Bandh: Bonus holiday or troublesome day?
It would be de rigeur if this was Kolkata, goes the old joke, but as the National Capital reeled under the effects of the nationwide bandh called on by the opposition, many looked happier than morose. While most markets shut shops, for offices it was a work day. As smooth roads greeted the early morning traffickers, they were only happy to reach their work places on time, for once.
Kanak Sood, who is interning at Sarita Vihar, left home anticipating blockages, but was in for a good surprise instead. “I left home at 10am and covered the distance in a matter of minutes, something that usually takes me about an hour to traverse in the normal traffic,” he tells us.
But not all roads led to Rome as the protesters tried disrupting traffic at office destinations like ITO, Nizamuddin-Ring Road Crossing and Mayapuri. And those trying to traverse either decided to turn home, or get stuck and reach extremely late.
Harpreet Marwah, a media professional, said that massive jams didn’t allow him to venture out and he even missed important meetings, while Prerna Roy, who works in Gurgaon, said many colleagues missed work as cabs failed to pick them up. With attempts to deflate DTC buses, school children were asked to either go home or not to come at all, with many of them seen hanging around in various joints, enjoying the unusual good weather.
And even though few colleges were open, most decided to skip those anyway. Sakshi Parekh, who is pursuing a course in interior design from a private college, had to miss her first day of the session. “I got ready to attend my first day of the year and was obviously excited, but had to skip it as I never found an auto,” she says.
However, most youngsters feel most bandhs are ploys of politicians to serve their own means. Austin James, whose sister was stuck at the railway station as there was nothing to ferry her and the traffic didn’t allow him to pick her either, is visibly agitated. “These hikes were more than evident and when one sees educated ministers leading the protest march, it becomes more than obvious that it’s simply a means to their end,” he says.
And some observe that a day bandh will serve no purpose either. “Things will return to normal tomorrow and this episode will soon be forgotten. Though a week-long protest is no solution either, we don’t have any other means of protest,” she says.
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