‘V.I.P’

How often have we cursed our roads, buses, footpaths, traffic and what not? Everyday travel is proving to be more and more tiresome. We curse when our two wheelers hit a pot hole or road block or when we loose balance on those ridiculously uneven footpaths! We hold our breath when we pass by a drain and look towards the window for air in a crowded bus. In the end of the day however it is still manageable. In the madness we can still see our way through it all, but what of those who can’t?

Haven’t we all wondered how the visually impaired travel, that too in chaotic Bangalore (or should I say Bengaluru)? I met up with two gentlemen - Ravi Paul who is a final year B.A student and Praveen N who just finished his 2nd pre university and is looking for admission into a degree college - for the purpose of understanding the unique problems faced by the visually impaired or “V.I.Ps” (Visually impaired people) as Ravi puts it, with regard to everyday travel.

FOOTHPATHS

'I hate our footpaths' was the first thing Ravi said when I asked him his experience of our roads and Praveen seconded with a firm, ‘yes’. They are very uneven and very unpredictable. It is especially ‘scary’ ' one travels with a cane (it’s a walking stick used to feel the road ahead). ‘Even ' other people are taking us its sometimes scary if we don’t know the person very well. Which is most often than not’ said Praveen. ‘However there is one footpath that I like, it is my ideal walking surface’ said Ravi with a smile, ‘the footpath I am talking about is majestic. I dream of a Bangalore with footpaths like that'. ‘Brigade road footpath is also nice. I have been there once.’ added Praveen. I asked them what they taught about the new cemented footpaths and they said it was a marked improvement over the stone ones but was still uneven. The unpaved are the worse kind. When it rains all hell breaks loose. Unpaved footpaths harbor pools of muddy water that are very messy. ‘I hate it when I step into one of those puddles as water seeps into the shoes soaking my socks and feet in that slush. I find the feeling very uncomfortable’ said Ravi looking quiet unhappy (maybe remembering past experiences). ‘I just hate when there are large rocks or boxes (referring to transistor boxes) in the way. I sometimes snub a toe and it is very frustrating!’ said Praveen. Sometimes when Ravi is alone he prefers walking on the side of the footpath as the road is smoother but some concerned pedestrians always request him to use the footpath as it is safer. ‘I get where they are coming from’ said Ravi with an empathic tone, ‘but its just too difficult walking on the footpath so to make them happy I walk on the footpath for some distance and then use the road again.’

I asked them how helpful the people were and they told me most of the times people help them in crossing the road and sometimes they will leave them till their destination.

Buses

Our BMTC buses are the most affordable transportation system in the city. Like most people, most ‘V.I.Ps’ rely on the daily buses to get about from place to place. ‘We are entitled to a free pass and we can go anywhere in the state with it. However’ said Ravi, ‘the fun ends there!’ ‘Please don’t get us wrong’, said Praveen, ‘we are all glad about our free passes and thank the government for it. There are some problems faced by us in this regard and they are pretty simple and solvable problems.’ ‘I wish buses start stopping in one place or rather the place they are supposed to stop in!’ said Ravi and Praveen added, ‘it would also be nice if the conductors announced the stops.’ It is sometimes difficult for the ‘V.I.Ps’ to get down where they want to because they are not sure of where to get down. They will have to rely in the passengers as the conductors are not always found. A lot of times the people may not know what they are asking and misguide them. Hence they might get down in the wrong stop and in the worse case scenario - get lost. Thankfully they have never got lost. Once or twice they have got down in the wrong stop though but fortunately they have always managed to find their way back into a right bus. I asked them about the attitude of the conductor and they rate it with an ‘OK!’ Some conductors are more benevolent than others. If they are lucky the conductor will leave them to their seat (every bus has a seat reserved for handicapped, usually near the emergency exit) and also ask them where they would like to get down and alert them when their stop approaches. These conductors are quite rare and most conductors ask them where they need to go and may or may not alert them. I asked them about the attitudes of the passengers and they told me it all depends on the crowdedness of the bus. If the bus is not very crowded they will give them their reserved seat. If the bus is crowded no body will get up and give them place. Sometimes the people are very helpful. They will alert them if their stop comes. However they can be a pain in the you know where! Ravi was telling me of a weirdo, (who was possibly drunk as he ‘smelt’ of something awful) who kept telling him how sympathetic he was of Ravi's condition and even offered his daughters hand in marriage as consolation!

‘We have spoken so much about the buses’, said Ravi with some sudden realization, ‘but what about the bus stops?’. Earlier we spoke of the haphazard manner in which the buses stop. It proves quiet a challenge for the ‘V.I.Ps’ as they don’t know where to stand. Eventually when the bus stops they must run quiet far from the actual stop and its very difficult for them to do that. Firstly because it is almost next to impossible for them to run as they are unaware of what is ahead of them and secondly if there are many people going towards the bus it becomes very difficult for them to get in. When they finally do manage to get near the door of the bus it is still a challenge to get into the bus. There is an every man for himself type of attitude. Everybody is so aggressive in getting into the bus. There have multiple occasions when these gentlemen have been pushed from the bus and not allowed to get in. ‘Most of the times the people in the bus stops are not helpful’ said Ravi. When they scream out asking the crowds about the number of the approaching bus most people are mute. Very rarely and after much effort will a person step forward to help them. The area matters a lot too and in some areas the people seem more helpful than others places. I’m proud to know that Indranagar was one of the more helpful ones.

Auto-rickshaw

Buses are not the best for reaching your destination in the quickest possible time. If one is to go from place A to place B in the least amount of time taxis and auto-rickshaws are the next best alternative. In Bangalore taxis are quiet expensive so rickshaws are the better bargain. It is a more comfortable way to travel when compared to a bus. The auto drivers are, ‘6 out of 10 times honest but we have been cheated many times and we are completely helpless in this regard. I wish they had a brail auto meter or a talking auto meter.’ said Ravi.

‘Most problems are solvable. It is only a matter of patients and co-operation and when our fellow humans realize it all of us will be able to live better lives’ – Ravi

Promoters

 

This is an article I wrote for my journalism class. Please leave comments and tell me if it is any good.

Thank you.

 

It's quiet common to find young people in malls and other commercial places trying hard to promote a particular product. These people are dressed mostly in company clothes, i.e. a t-shirt maybe with the company's logo and a smile. Some of us find them annoying. We very easily dismiss them when they come up to us and yet, with their relentless smile they pursue another person. It's a tough job according to me. Standing on for hours at a stretch and getting negative feedback from most of the people you encounter.

When I asked the interviewees why they took up such a job their reply was same – easily available part-time job with very little skills required and a source of pocket money, "it is great having to not beg your parents for money!" exclaimed Sushmita.B, one of the interviewees. Most of the promotion jobs have one main criterion – language and communications skills. If u have to be effective in promoting the product u need to be good in expressing oneself. There are other reasons for our youngsters' involvement in this line of work such as new experiences and the joy of working. Mahalakshmi.iyer, one of the interviewee said with some pride, "I like these jobs as the help develop your personality". I shot her a puzzled expression and she added, "I mean, they give u exposure to various situations and people and one can learn quiet a lot . . . " she chuckled and said, "like the art of patients!". Some of them want to break away from the dependent tag and want to be full fledged adults, "I don't want to be treated like a kid!" said Elsy with some defiance, "if I am financially independent to some extent I will be able to take more decisions on my own". Pocket money seems to be the main motivation but some people go by need to like paying off some money they owe for example.

How young are the youngsters? I interviewed four people in the age group of 16-18. Mahalakshmi.iyer was the youngest at 16 and she told me that people above the age of 15 are accepted though most of the people that work are 18 plus and she is therefore the youngest in the group most of the time.

Most people that take up the job are college students and therefore they work manly on the weekends or on holidays. They work whenever they find time and sometimes they will have to bunk college for a day or two. "If the offer is good I wouldn't mind bunking college", said Sushmita. I asked her what exactly was a good offer and she told me it was to do with the pay, timings, location and the company. She, like most people, prefer working along with friends as "It is easier and more enjoyable".

The pay ranges from Rs400 – 1000 depending on the location, company, hours of work and the amount of commission that the agent takes. The agents can take upto 50% of the pay sometimes. More reputed companies will obviously pay more than less reputed ones and more demanding jobs that call for longer work hours will pay more than less demanding jobs and vice-versa.

Like all jobs it has its share of problems and funny incidents. I asked them to share a few incidents that happened on their duty -

Movies and fun! by Elsy

"It was the last event and we were working for a long time. Near by was a large TV displayed and a movie was playing. There was nobody to keep an eye on us so we decided to watch the movie. We nearly saw half the movie and then we has realized that the manager had arrived but we were lucky that he turned out to be a sweet guy. He didn't say anything and we quietly returned to our post."

Please, IT'S FREE!!! By Sushmita

"I was working in lifestyle, giving out complimentary membership cards. I remember one particular man who refused this card even after me telling him it's free and his reply was amazing, '"no sorry I don't accept complimentary things!"'. I still laugh thinking of him!"

Kannada fanatic vs Sushmita

"Once when I was working to promote refrigerators an elderly gentleman approached me and began speaking to me in Kannada. I told him I am a Bengali and hence didn't know the language well and he gave me a dirty look. If that wasn't enough he also gave me a lecture on how I ought to know the language in this state! Its funny now but at that time my blood boiled!"

The convenient Kannada fanatic! By Mahalakshmi

"I was working in Garuda mall and opposite me was this stall by a car manufacturer. They had an interesting contest where in the winner got a new car. It was a simple he or she who touches the car for the longest contest. Among the contestants was an auto driver who stood their diligently touching the car for quiet a long time but finally he gave up. In our stall was a DJ who spoke in English the whole tine trying to attract attention and draw crowds. After a few hours the angry auto driver returned with some back up! He and his friends created a racket accusing the DJ of speaking English in a Kannada state. Finally the cops were called to settle the matter!"

"The nice thing about the job is that, most of the time, we get to keep the clothes they give us and sometimes we get the goodies we are promoting" – Mahalakshmi.

Like all jobs its is plagued with its share of problems like –

The problem with this kind of job is that there is no fixed contract. Everything is by word of mouth. For example if an agency wants people to work they will contact their middleman and tell them the number of people they want and it is his/her job to find the people. After the work is done the money will be paid to the middleman and it is his/her responsibility to give the amount to the respective workers. This is where the problem lies. The middleman can take a very large commission and give less money to the workers or the person can even abscond with the money. Since there is no fixed contract it all depends on the benevolence of the middleman. Sometimes the money is paid late, sometimes the amount given is lesser than the promised amount and in some worse cases the money is not given at all! This has happened to Sushmita and Elsy and they have lost more than four thousand rupees each. Fortunately the other two have not faced this problem. Mahalakshmi told me however that once she received her pay almost two months late! She told me how her mother had to 'get tough' with the responsible guy and after all the threats and complaints she fired against him and running around from her house to his office and back she received her pay.

Boredom and exhaustion is the most common problem faced by them. It all depends on the job, there has to be a combination of work, friends, idle time and good managers for the job to be great. Too much work with no breaks make it tiring, very less work makes it boring and lack of friends or support groups make it dull. The attitude of the managers or leaders also matter. A good leader can motivate and make the group feel good. The working hours should not be very long as the workers will have to get back home. Most of them with parents to answer!

Girls will have their own set of unique problems and guys will have their unique problems. I think that's the universal law when it comes to anything. Late working hours is a problem for girls as it is unsafe to travel alone late in the night. There are a few 'not to gentlemanly men', for lack of better term, in this world that could prove to be a real pain in the well u know where! The problems caused by these characters include asking for phone numbers, making a nescience of them selves and even clicking their pictures! There was a one incident Mahalakshmi told me about a guy who kept asking her for her phone number and name. She told him politely that she didn't have a number and gave him a fake name. He tried his best to get her number and finally clicked her snap; she lost her temper and threatened to call the cops. The person finally deleted the picture and apologized! "There some difficulties but that's life and u got to learn how to survive!" – Elsy

"Equal pay for equal work" it is there engraved in our countries constitution but that does not seem to be the case here. Men are asked to work longer hours are paid less when compared to their female counter parts. Danny.J one of the interviewee had this to say, "I remember working alone with two other friends, both of whom were women. They got to leave two hours early and where given hundred rupees more than me. I was outraged but later I learned to accept it."

Getting a promotion job is in vogue. It is not only about getting money but also about the feeling emancipation.