A Hopeful citizen

I was recently in Pune in connection with a client visit for a new project that we begin soon in the UK. After a hectic 2 day trip and being in formal business suits in 41 Degree Celsius,I returned to my hotel quite exhausted and also happy looking to be home the same evening. After a quick checkout from the hotel, I settled myself in Ganesh's Cab 3 hours ahead of my flight time in order to beat the notorious Hinjewadi-Wakad traffic mentally prepared for detours through Khadki,Aundh and Shivajinagar. Meet, Ganesh Ramachandra Walunj, my cab driver at Pune, a man in his early thirties,well educated or atleast well informed and hard working. Ganesh is from a village just off the Satara highway about 40 kms from Pune. He seemed to have driven around many Senior executives and corporate leaders to nearby Lavasa or Sahara City and all these had made him very sensitive to corporate expectations. He promptly pointed me to the small tray in the car holding magazines, a few bars of chocolates and a bottle of mineral water which i acknowledged but did not consume. Instead, I chose to speak given my habit of picking conversations with just about anyone during travel  and in no time was fascinated by his choice of topics for debate that evening. Ganesh made an attempt to highlight waht ails our country today and his very accurate diagnosis of the problems of the country impressed me no ends. Ganesh felt very uneasy and told me almost with a touch of personal regret about how able-bodied men are neglecting their fields, careers and working as security guards or attendants in malls  for a relatively easier 5000 rs and on the way taking to tobacco and drinking. He rued about the falling human development index in the country. Now, no one had told me that before and it was a revelation of sorts to me and this one needed no root cause analysis or a Pareto analysis.Ganesh's top agenda items- Eradicate Caste, control population and respect for the girl child. He was more than a 100% confident that these were indeed the root cause of every thing that ails this country. At the end of a 90 minute ride to the airport, he left me perplexed by his awareness levels, an urge to lead a principled life and above all saw a citizen full of hope in anticipation of good things to come.. I am impressed and confident than ever that change is coming

I am looking forward to my month end trip to Pune with the hope that i get another chance to speak to him in the slow moving traffic and this time, I am not complaining about the short 2 day trip..

Ganesh, May your tribe increase!