Queue

Queue is the way of life in our nation.Everywhere one goes,there is queue.For paying a bill,there is a queue.At the enquiry counter,there is a queue.At the bus stop ,there is a queue.At the ticket counter ,there is a queue.At the examination centre ,there is  a queue.Even at the toilets,there is  a queue.For passport ,there is  a queue For immigration, there is a queue.Even one goes to cast a vote at the elections,there si a queue.Queue includes the plural ....that is many queues.

Why ? Why a queue ? Simply, because of such a huge population.Thanks to continous breeding ,there are so many people out there that a queue is the only solution.Yet this solution leads to many more problems.

Lots of time is wasted in the queue.If someone thinks ,that he can join queue ,get work done & be on other tasks at hand ,he is absolutely wrong ! Most of the times,when a person almost reaches the servicing counter,it is lunch time or closing time.So next ,that person has to make a new beginning.Many times,when a person has almost reached the counter,he is told that he was standing in the wrong queue.At other times,he will be made to realise that he forgot to include some documents,cash is only accepted,cheque is accepted,draft is only accepted & so on.

Some people think nothing of jumping the queue.Corruption is another issue in  queue.So queue may seem to create more problems instead of solving any.

Since lots of people are in the queue,people do end up fighting as well.This raises tempers & sometimes there is  a war going on .At other times,there could be wars going on.I recall, that I had gone to register for Aadhar.Some people started a fight about who should be served first.That was enough reason for the servicing staff to close the counter for the day !

Many have to take  off from their offices  to stand in such serpentine queues.They are just praying that their work gets done.More often than not,it gets spilled over.This leads to lots of bitterness.

Nowadays,many people pay bills online.Phone enquiries have made some dent.As technology improves & becomes widespread,hopefully ,queues will lesson.For the queue to go away ,there has to be strict population control.Technology & public participation has to go  hand in hand, in eliminating  the  queue !

This is my blog post for "Q " in the A to Z Blogging Challenge.

Sharing blog posts of fellow bloggers :

Suzy Que

Morgan Dragonwillow

Meri Padosan : Continues.

I had to write this post - my friend told me that my acidity is due to stress .She also revealed that my padosan is the cause of all my stress !

My padosan will come & ask for my landline phone.Once handed ,she will fumble with it .She has to be told to press the "Talk" button & so on.Still,nothing works,& I am forced to transform into a telephone operator & dial the number & hand it over to her ! And mind you ,this is not the first time ! I have lost count of the numbers now ! Good -otherwise ,I would be expected to dial from memory !

When we were to go on our trip abroad,she was happy.There was a reason behind it.They had booked tickets for a tour which included Thailand.There was a civil unrest there.Hence, they cancelled their visit.The tour operators said that they will postpone it.Since we were travelling to that side of the world where Thailand is located,my neighbour was happy that we will be travelling & returning before they embark on their trip ! This in spite of the fact, that our tour package never included Thailand ! I used to be under the impression that only the lady of the house was eccentric & soon realised I was wrong ! Her hubby  asked us, if all was safe during our tour as Japan had recently witnessed Tsunami & there had been civil unrest in Thailand ! We never visited Japan & neither their package tour included Japan ! After all this fius,they shopped like mad & got diamonds,shoes ,tees etc from their trip !


Last week, she rang my bell at eight in the night to borrow elaichi sorry  to get elaichi.It is not borrowing as she never had an  intention to return it ! She told me that as it was pitru paksh,all elaichis had been used up & her son ( who is an adult & employed ) wanted a sweet at that time ! I just gave in.I don't want people lying through their teeth .After all ,because she needed elaichis from me ,she lied.Sab paap mere sar par aa jayeega !

My padosi family is all of a kind - the borrowing variety.I had gone to the local pharmaccy store.My padosan's daughter in law  who stays with her in laws was also at the shop.I brought some medicines at the shop & paid.My neighbour's  bahu brought some shampoo ,cream,face wash etc.Then she enquired if the pharmacy store accepted credit cards.When that was refused ,she said that she will pay later & walked off ! I understood this as sangat ka asar- when a person stays in the  company of another, even for some time, ,some habits,do creep in our subconscious mind .They , then manifest themselves into the conscious world ! This borrowing was handed over to her, by her saas.Her saas is  notorious in our society for having  borrowed money & things from almost all the residents !

Recently ,I made an egg less  banana cake.I distributed to all my neighbours.My padosan came & praised my cake.I fell for it & told her the ingredients & that, I made it in the microwave.She  asked me the vessel in which I had made it.I showed the  branded glass ware which I had used.She hinted, that she might borrow it . When I mentioned this to a friend ,she quipped that even if the glassware breaks ,what are a few glass pieces, if peace can be brought with the padosan ? ! My neighbour is a non -vegetarian.She wanted to pass on the cake to her daughter's sasur ( father in law ) who is recovering at a clinic after surgey as he is a
vegetarian !

Next day ,my neighbour declared, that, she had brought all the ingredients for the banana cake & she wanted me to make it in my microwave & hand it over to her ! I informed her, that I had attempted it for the first time & by fluke ,it had come out well .She replied, that even if it gets spoilt,she will not mind.I tried to wriggle out of the situation by telling that bananns need to be over ripe for the recipe.Next day ,she said that she has pureed the banannas & she wanted to give it to me for baking the cake.I told her that  the microwave has konked out .She told me that all her purreed banans were getting wasted.I told her to make sooji ka halwa ( rava kesri )& add pureed bananas to it ! That would  be more yummy than the cake & does not need the microwave !

Now all my baking has to stop -lest my padosan learns, that the microwave is fit enough to make  the banana cake !

Undertime !

I learnt a new word today -undertime.It means  time spent by an employee on leisure during working hours .Now,when I say leisure, I mean like a person chatting on phone,surfing the net ,typing personal letters,going shopping,etc -all during office hours.Yes,of course one can debate that the phone chat was official,net surfing was also official & so on .The  only characteristic, that makes the said activity official, is that, it was done during the course of employment,nothing more.


Some people are very disciplined.They are the earliest to arrive in office & then they start their long phone chats.But then, this is not undertime,isn't it.Yes,it is not, till it continues  before the office timings but, if the chatting continues after the office timings have started,it becomes undertime.Which is what usually happens- obviously on office phones,the calls are pretty long as office is footing the stupendous bill or bills.There are others who stay back after office hours to chat on phone.Sometimes,they even get paid for overtime- for  working overtime on the phone !

I initially worked in an office in a moffusil area.Some computers were shifted to our branch offices for easing data entry work.This, in turn, led to the transfer of a data entry operator to the branch.He would very sincerely do his work but beyond that,he refused to do any other work even if he was sitting idle.On Fridays,there would be load shedding & hence the data entry operator would just sit & stare at others  .Our requests to him to make himself useful would elicit responses like," My salary makes it unaffordable for me to do any other work other than data entry." His colleagues would just stare at him with jealousy & lament their  fate that they had to continue working whilst he lazed away.

Once,I had picked up some vegetables on my way to office.It was a Friday & the power went off.The data entry operator took my jhola containing the vegetables & started cleaning the veggies.I begged him to do some other office work but he continued with his undertime.He also quipped, that if any executives came for a surprise visit, he would tell then that his boss ( me ) had ordered him to do the cleaning ! Thankfully,nobody came & I was spared the undue explanations about the supposed official undertiming by the employee.Obviously,I was glad that my veggies had got cleaned at office expense during undertrime of an employee but not myself ! This was a double whammy ! I had more time for rest- at home,that is .

In the suburban office,the man Friday, in office, was notorious for being absent for hours together.He would go to bank to deposit the day's collection & on the way back,he would be undertiming.He would even have a haircut by undertiming .He was of the firm opinion, that he had a license to undertime as he worked so hard -for the Company ,that is ! But all this led to his doing overtime till late nights as work was always pending for reasons which were there for all to see.

On one occasion,all male employees went to enjoy an extended lunch which went on for nearly three hours ! They were undertiming en masse ! This can be coined male bonding nah undertiming.But then ,men always complain about females bonding about everything except work.Maybe, this male group undertiming is an exception -one too many !

So,you can understand that overtime & undertime are opposites  in one sense but similar  in another sense.The meanings of the words are opposite to each other.They are both, the same in a way, as both lead to a drain on the employer.In fact,undertiming is the cause why overtime becomes a necessity !

The absence of undertime would have robbed employees of the gold mine of overtime ! So both need each other or better still, thrive in the presence of each other !

Meri Padosan

I have a padosan who is one of a kind ! She will come in almost every alternate day when my bai who cooks rotis for me is there & chat up with her.My bai works at her home as well.Now, really,she can instruct her when she comes home but nah,she has to do it when the bai is at my house.All this happens early in the mornings, when I am preparing my kid to get ready for school.So I get quite bugged .

Also,my padosan will come & borrow items like potatoes,onions,ginger,cucumber,tomatoes,etal.I readily give her but am quite unable to understand as to why she cannot wait till my kid leaves for school at seven in the morning.I am in a tearing hurry at that time & attending to my padosan becomes a chore for me.Perhaps, she wants to let me know that she is in a bigger hurry in the mornings-that's why she urges me up to quickly open the door & address her needs.

She has borrowed money from me quite a number of times even though all in her family are earning members.Even she gets a pension ! They own a factory or two & she still need to borrow even as small an amount as a fifty rupee note to pay to the plumber or the electrician.The excuse, is that she has no change.In other words,I am always rolling in change as I am middle class & she is well, upper crust ! So,how will she ever have such change-she will have notes of only bigger denominations ! Also,though, I have tried not to lend her money,I have failed.She has always managed to borrow from me saying that if I did not have the amount she needs,she will settle for a lesser sum.Her persistent attitude just gets too much & I give in.



She will give cakes to my daughter whenever they celebrate a birthday.Then after two three days,she will again give the leftover cake ! I have a harrowing time denying that leftover cake pieces to my kid as I don't want her to fall sick ! I once gave her the choicest Gulf dates as my hubby had just returned from the Middle east.The next day,she requested for more dates.She told me that she had to return a box to her married daughter & the dates were so tasty that they would make a good  impression !

Yesterday only,she came & used my telephone as usual . She has  informed me that only incoming calls are allowed on her phones. Also,I have to dial the number on the instrument as she finds the device too cumbersome! All members of their household have cell phones but she has told me at other times when she has used my telephone that she wanted to talk something to someone which she did not want her family to know.So you can see that she trusts me more than her family !

None of the bais in our building are ready to work for her as she pays a pittance & also calls them at different hours each day.The security guards posted at the entrance of the building turn away as soon as she spots them as she asks them for small change to pay for the autorikshaw fare ,which she promises that she will pay some day.

Once,she had given the keys to her house for safe keeping when they all had gone out of station.After they came back,something was amiss & so she asked me ,"Did you make use of the house ?"I just mumbled,"No,I did not".

Her house keys are still handed to me whenever she feels like it but with specific instructions each time ! One more reason for this fondness for me is that she has broken up with all the other neighbours for some reason or the other-primarily bais.She feels her neighbours have lured her bais by paying them more.She has hit back by thieving their milk packets ,their dustbins etal !

One must always remain  optimistic whatever the circumstances .I have opted out of joining a laughter club as my padosan keeps me laughing on a daily if not hourly basis ! What more can I ask for in these stressed times ?