the right side of superstitions

i am plnning to cover superstitions  in detail  later some time. but right now let me share a story.


superstitions are lost kites.  some one  put it in the sky and with a purpose. but the string is broken. so we cannot trace the owner or know the purpose . here is the story.

in a remote village in bihar people believed that they should never dig a well anywhere in the village lest they would be ruined. a reformer group said this is superstition and dug wells all over. they thus solved the acute drinking water shortage in the village and became instant heroes.

a few decades later a medical team investigated the cause of a bone breaking disease ( i dont recall the name ) seen in almost every kid born after a certain year. they found that the water the villagers drank contained dangerous dose of flourides.

of course the wells were closed and future generations were saved.

but what a price to pay to learn the truth behind a superstition



m k mathai

vyttila hub

vyttila hub is finally taking proper shape. result of elaborate planning and immense hard work.
yet there are daunting issues to tackle like how to regulate the hub access in a better way .

here are a few wayward suggestions

1.  allow not direct passage for buses from tripunithura side to kadavanthara side at vyttila signal.
          allow only those buses going to alwaye side to turn right at the signal . let all other  buses turn left
          and cross the N H   just before the bridge .
2.  put up child signals at thripunithura , alleppey and alwaye sides to work in sync with the
     parent signal at vyttila junction.
            tripunithura side signal near the temple to regulate traffic to and from the hub. alleppey side
            signal near the bridge to allow city bound traffic to cross the  N H . alwaye side  signal  at
            the junction where buses are now  allowed to turn to go to the hub.
3. enforce lane driving in the area enclosed by the 3 child signals.
            physicall segregate the lanes  in this area.
4. allow  buses from tripunithura side  enter the hub from the temple side signal.
           alleppyto  ernakulam buses may be permited to avoid the hub for the time being.

debate on the suggestions is welcome either on this site , linkedin, by email or via skype

             

are we driving down the doomsday lane with failed brakes

in a state transport bus in kerala an young man gets killed. he is beaten to death by the co passengers .
on the preumption that he picked the pocket of a  passenger who claimed that he lost rupees ten thousand .

 the beating started in the bus . in the second round he was laid on a bench and beaten by three persons including a police constable ( not on duty ) till the poor fellow breathed his last. the poor victim never reacted at all . he was not given a chance.

it is now clear that he did not do the crime for which he was punished with death penalty. he was in fact returning home with a duck and  a few eggs and the money he got from the bank by pledging his ornaments.

let us ask ourselves  a few daunting questions

       have we become so brutal that we have  the capacity  to beat and kill a person in a public
                    place   in broad day light ?
       have we become so arrogant that  we believe we have the right to allege, to try , to decree , to deny   
                     appeal and  to execute the punishment  , all in one sitting ?  
       have we become so unruly that we do not believe in our legal system ,   trust our government
                    or respect the social  norms ?
       have we become so inhuman that we could not see  the man whom we beat up as some one
                    with a family, kids , parents , friends and  didgnity ?
       have we become so unresponsive that the rest of us can now sit back and enjoy the drama and foreget
                    all about it after a couple of episodes of  our favourite  t v serial    ?
      are we as a society driving down the doomsday lane with failed brakes  ?