God or Dog’s own country

My cousin married a Russian and visited Chennai. Our society, like our habit is very reluctant to ‘change’. It does not allow someone to be in his/her own way. A student who meticulously mugs up & scores 99.9% is appreciated while it looks down someone who fairs poor in studies & pursues his/her interest or ambition outside the school curriculum. School topper or college topper at the age of 16, a salaried job in a top notch IT company, arranged marriage at 26 years, own house & children at 30 years are some of the unwritten ‘standard operating’ model. A person departing from this model will occupy the hot seat of all speculations especially in family functions like marriages. Some of my cousin’s close relatives though initially not very happy about his love marriage started realizing the true essentials of a happy engagement which is (a) A boy and (b) A Gal. Religion, language, nationality etc is of no relevance and they are just ‘add ons’ to a married life.

We received her with a warm welcome. We showed her the glassy skyscrapers, grade separators, Air conditioned buses in Chennai. She in turn enquired more about the slums, cattle & people on the streets, may be, hangover from the Oscar winning movie which showed this country in grim, poor light. She asked me to describe the inequality in India in a nutshell. Im taking two scenarios to describe this which I could not do when she asked:

1. My friend Srinivas is not a happy man because of his kid ‘Adithya’ (‘H” silent). He checks his fortune driving his “Fortuner” at every sight of a petty shop in Navi Mumbai. Unfortunately, he could not find even a single ‘Air filling station’ for his kid’s bicycle. His earlier suggestion of a motorized cycle was turned down by ‘Adithya’. The plan B of tubeless tyres is yet to materialize. He lives in an integrated township which has Sauna, Jacuzzi, Spa, Acupunctured walkway, a multiplex, school, mall, tennis court, swimming pool but nothing satisfies ‘Adithya’, more than a joy ride in his cycle. Adding fuel to fire, his service lift often breaks down and Srinivas has to carry the cycle to 15th floor, which overlooks the sea. Though this may help Srinivas to bring down his BMI below 30, he is more than happy to pay Rs. 45,000 for a comprehensive weight reduction program in VLCC.
   
2. My maid’s neighbour VelMurugan is not a happy man. Not because his house, which his family was occupying for generations was bull dozed by the government to give way for a new ‘Multi Level Car Parking’. Not because he was relocated (of-course forcefully) to a place called ‘Semmencherry’, 30 kilometers away from his erstwhile house thus losing his job and livelihood. Not because of his wife who keeps complaining about the drunken men in their locality, poor sanitation, water & overflowing sewage, overshooting monthly family budget; It’s because of his one and only son ‘Tamil selvan’ (Read Tamil as Tamizh) who profusely cries as his old cycle tyre with which he plays is lost in the transit! Also he could not meet his old pals with whom he plays Gilli on the street overlooking the Cooum river!

For people like my cousin’s wife, the real estate development in India might sound weird. The real estate in India is more ‘investor’ driven rather than end user driven. (The government may even give tax exemptions for these real estate developers under SEZ provisions since they engage in rendering service outside India). The inclination towards foreign investors is perhaps the reason we find more Posh apartments and villas in a country where significant junk of the people are lower class or below poverty line. The government spends crores and crores of money in relocating people from slums to make India ‘slum free’. On the other hand due to migrations towards metropolis and lack of housing for these economically weaker sections, more slums are being formed.

The real ghost towns are not just in China but also in India. This is because in the so called new age ‘integrated townships’ the apartments are mostly vacant since the owner lives in developed country like US or Singapore and parking their deposits in developing country like ours. But for India’s facebook account if the status has to become ‘Developed’ all we need is an ‘inclusive’ REAL growth.

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Hari