Stuck in a Metro...

A couple of days ago I had an experience which many would have had at some point of time, while living in India. I was stuck in a metropolitan city of India- Kolkata to be exact. I had gone there on a business trip for a day, with a leave planned the next day to attend to some personal work. Little did I know that the state government had other designs!! Midway through the day I came to know that Kolkata is set to face a government sponsored strike. I knew I was condemned to suffer right then. Still I tried to get out of the city at night to avoid the problems I was about to face the next day if I stayed over. But since when did my luck start to favor me?? I couldn't get a reserved ticket, and the number of people at the ticket counters at Howrah ensured that I didn't have the motivation to stand in a queue to get a general ticket. There were huge number of people either booking or canceling tickets. They knew just like me what was in store the next day.
Well I took the plunge- I stayed back. I decided I will try to take the first train out of there. I even got up early and was ready to go, but on calling enquiry came to know there are no tickets available for the train I was ready to take!! What to do then, except to catch up on lost sleep...Woke up hours later to news that the train I was wanting to take has been canceled, the leftist's have done it again!!.....I am not new to this, but I couldn't help wondering how can a government conspire to give one day of hell to all it's citizen who just want to get on with life. That the strike had been called by the same political party which ran the government is not a good enough reason to force the whole state to shut down. I have always believed that once a political party is in power it should be detached in it's activities from the party itself, it should first think of the citizens and not politics. But then that is just wishful thinking, surely can't expect that in a country where the politicians use caste, creed and religion to garner votes. But boy did the government give it's citizens as well as visitors hell!! The party workers made people get out of taxi's even. No train ploughed from or to the city, even the airport was shut down!!
In doing so the state suffered a loss of reportedly Rs.600 crores...mind boggling amount that, there's not that many people in India. The whole of the day I had nothing to do but laze around inside my hotel room, needless to say my personal work couldn't be taken care of. The once I tried to goto my relatives place I was shocked by the taxi driver demanding six times the normal amount. I just dropped the idea. I could only bring myself to venture out in the evening when the rates had come nearer the original. I still paid a premium of about Rs.50 to get to my relatives place.
At last the good news- I was able to get out of the city that night. If I hadn't I would have to face another day of strike, this time by the opposition party. Phew...glad to be home!!