Fractured Hand at Year Eight

Fractured  Hand at  Year  Eight

I was studying in a school at Allahabad class 3 when I was eight years old.  My only interest at that age was playing cricket and reading the sports page of The Times of India. I hated school and the class teacher. I was a glutton and was always hungry.

One day in February during the lunch break I fell down and the senior students told me I had fractured my hand. It did not pain much but I was packed off home with couple of senior students by cycle rickshaw. After a long journey finally I reached home.  

My father took me to the Government dispensary which after first aid sent me to the Government hospital Allahabad. I was admitted as an inpatient and the treatment began.

The Civil Surgeon was an expert in operation but not in fracture. He decided to try his luck on me. The first setting was a failure and very painful. The second setting was even more painful and my elbow resembled a coconut. The third fracture was also a failure. By now it was clear the Civil Surgeon was on a sticky wicket. It was becoming very painful for me and my parents were crestfallen.

I used to enjoy the colourful flowers in the hospital garden.   This was my first winter in Northern India and the flowers were in full bloom.

After a lot of discussion a doctor from Kerala based in Allahabad was hired to set my hand. I was admitted to his nursing home. From the day I entered the nursing home I felt I was going to be cured.

In a couple of days my hand was to be set in Swaroop Rani  Hospital by the doctor from Kerala. He was a professional and my hand was set properly in the first  setting itself. In a couple of days I was ready to leave for home. The good news was I need not attend school till July.

The cast was to be opened only after 21 days.  I had to   spend a cautious 21 days at home without meddling with the cast. Finally the cast was removed but I could not bend my hands. Another three months was spent at   home to make sure I could bend my hand fully.

During my stay at home I was told that the Civil Surgeon who treated me incorrectly met with a car accident fracturing both his hands and legs. My mother was happy at the news. I did not have any hard feeling towards the Civil Surgeon and felt sorry for him.

Finally it was time to  go back to  school. I was  happy that the ordeal was over.

Over the next six months I went through  with more troubles at school . Finally  it was November  and the  term came  to an end. The teacher took the whole class to  see the Ganga  and enjoy a picnic. 

Bengaluru to Chennai in 10 Hours by Flight

Bengaluru to Chennai in 10 Hours by Flight

I have been travelling from Bangalore to Chennai ever since I was born. You guessed it. I was born in Bangalore but lived in Chennai. During my schooldays the journey to Bangalore from Chennai by train took 10 hours.  The train journey time was 8 hours and the remaining two hours was travelling from the railway station to your house.

Ever since Brindavan Express was introduced the journey time has reduced slightly. If you travelled by air the journey time   was around 3 hours. Half an hour air travel and the balance time commuting to your house.

I recently travelled from Bangalore to Chennai by flight. The journey time was a stupendous 10 hours. By the time I reached home I was relieved   and also exhausted.

I left Bangalore by around 4:30 PM by car and just managed to reach Bangalore airport by 8.00PM. At the airport I was informed that the flight was delayed indefinitely. It was a real torture waiting at the airport. At around 11PM I had dinner at the airport.

Meanwhile at Chennai my daughter had book an OLA cab to take me to my home. She informed me that the booking was only until 12AM . Beyond that it would become  next day and fresh booking had to be done.

After a lot of delay the flight finally took off from Bangalore. As it was a budget airline it took a lot of time for the flight to reach Chennai. By the time I was able to claim my luggage it was well past   12AM and my OLA booking was cancelled.

At 12:30 AM in the morning I was waiting outside the airport for a cab at Chennai airport. Finally I saw an empty cab and after some bargaining entered the cab.

The roads were really empty at this time of the day. The taxi dropped me at my home around 2.00AM.

The total time of the journey was a shocking ten hours. However I was relived as I had reached my home safely. Technology had not improved the journey time in sixty years. It was ten hours in 1956 by steam train and in 2016 also it was ten hours by flight.

I hope the regulatory authorities ensure that flights are not delayed. In India we have a case of public sector organisations like Indian Railways maintaining punctuality and private sector organisation like  private airlines running always late.  

 

Right Turn or Wrong Turn !

Right  Turn  or Wrong Turn!

In India  from our childhood we are told right is good left is bad. Newly wedded  brides enter the  husband's house  with their right leg first. We  eat with our right hand. Our left hand is used only in the toilet. Writing is done with our right hand. Most of our cricketers  are right handed. Left handers are viewed with  suspicion.

In many Indian cities  the major problems is congested road traffic. Too many cars packed in narrow roads trying to reach far off destinations. A journey which should take 30 minutes takes one and  half hours. 

In my  younger days  when cars were  rarely seen on roads right turns were not allowed. Traffic was smooth  and journey time was less. Many people managed with left turns  or with no turns.

Recently  in Chennai  I see  right turns allowed on most traffic signals. More people want to turn right than go straight. This is perfectly OK  if  the  there are no  queues  at traffic signals. During the rush hour the queues  at many traffic  signals  are a kilometre long.

By the time I reach home in the evening  I  am dog tired  and sometimes fall asleep in the bus. On reaching home the first thing I do is to hit the sack. Sometimes I wake up after eight hours. 

After careful analysis  using  all my brain power  I concluded the main reason for  this is allowing of right turns. By means of some intricate calculations  I  calculated  that my journey time would be reduced  by 33% if right turns were banned. 

Along with right turns the size of most cars  breadth wise has increased. This has made it impossible for most car drivers  to make right turns effectively. The net result the  rest of the traffic has to wait  till the right turn has been completed. 

In addition  to  the  time required for  making right turns there is another major problem. Cars  waiting for right turn should occupy at the maximum  only 30% of the road width. Nowadays  they occupy over 90% of the  road width  preventing  other vehicles from tuning left.

My solution  is two  pronged.  Ban  all cars above  certain width from  making a right turn. Secondly  regulate right turns so that  during peak hours  no right turn is allowed.

Right turn has become wrong turn . Ban right turn and  reduce  traffic congestion.