Satish Satyarthi

Category: Opinion

Satija Driving School Review – Illegal and Pathetic Service

There is a so called driving school named Satija Driving School in R.K. Puram. They have a huge number of cars which they use to ‘teach’ driving illegally. I doubt whether they even have any licence to teach driving or not. Any professional driving school will ask you to get the Learner’s licence before they let you sit on the driving seat of a car. But that’s not the case with Satija Driving school. They have all their cars rigged at cheap garage with clutch, brake and accelerator pedals under both front seats, hired cheap unprofessional drivers (probably many of them don’t even have driving licence themselves) as driving instructors. They will let you drive from day 1 on Delhi roads. What a danger they are posing to other drivers and pedestrians on the road. The instructors will never teach you the technicalities of driving, about traffic rules and signals. They will just teach you how to use steering and clutch, brake and accelerator pedals and you are a done. Just pay them another Rs. 2500 and they will get a permanent driving licence!!! I can’t believe such an illegal and dangerous practice is going on in broad daylight in Delhi.

Recently one of my friends paid them Rs. 3000 for assistance in getting the driving licence. He had already learned driving and was ready for the test and all. He just didn’t want to go through the complex documentation process at RTO and he paid Satija Driving for assistant in that. They took the money and after that they started making lame excuses on phone; like the person who deals with RTO appointments has gone on holiday and will be back in 15 days etc.

If you are planning to learn car driving or get assistance for driving licence find some other place. Just avoid Satija Driving School or you will lose your precious money, time and peace of mind.

November 18, 2014
Profession & Relationships

Do not look for a job or relationship that you want/need; instead look for one where you are wanted/needed.

July 24, 2014
जंगल, आग और हम

पिछले साल जब मैं उत्तराखंड गया था तो रात में टहलते हुए देखा कि दूर पहाड़ों पर करीब पांच सौ मीटर का क्षेत्र रोशनी से जगमग कर रहा है। पहले लगा कि कोई मंदिर वगैरह होगा। फिर लगा कि इतना बड़ा मंदिर होता तो मुझे पता होता और फिर इतने ऊँचे पहाड़ों में इतनी बिजली कौन बर्बाद करेगा। सोचा कि सुबह होटल वाले से पूछुंगा। अगले दिन जब ध्यान से देखा तो पता चला कि पहाड़ों में उतने क्षेत्र में आग लगी हुई थी जो फैलती ही जा रही थी। हरे भरे पहाड़ से काला धुंआ उठ रहा था। मैंने बिलकुल इमरजेंसी टाइप से होटल वाले को सूचना दी। उन्होंने आराम से अपने कुत्ते को नहलाते हुए कहा “हाँ पता है, उधर आग लगी है। अपने आप बुझ जाती है ये.. 10-15 दिन में।” “10-15 दिन में???” मैं शॉक्ड था। शायद ‘आग लगना’ शब्द के मायने हमारे और उनके लिए अलग थे। मैंने होटल वालों, टैक्सी वालों कई लोगों से बोला कि कोई जंगल या पर्यावरण विभाग वगैरह नहीं है क्या यहाँ जहाँ फ़ोन करके आग के बारे में बताया जा सके। जिससे भी बोलता था वो मुझे एलियन टाइप से देखता था। हरे भरे ख़ूबसूरत पहाड़ों को जलते देखना मेरे लिए बहुत कष्टकर था। मेरे लिए प्राकृतिक सम्पदा का नष्ट होना किसी भी बड़े मंदिर-मस्जिद-धरोहर के ढहने से ज्यादा बड़ी त्रासदी है। अभी जब उत्तराखंड और हिमाचल के जंगलों में भयंकर आग की खबर पढ़ रहा हूँ तो लग रहा है कि शायद हमारे जैसे लोग ऐसी ख़ूबसूरत जगहें डिज़र्व ही नहीं करते। एक दिन हम हिमाचल और उत्तराखंड को भी नोएडा और गुड़गांव बना देंगे।

May 3, 2014
Silent Era of Indian Cinema – watch Raja Harishchandra (1913) & Jamaibabu (1931)

2013 is the 100th year of Indian Cinema. It has been a log journey for Indian film industry from the very first silent film, Raja harishchandra(1913), to box office super hits like Dhoom3(2013). Today, India is the largest producer of movies and Indian movies are as extravagant and technologically advanced as movies from any other part of the world.

Yesterday I watched two silent Indian movies (Raja Harishchandra and Jamaibabu) on youtube and it was like time travel. It is really mesmerizing to see the level of imagination and dedication those people had in those days. Those movies seem very poor when you compare them with today’s standards. But when you think about the little technology and resources those directors had, you will get thrilled. Today a Rs.2000 cellphone camera can shoot better quality videos than these movies have.

At the time of Raja Harishchandra, the first Indian silent film by the great grandfather of Indian cinema Dadasaheb Falke, it was considered inappropriate for women to work in films. Cinema, then, was not a fine art in Indian society. And so, even the female characters in the movie were played by male artists. The second movie that I watched was Jamaibabu(1931), a comedy film set in the city of Calcutta. It is fascinating to see the brilliant use of multilingual slides and background music in the movie. Below, I have embedded both the movies. Raja Harishchandra is a bit longer because they have added explanations to the original movie clips but Jamaibabu is short and crisp. I would recommend you to watch it if you have 20 minutes in your hand. 🙂

Raja Harishchandra (1913) – The First Indian Movie [राजा हरिश्चंद्र (1913) – पहली भारतीय फिल्म]

Jamaibabu (1931) – Silent Film [जमाई बाबू (1931)- मूक फिल्म ]

December 29, 2013
My Tribute to two Legends – Premchand and Rafi

Today is the birth anniversary of legendary Hindi-Urdu writer Munshi Premchand and the death anniversary of the Greatest Playback singer of Hindi cinema, Mohammed Rafi. Those who don’t not know Premchand and Rafi, don’t know India. They are so close a part of Indian literature and music, or in general, of Indian society and culture that it’s impossible to imagine India without them. A big percentage of Indian population has grown with the stories of Premchand and the songs of Md. Rafi. For many, literature means Premchand and music means Rafi. We learned the ABC of literature and music with these two icons.

The stories like “Poos ki Raat”, “Eidgah”, “Namak ka daroga” and “Panch Parmeshwar” in the school textbooks have formed the characters of millions of Indian youth over decades. These stories were our first encounter with the realities and ideals of Indian society. We felt pity on the misery on Halku who couldn’t afford a blanket in the chilling cold in the month of Poos. We used to see ourselves in the kid of Eidgah who brings chimta for his amma from mela. The story of Algu and Jumman taught us how we should not let our personal relationships influence our duties and decisions when we are on a position of public responsibility.

The songs of Mohammed Rafi have been the eye-witnesses of uncountable events and occasions in the life of common Indians. Whether it’s the birth of a child, a marriage ceremony or the last rites of someone, Rafi has a touching song for every occasions . His romantic songs help connecting millions of couples while his sad songs are always there to support you whether you are parted with your loved one or missing your old days. His old songs mixed with some new music still throw teenagers into a frenzy. Many of today’s Bollywood playback singers started their career singing versions of Rafi songs.

I pay my heartfelt tribute to these two legends and thank the for making me a person who can enjoy and appreciate great sounds and words.

July 31, 2012