1st World Country, 3rd World Government - NHS

Sometimes you get surprised that a country like UK should have practices that you get to see in 3rd world countries. In fact it is worse, because in 3rd world countries jumping queues, paying bribes and other tactics works whereas in UK, under the pretext of being a 1st world nation these things are not possible. As a result you end up in a situation that neither works in the 1st world nor the 3rd world.

National Health Service
At a certain GP Practice in London, if you go in at 8:30AM for an emergency appointment, the response is your appointment is at 12 come back then. I think someone needs to explain to them that an emergency means immediate attention, and if you are telling someone to come back 3 hours later for an emergency appointment it defeats the meaning of the word. In fact to get any appointment takes forever and once you get an appointment if you want to get an expert opinion it takes 3 appointments with the GP before they can make sure it requires expert opinion and refer you to one. By then it is almost 2 months and for all that you know your ailment has cured itself or gotten worse.
What would happen in the 3rd world is:

If you are getting delayed at one hospital you can go to the other.

You or someone you know would know someone (and this can go on and one) who would know someone influential to help you get straight to the doctor in case of an emergency and promised the best treatment.

If you think you have to go to a specialist you don’t go to a GP, you go straight to a specialist, who the influential person above will arrange so that you don’t have to wait and utmost care will be given to your treatment.

1st World Country, 3rd World Government - Home Office

Sometimes you get surprised that a country like UK should  have practices that you get to see in 3^rd world countries. In fact it is worse, because in 3^rd world countries jumping queues, paying bribes and other tactics works whereas in UK, under the pretext of being a 1^st world nation these things are not possible. As a result you end up in a situation that neither works in 1^st world nor the 3^rd world.
The Home Office
If you are trying to get your Indefinite Leave to Remain visa or Permanent Residency then the only way you could get this is by calling the home office at sharp 9AM. One should consider themselves lucky if they get through in the 10^th call. They take calls for appointments for 6 weeks in advance and it is inevitable that they will tell you that it is booked out. Which means you keep calling everyday until one day they tell you an appointment is available. Now here are the 3^rd world practices in the Home Office of 1^st country:

There is no call waiting facility, you will get a message that everyone is busy so we have to call back

If they cannot take booking for 6 weeks from the day you call the only other option is to call them back

There is no way to make a booking over the internet

There is no way you can go straight to the office and get the work done

There is no way you can pay someone a bribe and get the work done

The only other alternative to making numerous calls everyday with the hope you will get an appointment is to send them the application with the passport and expect to get it back anywhere between 4 to 14 weeks!!!

Peter Roebuck on the Fab 5 of Indian Team

"If Anil Kumble was the colossus, Sachin Tendulkar the champion, Rahul Dravid the craftsman, VVS Laxman the sorcerer, then Ganguly was the inspiration."

As published in cricinfo in an article by Peter Roebuck on the eve of Saurav Ganguly's last test match of his career at Nagpur against the Aussies.

HT: Cricinfo and Peter Roebuck

Jeev Milkha Singh at the US Masters

What was Jeev Milkha Singh’s target at the US Open:

 

“to get par”

 

It is a PJ which is more suitable for another blog Punny Journalist and only for those who understand Hindi for the pun is in the Hindi meaning of the word “par”.

Slogan for Varun Gandhi

Varun Gandhi is debuting his political life in India and in style. Varun is from the Nehru-Gandhi political family; he is the son of Sanjay Gandhi/Maneka Gandhi, grandson of Indira Gandhi and nephew of Sonia Gandhi.

 

Varun belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the slogan raised by Bharatiya Janata Party workers for Varun caught my attention:

 

“Yeh Varun Nahi yeh aandhi hai, yeh doosra Sanjay Gandhi hai”

 

Varun in Hindi/Sanskrit means “Lord of the Seas/Waters” and Aandhi means – “dust storm”.

 

So when translated (and not transliterated) it means, “he is not the lord of the seas but he is a storm, he is the second Sanjay Gandhi”.

 

If you know about Sanjay Gandhi, you will know the significance of calling him “the second Sanjay Gandhi” as Sanjay Gandhi himself used to cause a lot of storms when he was alive.

 

Indian elections in general have some interesting slogans, of which I should compile another list, but this one caught my eye.

 

HT: Wikipedia and BJP official website

More on Himesh Reshmayya

You can see how much I like him but this is also an excellent piece and I couldn't help from putting it here. And guess what, this also comes from MSN who have given the award for the "Joker of the Year 2008" to Himesh. Here is an excerpt from their website on why he deserved this title:

 

"As is his habit, Himesh mistook facial contortions for Method Acting, and nasal acrobatics for singing! The result: The junta went into laugh riots every time he crooned "Nazron mein teri kashish ka aalam...Dil mein hai armanon ki sargam!!""

 

HT: MSN

Himesh Reshammiya

An excellent description of Himesh Reshammiya by Deepa Gahlot of MSN India Entertainment:

 

"Himesh Reshammiya is this generation's Jeetendra, can't act, wears bizarre clothes, but somehow appeals to the tapori class, as well as to the inverse snobbery of people who normally ought to have better sense. His success cannot be analysed or explained, he possibly has such a following of young men, because he is their wish-fulfilment fantasy-- an outsider without a star father, without Hrithik Roshan's deadly looks, Shah Rukh Khan's talent, Aamir Khan's intelligence or Salman Khan's body—if he can make it, anyone can."

 

HT: MSN India Entertainment

Do Bollywood movies epitomise India or are they chick flicks?

 

Indian Law Makers/Breakers

Below is an extract of a news article from sifynews (http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14718936) talking about trust vote in the Indian parliament on the nuclear deal. A whole section is dedicated to parliamentarians languishing in various jails. If we take the extract of that section it sounds almost like the script of a stand up comedian ridiculing MP's, yes on a serious note it does show the state of Indian politics, but it does make a good satire (also note they are all from UP or Bihar the two most populous states having the highest representation in the parliament) -

In Ghazipur jail, UP, SP MP Afzal Ansari was visited by BSP MP Akbar Ahmed Dumpy. Afzal is reported to be negotiating a BSP ticket for the next elections.

In Nani central jail, UP, expelled SP MP Atiq Ahmed was approached by Mulayam Singh's nephew and Mainpuri MP Dharmendra Yadav, to ensure that he did not walk over to the BSP.

In Fatehpur jail of UP, expelled BSP MP Umakant Yadav, received a visit from senior BSP leader and UP Minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui. The MP, who was personally handed over to police by Mayawati, was promised that his expulsions would be revoked and cases against him withdrawn if he voted against UPA.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday allowed RJD MP from Madhepura Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav to take part in the trust vote.

RJD MP from Siwan, Mohammed Shahabuddin and Lok Jan Shakti Party MP from Ballia, Suraj Bhan, have also got bail to participate in the trust vote. They are expected to go with UPA.

Is being USEFUL the same as being HELPFUL?

 

BA Terminal 5

Cost aside, it probably is a reflection of the faith that BA itself had on its T5 baggage handling system when after the fiasco they sent all the bags to Milan for dispatching to the respective passengers - BY ROAD.

Metcalfe's Law vs. Groucho's Law - When is a social network not worth joining?

Gun Culture in India - American Influence or Sophisticated Bihari?

What does the crowd/queue outside an embassy tell you about the country?

Average Londoner's Day

In an article in Heckler Spray on Angeline Jolie's wardrobe malfunction at the premiere of Beowulf at Leicester Square, the author Stuart Heritage had this comment on an average Londoner's day (Beowulf):

And, seriously, since the average Londoner's day involves standing in a dirty, sweltering, expensive, overcrowded tin can snaking underneath the city with their face rammed into a sweaty bloke's stinking armpit, constantly worrying that overzealous police marksmen will shoot them dead just because they look a bit foreign, we'd say Angelina got off lightly.

Very accurate...