Young green shoot up – why Delhi fares better

I had just come back from Mumbai and had various reasons to like and dislike the city.

However when I came back, while on the road in Delhi, I saw something that struck me as the symbolic basic difference between the two cities.

I saw new saplings having been planted on the divider (see picture), protected by a wire net. I realized what I had missed so much in Mumbai – trees and greenery. The only time I saw greenery was in Powai, the natural mangroves. But then, that too is fast disappearing under the weight of the ‘development agenda’. I did not see green on the streets or in the sprawling colonies – just miles of concrete and walls of jostling people. Delhi, on the other hand, has made an effort to make the city green. Almost every road has trees either in the divider or on the side.Colonies have trees planted on their perimeters.

I don't know why this is. Mumbaikars have an easy explanation – the pressure of living with millions of migrants coming in ; where is the space for poor trees? I don't have the figures but I don't think Delhi is far behind on the migrants radar. Yet, the city and the government has made an effort to green the city.

Probably the reason is the government. Delhi has a stable government which has been focussing on development for a long time and has been rewarded electorally for the same. Mumbai, on the other hand, is torn between ostentatiously corrupt and callous politicians and an ugly chauvinistic fascist ideology. That's why trees don't figure…

When I look at the green shoots, Delhi, for all its faults, gives me hope and for me tips the scales for choice of living here.

 

del.icio.us Tags: Delhi,trees,Mumbai,green,living,city,urban

We will wave to you on your choppers too!!!!

Even if it means a wave of good riddance

The incident of a person dying because of the security arrangements made for PMs visit to a hospital was an event waiting to happen. In fact I am sure that there would be many incidents like these, which happen, either directly or indirectly due to the stoppages made for the travel of our VIPs or VVIPs or whoever with fancy nameplates.

If you have travelled on the roads of Delhi, you would have most certainly got stuck in traffic that is stopped a full half hour before somebody important is to pass down the road. And inevitably this would be done at the peak hours. I have been stuck on the Dhaula Kuan – Gurgaon road at 9 in the morning for a full half hour. Imagine the pile-up on that road due to that stoppage time. And all because someone needs to feel important enough to feel he/she is an assassination target.

But reaching office late and dying because of this are very different. Its time that someone (The PM would be a good idea to start from) wakes up to the alternatives. And seriously, Mr Singh, an apology like the one you have given comes out very lame without change in the status quo.

An alternative.In a country that spends crores on MPs snacks, we can use those funds (let them eat a few less sandwiches) to buy choppers for our ‘important’ guys. Have helipads made at all the important destinations that these guys frequent. And if you are worried about security in the skies (and if you have watched too many far fetched Hollywood action flicks), have a battalion of choppers. We don't travel to office or hospitals in skies. We don't mind.

But in cases like the incident that happened, when roads must be used, security must be tight but focussed. Harassing common people and denying basic rights should be made a criminal offense.

And seriously, its a non-brainer - Hospitals are not a place for functions. Or has the PM forgotten that people die from things other than bullets?

I and you can rant as much as want but the next time you want to reach office on a tight schedule, the president might just feel like a morning drive on the wide and empty roads of Delhi. After all, they have a country to run…

del.icio.us Tags: Delhi roads,current issue,Delhi

To Do and Done – the difference…

 

In this case, Nada..nothing…

I am talking about the attempted abduction with intent to rape, an incident which occurred yesterday in Delhi. The attempt was foiled by passerbys…

But what concerns me is the fact that since no actual abduction or rape occurred, even though the two men have confessed, the justice system in India will find a way to set them free. Helping it along would be some odd human rights groups who seem to be more interested in helping convicts than the victims…

But isn't it a no-brainer that when something has been attempted and you have got away with a rap on the knuckle, its human nature to learn from the mistake and make sure that there are no mistakes next time? Next time make sure that there are no passerbys, maybe even keep a weapon to threaten. Oh yeah, the next time they would make sure that they would succeed…

And I am sure that if they are caught them, they would be convicted because well, they have committed the crime at last and thank god we can hang them now…

The attempts like these are the non-minority reports and a precursor of what is to come. These attempts must be taken at the same level as the actual crime. An attempted rape is the same as rape; there are no mitigating factors like say in a murder…

And one more thing, when we do get the National ID cards, lets have our criminal records on it – so that criminals are branded…I have had enough of human rights for criminals like these, whose crimes have nothing to do with stealing a loaf of bread…

 

del.icio.us Tags: dehi,rape,justice

King of Delhi roads – Lambo and Alto. The battle…

 

The grim reaper, as has been told to us repeatedly, is the great equalizer. Poems have been written about this final eraser of differences, philosophers have sustained themselves with writing dense tracts about the how in front of him, the king and the pauper alike look the same.

All this is fine. I realized something a couple of days back with the result that I would like to nominate the addition of Delhi roads to the list of the great equalizers.

Ill tell you how I came about to this realization. I was turning to drive down Lodhi road, in my workhorse – my Alto, when I see coming on to my side a sleek black Lamborghini, probably modelled on Batmobile for all that I know. You could hear and feel the power of its engine, which like a sleeping giant, was just waiting to wake up to flex itself. And all that I had on my side was the 800CC of pure layman engine.

Who in their right mind would even think of racing that monster? Well, considering that my sympathy always lies with the underdog and in this case, I was the underdog, I was game.

I am no fool however – I was game because I know that the modern city of Delhi with its modern roads was with me. And this is how the race went…

When Batmobile drew level with Alto, there were two vehicles in front of both of us and both of the drivers were of the thoughtful variety who seem to be driving on the roads looking for some unfathomable solution in life. Anyway, Batmobile and Alto were both of the minds that they had better things to do and needed to get ahead. Now Batman would be mortified to learn that drivers in Delhi driving parallel to each other give only that much space to allow a bug to get through, even after incessant honking. And the best insect to travel across Delhi roads is of course the Alto. So a horn blast and nudge and a swerve later, I was through the gap. Looking back, I see Batmobile still trying in vain to get its whole big ass bulk between the philosophizing cars. In the meantime, I was on my way. About ten seconds later, I look back and I see that the black bulk had finally broken through. Then it pressed its only advantage – its awe-inspiring engine. Within a second, Batmobile had grown from a dot in the rear-view mirror to a detailed study in engineering. Another second, it would have overtaken Alto and would have said an insouciant farewell to the red dot (my car is brick-red, you see).

Just at that moment, Delhi roads again came to the rescue of the underdog. Just in front of us was the ubiquitous tin-sheets-put-together-carrier-on-three-wheels. A little on the side was an Esteem parked on the side of the road. And there was only so much space on the side. I touched my finger slightly on the steering wheel and the whole small mass of Alto neatly fit into that space and out through the gap. Batmobile on the other hand had to hastily apply brakes and put to test its 200 to 0 Km/hr in one second claim. While it was trying to rally back, the red light in front had turned yellow, with a car in the right lane, waiting. Alto pushed through in the last moment (isn’t it a nice game all of us in Delhi play – beating the yellow light, what pleasure we get!!!) and was over the line just as the light turned red…

Now, navigating through another traffic mess ahead, I looked back. Batmobile, chastened in defeat, had settled into second place behind another car, as they all waited for the green light. Batmobile, the sleek black monster, in all its gleam, stood defeated by a better master – the roads of the capital.

I felt a little sorry for it. I mean Batmobile will attract the attention of all the starlets in the world and the drool of those who worship metallic lustre. But my good man, I am still reaching someplace faster than you!!!!

 

del.icio.us Tags: delhi,delhi roads,funny,humour,alto,lamborghini

This name is your name…or is it?

Was travelling by metro and was coming back from DU station and coming to CP…and i asked for a ticket to which the guy at the counter said “one ticket for Rajiv Chowk”…and that set me thinking

Connaught Place was renamed Rajiv Chowk some years back. But no one except babudom calls it that. Shops in CP never changed the address on their name boards in defiance and the population in Delhi never called it by another name except what they have used all their lives…In fact I make it a point to call it CP at metro stations where it is officially Rajiv Chowk.

But then again, I have no qualms calling Madras Chennai or Bombay Mumbai or Calcutta Kolkata. But I do have qualms calling Bangalore Bengaluru…So what gives?

Its not just affinity for a particular place. Then I would have minded calling Calcutta Kolkata since I have grown up with that name and has a lot of cultural affinity with it…But I do have a problem with calling CP Rajiv Chowk…and that's not only because the Gandhi family wants to put their name across every damn centimetre of Delhi!!!

One obvious reason is that the name should be something that is in quiloquial use – Calcutta was always called Kolkata by its inhabitants for example, Mumbai was sung as Mumbai in old Hindi songs and so on…

But I think a further determinant and I think a more important one is that it should sound nice!!! Because its not only the inhabitants who will speak it but the rest of the country and if the rest of the people don't catch on, its never going to be popular. Nobody wanted to say Bengaluru, really…it sounded, well..vulgar!!!. Of course, there was a pride in the word Bangalore with the feeling of doing a service of reverse imperialism. Chennai sounded ok and it gradually slipped into use, as did others. Rajiv Chowk could not compete with the glamour of the name of Connaught Place since it was a name that evoked pride for Delhites, being one of the best well planned shopping complex in the country with a heritage value. And RC sounded pedestrian and uncool in front of CP!!!. If Delhi is renamed Dilli, it wont cause too much of a flutter either.

So the trick for netas – make it sound cool. We like to roll over our tongues over nice sounding words!!! Because in this case, rose by by another name is not a rose!!!

Technorati Tags: Delhi,New Delhi,Name Change,Connaught Place,Name change,India

Some rapes are more equal than others…

A piece of news item came in Times of India on 2nd May 2009. Here…

It was about a woman who was gangraped in the wee hours of the previous night. It is uncomfortably similar to cases that have happened before in the city.

I waited for four days to see if any follow up article comes up in terms of any police developments that take place. Nothing yet and there is no reason to believe that there are going to be.

The reason unfortunately is not too far to see. The victim is after all a member of the ‘non-influential’ part of the citizenry as can be seen readily from the article and so we play the same game again.

As usual, the nation and the media wakes up only when a member of their own fall victim. Take any case past or from recent memory. MAMC case and more recently the Noida case. The Dhaula Kuan case is eerily similar to this case but since in that case the victim was a DU student, the police swung into action immediately as it did in every other case. Perhaps more pertinently, the cases evoked a host of responses in the media with everyone decrying the lamentable condition of women in the city. Our homes were concerned.

We were concerned. In this case we are not. The difference lies perhaps in the attitude that since the victim was a slum dweller, she was exposed to the risk anyway. Worse, the feeling probably is that – she is not one of us…so it doesnt matter. The english media wont find interested readers for the case, so why pursue…in any case, some news is always ready to dethrone other stories.

No matter what law we make stating the equality of victims in the face of similar crimes, the problem is that justice is also partial to public opinion. Lets not kid ourseleves - Jessica Lal case got a verdict due to public outcry and all the candle light vigils. Modern School is being persecuted for the same reason. Shanno is already lost, as is this unnamed girl – unfortunate victims in the real sense.

The most ironical aspect of the whole case I found was that even though its an election year, the opposition did not take this case as a stick to beat the government. I do not think the case would have been the same if it was one of those who read english newspapers. The politicians dont care either – even though the english newspaper reading population usually votes the least.

Its the attitude, silly….

END OF POST

Technorati Tags: rape,delhi,crime,attitude,social