I have been away from here for a long time. Now I find myself living and working in Delhi, the Capital India. This is an attempt by me to give a few glimpses of the real Delhi I saw with my own eyes. If any Delhiite is reading this let me ask their pardon for what may be some of the offensive things I say about it. But when I see something rotten in front of myself, I can only call it that. Anyway our central government and the mainstream media has so deviously managed to instill the image of a shining capital for Delhi.
Where do I start describing the sights in Delhi. Should it be the slums just beside the Highway where children fight for a water, the overcrowded housing colonies with sewage running through the streets, the straydogs who hunt in packs, the people who live on the footpaths(literally) or the street children who beg for an existence in the scorching summers and bone chilling winters. The above things may be there in many cities but never have I seen it take such a form in any other cities (Bombay, Chennai, Pune, Cochin, Bhubhaneswar, or Hyderabad) that I have visited. What is even more unnerving is how cold hearted people can become here to the suffering around them. I have been a witness to Dogs, cows and monkeys getting better treatment than human beings in this city.
A few days ago an actress who claims to have spend her childhood in Delhi was elaborating to the newspapers how wonderful it was with its wide spaces, and friendly people. Sure the rich here have bungalows and their segregated paths right on the main road. Unfortunately for the poor who are the vast majority even one room comes at a premium price. Sometimes they even lose that when some official decides the road should be wider.
Despite its capital importance I found the Infrastructure here pathetic even when compared to Cochin. It is as if the officials decided that they need only pave the roads and build drainages just a few kilometres around the parliment building which are frequently used by the political class. The common man can use the dirty and broken streets which also has the additional property of turning into canals when the monsoon deluge hits the city. However I will sing praises for one thing and that is the Delhi metro. It is one piece of infrastructure that Delhi that its planning people can be proud off.
However do the people care? From what I have witnessed the young people are either obsessed with their respective girl/boy friends (couples are one of the most familiar sights in Delhi), their ridiculously oversized shopping malls, their culture destroying rock music concerts by sly foreign bands, excessively extravagant sports reality shows like IPL and now the F1. The older people on the other hand are too busy and exhausted with their buisness of making ends meet which seem to only get harder every day.
I will sum up by repeating what one of my cousin in law who has lived here for the better part of his adult life as a paramilitary man serving the government said. Delhi has a lot of corrupt and thuggish men and the most notorious of them are right at the top i.e in the parliament, and in the ministerial and other houses of power.
Continuing the current way the current Delhi will only follow the other cities that have fallen into decay and oblivion.
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