Most of us must have witnessed the growth Delhi has seen in
the last few years… from shopping malls, modernization of local markets,
infrastructure, flyovers, metro rail, hotels, stadiums and much more…. Every
one living in this city is happy of the facilities given as a gift from our
government, (inspite of many hidden corruptions and claims), but does everyone
knows how to respect it all??? Even after so much or urbanness and
modernization I still notice the civic sense missing in many, then I wonder, do
we even deserve all this development?
Somewhere the sense of responsibility is missing, I feel
restless when the urban educated class behave like some rowdy school kid or a
runway prisoner… (excuse me but no references in particular). It’s not about anything that has just happened to
me but something that I have been seeing since a while around me, be it in
malls, parks, metro station, on the road or anywhere.
We do clean our garbage bins, put them in garbage bags
securing with knots, and then many throw them behind the house in the back
lanes or on the side of the road or in an unconstructed plot around, we travel
in cars but don’t think twice before throwing the empty wrappers and bottles
outside on the road. Then it’s the same people who ask questions seeing a dirty
park or road, what does municipality do… Nobody does their work properly?? But
what about us, whose road is that? Whose city is it? Who is living in here? …
why do we fail to understand its our city too and we owe some responsibility
towards it ….
Talking about a particular incident.. I and my husband went
to Lohri celebrations at the India Habitat Centre and there was a dinner buffet
available to you in exchange of a coupon per person in Rs. XXX.00 . We took our
coupons and were enjoying our lohri special dinner… mind you it was an educated
high class gathering (infact we were feeling out of place seeing those highly
clad uncles in Burberry suits and aunties with their coach bags and their
equally classy families), then an
argument caught our attention… a significantly dressed couple who were serving
themselves and their plate was over flowing with the food, and when a catering
staff reminded them one coupon in only for one person. The lady very curtly
started arguing with him saying not to teach her what buffet means… ALAS !!!!
it was annoying!!! where is your civic sense lady, did you go to school only to
learn English speaking and nothing else???
Similar incidents happen almost every day with all of us,
example the queues… do we really know the meaning of following a queue, NO!!!
like at metro stations people break the rubber barriers to get through under
them and reach the start of the queue… I once softly asked an intelligent
looking lady, in her 30’s may be, to please follow the queue for security
check, but instead of agreeing that she was wrong, she says please adjust,
chalta hai!!!
Whay should I adjust with you??? I wonder what her children
learn seeing her living with this chalta hai attitude!!! In malls, parks
sometimes I feel sick seeing the clutter
and the mess… many a times when I enter mall’s washroom, the whole area is
tarnished with tissue papers and wrappers on the floors, and I can’t believe
the same ladies and girls are carrying shopping bags from mango, reebok and
adidas.. Out of misery, I clench my teeth and mutter to myself in disgust
"we are like that only, han?" but Why are we like this ??
Is it only our attire and accessories that defines us, what
about the attitude!!!
Does somewhere our past is impending in our minds? Our
forefathers were the people who left their worlds behind when they came to
India after partition. Some are well
settled now, some are still struggling, but mostly living a comfortable life now, after 2-3 generations
having faced tough times. Sorry to say
that, but that mentality to collect whatever we could for our families still
exists in us, when we want to collect more food in our plates, when want to
encroach that every inch of road space to include it in our verandah, when we
want to fool/ cheat anyone to get the electricity meter budged, when we keep
our houses clean and don't give a damn to how badly we have littered the road
or the parks, it been shown but now it hurts.
How-so-ever well-off you become, you need to tune your sensibilities
with time.
Let's try to correct ourselves atleast and not to pass this
to our next generation, let our kids have a better place to live and feel proud
about.
Let's get our acts right, before our kids ask us - "Are we like that only? … Why is
everything chalta hai in India?"
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