching Badhkhal Mor before 9:20 I could reach Mandi House only at about 10:50 or so. Normal journey time is about 40-45 minutes.

• Talking to fellow passengers, particularly the students, I found that they are not able to predict the travel time as it varies and the variation being 15-20 minutes in a journey of 45-50 minutes. Mumbai Suburban system despite its numerous faults runs that you can plan your day’s events and not be disappointed. 

• Announcements in the Trains and Sinages: On 20 May I was travelling form Badhkhan Mor to Jasola Apllo. The trains were slow and would waid at the outer signals for a long time. This happened at Badarpur. Before the train was to stop at Sarita Vihar the announcement was clear the next station was Sarita Vihar. Unfortunately the train stopped just before entering the station for quite some time. When the train started it was announced that the next station was Jasola Apollo. I got off and within minutes I realized that the announcement was wrong and the station was Sarita Vihar and not Jasola Apollo. I found I was not the only one and others too had heard the announcement that the station was Jasola Apollo and had got off. All of us walked back to the platform waiting for the next train. I do not know why the announcement system had got confused and had announced incorrectly.

• Sinages at Stations: DMRC has been extending its lines. Recently the line from Faridabad to ITO got extended to Kashmere Gate. On the other side this line had got extended beyond Badarpur to Escorts Mujesar. However, the electronic sinages have not been updated. It one of the stations beyond the last end station is Escorts Mujesar but the Indicators show it as ‘Badarpur/Escorts Mujesar’. This is at variance with the fixed printed sinage as may be see in the picture. At some of the other stations the maps etc need to be updated.
  

• At Mandi House station it shows that ‘Platform 3’ is for going to ITO as well as for going to ‘Escort Mujesar’. It should read Platform 3 and Platform 4. I am not listing all such instances and DMRC is well advised to do a periodic review of these to ensure that they remain current useful to public.
  

• One strange case of ‘inverse advertisement has also been noted as shown below:
  

• Queues and Exit Points: It is strange that at the main stations within the New Delhi passengers can exit from the either side of the station. However, in the stations beyond Badarpur like Mevla Maharajpur, Sector 28, Neelam Chowk, Vaishali etc the passengers are expected to enter only from one side and get out from the other side. For example, at Neelam Chowk Station one is supposed to enter from the South end only and get out from the North End exit point. Say, a passenger is entering the station form the North Side then she has to go all the way to the south side and enter the station. Quite often this leads to long queues as in the picture below. 
  

• It is not clear why the facility available at the other city stations of entering exiting from either end is not made available here.

Additional requirements for educating children -Schools Infrastructure, Teachers etc.

Subject: Additional requirements in the next 5 years for educating children in the age group from 6 to 10 years-Schools Infrastructure, Teachers etc.

A broad analysis has been done to arrive at the level of additional infrastructure needed to be planned and created in by 2021 to take to educate the children in the age group of 6-10 years in 2016 (i.e., in age group of 0-5 years in 2011).

Annexure A contains the demographic profile of our country as per the 2011 census data. It gives the number of persons in different age groups. It also give the number of males and females for country as a whole and also separately for Urban and Rural population.

Annexure B groups the data in the age groups at 5 year interval (0 to 5, 6 to 10 etc.) and gives the figures for the years 2011.Column (a) has the age groups and column (b) contains the numbers for population. It also extrapolates the data for 2016 and assuming zero mortality rate, the number in 0-5 year group in the year 2011 are the numbers for6-10 year group for 2016 given in column (c). Similarly the figures for other age groups and ‘males’ and females worked out for rural population. Column (d) gives increase in the numbers in the different age groups, e.g., increase in the numbers in the group 6-10 in 2016 over 2011 is 7,435,005 persons.

From the above data we find that about 75 lakh children were getting added to the school going group in thelast5 years. We should have created facilities in schools for taking care of these additional numbers–an average of about15 lakh every year. Taking the figure of (say) 1000children per school we need about 7,400new schools in 5 years, i.e., about 1500 schools a year. We know that we do not find 1000 children in close clusters for such a neat calculations. Moreover two, thirds of these were in rural areas where the clusters are smaller and there are fewer number of additional children in each locations. The point being made is that we should have opened a lot more than1500 additional schools for each of thelast5 years (2011-2016).How did we do on this front?

This group of 0-5 years in 2011will be in the bracket of 10-15 years in the year 2021. Compared to the numbers in this group in 2011 we would have 10,804,449 additional children in 2021 in this group [138,861,008 (Children in 0-5 years in 2011 who would be in 10-15 years in 2021)-128,056,559 Children in 10-15 years in 2011]. We will need facilities for the educating (class 6 to 10) these additional children.

It is also to be kept in mind that besides the additional infrastructure in terms of classrooms, black boards, table, chairs etc. this will also require additional note books, books, trained teachers, sports facilities and all other systems required to run schools. Moreover, additional infrastructure is also required to create and to take care of these needs.

I trust that all these are being planned and there are Govt and Private Sector including NGOs working in this domain and the additional requirements/needs indicated above will be planned and created so that our children get proper education.

Digital Payments – expectations form a robust eco-system

The Govt has been asking public to switch to digital payments. Besides other benefits this will do away with need to have hard currency for day-to-day transactions. Further, it will keep track of transactions and ensure that the money is in the Bank accounts rather than being stashed away in currency notes.

At the outset it is accepted that is a very good scheme and will help a great deal in the fight against black money and corruption. Another great advantage of electronic payments is that makes the system available 24x7 and money transfers are not restricted to the office hours of banks. Such systems require a robust eco-system to survive and prosper. Following are some points to be kept in mind while developing/ensuring that a good eco-system is available so that public is assured that they are safe doing these transactions on line or through mobiles.

• Privacy Protection: Due care may be taken to ensure that companies providing services in this domain maintain and protect individual privacy. When the payments are made electronically, they leave a complete trail of where a person has been and what he or she may have done.  For example, if I start from my house, pay electronically to the Auto/Taxi driver, then enter a Metro paying electronically, go for lunch and tea in some restaurants in the afternoon and return. The trail of electronic payments will not only be recording/tracking the payments made but will also keep record of what and where I eat, when I eat, how I traveled and where all I have been at what time. Looking to the poor track record of the privacy protection by the mobile companies and almost lack of any regulatory mechanism to ensure that they maintain and protect privacy, one has to find a good model for ensuring privacy is protected in the in the electronic payment system and implement it in foolproof and fail safe manner.

• Data Security: This is of paramount importance because unless Security, Confidentiality and Availability (CIA) are ensured systems implemented do not serve much purpose.

• Dispute Resolution Mechanism: This has to be a very robust system and should be able to provide speedy redressal of grievances. Again track of regularity agency in mobile phone domain has not been something to be followed.  My personal experience have been that I have lost over Rs.4000/- to different mobile companies and I have nowhere to go. Other customers have also lost money and have similar experience. It is to be understood that Rs.5 or Rs.10 loss for each customer and with a customer basis 100 crores would yield Rs. 500-1000 crores. Customers do not pursue grievances for small amount because cost of seeking resolution / litigation is far more than the amount which has been lost.

• Digital Currency: One has to look at the experience of other countries (Cryptocurrencies) for taking precautions and care before implementing it.  The ‘sandbox trials’ (discussed in this paper) may be adopted to ensure minimum damage in trial and experiments.

• Link with Aadhar Number: It is suggested that instead of asking citizens to have multiple numbers we should try having all the numbers link/merge with Aadhar no. Some examples are given below:

• PAN Number: My PAN Card no can be exactly as my Aadhar number or to put it in other words – my Aadhar card number could be my PAN number there is perhaps no need to have another number for individuals. This will also ensure that no person has more than one PAN number. The numbering systems for PAN cards for Legal persons/companies etc could continue on existing lines.

• Bank Account Number: My bank account no could also be modeled in a similar fashion – it could be a combination of the IFC code of the bank/branch and my Aadhar no.  + 2 digit code to meet with the eventuality that I may have more than one back accounts in the same bank/branch. This will do away with the need of numbering and keeping track of different numbers for different purposes.

• Cash Handling Costs: There is substantial cost are incurred in handling cash. Releasing data on this will go a long way in moving people to move to Electrical payment. Moreover, just as the costs of handling physical currency are born by the Govt the costs in case of Digital Currencies may be born by the Govt.

• Incentives: Electronic transaction charges may be removed. We we use the credit cards at restaurants or for purchasing shoes or clothes etc. we do not pay any surcharge. Why should they be charging any surcharge when we purchase fuel at petrol pumps etc. 

Lessons from Mahabharat - ‘The Game of Dice’

The Ramayana and the Mahabharat are two famous and revered epics of India.Both these were written thousands of years back in Sanskrit and have a number of lessons which are very relevant even today. 

A version of Ramayana in Hindi (Avadhi), named Ramcharit Manas  was written by Goswami Tulasi Das. Copies of this are kept in most Hindu households and this version/translation is as revered as the original version in Sanskrit by Valmiki. The Mahabharat is not given the same place and is generally not kept in the house even by the staunch Hindus.  It would be a rare house which may have a copy of this book. Only one part of this big book, known as Gita, which covers dialogues between Lord Krishna and Arjun, is kept as a holy scripture and is read/studied. Mahabharat is the story of war between two group of cousins in which one group which was not on the path of ‘Dharma’ was eliminated and the one which was on the path of ‘Dharma’ was victorious. It has a number of stories within the main story dealing with the different characters of the plot. All these stories within the main story contain a number of teachings and give us messages. A number of these lessons are still relevant even in the modern world. It is not the place to discuss the message of Gita or what these books mean to Hindus. Only point to note is the fact that while Ramayana and/or Ramcharit Manas is found in most houses, Mahabharat is not.

Recently Kamala Hasan made some statements about the episode dealing with the ‘Game of Dice’ and got into controversy. I had heard the debate on this issue on TV and found that most of the ‘experts’, arguing one point or the other, had missed and what I consider as the most relevant lesson/message that this episode has for present times.

As readers would recall Yudhishthir, King of Khandav Pradesh, was invited for a ‘Game of Dice’ by Duryodhan. As per the practice of those times such an invitation could not be refused. So the 5 brothers went to Hastinapur and the game started in the main court with Dhratrashtra, the King and Maharani Gandhari, the Queen in the chair. The attendance in the court was full and it had great grandfather Bhishm and Guru Dronacharya and other important senior members. Mahatma Vidur objected and did not want the ‘Game of Dice’ to be played. He kept giving different reasons why the King should not give permission to start the game. Pitted against him were Shakuni, Duryodhan and company. Poor Kaka Vidur could not get the king to agree with him and in protest he staged a walk out and left the court.

The game started and as is well known Yudhishthar lost all that belonged to him – his kingdom, personal property and belongings etc. He then staked his bothers and lost them; after that he lost himself and then he put his queen Draupadi on stake and lost her too. The game plan of Duryodhan and his wicked uncle, Mama Shakuni had succeeded. They all were too thrilled. Duryodhan ordered that Draupadi, now a slave woman, be summoned to the court. The court messenger was sent and on return he reported that she was not ready to come and that she had declined to come to court. This enraged Duryodhan who ordered his brother Dushashan to go and get her and if required even drag her to the court. Karna who was on Duryodhan’s side uttered insulting words for her. The Pandavas, being slaves of Duryodhan could not protest. Finally Dushashan caught her by her heir and dragged her to the court. She appealed to all those in the court to have mercy on her. She argued that it was wrong to assume Duryodhan and Dushashan had any right to do what they were doing. She urged and explained them how wrong it was that she was brought into the court in that manner. Her words fell on deaf ears. No one supported her  or came to her rescue.

Duryodhan then ordered his brother to disrobe her and Dushashan pulled her sari. At that moment Lord Krishna came to her rescue and saved her. Dudhashan kept pulling the sari till he was tired and stopped but Draupadi was not disrobed because Lord had increased the length of the sari. When he stopped she addressed that King, Queen and the full court and was about to curse all of them, when the Queen, Gandhari requested her to stop. She pleaded with Draupadi and requested her not to curse the kingdom or Kauravas. She asked the king to return all that Yudhishthir had lost and to free Pandavas of slavery and to restore ‘status quo ante’ and the king quickly did that. So before Duryodhan, Shakuni and others realized all was returned to Yudhishthir. Draupadi left the court for inner chambers.

At the behest of mama Shakuni, the crown prince Duryodhan asked one more round of the ‘Dice Game’ and kept the famous condition of ‘Vanvaas’ with one year of ‘Agyant Vaas’. As the readers will recall the last round was played and Yudhishthar lost and Pandavas went for Vanvaas.

This episode does not end here, in fact the story take a turn at this point. Pandavas go to the forest and prepare for war in case they have to fight one and Kauravs get busy enjoying what they had. Duryodhan got more determined to inherit the full kingdom and not to share any part of it with Pandavas.

How was the injustice done to Draupadi avenged? She had vowed not to tie her heir till she got justice. Bhima had vowed that he would bring blood of Dushashan to wash her heir. He had also vowed to kill Dushashan and Duryodhan. Arjun had vowed to cut Karna’s tongue as he had uttered bad words for Drupadi. Later at one place in Mahabharat the Lord explained that Duryodhan, Shakuni, Dushashan and Karna were certainly guilty of insulting Draupati but those others who were present in the court and did nothing to protect/defend her were also as guilty. He was very clear that not only the active players in the ‘Game of Dice’ but the passive spectator,s who did not come forward to help and protect Draupadi, shall also be killed in the war.

This episode has two clear learning points/ messages –

1. that women should not be disrespected or insulted and anyone doing it will have to pay for it with his life. Therefore, no one should even dream to committing such a sin, and
2. those who see any such act or any atrocity being inflicted on women have a duty to confront the perpetrator, to oppose any such action and to protect and defend the woman. If they do not defend/protect her then they too are as guilty as those who commit such a sin/crime.

I am sure a lot of crime against women will stop if all remember these lessons from this great epic.

'Reflex' Knowledge

It may appear to be a strange term and I promise it would not appear so strange once you go through the following paragraphs. 

I had used a Nokia phone till 2013. It was a very good and versatile piece and battery lasted for two days during the busy time and about 4 days when one was not busy or was holidaying. I suppose all know the story of Nokia – it is a company which suddenly lost market share and business. The management had made no mistake at the operational and tactical level. Only the ‘cheese’ had moved and it was a bit too late when they noticed it. It has been in news for making a comeback. That all would be a part of some other blog-post so let us stick to the above theme. Things changed in a major way when my brother presented me with an iPhone in early 2014. 

Initially it was very difficult to operate iPhone because except for making phone calls no other operation was obvious. One had to start from scratch. It was not simple to attach it to laptop and send mails or transfer files as I was used to with Nokia phone. Basic working procedures were entirely different. It did not take long to get used to the comforts of iPhone and to use it with all its functionalities. Over time one bought iPad and MacBook. Life could not have been simpler. No matter what book you were reading on one device, you continued reading it even after changing device and most often without wasting time on locating the page. I had used ‘Apple Mackintosh’ in 1988 and have always admired genius of ‘Steve Jobs’. It is not the time or place to sing praises of ‘Apple’ company or ‘Mac’ operating system. As we know all ‘good’ and ‘bad’ times come with and an expiry date. This too had one such time. 

Excessive use had an impact on the battery and it would not last long – had to be charged a few times each day. Only option was to carry a battery pack. It was a good solution with a major drawback - the system (iPhone + battery pack) was bulky and not as comfortable. This ‘Band-Aid’ solution did not last long and my daughter bought an ‘Android’ phone for me. ‘A very cute, simple and easy to use device’ - so she said. I fell for it and got a ‘micro’ sim for it and exchanged it for my old iPhone. It took me about an hour or so to install different ‘apps’ and to log into them and port the phone numbers through Google etc.. I was thrilled and I thought I got a very good deal and I was the winner. My daughter happily took my old iPhone, got the battery changed and used it like an iPod – listening to songs, watching movies etc. She was certain she was the ‘winner’. 

She had promised to help me out during the transition period – unlearning iPhone and learning Android. I kept asking her how such and such thing would be done and she patiently explained each time. I did notice a few discordant notes once when I called her at her office and wanted to know some operation. So I changed mode and decided to explore it myself and to discover different operations using an old and well known technique – ‘trial and error’. Most applications and functions were open to intuitive learning and had a short learning curve. These were mastered quickly. Soon within 2-3 days I was very comfortable with it because I had explored and mastered a number of operations. I felt that the ‘Android’ was the coolest thing and definitely very easy to use besides being a very versatile system. It gave so much of power that one could spend time and stay gainfully engaged. 

As I said earlier – good and bad times come with expiry date and this too came to an abrupt end. My brother-in-law presented me with an iPhone. This was lighter, slimmer and more ‘cute’. It required a ‘micro’ sim so I took the sim out of the ‘Android’ phone and put it in the ‘iPhone’. Within a short time ‘apps’ were installed and made operational. It imported all old data from the iCloud in a second. I could feel the ‘power’ of the earlier functional system coming back to me. Changeover was smooth and within a few days I was comfortable as if I had never stopped using the system. After two-three days I realized that phone was not ringing and if I did not see the flickering light and feel vibrations I would miss the incoming calls. I kept ‘swiping’ my finger ‘up-and down’ and exploring the ‘settings’. Changed ‘volume’, ring tones etc. but it could not hear ‘ring’ for incoming calls. I had used iPhone for over 3 years and was not new to Mac system so I felt a bit challenged in seeking help. During one of the hour long metro rides back from Delhi I decided to put in efforts to find what was wrong. Spent over 30 minutes but could not identify. Each time I would ‘swipe’ my fingers and go though ‘settings’ make changes and wait for the call only to notice that the changes did not work.

When all efforts failed, I decided to follow the standard problem solving method used by software programmers – start afresh (from the first step onwards) – take a deep breath – state the problem clearly and if required repeat till you clearly remember it – think of the steps for solving it – analyses the stages which could give problems. Guess what? Within a second I remembered that iPhone has a small physical switch to put it on ‘silent’ mode. I recalled that a few days back while I was attending a meeting, the phone had started ringing and as a reflex action I had switched it to ‘silent’ mode. I had completely forgotten this reflex action and had been going through the software settings route which I had got used to in the last 10-15 days and obviously I had been unable to find the solution. 

I analyzed all this action realized that I was working with ‘reflex’ knowledge and till I broke that chain no solution could have come to me. We all have heard of ‘reflex action’. When we get some input/stimuli our mental faculties work and direct us to respond. Using mental faculties to analyze stimuli to decide on correct response, increases our response time and slows down the action/reaction. This is the reason that in training for Martial Arts, or in the Army and Police training the trainees are asked to train so much that the response is conditioned and is an immediate one. The three stage process of response, ‘stimuli – analysis – response’ is changed to a two stage process, ‘stimuli– response’. 

What was happening to me was something similar. There is so much of intuitive learning in use of phone that mind was analyzing and directing action. What I wanted to do was getting communicated to fingers without a conscious analysis. It was surprising to note that it had taken my intuitive system only 10-12 days to forget that iPhone uses a physical switch for putting it on ‘silent’ mode. My system had learnt the ‘Android’ way of going through ‘settings’ and selecting options. 

It was when I consciously thought about the problem/actions from the first principle that I realized the mistake and corrected it. We all have to be conscious of this ‘reflex- knowledge’ to ensure that we do not waste time, efforts and energy.

Those who have may recall 'Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman will spot that the System 1 keeps working and we have to make a conscious efforts to 'shake' lazy one, the System 2, before it starts working.

Feedback for Metro

I am writing some suggestions that have come to my mind after what I have noticed on the system through my experience of traveling on it for about 2 months. The details of the suggestions/actions could be worked out and submitted if required:

• It was noted that when someone loses the Metro Travel Card, the money in it gets lost or it is used by the person who finds it. The Metro cards are electronic devices and can be so programed that they are linked to the Debit/Credit Card through which they were purchased and/or they were last charged. In case of lost card the owner may inform the Metro after identifying herself/himself through the same Debit/Credit Card and ask Metro to block the card and transfer the money to the new card. If the lost card is used by anyone in future it may sound an alarm to the Metro staff that the card is a ‘Blocked Card’.

• There is a ‘Yellow’ line marked on the platform by a line of tiles at a distance of about 2 ft parallel to the track and passengers are expected not to cross this line till the train stops. The announcements at the PA system keeps asking commuters to stay behind this ‘Yellow’ line till the train does not come to a stops. Often the passengers do not listen to this or follow it. Since these are special tiles which mark the line, these may be got so designed that they have a text written on them –“Cross after Train Stops”. Such a writing on the tiles would be observed and will have higher compliance. 
  
• Staff Dragging the Barriers: The staff keeps a stainless barrier across the stairs or the lift when these are under repair. These do not have rubber fitted at the lower legs and it also does not have wheels. The staff often drags it on the floor when moving it from one place to another and damage the floor. It may be fitted with rubber pads at the legs or may have wheels so that the flower does not get damaged.

• Broken Tiles: At the landings of the staircase one finds broken tiles. These do not get replaced quickly and one has to negotiate these broken tiles for days. The staff may be sensitized to keep a watch and get them repaired quickly as that would help passengers and Metro both. The broken tiles end up getting the adjoining tiles damaged.

• Support at the Steps:
• The support at the staircases have to be maintained so that one can hold it while going up or going down. I have seen stations where these have remained broken/damaged for weeks (last 2 weeks).
• It is also noted that there are 4-5 steps before the start of main staircase/escalator and there is no support railing there. One has to negotiate it without any support.

• Water on the Stairs during rains: The floor and staircases have granite or tiles and these become very slippery when it rains as these are not protected from rain. Having a small ‘Ledge’ over could provide relief. Fortunately there is staff which wipes the water out of these areas so the inconvenience is short lived.

• The outer concourse at some of the stations is rather dirty. These have to be maintained as clean as the system inside.

• It is noted that at some of the stations birds (mostly pigeons) get trapped at the highest floor of the Metro station. They remains there for days and dirty the place. These have to be checked at the ‘bird prone’ stations on daily basis and chased and let out or caught and left out.

• The different lines of Metro have color code. At the stations there are ‘foot print shaped’ markings to guide the passengers. These have to be inspected periodically so that these are replaced when they get worn out.

• Stations are well made and well kept, therefore, it is important that there is a laid down periodic schedule to inspect each and every item and to get it attended to so that these are maintained for times to come.

• Only a few of the stations have paid toilets. However, there is no marking to tell commuters which stations have these facilities. These may be indicated on the map itself through a color code or by a double underline mark etc. 

• The information at the LED board at the station, at the Train and PA system have to be in sync and correct.