Monday, 14 August 2006

The dog probably died last night. The head was totally gone. Its four legs were up in the air.

“My God” murmured Steve Sanders. He almost ran over the dead dog. The disc brakes of his bike helped him avoid that unpleasant encounter. He stopped the bike and stared at the dog.

Five minutes later, Darren Gough coughed, “Dude, if you are done appreciating the beauty of death, can we move along? We are already late to work.”

“How can you be so insensitive?” Steve gave his partner a stern look, “Do you know how many such dogs and cats die everyday on the highways? The rascals driving those buses and cars and trucks.”

“And bikes and cycles” Darren interrupted Steve’s angry lecture, “The point is Steve, the trucks or the cars you are talking about haven’t strayed into Gir forest and ran over black bucks. Have they? Highway is a vehicle territory. The dogs have no business wandering sleepily on this high energy zone.”

“You are sick man” Steve started the bike, “I am gonna work with Blue Cross and see that the number of such deaths come down drastically.”

“How? Are you going to build fences along all national and rural highways?” Darren was curious.

“Very funny. I know my limitations. I just want to educate the drivers that these animals deserve better treatment. If you see a dog on the highway, you apply brakes; wait for the dog to cross the road and then start the vehicle. It is simple, right? I don’t know why most people don’t do this.”

They reached office. Thirty minutes later, there was a frantic call from Steve to Darren.

“Dude! How do I get in touch with Blue Cross?”

“Simple, talk to Maneka Gandhi”

“Yaar! I am serious.”

“Ok talk to Amala”

“Amala who?”

“Nagarjuna’s wife. South Indian superstar.”

“You mean Telugu superstar?”

“Yes of course.”

“Yaar. I did everything I could do to join Blue Cross but it is not accessible at all.”

“Really? In thirty minutes you have tried and exhausted all the avenues?”

“Yes yaar! I have been Googling and Wikipeding for the last twenty five minutes. I could get some phone numbers and email ids. I sent an email to one of those IDs.”

“Good! Let us wait for a response.”

“Yes. Actually I can sleep peacefully now that I have contributed by two cents to the welfare of dogs straying on the highways.”

“You rock man.”

“No way. I am just doing my duty as a responsible citizen of India.”

Tuesday 15^th August 2006

Steve laughed loudly. The entire wing stopped all its work and stared at him.

Embarrassed, he apologized, “Nothing. Just that my client thought I was American.”

Darren smiled, “Name?”

“Yes. I don’t know why my parents named me Steve Sanders. It doesn’t fit in India.”

“Same feelings here too. Whoever I mail, they think we are English or American. When they come to know that I am from Palakollu and you are from Palakkad, they go crazy!”

Steve nodded and hit the Send/Receive button on his Outlook session.

“Yaar! No mail till now from Blue Cross. This is crazy.”

“That is the sad state of affairs in India man! What can we do? Corruption is everywhere. Let us get out of here yaar. Bahut hogaya. Let us go watch a movie.”

“Great idea.”

They hopped on the bike and sped towards PVR Cinemas.

“Only Rang De Basanti is available.”

“Ok. No issues. I don’t actually hate Aamir Khan.”

Three and a half hours later, a dazed Steve shook his head, “I want to do something for this country.”

An equally dazed Darren nodded, “I feel so restless now. Something needs to be done to improve India. I hate politicians. I hate corruption.”

Steve was determined. “We shouldn’t aim for the impossible. Whatever we want to do, it should be tangible.”

“Yes it should be” Darren agreed.

“Maybe after twenty five years, we will be able to get into the Parliament. But now, we should work at the grassroots level.”

Darren patted his friend. “You are truly an asset to India man.”

Just then they witnessed a motorcycle trip over a pothole on the highway to their office.

Steve and Darren rushed to the spot and helped the rider get back on the bike.

“This road should have been repaired by December last year. All I see is a couple of piles of sand on either side of the road. Look at the pathetic condition.” Steve was furious.

Darren thought for a moment, “Maybe this is our calling. We should talk to the authorities, stage a demonstration and get this road repaired. It will help everyone on the grassroots level.”

“Brilliant idea” Steve couldn’t hide his excitement, “I will be at it as soon as we get back to work.”

Wednesday 16^th August 2006

“Yaar I got a mail from Blue Cross.” Steve said.

“Cool man. So your Save Highway Dogs campaign is all set to start?”

“No yaar. I am thinking about it. I think we need to properly channelize our efforts to optimally use the resources.”

“Meaning?”

“I think we should look at the larger picture. See, yesterday we decided to work on the repair of our office highway. I think that is more grassroots than this dog campaign.”

“You think so?”

“Yes.”

“Now that you mention it, I feel the same way yaar.”

“Yeah! So I just marked the email as important and stored it in my personal folders. I will get back to it once I am done with this highway project.”

“Have you figured out what to do?”

“Yes.” Steve said with a smile on his face, “Have you heard about the Right to Information act?”

“Right to What?”

“Information. A new act. If you ask for the status of any project or anything in this country through the proper channel, you are going to get a response. Otherwise it is breach of law.”

“So?”

“I am going to exercise this right to get the latest status of this highway project and why there is a delay in its completion.”

Two hours later, a visibly dejected Steve stormed into Darren’s cubicle and declared that India was going to dogs.

“What happened?” Darren asked him.

“Nothing. I talked to the project director. Told him that I wanted some information on why there was a delay in completing project. He told me he wouldn’t tell me anything. I explained that I had a right to ask for information. I quoted The Right to Information act. He was like, ‘Right to what?’”

Darren thought for a moment, “I know a judge. I will ask him what the proper procedure of invoking this act is.”

“I am disappointed yaar.” Steve slumped into the chair.

Darren tried calling the judge. “He is not picking it up. Maybe he is not in town.”

Thursday 17^th August 2006

“You know what?” Steve was excited, “Genelia talked to me today.”

“What? You kidding right?” Darren was jealous.

“No man. She talked to me today. Her module actually had some issues she was unable to resolve… some Java beans stuff and I solved them for her. She was blown away.”

“So?”

“So I asked her for a treat and she readily agreed. We are going to Tumhara Naam Kya Hai tomorrow?”

“Tumhara Naam Kya Hai? What is it?”

“Arre yaar! Latest Hindi romantic movie. See ya later.”

“Wait” Darren pulled out a sheet of paper from his bag, “This is the procedure to invoke that Right to Information act. I got it from the judge.”

Steve pocketed it hurriedly. “Yes. Thanks. I will look into it later. For now, I have a girl to take care of.”

Friday 18^th August 2006

They both stared at the uprooted tree.

“I feel so sad” Genelia said “when I see trees getting uprooted just because some bonehead somewhere wanted to expand some road.”

Steve nodded, “Yes this is why the temperature of Earth is increasing at the rate of 1 degree per century. I think so. Read somewhere.”

“We should do something about this Steve. We should protest cutting down these highway trees. Who wants a six lane road? We want a healthy atmosphere for our kids.”

“Our kids?” Steve couldn’t hide his surprise.

Genelia smiled warmly.

“Eureka!” he shouted, “I will ensure that no trees are cut down from now onwards. Do you know the phone number of Green Peace?”

The End.