Nerve Endings Firing Away

My previous post may have ended ominously but things are improving steadily. So many stories of India Shining and I almost believed them. Admittedly, I had touched down only a few hours ago and should probably give the benefit of the doubt but I am afraid, I cannot totally ignore the obvious. After the total roller coaster of a car ride back home, we reached home smack in the middle of regularly scheduled daily power outrage in the early hours of the morning. No wonder Indians don’t seem to sleep late. I entered my home in the dark, fiddling around with the keys but thankfully, the inverter installed in key locations made it a little less frustrating. I could manage only three hours in bed shuffling uncomfortably making it the only time I spent sleeping in the past 48 hours.

When I wake up I find that my dad has launched into his frequent home remodeling projects. The entire living room, which I remember to be a pretty decent living environment was completely in mess with electricians, POP men, and painters just coming in my way of trying to readjust to my earlier home. I just hate it when you aren’t the only person in your own home and your privacy is intruded upon so especially when you need it the most. The Internet was inaccessible and no one around seemed to remember the username let alone the password for the newly-installed DSL connection. I get real cranky when I get no food when I expect to or cannot check my email when I want to; and I was slowly getting there. The television in my room wasn’t any help either because as dad put it, it was obsolete; I couldn’t understand how that would happen. But nowadays, I have stopped arguing with dad even when he makes no sense at all.

Thankfully, I could meet up with two of my best friends in town — the only ones who are left around (I realized later that they are simply stuck here or have reconciled with their fate). My friend dropped me home after our little meet up and he took the circuitous route from inside Panvel town. I was shocked to see the utter collapse of any semblances of infrastructure. There were definitely more people, with almost no new roads or drains built. I almost can see the reason for the July 26th floods right in front of my eyes — the clogged drains, the dug up and ignored roads, rapidly built and extremely invasive structures. You can see no spot of green or open space. The ‘planned’ city of New Panvel is almost similar. People seem to be everywhere and even residents are frustrated with the crowded conditions and lack of basic necessities; so that proves it isn’t an NRI mentality speaking.

I drove to Vashi with my parents in the evening and my disillusionment continued as we passed through heavy smoggy air filled with stench of burning garbage or chemicals. No water, no power, no roads, in certain newly developed apartment complexes yet you see people living in them. That to me is disturbing. Moreover, the verdant mangroves at Kamothe and Kharghar that balanced the influx of concrete jungles elsewhere in the nodal cities of New Bombay were rapidly engulfed by greedy developers and apathetic government officials or environment watch groups. Of course, the malls like Center One in Vashi are swank and teeming with people snapping up consumables but they have no proper roads to get to the malls, no adequate places to park, pestering survey people to wade through. I don’t consider that a pleasurable shopping experience. I may chose to stay away if it takes me hours to reach there and I arrive all hassled and frustrated with pitiable traffic conditions.

People seem to direct traffic or control other people’s cars with their blaring horns. I feel this strong urge to bash the living daylights out from a errant driver who seems to zigzag all over the road, screwing it up for the rest of us. Any surprise or anger expressed at such incidents bring remarks like, this is India not America and “it is like this only here”. It is a vicious circle. People tolerate wrong behavior and in fact indulge in some of their own as if to justify their apathy. I was caught in a traffic jam today morning at S.V. Road and ultimately decided to walk it out to the store. The reason for the traffic jam were few cars and rickshaws that had simply blocked the oncoming traffic and were blocked on the other side creating a deadlock. No traffic policeman in sight and none of the drivers were willing to relent and so everyone just sat there. We talked to the salesman in the store and he said, this is a daily occurrence. Hmmm; and yet no one is willing to do something or voice their protest? Are we that tolerant a race? And my dad is surprised when I cite lack of standard of living in Panvel as reasons for refusing to move back. But that is another story.

Of course, not everything is that bad. There have been moments of joy too but I had to vent out my rants first. And I am just beginning.