Dear Gautam: Very glad to have received your mail about Guwahati and Assam - the development and the positive side of it. This was one of the best mails that I have recieved in years! Thank you.
I am glad that the GNB road is being widened - isn't that the road that goes to Chandmari etc. thru Silpukhuri (the road that goes in front of Rabindra Bhavan and the district library)? If that is it, I bet everybody is so happy - it took us two and a half hours to reach Chandmari from Bharalumukh by city bus last year, as we were stuck near Guwahati club for traffic jam, which usually takes about 40 minutes, I believe.
Anyway, delux buses? and it just takes 6-7 hours to Tinsukia? that is just fabulous. I love bus rides - people get surprised when i say that - here and there, but I am so sick of driving, and riding those low vehicles that brings all the dust onto my face that I enjoy bus rides even more. So does my father, as you don't have to stoop low to sit in it, that is especially helpful if one has 'kokalor bix'.
I had been to Polaxbari once (recently) by car and I found the roads quite smooth - though the roads to Uttor Guwahati is not. I like the ferry/boat rides anyway, but people shoudl have a choice. Very glad to hear that Jan-Satabdi train service is there in Assam now, I travelled using 'Xotabdi' once from Bangalore to Chennai and back and found it very comfortable - the food and the (good) service was just like you get on airplanes, in most airplanes, I should say. I heard that the journey by Rajdhani Express to Delhi is very comfortable - the compartments are equipped with cushioned berths, AC, etc., glad it is extended to Dibrugarh as well.
I am also glad to know that not many young people have to sit idle after they get their degrees now - they try and go out and get a job, even though sometimes it is outside Assam. The attitude - under any circumstances, 'ghoror lora ghort thakibo laage' has been changed for the better. I've noticed that the young people have become quite enterprising too.
It is encouraging to know that inspite of all the problems, the state is going forward. Also, about the two canals (I think these will be like 'retention ponds' here, though retention ponds are here in every neighborhood) at Narengi and Noonmati! very encouraging - it will be wonderful to see Guwahati not having those artificial flood episodes after it rains even for a short time.
And the local trains to Nogaon and Bongaigaon for people to commute everyday? That is just amazing! It used to take 'aadha-din' when I was there - in the 80's. I know there are local trains to Pathsala and other places also now.
What I think of some of the things that are happening in Guwahati/Assam? I like the idea of the flexible schedule of the banks - convenient for elderly people as well. I am glad to see the development of the cell phone system there - very impressing - the SMS service to communicate instantly with people on the road - even to vote for a tv star, no charge for the incoming calls, and the prepaid SIM cards - all these make it affordable for many that are not so rich, also to have a cell phone.
I like to see the increased number of vehicles in the city, but not the way that these vehicles are driven - not giving a 'care' about the people that walk.
In the US, if we see a person walking or riding a bike (though it is not very frequent in Texas), we not only slow down but also we change the lane that they are on - just to be on the safe side - jsut to make 100% sure that we won't hit them - pedestrians always get the 'right of way'.
I do not like the small cups that they serve tea nowadays. I do not like the 'customer service attitude' of the people that are in the "service" business - many of them, I mean. I always wonder how in a country with a culture of considering 'raatir (or 'dinor') aalohi xakhyat damodor' can turn around when they are owning a shop (for the customers to come and buy), treat their guests as 'nobody' - as if they commited a crime by coming in. It takes a long time for them to give a warm welcome to people, I guess, which defeats the purpose of being in there to serve - be it in a shop or an office/bank. Here in the service business, we spontaneously say "hello, how may I help you". It is also placed as "# 1" in the training manual of customer service - you must acknowledge/greet the customer first.
Well, this has become so long that it seems it will take you days to read this. I am from 1972 matric batch, of course you can call me 'baideu'. Thanks again, and please write again with more about Assam - anything at all. Regards,- A'Baideu.
From: Gautam Choudhury <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Alpana B. Sarangapani" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Assam] newspapers of the world
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:19:39 +0100 (BST)
>Baideo,
>
>Sorry to reply you so late. In fact I tried to reply
>you on the day I received your mail. It didn't go then
>for some reasons unknown to me. After that somehow I
>was not able to reply you. Anyway I am trying to reply
>your mail now.
>
>Yes, you guessed it right - I am from Guwahati only.
>In last 2-3 years some developments have been going
>on. The roads condition have improved a lot specially
>after the Asian Car Rally. The GNB road is being
>widened. Till 1 year ago, we thought it was next to
>impossible. But, since the activities are going on in
>this rainy season, the GNB road condition is becoming
>bad. There are 2 big storm water drains being
>constructed - one at Noonmati where a canal is also
>constructed through small hillock and the other is at
>Narengi. Authorities have planned to drain out the
>excess water during the rainy days to Brahmaputra. One
>can hope the flood problem will be reduced once the
>drains are completed.
>
>The communication to upper Assam from Guwahati have
>also imporved in recent days. One can travel upto
>Tinsukia in 6-7 hours by Volvo buses. We have
>Jan-Satabdi train running from Guwahati to Jorhat. It
>have A/C chair car facility. The Rajdhani Express is
>now extended to Dibrugarh. One can also go upto Led by
>Inter-City Express (train) which is an overnite
>journey. I think you already know that we have now
>local trains to Nagaon and Bongaigaon. The office
>goers are the daily commuters there.
>
>Job oppurtunity in private sectors have slightly
>increased mainly for the lower grades. The higher
>qualified people have to venture out to Bangalore,
>Hyderabad etc. for better oppurtunity. However, one
>good sign is there - qualified people will no longer
>sit idle here. They will promptly go outside Assam
>which was not the case in the eighties and nineties.
>
>That is all for today. There will be lot of things
>which we could not appreciate from here. Those things
>could be noticed from your angle. Kindly let us also
>know some of your feelings about Guwahati/Assam these
>days.
>
>I dont know whether you will be senior to me or not.
>Since, most of the netters are calling you 'baideo' -
>I am doing the same. For your reference - I am of 1978
>matric batch from Assam.
>
>Regards
>
>Gautam CHoudhury
>--- "Alpana B. Sarangapani"
><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
>---------------------------------
>
>Glad to hear from you and to know that you liked the
>one-stop site for all the newspapers, Gautam. Thank
>you!
>
>I am guessing you're from Guwahati? How is everything
>there? Would love to hear anything and everything
>about it.
>
>I know banks open twice a day nowadays, with a break
>in between and State Bank does not have an ATM machine
>that takes cards from other banks - but only their
>cards, if you have an account (and money in it, of
>course! :)) with them. About types of buses that run
>in and out of town, fare rates, how long it takes to
>reach Dibrugarh from Guwahati (for example) - since
>the highways are much better now, anything!
>
>Didn't mean to put the pressure on you, but the
>questions go to everyone. And you can ask me
>questions too. Since we have this wonderful net, might
>as well take advantage of it and communicate with each
>other.... way to communicate with people from afar but
>with common background/interests, couldn't be any
>better.
>
>Thanks again.
>
>- A. Sarangapani
>
>Houston, Texas.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>---------------------------------
>
>From: Gautam Choudhury <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: "Alpana B. Sarangapani"
><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [email protected]
>Subject: Re: [Assam] newspapers of the world
>Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 07:46:24 +0100 (BST)
> >Thank you Alpana Baideo. This is really a useful
> >website. It is surprising to find that though there
> >are so many newspapers published from Assam
> >thesedays, a few only have there web-version.
> >
> >Gautam CHoudhury
> >--- "Alpana B. Sarangapani"
> ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> >
> >---------------------------------
> >
> >Hello again, Everybody: Just wanted to share this web
> >site that includes the newspapers of the world, with
> >you. Many of the new Assamese newspapers (and the
> >English ones) are included (like, The Assam Tribune,
> >The Sentinel, The Telegraph, Aji, Ajir Oxom etc., but
> >no 'Doinik Oxom' and 'Oxom Bani'). Anyway, here it
>is:
> >
> >http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > assam mailing list
> > > [email protected]
> > >
> >http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >__________________________________________________________
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>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>__________________________________________________________
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