Blogs

Dear Councillor, Congratulations on being elected. I’m one of the thousands who went out and voted on a Sunday so that you know you’re responsible to me.

Just letting you know what we want from you now that you’re elected to represent us. Once your celebrations are over, first and foremost , cover the potholes.


We’re fed up of trying to find flat road amongst the pits and craters and this is not a request. We need all potholes in gurgaon covered up , filled and levelled to a motorable degree within a month. See that the contractor who you give it to, displays his name, contact number, the amount paid and the warranty period during which he is liable for the intactness of the road. We’re way too tired of seeing our hard earned tax paid money being frivolously thrown around by all of you. You’re answerable to us.
Next, please get the markets cleaned up. The road sides are filthy. I’m sure you already dole out our money to contractors for keeping the markets and road sides clean. They are doing a very shoddy job. Please make it mandatory to display a name and number in every market area as to who is paid how much per month to ensure its cleanliness. At least we’ll know who to call . I’m tired of living in a Millenium city which on closer examination is downright filthy.


We also want to know the names and numbers of the people who are paid for the upkeep of our parks and gardens . There is water logging and Aedes egyptii mosquitoes breeding all over Gurgaon. Get these cleaned up ASAP. Please let us know who the foggers are , how often are they supposed to fog our surroundings and we’ll keep a check on how often it’s actually being done. We don’t need to be petrified about Dengue,Malaria and Chikungunya every time a mosquito bites us.
We need the drains cleared,cleaned and covered. Please give us a time frame on how soon you’re going to get this done. There are colonies where direct water supply comes in at 2am. The residents are bleary eyed from waking up at odd hours every day. Please ensure that your voters are treated like citizens of a free nation and not like illegal immigrants in a temporary camp.


If these are not done, we assure you we will vote for some other party in the parliamentary elections of 2019, 2020 state elections and definitely not vote you back to power in the next MCG elections 2022. I’m sure you will do a good job and make us proud of voting for you. This time we’re not going to look the other way if you don’t keep your end of the bargain.

Congratulations,Councillor 😊!

Jai Hind.
Dr Sarika Verma.

Every day we are inundated by incidents of hate, crimes of such unnatural viciousness that our faith in humanity is shaken. But amongst this sadness when I look for light, I see an emotion that we all are capable of: Love.

The love that a mother feels, the protectiveness a father has, that feeling of worship that raises the most mundane human beings into demigods…. the high of love is unparalleled. The brains’ chemical receptors that trigger love are so addictive that people fall in love over and over again despite being hurt before.

When JK Rowling said in Harry Potter that you have a secret weapon , something Voldemort lacks, I was also a bit let down when it turned out to be love. Just love? But thinking about it for the past few years, and more so after becoming a parent I realised the value of that statement.

It’s love that makes a mother work incessantly without thinking of her own comfort, love that makes fathers toil for their kids’ future. It’s love that makes weak women become lionesses when their kids are in trouble. That makes the heart beat faster when thinking of a special someone. A normal person who becomes completely flawless, who’s faults fail to register in the logical thought process of the most sane… love is the most powerful emotion of all.

The love one feels for the country when fighting on the borders. What one feels for a brother or sister when you’re far apart. It’s love for money , success and recognition that makes us travel far and do more than we ever thought possible.

There is a lack of love in the world today. In the Trump government’s orders of Mexico walls and deportation of immigrants. A feeling of inadequacy and the lack of abundance.America is the richest country in the world, they have one fourth of India’s population and four times the land and resources, still all the President feels is the lack of love for his own neighbor.

The tension between USA and North Korea that threatens the existence of the entire world is simply a lack of love , tolerance and empathy. The power struggle between US and Russia that triggered the Syrian carnage and millions of displaced Syrians is now altering the socio-economic and political face of entire Europe.

The lives lost in “collateral damage ” to the Afghani air attacks are just a manifestation of hate. Anyone who loses their loved ones becomes an apostle of hate, a potential threat to destroy another’s peace and joy.

Today, on the 16th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks , let’s ask ourselves where our attitude and belief system is taking this world?? An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. Peace and nonviolence are as old as the hills, said Gandhiji, I have nothing new to teach the world.

Every day we face a choice.

Between Anger and forgiveness.

Getting even or being kind.

Hatred or love.

Choose the superpower of love.

Dr.Sarika Verma

Delhi is India’s most populous city -state and capital to boot. It is a burgeoning metropolis with people coming here to earn a living from all parts of the country
. Everyone finds a small corner in this densely populated city and starts work. And Delhi absorbs and welcomes everybody.

The Mohalla clinic which has been praised in the Washington Post,French media and by former UN head Kofi Anan is a small prefabricated airconditioned clinic in the middle of the slum with an MBBS doctor,nurse and pharmacist. The consultation is provided free of cost to the patient and costs Rs 30 to the government. There are 220 tests done on a local indigenous technology machine which are again free to the patient and cost less than Rs 10 to the government. All medicines are provided free to the patient. Everything is computerised and documented on a tablet so records are available for future reference. So a daily wage labourer or domestic help gets into the neighbourhood clinic and gets out with medical consultation and medicines within 30 minutes, free of cost and with a zero commute.

Compare this with the options they had earlier, a visit to the local quack who would charge them Rs 100 and give them unknown injections or visit a local chemist for over the counter unsupervised medication or spend the whole day traveling to a government hospital, spend Rs 400-500 on commute and lose the whole days pay as well.
Why would every single locality of Delhi not want a Mohalla clinic??
Mohalla clinics are providing affordable primary healthcare at the doorstep of the poorest segment of society. In fact the central government should keep politics aside and start Mohalla clinics in all parts of the country. This provides employment opportunities to the medical community, paramedical staff, provides zero cost healthcare to the people and decongests tertiary hospitals to treat the more serious patients.
It’s a win win for all. The government will achieve its goal of health for all , and the people will have more time for work and leisure instead of standing in queues at government hospitals. The Indian healthcare system desperately needs an overhaul, and the Mohalla clinic can be the first step up in that direction.