Prohibition: Past & present AHMEDABAD: When you see a Gandhi poster,think of prohibition. But,perhaps,this ought to be in the past tense for in the present times,a Gandhi poster should remind one of violation of restrictions under prohibition. On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti last week,people would have expected a stricter implementation of prohibition laws,but what was witnessed was exactly the opposite; that too,in parts of Ahmedabad where the Gandhi Ashram stands on the banks of Sabarmati. Liquor,which the government likes to call 'chemical substance',was being openly ferried on October 2 in the area around Civil Hospital. The Mahatma's posters stood tall at many spots,but ironically,liquor parcels kept winding their way through these very spots! The countdown begins.ALL good and bad things come to an end in this perishable life. The 'good thing' here is the 'free ride' on BRT buses. Come October 14,and the most ambitious of the citys projects will be launched and with that,will begin the ticketing system. With slightly higher fares,this will put the BRTS to a test of popularity in the new regime. Looking at Amdavadis' penchant for free lunch,they may crave for the cheaper AMTS option,which will be closed once the BRT buses start rolling. The pinch will be felt post Diwali because during the festive season,the passengers will want to have a feel of paid service,and they may not mind shelling out some extra bucks,as it will still be cheaper. Ye dosti hum nahi todenge.IT was only recently that the Traffic Department arranged for traffic interceptors and assigned cops to monitor private jeeps frequenting the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway carrying passengers to Gandhinagar and back. But the 'enduring friendship' of police-jeep wallahs is still the same. Last week,during a visit to Gandhinagar,a jeep wallah gave a grand wave to the traffic interceptor at Sola and both exchanged pleasantries like two long lost friends. Err. weren't the cops originally posted to catch the illegally running jeeps? Never mind. More friendly tales follow the same jeep wallah gave a long lift to a constable,offering the latter a seat just beside him,not to mention the totally free ride,while passengers on the front were stuffed to the back. The constable got down at the first stop at Gandhinagar and gave an endearing thank-you to the driver,who candidly mentioned: Yeh to dhandhe ka sawaal hai. apna setting hai..
