Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Welcome to the "Silicon City" !!

It was an exciting ride to the bangalore "international" airport at midnight... starlit sky, smooth road (ok not really) a traffic less drive and of course a long awaited arrival of my hubby made it even more wonderful.
We reached a little early ,the flight was delayed and his baggage was last to arrive. All Together I had enough time at my disposal. I thought of taking a tour of the airport which is said to be getting better day by day.Delighted by the numerous eateries around i decided to grab a coffee and fetch a place to sit.while I was searching for a place to sit and enjoy my coffee. 
I was surprised to spot some unexpected visitors the - stray dogs !





Cursing the authorities of not being vigilant enough I moved away in search of a better place to sit. I looked all around and was disgusted at the site. Dustbins were overflowing, food was littered under the tables making it a midnight buffet venue for the dogs around.
To make situations worse there was an overflowing crowd of people waiting for their kith and kin at the arrivals, Impatiently and shamelessly standing just after the board written "visitors not allowed"

I wanted to run away, I was so appalled but maximum I could go do was go to the loo and later  curse myself for not being able to hold on to call of nature for sometime as the washroom was in a even more pathetic condition. Stinking washroom, open taps ,wet floors. Yuck! is the only word I can think of.
I was shocked , disgusted , disappointed ,worried all at the same time. Any international airport is not just a venue to board flights or see off friends and family it has a larger role to play it's the entry point for anyone entering first time to the country.
 It's the first impression that any outsider gets (I hope and pray that it's not the last one) about us.

Of Course the authorities should be blamed for their negligence and irresponsibility. But isn't it also the fault of ours .we are not civilised enough. We don't follow basic sanitation etiquettes , we don't want to follow rules ,we don't know how to judiciously use public property. Sometimes I really feel that are we eligible enough to stay in developed country or even be a part of the progress. Are we qualified enough to govern ourselves?

I dont have a solution to these issues,but I try to do my bit by following traffic rules, not littering, respecting queues .

I hope some day all of us do our bit,make our country a better place and proudly welcome other parts of the world to our country, our state and proudly tell them "welcome to  silicon city of India.