Thursday, September 3, 2015

Musings!

Based on certain news bytes and recent experiences, I've left my mind to wander. Accordingly, I've called them 'musings'......

 (a) Is it Bye Bye Schengen?

       Since its creation in '95, the Schengen area - named after a border town in Luxembourg - has
       abolished passport controls for travel between 22 of the European Union's 28 countries and non
       -EU Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein. It had sort off swept away psychological
       and physical barriers among the Europeans giving an impetus for Europe's single market.

       The system has begun creaking under the biggest refugee crisis, post World War II, as people
       from Syria, Afghanistan and Africa flood Europe seeking refuge from war and repression.
       The lack of a EU-wide asylum policy is a key problem with different countries dealing with
       the subject in differing ways and the following situations are becoming potent:-

           (i) disputes arise over the fairness of the distribution across the bloc especially when the
                refugees often seek those countries with the most favourable terms.
          (ii) confusion over how migration rules and Schengen overlap.
         (iii) severe anti-immigration climate prevails in many European countries.

       It's my fond hope that a statesman like decision is taken by the combined leadership of the
       region. The earlier it happens, the better!

  (b) A call that didn't excite.

        I was doing something unimportant when an unknown number had begun to ring insistently,
        this morning. Answering it, I realised the call was that of a friend whom I'd given up long
        before because of his inconsistency and perceived differences in thinking. He'd begun with
        ascertaining about Lekha's current medical status and as to what I was up to, though he                         admitted that he was keeping a track of my activities through what was covered by the media.

        We spoke for more than half an hour but sadly, I realised that it didn't excite me as it would
        have done earlier. I suppose I'm a bit too harsh on such people and I don't have to elaborate
        any further when I say that I'd deleted his number from my record of contacts, quite a while
        back, the problem being that I can't fake my emotions!


Tailpiece.

The Road Accident Report for the year '14 brought out by the road transport and highways ministry says that the country's killer roads have claimed lives of 75,000 youth, between the age group of 15 - 34 years. It's a global phenomenon too as per the WHO. Moreover, newer vehicles seem to be more prone to accidents!


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