Just Another Day In The City Of Dreams

A 29 day partial block in rail services is underway for constructing a sixth line between Khar and Goregaon in the Mumbai Western railway lines. This has resulted in the cancellation of over 3000 trains according to media and the consequent disruption of normalcy in Mumbai.

I wish they had been given options to commute till normalcy is restored. But on the other hand, I wondered that this disruption is actually "normal" in Mumbai. The "Chalta hain" attitude of most Mumbaikars make it all the more convenient for the powers that be to ask the citizens to lump it! Who's to complain! There could be uncleared garbage outside your building premises or footpaths covered with excavations by the BMC or missing manhole covers or water logged roads! It's just another day.

I don't know how we got here and why we Mumbaikars take all this lying down! Will we ever fight back?

It's the apathy of Mumbai, the so called commercial capital, though I don't believe it is anymore. Both, our state and city is fast losing that tag (if we already haven't lost it or realised it)! You travel to any city or state in the country and you find that the infrastructure has drastically improved. Recently I traveled to Varanasi and Allahabad and was pleasantly surprised to see the changes. While modernity and commercialization has changed all small towns and cities in the country, what comes as a rather pleasant surprise is the actual transformation taking place in all these places to make the "citizen experience" passable if not delightful. Whether it's govt buildings, roads, railways or any other public service. Even the cops and government departments seem much changed in dealing with their citizens, as if the government has learnt little courtesy in all these places... 

Once upon a time we used to pride ourselves as the city with robust public transport and infrastructure. But unfortunately things have remained in almost a state of suspended animation for decades now. Our roads are in a perpetual state of repairs in Mumbai, the metro services are taking eons (and millions) to build, our air quality is getting worse by the day, our taxes are getting higher by the hour, our hospitals are getting expensive (and hence exclusive), it's getting harder to travel to anyplace in the city without breaking your back or, for that matter, breaking records in terms of time to reach your destination... I could go on. 

I think there are plenty of reasons which can be attributed to this but unfortunately all of them are mere excuses for inept governance over the years. One could broadly say negligence by successive local bodies and state governments, bad or possibly even absence of city planning etc. are to blame. But if one were to single out one critical reason for the pathetic state of affairs, it's Citizen apathy! 

The Mumbaikars just love to get trampled! You can beat them, fool them and even abuse them but they won't let out a sigh, leave alone a yelp! They'll take it in their stride, surrender to their destiny, mutter in their breath or at best whine within friends and family in their drawing room, like all the other challenges the "City of Opportunity" throws at them. 

They swallow their pride, even their self respect, and chug along through the corridors of life just like the Mumbai locals; full, stinky, slow and risky! And at the end of the day, they are all just happy to have reached Churchgate or Virar, having survived another day!

There's no fight in them or sense of entitlement. No one bothers the local politicians or asks tough questions as to what happens to the billions they pay in terms of taxes, cesses, tolls and tariffs. When are we going to say, "Never Again!"

David brings down Goliath

Finally David has brought down Goliath
Like the proverbial David, Anna has brought down the Govt on its knees with three stones - people, peace and protest.
The govt had to eat its words and made to accept the will of the ppl! This issue also opens a wider "Ppl v/s Parliament" debate. Its good that the debate has begun and it was good to watch parliamentarians debate on matters that matter for a change.
My father once said when as a teenager, angry and impulsive, I asked as to why as a country of approx 80 million blessed with leaders of the stature of Gandhi, Nehru, Bose and Bhagat Singh, we can't find another one to guide the country post independence; that just like me "our country is young, still finding its feet; its time will come just like yours". So our time is coming : Indian democracy is coming of age, its maturing and I suspect that changes from hereon will be rapid - just like a stammering teenager becoming a confident adult almost overnight. No wonder the world is watching!
The underlying fact is the Parl was forced into this debate after years of vacillation and all thanks to one man and of course the entire country which rallied behind him. However the Parl seem to have still got it wrong with the PM saying "Parliament has spoken. The will of Parliament is will of the people." Wrong, it is ppl who have spoken and its the will of the ppl which is the will of the parliament. The parliament is not 'outside', 'above' or 'over' the ppl; it exists because and not despite the ppl of this country.
All theatrics by the likes of  Salman Khurshid, Rahul Gandhi, and certain so called civil society activists, who felt suddenly threatened by this enigma called Anna making them seem like third rate back benchers, are playing on ppl's fears when they say that what if a group of ppl organise similar rallies for say forcing the govt to adhere to say make a Ram mandir! Unfortunately they forget that the masses are anything but fools. The masses rallied because they realise the nobleness and necessity of the cause, they won't be taken in some group hijacking them on a jingoistic trip, not for long anyway. Our Parliamentarians and others like Dileep Padgaonkar should realise that the ppl can see through any wolf in a sheeps' clothing.
And the will of the ppl is supreme in a democracy, the parl has no way but to obey. 'You may discuss debate and pass only those bills which the ppl want, remember the parl procedures is for the ppl and hence ppl are for the procedures not vice versa; can't have the tail wagging the dog! I'm surprised why some eminent thinkers can't see that except the likes of Mr Fali Nariman who said “Constitution is the Supreme Authority, and not the parliament or parliamentarians (not in exact phrase) and the Constitution emphasizes and asserts the importance of “Voices of People”, and therefore, it begins with the statement “We the People”.