Connex & Customer Service

Connex reminds a lot of people of two things – Delays & “brute” ticket inspectors!. But there are a few gems here and there too.

I was on tram 19 from Flinders street to Coburg, and it probably had the best tour guide driving it!. The tram driver took pains to annouce each stop and the nearest landmark to each stop!. When we stopped over at Lonsdale, you could hear him announce that RMIT university, Myers and Melbourne central are major landmarks. When it moved past Queen Vic market, i learnt that it has been there for nearly 100 years now!.

All the people on the tram were on a placebo high!!… not sure how many returned to take the tram next day, considering it was late again!!!…

30 days… Away from paradise

Ohh well, its been a month since i left India to land in Melbourne. It does feel kinda freaky and disturbing when you find that shops close by 5.30 in the evening, roads are nearly empty by 7.30 and the inner city looks like the set of a horror movie filled with drunken victims!. I am so sorely missing the crowds, noise and innate smell of roadside biryani or the small tea shops!.

The other my uncle was furiously searching for his cycle puncture kit, his cycle had a flat tyre and he would have to wait till monday to get it fixed. Ohh well, if it was back home i could just waltz over the corner of the road and get it fixed in 10 minutes flat!.. and it wouldn’t cost me more than 5 rupees.

A week ago, i was walking down Swanston St and was desperately looking for a public loo. I went up and down the street and the only ones there were closed. I looked at my watch, it showed 6.17pm.. Damn they even close the loo ‘s by 6 in the evening!!!. Back home i could jus look out for a discreet corner on the road with falls freshly painted by human excrete to unload my bladder
!.

Damn… and i took all those small but important things for granted!. I promise, whenever i see a discreet corner in chennai i will take the time to piss on the wall!… After all, who would want to miss out on such exciting things!

Train to Sydenham ….or to be damn ‘d !

Scene: Melbourne Central Station, Platform 3
Time: 5:00pm

Here i am, in southern hemispheres most advanced nation, Economically and in terms of military strength. So, what can one expect from the transport system of Australia’s most multi-cultural & vibrant city, Melbourne?

Efficient & comfortable transportation for its citizens??.. I’d think twice about both of that!. Chaos theory was at its best today!. Overflowing platforms, delayed trains and the extremely crowded coaches!!.. reminded me of the peak hour trains in mumbai. I think they fare better in terms of reliability!.

Here you have a government that is bent upon building more underpasses and tunnels, without even giving a second thought to the massively overburdened public transport system. What this city needs is a overhaul of the transportation system. It should seriously think of expanding the rail network or move onto more radical solutions such as the skybus.

And for heavens sake… why is the international airport still in an island, accessible only by road?. Why isn’t the government taking any steps towards connecting it by rail?. You have to take a freeway, then onto a tollway – which ofcourse does not have any toll booths. You need a e-Tag to drive on the citylink, and if you get caught without one you are fined.

Mr.Brumby …i know am just a visitor to this city, but thats why my opinion is more important. Without a viable transport system, visitors will begin to loathe travelling in melbourne.

Down under….

Phew!!, I managed to reach Melbourne in one piece… braved bad food and boring stop-overs to land here. This is my 3^rd day here in Melbourne, Australia and there isn’t anything exciting that I want to rant and rave here!. Melbourne to me looks like any other Indian city with a semblance of order, unlike the chaos that prevails back home.

 

The place where I stay is called Brunswick, about 7 kms from the Central Business District (a.k.a CBD). Multiple modes of transport is available, the most frequent and widely used being the Tram service. These are modern tram coaches (when compared to Kolkata trams!), with air-conditioning and ticket vending machines. There is a good and bad side to the transport service here. The good being, all the modes, Trains, Trams and buses compliment each other. You don’t have a train, a tram running to the city in parallel at the same time!. The services are well co-ordinated and delays seem to be there. I heard a lady fighting with the Tram driver, she was late by half a minute to work cos the tram was late!!!. A single ticket lets u ride all the services without having to buy separate tickets. The bad news is that it is a wee bit expensive, $3.50 for a 16km tram ride doesn’t seem justifiable to me!.

 

I managed to activate my Bank account, apply for my debit card and student credit card …all within 30 mins. I know its no big deal, but the quality of service is very high. Unlike the rude or unpleasant staff with a very artificial English accent at ICICI bank, the people here make you feel very comfortable, very honest about the options available to you. They don’t mislead you with false information. On a side note, I noticed that one of the managers was an Indian!.

 

The university international students office is located in the busy city centre, so is my department. Unlike other typical universities, RMIT doesn’t boast of any big campus with greenery and golf courses. The staff were helpful enough in letting me know about the orientation session info for my course. I went around the CBD, and all I could see was Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and host of people from east asian countries followed closely by our own Indian Diaspora!. Their numbers seem to be more than the native Australians!!.

Ok.. now lemme make some dinner …damn hungry J

 

Racist? ….

Jus 2 more days to go before i take my first flight out of this country.

After reading an article on racism in australia I am having second thoughts on my decision. Agreed racism is prevalent everywhere but the kind of violent behavior was a rude shock for me, especially in cities like melbourne, rated as one of the most liveable cities in the world.

This prompted a random thought in my head. What or who defines the meaning of racism? Dark skinned natives of south africa were discriminated against in almost every possible manner, from bars to bathrooms!. Jews were discriminated against by the nazi empire. African-amercans had to withstand blatant humiliation from the white supremacy groups… Even so, dalits are still treated as outcasts in villages in india!

What prompted such behavior? Was it cultural? Was it the fear of losing their racial identity to another group?. Or was it just cheap politics?
I don’t have a single answer for these questions, for I believe that all the reasons are true.

During the harbhajan-symonds fiasco, a lot of indians were voicing their opinion. Amongst them, the most widely quoted was that racism is not prevalent in india. I remember my childhood days at my grand parents house. They were not the typical forward caste racist creatures which the media paints every brahmins as. An old lady from the nearby slum would come to sweep the house everyday. Sage would always enter the house from the backyard.. Never through the front. For me it looked like discrimination based on her appearance(dirty & unkempt), but my grand dad would say that it was against practise to enter a house through when ur dirty. That was the reason he would insist that I wash my legs before I enter the house when I returned from my evening playtime.

Then can the white south africans use such premise to legitimize the apartheid?? Or can the nazis deny the holocaust on the ground that jews were not of the aryan race and hence had no place in germany.. Rather deutscheland??

So, where do we draw the line that seperates cultural intricacies and blunt racism??

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