My trip view....

I recently happened to be on a road trip to Dehradoon, a famous tourist destination and capital city of "Dev Bhoomi Uttaranchal". Well, the national highway connecting the two cities i.e. Delhi and Dehradoon doesn't have much to offer besides a belt of sugar mills and rowdy traffic in the vicinity of inhabited villages en route.

I have a lot of time at hand to make observations. Besides, unlike the usual, this route encompassed a lot of small industrial towns and villages of U.P. I was amazed to see how backward the areas adjoining such major cities like Meerut, Dehradoon, Haridwar can be. That is when I realized that most of the urban population has absolutely no idea of how raw the rural areas are.

What is even more interesting fact is that, in such villages where one could witness the absence of electricity and proper water supply, there was within every 500 meters a 'Vodafone'/ 'reliance'/ 'Tata'/ 'Idea' mini stores. So at least it was a pleasant surprise to know that these telephone companies have lived up to a certain extent to their slogans of 'connecting' India and Indians. Also, another very interesting observations, they are trying to move with times with generator run photo studios, abundant nursing homes and cinema halls running 'Dabangg 2'. Ironic , it is!

Throughout the 300 km journey a very recurrent and prominent feature was 'schools'. Yes primary schools and even secondary schools and colleges with infrastructure of mere 5 rooms or on an average. For someone like you and me. this is shocking, we have studied in schools where even a kindergarten wing has 8-12 classes. But they exist and something is definitely better than nothing.

A positive sign that it is, it forces one to think if this is what is development all about or is our being able to build more malls and afford iphones all about development? Perhaps in some sense a combination of both is. But what we need to realize is that ours is a rural based democracy and we need to not only strengthen the weak links but also cash on the existing potential.

If we are able to reach the masses, let these people in villages be as aware and comfortable as we are and still cash on our agricultural assets, we might do wonders. So the next time you feel like criticizing the government for inflation or not encouraging development, just move out and take a sneak peek 100 km away from your cushioned home and you'll feel a little better. While you would appreciate what you have, you might just end up giving a thought to present and future of your fellow countrymen, and that is all wee need right now - a concerned effort.