Indian Tourism : Bleeding tourist spots

I happened to go to a trekking trip this summer in the beautiful mountains and valley of Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh is aptly called as "DevBhoomi" meaning Abode of God .. With its high mountain ranges ,lush green meadows and perennial snow cover at peaks, this place is nothing short of what actual heaven would be like...Naturally it attracts huge amount of tourists from every corner of country plus many foreigner tourists as well ....People find peace here away from hustle bustle and crowd of city life.. They come here to relax and to shrug off their tiredness from routine life..

 But sadly enough, rampant commercialization and over crowding of these tourist places has taken its toll on almost all aspects of a good tourist place... No longer will you find neat and clean pathways, crystal clear springs , sounds and sight of beautiful birds, wild dense forests, clean and green meadows, general low decibel level and very few crowd around.. Many places have become almost as dirty and as crowded as cities in plains... These places have lost its charm and no longer offer the same experience as they used to in past because of which they became famous in first place...

   Here I would like to share my 2 experiences of Manali which are 4 years apart with the help of some photographs...In 2010, I went to Manali with my friends .... Mall road here was very beautiful, spacious ,clean ,sparsely crowded and had some artistic shops which offered specialties of HP... It was pleasure taking long strolls on this stretch..

Mall Road in front of Van Vihar 2010

 We also went to Solang Valley which was a lush green grassland surrounded by a layer of Pine forests and snow peaked mountains... It had a few activities like paragliding and zorbing going on and a few canopies offering food etc....

View of Solang valley 2010

   

     I happened to go to the same place in 2014 and I could not believe my eyes .... The place which had offered me so much peace and joy has succumbed to the pressure of crowd and commercialization... We faced half an hour jam at the entrance of Manali ... Rows and Rows of yellow number plated taxis were stranded in now congested lanes of Manali looking for some meager space to get parked...Constant honking and screaming of vendors made the craving for silence a distant dream... Anyhow we got past the Mall road and made our way towards Solang valley... On the way, a shepherd along with his herd of approx 500 goats and lambs started walking in the midst of road...It took us more than 20 minutes to make our way through that herd and get going ahead... When we reached Solang valley, I had the shock of my life... Once beautiful and green grassland had been turned into a barren patch of land with millions of people jostling for hundreds of so called "adventurous activities"... ATV biking,reverse bungee jumping , paragliding , zorbing, horse riding,a dozen types of swings all taking place within less than half an acre of land and without even basic safety arrangements... More than hundred eating joints had come up and vendors screaming at top of their lungs to attract tourists... Our great Indian "highly educated" people wearing big sunglasses were littering around shamelessly....

A view of same Solang valley 2014

Activities at Solang valley 2014

 It had started feeling like "Mata ka Mela" which takes place in every town of North India during Dussehera...Feeling nauseated we returned back from there without enjoying... Then we headed towards Mall road which has now tuned into Kamla Nagar market of Delhi complete with over crowding,congestion,traffic jams and hustle bustle....

Same Mall road in front of Van Vihar 2014

Till now we were completely upset and had lost all our hopes on Manali ...But it pained greatly to see a beautiful land deteriorating like cities of plains under rampant tourism and over crowding....Condition is same at almost every tourist place, be it Mussoorie, Shimla, Goa or Kerala..   We people are equally responsible for this as govt... We (most of us) don't think twice before throwing plastic wrappers of chocolates, Lays, Kurkure, Toffees on the streets... Govt doesn't know the word "maintenance" and allows hotels, restaurants to mushroom around the city recklessly... There is no consideration towards safety issues and proper equipment before licensing for adventure sports leading to frequent mishaps and deaths...

 Having counted all the problems,below are a few suggestions to make our tourist spots viable for long haul:

1. Only a limited no of hotels and restaurants should be permitted to open in any spot... It will reduce the commercialization and automatically reduce the tourist burden.

2. Govt may start issuing passes or permits to enter into a particular tourist place as per the capacity of that spot... No person other than those holding permits should be allowed to enter into that place as tourist...

3. Travel tickets,hotel room tariff should be made high at tourist spots so that not everyone can go there..

4. There must be strict fine over those who are found littering around and throwing garbage relentlessly on roads..

5. For adventure sports, licensing and safety protocols should be more strict and rigorously followed...Safety arrangements for water sports in Goa are actually laughable...

6. Religious and historic places of plains like Mathura, Agra,Lucknow,Gwalior Chittorgarh , Agroha,Jodhpur etc should be developed much more efficiently so that they can emerge as viable options to already famous tourist places of mountains and beaches...

 

   Something has to be done urgently to save our tourist places and preserve their old charm else that day is not far when we would have exhausted all the places to more than their capacity and would have made our beautiful land India a dirt land... 

  

Modi and Kejriwal : armored in battle of democracy !!

It is less than one month from today when India goes to the polling booth to elect their rulers for next five years...Elections in India are not just an exercise to choose people who will be governing us but it is a celebration of democracy...A humble reminder of our legacy of giving way to public opinion in place of monetary and military power...Democracy in India is much more interesting than in other nations due to it's heterogenous character with regard to religions, castes, language, ethnicity, geography, culture, customs and everything else.
    History tells us that there have been times when the integrity and sovereignty of India has been threatened and has been put in unprecedented dangers due to both internal and external forces... There have been times when India has been predicted to go Pakistan's way of becoming military rule or becoming a dictatorial state of people with money and power or simply falling prey of imperialistic ideology of it's neighbors...But our country has always overcome these dangers and survived it's basic character time and again...It was not an easy thing by any means...The political wisdom of Patel and Nehru in initial years, military battle leadership of Indira Gandhi, protests and revolutions of JP Narayan , and economic policies of PV Narsimha Rao have been vital in resuscitating the spirit of democracy in India..

21st century India is a much matured and stable nation.. There doesn't seem to be any immediate danger which can fall apart India as a nation...Problems of seperative ideologies of state, politically elected communism (that's a separate topic for another time) , food production and famines have been tackled to a great extent more or less...
   But still border disputes with China and Pakistan, radical communal ideologies, terrorism, naxalism,illegal immigration, liberisation of economic policies loom over India as big challenges for the largest democracy of world..
    Although India is not as fragile now as it used to be, but threats remain both from inside and outside..Tackling with these threats require a strong hold of the roots of the country as well as the deciding power when you have to make tough decisions which look like bad decisions to common man at first but are beneficial for country in long run..These things come with experience when you learn to not buckle up under the pressure of opposition, yet understand the value of opposition to keep your personal interests at check...

Coming to the applicability of abovesaid in current scenario, Mr Narendra Modi seems to be the best suited candidate for beginning prime minister who has experience of running the most developed state of India for more than ten years..

   An interesting phenomena in Indian politics is sudden rise of AAP and Arvind Kejriwal...This man has the strongest anti corruption agenda and has a different working style fresh from the usual netagiri of Indian politicians...Being campaigned as the godfather of CHANGE required in Indian politics, this man has become an overnight sensation... Such sensationalism is dangerous for our country as it over rides the need of serious evaluation before imparting our trust on anybody... Although Mr Kejriwal did a few good things during his brief stint in country's capital, this man has some serious shortcomings to hold the supreme office of country...
First, their party is not well organized and lacks experience of difficult times...Second, their leader is impulsive and short tempered...He created anarchy when he was himself supposed to be the archer..Third their stand on economic policies seems attractive at first but is orthodox and likely to push India into poverty of past...Fourth and the most important flaw is lack of experience and clear stand on foreign policies...
   
AAP and AK are not bad people..They might turn out to be better administrator than Narendra Modi and BJP but a post of such enormous importance like Prime Minister must be filled by someone with whom we can impart our trust ...This is not a post to play with,where anyone with 2 yrs of clean record can be seated while we "hope" that he "can" protect the democracy and sovereignty of mother India but we must be "sure" that he "will" do it..Delhi as a state can tolerate the blow of sudden resignation of it's CM due to his impulsive nature but if condition arises India as a country won't be able to absorb the trauma of such irresponsiblity..
 
All AAP and AK need is to have patience, play roles either in opposition or at state level, understand the complexities of running a democracy and gain some useful experience...If they stay as clean and confident after 5 years as they are today, then we will welcome them whole heartedly in next LS election,2019..Till then their character and their stand will be more clarified and more solid..
  
Some one has appropriately said that "Time is the most important and trustworthy test for character of any person, organization and ideology"...
Narendra Modi and BJP have passed this test while AAP and Arvind Kejriwal have yet to take this test...

Two sides of a coin

     There is always some reaction for action..We have black and white..We have left and right..There is a plus for every minus..Ups and downs..There are only two sides of a coin..We have Vishnu : the creator and Shiv : the destroyer...World is divided in two forces..The good and the evil... Although this good and evil is not absolute..Its relative,For what I see as good may be evil for someone else...It depends on what side of mirror you are looking at..There is always a contrast between two,a never ending conflict..Each one wants to destroy the other...Yet they don't know that they are complementary to each other..One can't survive without the other... Can there be just one side of a coin??? No!!!!...These two must co exist..That's the law of universe...

 What if a balance could be achieved...A middle point between the two..A point which is nearer to good but farther to evil...However hard we try, we can never reach absolute goodness, for that is against the law of nature...We can only reach at some point in the middle...By staying at middle,nature ensures that the evil persist along with the good...One point to be noted here is that evil is not as in some bad sense, it's something opposite to good...Just like socialism and capitalism,good for some people,bad for others..We can't say for sure whether socialism is good or capitalism is good or the other one is evil..They are just two different entities...We must understand this fact to be at peace with everything....An understanding that what we consider evil may be good also with some other perspective some criticism is bound to come with every applause..    

Let Arvind Kejriwal breathe in fresh air

Arvind Kejriwal is having a tough time nowadays...Whatever he speaks becomes the headline of all newspapers next day...Whatever he does, becomes a discussion topic in the political circle...With all this popularity, comes lots of criticism and scrutiny which he has to tolerate...It's been just one week of him coming to power and he has been thrashed multiple times by the "intellectuals" and our ever active social media... Most of these criticizers are young people who want to see Narendra Modi as the next PM..They were very happy before Delhi elections with Modi creating waves of anti Congress politics and establishing himself as the most probable and most capable PM candidate... But Delhi election results and the politics which followed afterwards has swept the sleep away from their eyes... The rising of one common man to the supreme post of capital has threatened their dream of Modi becoming a PM...The kind of support Kejriwal is getting from the people is only too obvious to ignore as the local Delhi phenomena... He has completed his two major promises made in manifesto within 4 days of coming to power... Whole nation has its eyes set on Arvind Kejriwal and craving for similar governance in their state too... The demand of cheaper electricity in Maharashtra,200 rs discount on electricity bills in Haryana, Refusing government bunglow by CM of Rajasthan are a few example of  THE KEJRIWAL EFFECT ... Suddenly everyone wants to give up VIP culture and want to live like a common man...These are all clear indicators that hoards of people, who were Modi fans may turn to Arvind Kejriwal in LS polls considering his growing popularity...

What do you do when someone whom you never considered your competition stands high and threatens your lifetime dream ?? You start doing everything possible to suppress him...That's precisely what, these Modi fans are doing....They are thrashing Kejriwal's every decision... Making big deal out of petty issues like govt vehicle and govt flat... It's like Kejriwal is supposed to be perfect with everything, everytime...He is not allowed to reconsider his options..He is supposed to make Delhi like Singapore overnight... He is supposed to please everyone , everyday and every moment...

Guys, Arvind Kejriwal is also a human being...He can also make mistakes, whatever little thing is labeled as mistake in his case... No policy of him or any other party for that matter can please poor, middle class and riches equally...His govt is new and is in dire need of making decisions independently without the fear of being judged critically...He can not be expected to deliver overnight as all policies take time to bring change...
Govt vehicle, govt bunglow, security etc are his personal preferences and should not be taken as an indicator for his character...Narendra Modi also lives in govt bunglow, enjoys three tier security and works from a swanky office, still he makes good decisions... So what, if Kejriwal also uses these facilities which are his constitutional right anyway... Using govt facilities doesn't undermine his potential of running Delhi at a better pace than previous...
  Who can be a better PM, Modi or Kejriwal is another topic for another time...I personally favor Modi but that doesn't mean I have to do Kejriwal bashing everytime... It is good luck of mother India that two good leaders are there to serve her at the same time... National politics is far different from state politics...My choice for my PM may be completely different but till then, I support Arvind Kejriwal for he is doing a good job in Delhi...I also demand fellow citizens to stop criticizing Kejriwal and observe him for few months to see his impact and outcome in Delhi... Let AAP breathe in fresh air for sometime..

Euthanasia or mercy killing must be made legal

3 weeks have passed since I have started working in Delhi State Cancer Institute, an apex hospital for treatment of all types of cancers... All kind of cancer patients come here, some at milder treatable stage but mostly at untreatable terminal stage.. These patients know that they are going to die and are waiting for the Lord to call them at His heavenly abode.. These patients in their final days have to experience burning hell in living form...They have severe pain all over the body which can't be relieved with strongest medicines.. Their mildest movement such as raising hands or shifting an inch on bed evokes pain which make them cry whole night.. They bleed in their cough, urine, faeces or external tumor heavily..Sometimes they are not able to defaecate and an opening has to be made through stomach to let the faeces out...They can't feed through mouth, so another opening has to be made in stomach to feed them..With every night their Haemoglobin falls and their kins have to donate blood to make them going for another day.. Psychologically such patient are completely broken and are nothing more than a breathing wax doll... For their kins and family , it's equally difficult...Apart from the pain of seeing your loved one writhing in pain, it's economically draining as well..Life for them comes at a halt with frequent hospital visits, hospital admissions and nursing care given to the patient..Witnessing so much human pain,misery and disfigurement of human body shook my soul and changed my whole perspective regarding life and death..That is, when I am a distant unrelated person, just an attending doctor...The kind of pain their kin, family and friends feel is beyond imagination...

      Life is considered a beautiful gift from the Lord to us, to be cherished and to be enjoyed in a manner fruitful to family and society...Every attempt must be made to preserve life and to maintain it's quality...No one else understands this better than us, the doctors...But what happens when living life becomes worse than dying...When the mother who couldn't bear the mildest wound on her son's body gets so fed up with the writhing pain of her son, that she wishes him to die soon but painless... Here comes the role of mercy killing or euthanasia...
  For the benefit of non medico readers let me give you an overview of euthanasia... Euthanasia or mercy killing is giving painless death to the patients in terminal diseases for whom there are no chances of survival...It can also be given for patients of complete paralysis and coma in whom the quality of life is so miserable that death may be desired instead... It can be Active euthanasia in which sleep and then death inducing injection is given or Passive euthanasia in which no injection is given but all supporting equipments like ventilators, oxygen etc is withdrawn...Any of these methods are not permitted legally in our nation, but is permitted in many other countries...

  Having said that, it's obvious that patients, their family and doctors are helpless in such situation and have to go through this living hell till death takes it's course...Efforts have been made by some patients, their relatives, NGOs to make euthanasia legal but none has borne any fruit yet...
  The biggest argument given by anti euthanasia lobby is that such law can be misused to kill healthy people in a corrupt country like ours...Secondly ethical issues regarding right of life are also there...
   I just want to say that a strong law without any loopholes must be made regarding this and euthanasia must be made legal..A few suggestions to prevent it's misuse are as following:
- Only one apex institute/hospital in each state may be licensed to certify that patient's disease is untreatable and quality of life even with treatment is extremely poor to be called humane..
- A minimum of three or more senior doctors from different specialties are required to verify terminal stage of disease..
-In case where patient can himself give consent, his consent should be obtained after proper psychiatric counseling + consent of spouse/two blood relatives must be obtained...
- In case where patient is in coma and can't give consent, then consent of minimum two first degree blood relatives + spouse must be mandatory..
- Adequate counseling through NGO, volunteer groups and support groups must be provided to patients and relatives beforehand..
- Any proven misuse of euthanasia must be dealt with severe punishments including but not limited to prison..
- Similar to right of life, there must be a right to death as well where each person should have a right of dignified, painless and peaceful death...

Hoping for euthanasia law to come into existence as soon as possible..We can not give such unfortunate patients new life, atleast we should be able to give them peaceful death..Many of us intellectuals wouldn't share this viewpoint of mine but the one who goes through this dirty game of life and death knows the best..In my experience which is 1-2 deaths everyday, at some point of time almost every patient or relative demanded some form of mercy killing in their last days... Some even wanted it to be done "off the records".. A law abiding doctor couldn't do it even when a human being inside him wanted to...I just want this conflict to end and be able to provide painless and peaceful death "on the records"..