Indira Park has fast become one of my favourite places at Hyderabad. I have been on the lookout for a green place near my residence. Indira Park was the perfect answer - lush green trees, a 1500 metre jogging track, large lake all spread over 76 acres! So weekend mornings and some rare weekday evenings are spent at this beautiful place.
The place is very busy in the mornings with people of all ages thronging the place for their morning walk. A lot of children heavily use the play area. Evenings is when the park has less people with a few lover-pairs dotting the landscape. The park also has some tennis courts and two skating rinks for kids. I have also seen some kayaking in the lake in addition to the regular canoes. An interesting side bar is a series of natural rock sculptures that resemble various animals.
The action outside the park is no less interesting. A variety of hawkers vend their health/fitness friendly foods ranging from herbal soup, sprout mixes, berries, fruits, vegetables etc. Sometimes (out of job) politicians and other activists make the road opposite the park their venue for protests.
All in all a great place right in the heart of the city, to spend a few hours and come back rejuvenated.
Jun 30, 2007
Unfulfilled Potential & Avoidable Suffering
Jayaprakash Narayan, the founder and head of the Loksatta Party speaks of two cardinal sins widely prevalent in our country. One is unfulfilled potential and the other is avoidable suffering.
Each time I see a construction worker building yet another swanky glass building hosting an IT company, I am reminded of the first phrase; where did this man/woman/boy/girl come from? The same person with some education and exposure would have easily blossomed into an average blue/white collar employee.Instead she is stuck in a menial job with a bare minimum wage, no insurance, no benefits and in fact there is some risk to life.
A few days ago, I came upon an accident scene on the Gachibowli highway, four auto rickshaw passengers lost their lives as a truck zoomed through the median gap in the highway. Couldn't the gap in the highway been placed away from a direct street entry point? On the health care side there is a litany of such stories all speaking of massive avoidable suffering.
For some reason these two phrases have stuck in my mind, and summarise our country's state in simple terms.
Each time I see a construction worker building yet another swanky glass building hosting an IT company, I am reminded of the first phrase; where did this man/woman/boy/girl come from? The same person with some education and exposure would have easily blossomed into an average blue/white collar employee.Instead she is stuck in a menial job with a bare minimum wage, no insurance, no benefits and in fact there is some risk to life.
A few days ago, I came upon an accident scene on the Gachibowli highway, four auto rickshaw passengers lost their lives as a truck zoomed through the median gap in the highway. Couldn't the gap in the highway been placed away from a direct street entry point? On the health care side there is a litany of such stories all speaking of massive avoidable suffering.
For some reason these two phrases have stuck in my mind, and summarise our country's state in simple terms.
Jun 29, 2007
Why Do I Blog
I guess the title should rather read 'When Do I Blog?'. Of late my frequency of blogging has reduced and a blog without regular posts goes dry as garden without water.
I have often quizzed myself on what makes me blog? The fact that many readers open the posts and read them is exciting; but it is not just for recognition that I blog (a blog like this doesn't get too many readers anyway). Neither am I claiming a thought leadership space in my area of profession.
Then what is it? I guess it is pure venting i.e, whenever something bothers me too much or excites me, I pick up the key board and start typing. Such moments regularly happen; the challenge is to get straight to the key board. Also when I start writing about a topic I am passionate about, it engenders introspection (forcing me to clarify things to myself), and makes me a bit more humble since whatever I write is for the sake of it and not because huge numbers are are reading it. Seth Godin clearly articulates this as Respect and Clarity (link below).
The other major trigger is that the blog gives me a sense of identity apart from what I do for a living. That in itself is liberating!
Seth's Blog: If no one reads your post, does it exist?
I have often quizzed myself on what makes me blog? The fact that many readers open the posts and read them is exciting; but it is not just for recognition that I blog (a blog like this doesn't get too many readers anyway). Neither am I claiming a thought leadership space in my area of profession.
Then what is it? I guess it is pure venting i.e, whenever something bothers me too much or excites me, I pick up the key board and start typing. Such moments regularly happen; the challenge is to get straight to the key board. Also when I start writing about a topic I am passionate about, it engenders introspection (forcing me to clarify things to myself), and makes me a bit more humble since whatever I write is for the sake of it and not because huge numbers are are reading it. Seth Godin clearly articulates this as Respect and Clarity (link below).
The other major trigger is that the blog gives me a sense of identity apart from what I do for a living. That in itself is liberating!
Seth's Blog: If no one reads your post, does it exist?
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