Observations as London Goes Past

Imagine going all the way to UK and spending all day with customer or inside the hotel room. Last week the weather in England was miserable. It rained incessantly - almost like tropical rains. So instead of visiting my favourite museums and reliving the past, I opted to observe the present.

And here is what I observed.

1) A Marathi lady, just married, working at a restaurant as a waiter. We talked to her. She wouldn't be caught dead as a waiter in India. So, do Indians learn about dignity of labour only when they are away from India?

2) A Mongolian girl, all of 28, has a 10 year old son in Mongolia. She works 7 days a week. 5 days as a waiter and 2 days in a company where she hopes to join soon since she has completed her MBA. She pines for her son but works hard to achieve her dreams. Some day her son will join her and lead a comfortable life. We can learn life lessons from everyone.

3) Pani Puri being sold at a pound a piece - 5 pounds a plate. In Bangalore, I gobble down 7 for Rs. 10.

4) Corn-fed Chicken seems to be the flavour of the season. I had it twice, once in an reservation-before-6pm restaurant and then in a small bar. I never noticed "corn-fed chicken" in a menu before. Perhaps I was not looking. Or perhaps, it is a delicacy only on Worcester.

5) London Underground is very clean. No empty beer cans, or wafer packets. Even on a weekend! Is it the London Olympics?

6) Blackberry users seems to far outnumber any other smart phone user in London. And before anyone screams bad sampling, I would like to tell you that this was on a Saturday and in non-rush hour. SO it is unlikely that I sampled all office goers.

Bindeshwar Pathak

Bindeshwar who?
You are unlikely to know this name unless you are preparing for the Civil Services Exams or you read newspapers till page 12.
Bindeshwar Pathak has been awarded the 2009 Stockholm Water Prize - equivalent to Nobel Prize on Environmental Issues. And the headline (if you can call it that at page 12 of the Times of India) merely mentions "Sanitation expert bags Water Prize" - no name in the headline. Contrast this with the star status accorded to Amartya Sen for a pseudo-Nobel Prize on Economics. This in an era when environmental issues need to be addressed with screaming headlines on the front pages of every newspaper and magazine (imagine the awareness that would come if everyday the headlines of all newspapers talk of environmental issues.)

Still do not know who Bindeshwar Pathak is?
Seen Sulabh Toilets?
Ah! Now you know him!

More Maternity Leave

The Govt of India has agreed to increase the maternity leave from the existing 3 months to six months.
In addition, mothers will get 2 years of paid leave to take care of their children - during examination or illness.
This applies only to the women employed by Central Government.
For now.

I hope the private sector follow suit. The women in the private sector must not exploit such facilities though. I know of numerous cases where after availing of the maternity leave the woman employee resigns within 15 days of rejoining. Only to join some other lucrative job. There is nothing illegal about this, I am sure, but seems like shameless exploitation of facilities. You see the long leaves have a built-in trust factor that to my mind is violated here.

That said, this is will give an opportunity to so many women who cannot follow a career due to family constraints. A welcome move!