City angst

By Manish Anand

Is Delhi a dying city? Certainly it's and in few years it's set to be condemned to the fate as that of Mumbai. The soul of Delhi is already dead and its body is just being dragged by millions of people slogging their days and nights out.

Few days back, dogs and a rag picker presented an interesting spectacle. In the morning, the rag picker, merely a boy, was collecting his cache. The nearby dogs, who must have been owning the place as their territory, did not like the intrusion of the rag picker. A group of dogs, all ferocious looking, had a go at the boy with all the shrillness of their barkings. Around half a dozen dogs were there.

The rag picker was not impressed with the daredevilry of the dogs and he just ignored them and continued with his job. The dogs lept further towards him and here our rag picker, incensed at the nuisance caused by the dogs, took a stone in hand and lept at them with all ferocity. The daring dogs beat a hasty retreat and when the boy got busied with his work they came a little near him, maintaining a safe distance, and continued with their barking business.

A couple of dogs were watching this spectacle from a distance with all the attention. For sometimes they might have weighed the option of joining the barking brigade, but eventually they chose the option of rather watching from a distance than joining the milieu.

In an afternoon in a restaurant in South Delhi, the owner, who is an old man, was losing the peace of his mind. Everything was wrong for him and he just had to shout at anybody. His staff bore the maximum brunt. A woman had a plate of "chaat" taken from outside and had come into the restaurant to taste the delicacy in the cool environment as her companion was busy buying something from the shop attached to the restaurant.

The old man did not like this and coming down from his seat he literally threw her out. Of course, the action came with verbal volley from the old man at the woman. In the meantime, his son came to take over the charge from him and very soon an old woman barged into the restaurant and just blasted him off. The reason was that nobody outside was telling her the ways to the restaurant! The son profusely apologised and immediately brought "lassi" as a complementary to pacify her. Later, when the things cooled down the woman politely refused the "lassi" saying that she was suffering from diabetes.

I too stay in a posh locality of South Delhi and mostly the flats here are owned by the "senior citizens". Recently, the PWD's work on roadside had damaged the water pipelines and one of the pipeline had been leaking, thus muddying the front of the entry gate.

A co-resident, who is in his 70s, pressed the bell of my flat in a manner as if some calamity had come. When I answered, he was shouting at his peak of the voice, saying that it was my pipeline. I said with all respect to him that I am unaware which pipe is mine here but anyways whosoever it was it would be rectified as a plumber had to come to my place. This was nothing for the next two days, I got visitors from all the flats all shooting off their anger at me.

When the last gentleman came, who is also in his 70s, I had enough and after giving him a patient hearing I said: "Look, first and foremost this is not my pipeline as i have found out but my plumber would rectify it tomorrow nonetheless. Secondly, you tell me you people have been so disturbed at one leaking pipeline which would be rectified, how did you people permit the installation of a mobile phone tower at the roof of the building and do not tell me that you people are unaware of the mental health hazard that it poses to the people residing here."

The old gentleman was left speechless as according to him a "rogue" top-floor flat owner had got the tower installed despite their protest, letting them know how impotent they were. Now, he was begging me for help in removing the tower. He left after offering his apology for disturbing me anyways. Yes, that leaking pipeline turned out to be that of my neighbour!

Yesterday, a two-wheeler hit the front of the auto-rickshaw on a busy road. The bike driver seemed in great hurry and after the collission he did not waste a single moment in emptying all the anger that he was carrying. However, the auto-rickshaw hit him back in equal manner. In another auto, as my friend said that the fault was of the bikeer, our auto-man said it's not about fault but that of "aukat" (the sujective value) and the "autowallhas do not have aukat in the city".