India@75: Hurdles that shaped India

TRUNK CALLS
India’s biggest and quickest transformation has been in the ? eld of telecommunications. There’s a phone in every pocket, and with smartphones and internet calling even call drops are a receding memory. It’s hard to believe that only a few decades ago you had to “book” long-distance calls and wait for hours to get connected
RUKAWAT KE LIYE KHED HAI
In our love-hate relationship with Doordarshan, the hate often arose from things like programme-less days of national mourning, and mysterious outages with ‘Rukawat ke liye khed hai’ plastered across the screen.With private channels and OTT platforms the Indian viewer is now spoilt for choice
RATION SHOP QUEUES
Time was when even the middle class prized its monthly ration. If not kerosene, then the allowance of sugar certainly, especially around festivals. It’s been years since we lost this “perk”, but governments are now trying to make ration delivery easier for the poor
POWER OUTAGES
This is the last of the old affilications that still plagues us. Power outages of many hours are common across the country. The rich have their generators, but burning diesel makes a hole in the pocket. The poor have no option but to bear the heat of a warming planet. It’s time for India to oust outages