The trains from smaller towns travel to New Delhi, the capital of the nation, bringing with them on a daily basis an average of 10,000 new people in search of a better life. Airplanes from larger towns and cities do the same. These people make their homes in the Delhi-NCR area. Everything is new, and everyone is hopeful...new living conditions, new neighbours and friends, new colleagues, new markets, and for the children...new schools. So also is the case with the new residents of Gurgaon...the so-called Millennium City.
However, do we all feel the way we did after spending a year here? All of us have our own stories of how the roads are unusable because of the craters...some that can sink or certainly wreck a vehicle, not to mention claim lives...or how the traffic lights stop working in the blink of an eye because of which the long lovely evening you thought you'd spend with loved ones is instead spent honking, cursing, sweating in a traffic jam. Then there are the housewives who can regale you with their problems with the maids...because either they have one or they don't.
The funny thing about the state of the roads here is that Gurgaon doesn't get as much rain as say, Kerala or Chennai, even Mumbai. And yet we can easily claim the notoriety of being the only metropolitan city where these horrible conditions continue to exist. Will having a solid public transport system alleviate the situation? The absence of one does in fact raise questions.
When you have drivers blatantly jumping red lights (with small children as passengers), cows calmly sitting in the middle of roads ruminating (on life in the Millennium City?), people scrambling to cross over-populated roads...you wonder if this is progress or arrogance.
We were taught that 'money can't buy happiness' but apparently there is an addendum to this quote: 'Whoever said that money can't buy happiness doesn't know where to shop'. This seems to be the case with the cash-crazy citizens of this city. The mall culture has taken over and no child worth his or her salt would willingly go to a museum or a library...both of which are conspicuous by their absence.
A couple of friends who have recently moved here said to me that within one week of their coming to Gurgaon, they gave their husbands an ultimatum...'I'm giving you a year to get a job anywhere else'. According to them this is such a 'fake city' and they feel like they can never fit in. They are worried that their children will imbibe this culture and turn into caricatures.
So what are we claiming here? What are we offering to the millions who live here and the many thousands who hope to come here? Mumbai at least offers the dream of Bollywood...I don't think the Haryanvi film industry even exists...does it?
However, do we all feel the way we did after spending a year here? All of us have our own stories of how the roads are unusable because of the craters...some that can sink or certainly wreck a vehicle, not to mention claim lives...or how the traffic lights stop working in the blink of an eye because of which the long lovely evening you thought you'd spend with loved ones is instead spent honking, cursing, sweating in a traffic jam. Then there are the housewives who can regale you with their problems with the maids...because either they have one or they don't.
The funny thing about the state of the roads here is that Gurgaon doesn't get as much rain as say, Kerala or Chennai, even Mumbai. And yet we can easily claim the notoriety of being the only metropolitan city where these horrible conditions continue to exist. Will having a solid public transport system alleviate the situation? The absence of one does in fact raise questions.
When you have drivers blatantly jumping red lights (with small children as passengers), cows calmly sitting in the middle of roads ruminating (on life in the Millennium City?), people scrambling to cross over-populated roads...you wonder if this is progress or arrogance.
We were taught that 'money can't buy happiness' but apparently there is an addendum to this quote: 'Whoever said that money can't buy happiness doesn't know where to shop'. This seems to be the case with the cash-crazy citizens of this city. The mall culture has taken over and no child worth his or her salt would willingly go to a museum or a library...both of which are conspicuous by their absence.
A couple of friends who have recently moved here said to me that within one week of their coming to Gurgaon, they gave their husbands an ultimatum...'I'm giving you a year to get a job anywhere else'. According to them this is such a 'fake city' and they feel like they can never fit in. They are worried that their children will imbibe this culture and turn into caricatures.
So what are we claiming here? What are we offering to the millions who live here and the many thousands who hope to come here? Mumbai at least offers the dream of Bollywood...I don't think the Haryanvi film industry even exists...does it?
Another excellent piece...the Haryanvi film industry bit had me in splits... Cheers to more blogs and articles on this page
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