Posters, Hoardings and Write ups

I have been travelling by trains, very frequently. The trains have a lot of illegal posters inside. The law prohibits any kind of advertising inside the train compartments. In spite of removing them regularly , these posters keep coming up. One of them is invariably about some 'Baba' who is a self proclaimed healer. It is with a photo of Sai Baba of Shirdi. This man can has cure for health problems, mistress, for solving business problems, for couples not having children, for your stolen goods, for parents whose child is straying etc. This is some black magic mumbo jumbo along with a phone number given. Second poster talks about how the company sells a yantra/ tabeej which will help a woman increase the size of her breasts. Years back, the compartments used to have some numbers to call for a massage. Some even went to specify that they have healthy men and women to give massage from different nationalities.

In most five star hotels, there is a city guide in all rooms with places to visit, shop and eat. There is a small directory printed along with it which gives numbers of various services available in the city. Maximum numbers and advertisements are of shady spas and massage parlours with a choice of beauties and at home services. It is quite sickening and I am tempted to make a prank call to one of these numbers in these seedy adverts. But I am much too scared and loose my nerves fast. I don't even know why I am writing this. Obviously it is because I am uncomfortable with selling of services of this nature. When I was working, it was hilarious to see who books rooms and for what purpose. Everyone looks so 'sharif' in their offices. I remember one such incident where a big businessman and a regular guest at the hotel got locked with a woman in his guest room. The guest room was not opening from inside and the man was locked in with the woman. The woman wanted to leave. The man was a polished guy but the woman was angry of being locked in post the time she had allotted. She was hopping mad and giving her choicest abuses to the man. He was trying to ask her to keep her gab shut and it was having an opposite effect on her. Me being the duty manager at the hotel , was told about the problem and asked to calm the couple from the corridor till we located the guy who could break a lock at 2.30 am. The security was called and so was the engineering department to break open the lock. Every time I tried to pacify the woman , the man would get upset with the hotel staff. The moment I would say 'Ma'am, please relax' , the man would start blaming the poor state of the hotel locking system. We staff were having a tough time controlling our laughter on the other side of the door. It was not to let the laughter seep into our voices or the VIP guest would create a huge 'Tamasha' (scene) the next day. We did understand their predicament or may be we did not. 

The recent hoarding of a local phone brand said " My words carry weight, not my phone." Such a freeing thought. But the way I waited for my new phone completely belittles this thought. I am so much of a contradiction and surprise to my own self. I make different choices during different circumstances. I simply do not stick to one opinion. The context shifts and my views shift. These days I am reading a lot on Lesbian Gay communities and their angst due to our Draconian laws on it. There are lot of stories of their struggles, some suicide pacts, how their families are in a denial mode, how some are accepting. That day I gave money to a 'hijra' or a transgender at a traffic signal. I know I will be scared to employ him. I do not give money to beggars as I feel they are healthy people and should work for a living. It is another matter that they consider begging as their profession and some are coerced into it. Ask an NGO and they will tell you, it is not as simple as that along with statistics. This is something, me as a part of the society, has to become accepting and okay about.