A tale of All Cities

I had the opportunity to visit some of the bigger Indian cities recently. Earlier visits to different cities were marked by a mix of anticipation, uncertainty, curiosity and a lot of advice on what to do and where to shop and so on and so forth. There was an unwritten rule with most people that I know that you pickup something unique from the city- either as souvenir or as consumable. So with Delhi it could be the Petha, with Kolkata the Sandesh, down south you could actually carry back some fresh brewed coffee and so on.
Got a fresh slightly different and disturbing perspective this time. The rate at which most Indian cities are growing is min boggling (sorry that’s not disturbing!). Now you don’t need to get to the city from the airport, the city probably has already come to you. Except Mumbai where anything can be constructed almost anywhere anyone likes, the other cities had airports in the outskirts. The journey from the airport to the city used to be a build up of sorts. Bigger spaces and more basic people giving way to crowded roads and dazzling lights as one entered the heart of the city.

I was amazed this trip and got a glimpse of how similar all our cities would look in the future after our kids and their kids all have taken their loans and bought their flats. The Rajarhat road in Kolkata is an example. It is one long stretch of empty open space, with greenery on either side with a wide potholed road running through it. While you go from airport to city, cattle has a tendency to go from the left of the road to the right (for lunch I presume) and sometimes even just mull over at the centre. Apart from this quirk and potential traffic hazard, this road resembles the Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai, the satellite township around Mumbai. The spread of new age buildings, slowly beginning to crowd in clusters, the hoardings around hawking everything from sanitary ware to mutual funds, the same brands and the same ads create an environment which seems like it just got supplanted. The ground realities are the same. As in Mumbai, even in Kolkata residents of this outskirt will struggle to get to the heart of the city. And as our lopsided planning will have it, they will have to for most things

Second, the local city’s giving way to the new city. So local flavours are dying and very soon all the cattle that cross roads would have been run over, or their owners displaced.

So all that one might get to carry back from various cities in future, is this strange, not so great feeling of deja’ vu.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I quite agree with you. I don't travel as much, however I have seen Bangalore change in just 6 yrs! I could walk down through the bylanes of Indiranagar to office, not having to dodge vehicles or ppl. The chirping of the birds (even at 9.00am!)was a pleasant experience....but now one just needs to keep ones eyes wide open to prevent getting knocked over and the only sounds one hears is the honking of the vehicles.
Sad but true :(
October 16, 2006 11:13 am
Anonymous said…
any recommended places to settle down after i return?
October 17, 2006 2:48 pm
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