Tag Archives: India

The Big Question: Are You Cool With Picking Up A ‘Jhaadu’ To Clean Your City?

General, Updates, , , , , , , ,
'ChangeBhai Mobilizes Swachh Bharat Abhiyan'
‘ChangeBhai Mobilizes Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’

Let us get straight to this question that has been running in our heads since one of the most talked about campaigns was launched recently by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Yes. The very very popular and high buzz creating ‘SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN’.

Let’s gather our collective thoughts and start with a small survey involving all of you.

WHAT WOULD YOU RATHER DO TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 'SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN'?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

While we await results of this poll to be declared on 23rd November, let me at least introduce you to our campaign ‘ChangeBhai mobilizes Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’. No, it is not about telling you folks to hold a placard that says ‘I pledge to be a part of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan. (Well, it does make for a good social media campaign but doesn’t work, does it?). Neither are we inviting essays or soliciting votes from you.

———–

Mobilize (a verb)

/ˈməʊbɪlʌɪz/

make (something) movable or capable of movement.

————

The intent of ‘ChangeBhai mobilizes Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ is simple. To mobilize the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan into a movement to achieve the seeming unachievable task ‘To make India litter free’. A movement that is well structured, uses the latest usable technology and will lead to mass participation by the people of our country.

People like you me and everybody who will not pick up a broom and set to clean their city. (or are we wrong? Let’s wait for the poll results in that case)

No photo-ops. No speeches. Let’s reserve them for our film stars and politicians.

Just Action.

Watch this space for details on this campaign. Till then, click here and create a ChangeBhai login ID if you are ready to participate in ‘ChangeBhai mobilizes Swacch Bharat Abhiyan’.

 

What exactly does ChangeBhai do?

General, , , , , , , ,

Hi Changemakers!

It gives us super duper immense pleasure to say that a lot of active citizens are using ChangeBhai to upload issues of their neighborhood. A lot of these users are from Mumbai (though we handle issues from all over India : metros, tier-1 & tier-2 cities. Buck up rest of India. Get your issues resolved. Give it a shot at least, we say :)).

PicMonkey Collage

Just wanted to share a few things about how we do what we do.

Firstly, a short note about us. We are a young team of active citizens who have launched this initiative to ‘assist’ the citizens in getting their issues resolved & are not liable to resolve any issues.

Unlike a lot of portals which tell the user to sign petitions or just upload an issue and spread the word around amongst their social media friends to create a buzz around it, we just do this one thing.

GET YOUR ISSUE FIXED. Period.

Ok, now…

Who should not upload issues on ChangeBhai?:

  1. If you have that keeda inside you to prove that ‘everyone and everything else around you wrong’
  2. If you have always nurtured an ambition to migrate to a phoren land just because you think ‘things can never change in India’
  3. If a careful and deep analysis of your social media posts shows that more than 70% of your posts fall under the category of ‘cribby’ or ‘deprecatory’
  4. If the first instinct you have when you come across somebody trying to change things around them is something like this, instead of trying it at least once.

                        Kya faltu velle hai ye.

                        Kuch nahi hoga inse

                       Main isse acchi website bana sakta(i) hoon*

What all to expect when you upload issues on ChangeBhai

    a. Each and every issue uploaded correctly will be put into process and forwarded to the authority no matter how important or minor it is.
    b. We always share the name and the number (mostly mobile) of the staff member with whom we are coordinating to get the issue resolved. In many cases, even the ward office address where he/she sits. You are free to call them too, if you want.
    c. No matter what, you will always get regular updates from us. You will always know at whose end (authority and employee name) the issue is stuck.
    d. First non-automatic email that goes to you will ask you to confirm the location and ask for landmarks. Do respond to that. This is being done because many a times we and the authorities have gone round and round because the map tagging was done inaccurately by the user. This affects our credibility in front of the authorities, so we are just being sure.
    e. In cases where there is a location confusion or the issue is of recurring nature, we give the ground staff’s contact to the user as that works better than going ‘to-and-fro’ between the user and the authority. You will agree that our collective aim should be to get the issue resolved and not get stuck in process formalities.
    f. You will be given a ‘Resolution Tip’ in rare cases where the issue is recurring in nature on what exactly to do and whom to contact to report the issue in the future.

The whole concept is to ‘work together’ and get these issues resolved. We get you the right contacts, we escalate wherever the issue gets stuck etc. Of course, we cannot get all the issues resolved, but we put each and every issue into process and make repeated contact for follow up. To give you a figure, roughly around 20% of the issues get stuck for more than a month.

IMP Note for the Procrastinators : In cases where our operation team has already sent 2 follow up emails for pending information or issue closure confirmation, the issue will be tagged as Fixed/Closed on the 7th day of receiving no information from your side. You may however choose to reopen the issue by sending us an email on now_or_abhi@changebhai.in.

Our process might not be perfect but we are improving with each passing day based on citizens’ feedback and our experiences with the authorities. Knowing how we work and the limitations of working with authorities, do give us constructive inputs. We would love to incorporate them wherever possible. But first: Upload 1 issue on www.ChangeBhai.in at least.

And do pass the word around to encourage others to upload issues if you agree that ‘getting ChangeBhai to bug the authorities with repeated follow ups‘ is better than doing ‘nothing at all’.

Happy change making!

* If you think so, email your web development portfolio to now_or_abhi@changebhai.in. We are looking for php & app developers.

 

Indian Traffic Sense = Non Sense. Proved.

Civic gyaan, , , , , , , , ,

parking1           parking2

Can you think of anyone, like any-freaking-sane-person to whom these parking spaces (pics above) will appeal? No?! Lemme tell you. To these guys here. Grrrr.

ChangeBhai Issue#A0417,#A0485
ChangeBhai Issue#A0417,#A0485

They will love it. #SlurpSlurp #WhaddaChallenge

The civic sense of us Indians is legendary and traffic sense is not to be left behind either. These terms mentioned below, for example, are clearly alien/french/greek to most Indians.

Right of way. Kyun jaane doon main kisi ko. #MardangiPeKalank.

Excessive honking. Hamara horn. Hamaari marji.

Lane Discipline. Kaun banaya ye @#$%&@#* rule.

Speed Restriction. Nayi gaadi li hai bhai ne.

And the worst of all.

Parking Discipline. Chup be! Time nahi hai faltu.

By the way, the image above was uploaded by a Mumbai user, refer ChangeBhai issue#A0417 “Double parking caravans on main rd”. The issue was resolved by the Changebhai team with a lot of help from Mumbai Traffic Police. Do not forget to check out the lengthy resolution comments below the issue description.

The buggers were shooed away from one spot and they changed their location to another spot closeby. Check ChangeBhai issue#A0485 “Double bus parking still happening”. Thanks to the Mumbai traffic police Constable Wakde for helping us resolve this menace. Work in progress. Phew.

So, if any of you see similar traffic offenses on your way to work or in your neighborhood, you know what to do. No, you don’t?!?

All you need to do is take a picture, log on to www.ChangeBhai.in and report the issue. Supra eazy!

Ok. So, I still have some word limit left for this blog. Joke time. Old joke this one:

Santa parked his truck in ‘No Parking’.

When he returned he saw a note on his truck. “Parking Fine”

Santa writes “Thanks for the compliment”.

Mein Saal Mein Do Hi Baar Aati Hoon. Guess Kaun?

General, , , , , , ,

Mere baare mein zyada mat sochna.
Main dil mein aata hoon samajh mein nahi. Kaun?

Salman Khan. Ahem..dialogue from his latest movie. Am sure you would have heard this.

Mere baare mein zyada mat sochna.
Main saal mein do hi baar aati hoon. Kaun?

Deshbhakti.

Just lol ji.

On a serious note, just remember. No nation is perfect. It has to be made perfect.
Let’s strive each day to make ours the most ‘Perfect India’ we can imagine.
Let’s be a part of this change. Upload an issue today.

www.ChangeBhai.in

Happy Change Making. Happy Independence Day. Jai hind.

gandhi

 

How to Give Ganpati Bappa the Best Welcome This Year?

Civic gyaan, , , , , , , , ,

Ganpati Bappa Morya, Pudchya Varshi Laukar Yaa!

(Translation: Glory to the Lord Ganpati! Come again soon next year)

We invite Lord Ganpati to come back to visit us year after year, but shouldn’t we ensure his trip is comfortable and worth it. :)

By the way, the Ganpati Mandals in Mumbai mean serious business this time and to ensure our beloved ‘Bappa’ has a smooth ride on the Visarjan day (September 18), they have given a list of 2113 potholes and a deadline of September 16 to their municipal corporation to fix them. They say if they fail to do so, then all the mandals will use their reserve funds and carry out pothole-repair work. Wah! What spirit!

Image Courtesy: Rediff
Image Courtesy: Rediff

This was about a case of ‘good spirit’. A case study from ChangeBhai’s issue database about ‘not-so-good intent’ below:

Check out these issues uploaded by two ChangeBhai users:

Issue# A0429 ‘Huge Pothole outside SaiPalaceHotel’

Before
Before
After
After

Issue# A0418 ‘new potholes on recently made road’

Before

Before

 We are awaiting post resolution image of issue# A0418 from the user

In both the cases, the roads were newly made and had developed potholes shortly after they were repaired. Of course, we got the potholes repaired but the question is ‘How long will they last?’ Having worked with them closely, we can see that BMC is trying to do what they can at the moment, but the backlog of repairs and resource constraint are two issues which make the problem bigger and bigger with each passing day. Koi Sujhaav?

And ya, tab tak,koshish jaari rakhte hain . Do upload similar issues on www.ChangeBhai.in to ensure Bappa’s trip is totally worth it, this time. :) Ganpati Bappa Morya!!

Facebook. Check. Twitter. Check. ChangeBhai. Aaaaa…

General, , , , , , , , ,
Image Courtesy: SimplyZesty
Image Courtesy: SimplyZesty

Explaining Social Media vis-à-vis ChangeBhai.

facebook  : I like Change

twitter : I want to bring a #Change

instagram : Here’s a picture of the word Change

youtube : Do check out my video ‘How To Spell Change’

linkedin : I am good at bringing a Change

google + logo: Let all my friends be a part of a Change

ChangeBhai :The issue I reported yesterday got Fixed. I Acted & brought a Change!

Bhaiyon..beheno..we all know who’s worse than a person who cribs about the issues around him all the time. A person who gets pissed off with him but doesn’t do anything himself.

I know we really really wish but, these issues that plague our country will never ever take offence and leave if we don’t pay attention to them. 😉 Do ‘pay attention’ to these issues, report them on www.ChangeBhai.in and take a ‘real’ step forward.

For the uninitiated, ChangeBhai is not a social awareness website. It is an online ‘Social Issues Reporting Utility’ to get a fixed set of public issues resolved. It will take less time to upload an issue than it took you to read this post. Try it!

And do share this post.

Why Indians Will Not Forgive Maria Sharapova.

General, , , , , , ,

Maria Sharapova, the poor Russian tennis babe was whipped left, right and centre  last week by the netizens of India because bechaari revealed in a recent media interview that she did not know who Sachin Tendulkar is.

My own thoughts when the news came out:

Haye haye. Satyanaash. Kalyug aa gaya bhaiya. Ye kya bol diya isne. :-O

And of course, all hell broke loose in the Indian online space. Like they say, in these popular mythological serials “Charon taraf hahakar mach gaya”.

#WhoIsMariaSharapova was trending worldwide. Indians were trying to shame the Russian by treating her like she was a ‘Nobody’.

Kaun Maria Sharapova? Humein nahi pata. Na ji. Naam hi nahi suna. By God ki kasam.

Courtesy: Getty Images, Cricket Country
Courtesy: Getty Images, Cricket Country

Now we, at ChangeBhai, keep trying different tactics to ensure more and more Indian netizens log on to ChangeBhai and report their neighbourhood issues, toh ek aur chaal sahi because dude, this definitely seems to be working.

So, here we go – Trying to be totally ignorant about issues that are all over the place and are known to everybody.

Which traffic problem? #KaunSiTraffic

Where are the potholes? #KahanHaiPotholes

What is garbage? #YeGarbageKyaHotaHai

Child Labour in India? Naa ji naa. Ho hi nahi sakta.

DENIAL MODE ACTIVATED

Let’s see if it works. Don’t tell anyone. Ssssshhhhhhh….

Do you think this will work? If not, then  let’s ‘Deactivate the Denial Mode’ that all of us are in and upload issues on www.ChangeBhai.in. At least 1 issue each.

Disclaimer: We love Sachin Tendulkar aka apna Sachya to death.

 

Why India is Not Playing in the FIFA World Cup 2014?

General, , , , , ,

Saurabh: Spain versus Netherlands ka match hai aaj bhai…kiske ghar dekh rahe hain? Kya plan hai?

Diljeet: Daru main laata hoon. Jagah tum batao?

Punit: Rohit ke ghar chalte hain..bada TV hai uska..Aur uski biwi bhi nahi hai..

Rohit: Haha..Deal hai bhai log..

Diljeet: Apni apni T-shirt pehen ke aana..mazaa aayega..

Am sure this conversation sounds familiar to most of you. If not, then you have been probably hiding in an igloo near the South pole or you just don’t give a rat’s ass like me ..:)..Jest keeding…# ILubPhutball #CristianoRonaldoIsHawwt

The World cup fever has struck almost everybody in our cricket crazy nation. With due respect to the genuine fans, let me throw in my assumed statistics again. Around 90% of these naye naye football fans who throw in historical facts and names of players have no Effing clue about any of the things they are talking about. Tips to locate these fans in a crowd.

a. They will be using their phones slyly throughout the match. Psst…Googling You See..

b. Also, beware of the men (wearing a footballer’s jersey -mostly messi, van persie, ronaldo, neymar and knee length shorts) who are going completely gaga about the world cup. Fakes of the highest order. I have met a good enough sample size in the last 20 days to back my point. #BegaaniShaadiMeinAbdullahDeewana

TRPs of global football games are steadily climbing and ‘viewing’ interest in the sport has never been higher. But, seriously, like me, have you ever wondered why India, though super duper high on the ‘viewing’ interest,  sucks at the game. Not many Indians are playing this game at the ground level.

Quoting some facts from a recent HT article by Rajdeep Sardesai:

1. India has never participated even once in the 84 year old history of the football world cup. (Irrelevant point but apparently, we were almost there in 1950 but had to withdraw because we were not allowed to play barefoot. *eyeballs popping out* That was in Brazil as well, by the way.)

2. We are ranked 154th in the world

(Pakistan is ranked 169th if that helps. I felt kinda nice to hear that. #LoserMentality #IamADumbass)

Saala even Honduras is playing. #HolyCrap #YeHondurasKahanHaiBhai

Courtesy: Rediff News
Courtesy: Rediff News

Coming back to the question, I think it’s because we are so incredibly obsessed with Cricket that we do not have any more space in our head to get into any other sport even from a recreation point of view. For me, all this boils down to the same thing. We are HAPPY doing the same things over and over again. We LIKE to be in our comfort zone. We HATE to change. We just LOVE to talk about Change and DO nothing. #AllFartNoShit

Otherwise what else would explain thousands of visitors browsing the pages of www.ChangeBhai.in each day but just a handful of them actually uploading issues of their neighbourhood? Sad but true. Hey! Are you one of such visitors? If yes, then #ShameShame.

Here’s a chance to redeem yourself. Upload an issue TODAY.

Things That Piss Us Off.

General, , , , , , , ,

changebhai-blog

#Potholes #ChildLabour #Garbage

True That. Period.

Note: Even I am guilty of that and so, ‘No Comments’ at all this time. Just a moment of silence for all my fellow hypocrites and a high-five…

….In the face…

……with a chair.

😐

ChangeBhai | SPOT-REPORT-CHANGE
www.ChangeBhai.in  | CB on FaceBook   |   CB on Twitter

 

Time Travel, Anyone?

General, , , , , , , ,

Ladies and Gentlemen. Boys and Girls. This is what we call ‘going BACK in time’. Literally.  Just look at this picture and tell me if I am wrong.

comparison

Call this a sad case of irony or whatever, but the truth is, that despite the fantastic economic growth, India is doing really bad in urban governance. For more than a decade, India has enjoyed unprecedented growth that in many ways is comparable to that of The United States of America years ago. However, the same cannot be said of our infrastructure.

Come on India, we know you can do better. :) Report some of these issues to the authorities through ChangeBhai and help India move forward.