Adieu

     Back in the sixties when my uncle who was set to tie the knot, was asked what his future wife did, he proudly put out his wrist, pointed to his watch and said she worked for the HMT. An HMT watch was an owner’s pride for its elegance, accuracy and substance and for being fully indigenous.  

      The uncomplicated HMT watch that was a horological masterpiece and adorned many a wrist in the last 53 years will soon be passé, unable to keep pace with technology, style and speed. In today’s world where phones and watches are “smart”, an HMT watch would probably evoke mirth from Generation Z that is globally, socially and visually connected forever. Our generation just felt smart wearing an HMT watch that simply ticked away and helped us keep pace with time in examinations. If we did not own one, we borrowed one from friends or family, just for the exams.

     I heard some interesting stories from friends about their trysts with the HMT watch. My friend earned hers by pressing her father's feet for fifteen minutes everyday for a month. I earned mine in my second year degree for a good performance in the first  year . My father bought it for me for a princely sum of 125 rupees and I did not want to remove it even while I slept. Another friend told me how excited she was when her dad brought three watches from his trip to Delhi and how they crowded around the watch with curled fists at night to see the radium dial glow. Our elders made sure that the iconic watch did not come free , but had to be earned as a reward for a task well accomplished.

    The HMT tagline was profound in its simplicity - Timekeepers to the nation. It was the “desh ki dhadkan” and always ahead of time! If you had the inclination, they had the time! It was also the “Aam aadmi ka saath”.

    

     In its heyday an HMT watch was a trophy for reaching a milestone, a farewell gift for a retiring employee and above all, a part of wedding finery for the bridegroom, from his future father-in-law.

     As time runs out for the vintage brand, Kajal, Janata, Pilot,Rajat and Sona will soon be history ! The garden clock in Lalbagh which has charmed visitors for years, will hopefully live to tell the HMT tale.

    

PIDDLERS ON THE STREET

     When you see someone purposefully striding up to a garbage dump, rubble, construction site, behind a tree or facing a wall, arms akimbo, and standing at ease, he is a Bangalorean on a mission - “on your mark, get set, pee”. Sir Pee is choosy about the venue for relief, emergency or otherwise !

     

     Indian citizens take their constitutional Right to Freedom very seriously. They love to spit, honk, litter, break queues, jump traffic signals, create public nuisance, put up loudspeakers and set up shamianas in the middle of the road, at will. Bangalore’s walls are a kaleidoscope of local politicians and their henchmen or posters of movie stars. There are occasional boards that read, “Illi Mootra Visarjana Nishedha” or “Do not urine/urinate here”, or more politely “Please do not pass urine here” or “Do not pass piss please”. One was innovative and read, “Only dogs pee on walls, not men".  These boards , notwithstanding, Mootra visarjana in India’s Silicon city is a frequently pursued pastime, not just by the toilet-deprived citizens, but sometimes even by the city’s seemingly literate or educated class either because they lack civic sense and shame or both or simply don’t care. One always wondered why this is a scourge rampant in Bangalore as compared to other Indian cities. Is it Bangalore’s much-envied salubrious climate that drives the “pee-ple” to dispense nature’s liquid waste out in the open, under the skies, or is it the lack of public toilets? Or is it our patriarchal society that allows men or boys to be told that it is alright for them to pee on the streets. After all, they are the superior sex!

A local radio channel was imaginative enough to embarrass Sir Pee by getting someone to whistle or play the drum if he was caught thus!

     

From a pensioner’s paradise to a pensioner’s nightmare and a garden city to a Silicon city to a garbage city, Bangalore has indeed come a long way. The planners perhaps did not envisage that the city would swell to a population of 85 lakhs in 2013 or that it would require improved basic amenities like water and sanitation. Karnataka has the dubious distinction of providing the least number of public toilets for its citizens.

     Alas, Bangalore is now a city bogged down by its own growth and success story. It has some of the snazziest buildings, swankiest cars and ritziest malls, but sadly, it has a measly 503 public toilets of which only 200 are in usable condition. A recent survey indicated that Bangalore would need atleast 5000 public toilets.  

     It is not common to find your city being used as a verb, and I was proud of the neologism, “Bangalored”, coined in America when one’s job was outsourced or moved to India, or specifically, Bangalore. Trudging along the battered pavements or crossing a crater ridden road in large parts of Bangalore is a test of one’s athletic skills and tolerance to stench! Bangalored, indeed ! The citizens need to wake up and rise as one man to curb this abhorrent, shameful menace. With elections round the corner, will the aspiring politicians promise us a pee-free environment in their manifesto ? 

Latha Raghuram.