During peak hour, crowd-levels in Metro train systems in Japan become unmanageable such that they employ what are known as ‘train pushers’ to pack in as many commuters inside the compartments. Closer home, the Delhi Metro has always been synonymous with coaches packed with commuters, much like sardines in a tin can. Bengaluru’s Namma Metro could very well be the anti-thesis to the above two examples. For, this describes best the public patronage that it has elicited by far. Be it during peak-/ non-peak hours; public holidays or weekends, crowds on the Namma Metro have always been sparse. The trains on its nascent network run virtually empty most of the time. Nothing short of an outlandish gimmick, including hiring the ‘pushers’ from Japan, could draw the crowds here. Now this is a situation that is virtually begging to be expressed in the form of anecdotes, or even trolled at. Consider, for instance: a betting racket might hedge on the beleaguered businessman Vija...
That's cheesy, Mr President: Obama on air with the witty Jon Stewart When the most powerful citizen in the world makes an appearance on your TV show seven times, and makes special efforts to cultivate you, rest assured that you have made it as a showman. In fact, Barack Obama, on his last appearance on this show had quirkily commented to its host, “Can’t believe that you are leaving before me.” Little wonder, then, that when Jon Stewart bid adieu to The Daily Show , the US late-night talk-cum-satire show that he had anchored for 16 years, news organizations from around the world — Bloomberg and The Times of India included — chose to chronicle his career. Every news organization worth its salt compiled “when Jon Stewart made us look back at serious moments” videos. His contemporaries and rivals alike have been busy penning eulogies that have swamped the virtual world. Needless to say, social media and the internet have been awash with trib...