Saturday, June 5, 2010

A Dil Transplant for Dilli

The Commonwealth Games is just around the corner and the excitement in Delhi is reaching a fever pitch, and why shouldn’t it? After all, Delhi is going to represent the whole nation in playing host to a deluge of dignitaries, athletes, sportsmen, tourists, diplomats and politicians from across the globe. The flyovers are done; work on most of the planned Metro routes is on track; construction of the games village and the various venues are in full swing, however, the high and mighty stakeholders seem to have suddenly woken up to another problem that threatens to tarnish our nation’s image – how to change the attitude of the city’s residents towards their civic responsibilities?

Spearheaded by our Hon Union Home Minister and ably seconded by Delhi’s Chief Minister, the KPIs are as crisp and clear as it could be:
• To make the city’s motorists respect and obey traffic rules, at least basic ones like stopping at red lights and not going on the wrong side of the road, if not more ‘complicated’ ones like over speeding, rash driving and considering the road as their ancestral property.
• To subtly inform the quintessential Delhi driver without hurting his fragile ego that he is neither 007, nor Batman, or for that matter Rajnikanth. His car is not a Ferrari and even if it is, none of Delhi’s roads are German Autobahns. He does not necessarily have to get into fist fights in the middle of the road, leave alone kill fellow motorists at the slightest of provocations.
• To educate the city’s residents to reduce the use of expletives in their everyday lingo, since, not every outsider is intelligent enough to grasp the warmth and affection that emanates from the foul words which add spice to everyday conversation.
• To be self aware of who you are and who your father is rather than shouting “Do you know who I am?” and “Do you know who my father is?” to anyone who dares to stop him from following his free will.

Okay, Okay, the last one is my own, but I swear the rest are from recent newspapers. Obviously, the Home Minister’s comments on trying to make Delhi ‘less rude’ and more friendly has not amused the guy on the street; his instant reaction being “ BC woh kaun hota hai bolne wala ki Dilli rude hai. Hum tax dete hai tho road hamari hai BC; gaadi hum apne paison se khareedte hai tho hum apni marzi se chalayenge !@#$%^ “ ; Very valid point indeed, my friend. I wonder how the Government missed this perspective though!

Before my Delhite friends and colleagues start firing their salvos and before the non Delhite starts poking fun of his Delhi counterpart, let me mention that Delhi just happens to be in the crosshairs because of the upcoming games. I can assure you that we are not dealing with the attitude and behavior of people of one lone geography. Delhi, of all places, is a cultural melting pot and an amazing city which has got the capacity to make a Gujju, a Bong, a Mallu or a Bihari, feel absolutely at home. Delhi’s culture is an amalgamation of cultures from almost every state in the country and the responsibility to maintain its dignity lies on everybody who comes into this wonderful city seeking greener pastures and opportunities and hence, the problem is not about a single city or its residents. Disturbingly, the root cause of the problem lies much closer to home. It lies inside each one of us.
It is my feeling that as a society, we are becoming more and more selfish, impatient and intolerant with scant regard and respect for other human beings around. We have taken the adage “Time is money” too much to heart and are always on the lookout for shortcuts and I am not talking about just the roads here. What we don’t realize is that each time we take a shortcut and feel jubilant about it, we are weakening the moral and civic fabric that we are supposed to hand over to the generations to come. Every time we pay a bribe, break a traffic rule, honk somebody out of the way, abuse and bully people weaker than us, take advantage of helpless fellow beings or refuse to admit and apologize for a mistake of ours because of our inflated egos, just stop for a moment and think - are we acting like a human being who is supposed to be the Supreme Being in this universe thanks to his ability to think and act?

Agreed, most of us are nothing like the people about whom we are talking about, but there might be people whom we know who fit the bill. So, next time they act irresponsibly, do everybody a favor and let it be known to them that as a responsible friend/ relative/ colleague, you do not think highly of their latest exploit. To those of you who do not even have anybody in their social or professional circles who match the description, Congratulations! We need more of your kinds to take our great nation beyond the next threshold of progress, prosperity, mutual respect and harmony.

“If each man or woman could understand that every other human life is as full of sorrows, or joys, or base temptations, of heartaches and of remorse as his own . . . how much kinder, how much gentler he would be.”
William Allen White (1868-1944)
Iconic American Newspaper Editor

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