RIGHTS AND RESTRAINT

Nothing makes me feel more violent than driving in Mumbai. I may try to meditate and be calm, serene beforehand, but put me behind the wheel and it all evaporates. I believe that the Mumbai traffic could provoke even the most non-violent people into turning psychotic! Lane-cutting at the last minute, turning left from the right-most lane, going the wrong way on a one-way road…one might expect this sort of behaviour from taxi drivers since they seldom have formal driving lessons & are limited by outdated cars without the grace of power-steering. But what is the justification of the men & women who are presumably more privileged – did they take driving lessons from a taxi driver?

My latest discovery is that stopping at a red light is suddenly out of fashion. And I’m not talking about Sundays or late nights when laziness or sleep-deprivation overwhelms reasonable action but even at rush hour on weekdays! When did this become acceptable? We may be infamous for our disregard for our own lives but when did we become so supremely indifferent to the safety of others? And since when did it become acceptable to berate with much shouting & honking the rare driver who does stop at a red light?

Yes, I know that living in a democracy gives us certain rights. It may be a long time since my last Civics exam but I’m pretty sure that the right to endanger ourselves and others is not one of them! My question then is – shouldn’t ‘restraint’ be as important as ‘rights’? They are two sides of the same coin. If I don’t show restraint, I cannot respect the rights of others. My rights cannot be respected without the exercise of restraint by the people who would violate them. It seems strange that in a place where we are so cognizant of our rights, few of us ever choose to exercise restraint!

The road is not the only place where another’s right of way is abused.

We seem fundamentally incapable of respecting order in queues. So many strategies to replace the patience we have never developed. There’s the ‘innocent’ who acts surprised when accused of infiltration – ‘is there a queue?’ There’s the ‘heavyweight’ who relies on intimidation by size, elbowing lesser mortals out of the way. The ‘sneak’ who slips in when someone else’s attention wanders. The ‘fool’ who acts so stupid that it seems easier to let him get away with it than have to explain his wrongdoing to him.

Most absurd of all is the rush to get out of an airplane when it lands. Is there a fire or is it collective claustrophobia that prompts the mad dash? Getting out first doesn’t ensure anything – you still have to rush to be first on and then off the terminal bus. And how can you be sure that you’ll be the first out of the airport? The first in and out of the restroom? How can you be the first to collect your luggage, which everyone knows is in the hands of providence!

I’m reminded so often of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ – all animals are equal but some are more equal. By pretending life is an F1 race where one winner takes it all, how does lack of restraint make us the first among equals?

Think of all the great people who command your respect and then think of all the pretenders whom you can’t stand. What separates the two? What are the qualities of the genuinely great that cannot be faked? Is it the sense of entitlement that comes from knowing one’s own rights or the exercise of restraint from infringing on the rights of others?

Which will you emulate? Will you stop at the red light or will you honk at the person who does?

TAAL MEIL COMPETITION

I recently attended a classical music concert and was very moved by the ‘jugalbandi’ of sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and the maestro who accompanied him on the tabla. Initially, there were gestures of coordination, then compliments on a particularly difficult movement and then it evolved into a competition, where each challenged the other further and further – and the music just got better and better.

It occurred to me then that the word ‘competition’ has contradictory connotations.

Some people react to competition superficially – it’s a bad thing. If there was no competition, we would get the recognition we think is rightfully ours! Competing against others engenders bad feelings – of rivalry and hatred. We hate our rivals for the very qualities that make us feel so good about ourselves.

Then there is the other reaction, the one that produces champions. Competition is a good thing because it challenges us to greater heights. We might not know how far we can go if we did not have rivals to excel us and push us still further. We respect them and their qualities for the power they have in helping us develop our own.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his partner illustrated this – each delighting in the other’s performance and using it to spur his own talent further yet. To the delight of the audience!

One might argue that this is easier for musicians performing together. But think of the original iconic ‘mile sur mera tumhara’ when sports, arts & Bollywood celebrities came together for national unity. Think of the last time you shared a moment of camaraderie with your colleagues at work. Think of your last family gathering, where sibling rivalry made way for shared laughter.

Try to think of competition not as competing to succeed alone but as competing to succeed together.

FOOLISH WISDOM

“A fool is a man who believes he knows everything, a wise man is one who knows he knows nothing.”

What then divides the foolish from the wise? Is it the everything-nothing division or the difference between ‘believing’ and ‘knowing’ or perhaps, a bit of both?

The ‘everything’ is the realm of science – founded on the belief that knowledge is finite, that with persistence and perseverance, it is possible to know everything there may be to know. In fact, the best of scientists are working towards achieving the TOE – Theory of Everything. The framework that can explain everything in the known Universe and hopefully, accommodate the ‘unknown’ as it becomes the ‘known’.

The ‘nothing’ is the realm of philosophy – founded on the belief that knowledge is infinite, that no matter how much we are able to know, there will always be more that we do not know. The essence then of the philosopher is to understand ‘nothing’, to accept his own insignificance and pursue true wisdom with the knowledge that he may never quite reach it, no matter how far his progress.

The ‘everything’ has a ‘destination’; the ‘nothing’ has but a ‘journey’. Focus on a destination requires ‘believing’ for who could aspire to what he does not believe exists. Focus on a journey requires ‘knowing’ for who could learn from the road if he didn’t know where to look.

The wise are patient and pay attention to the details in their journey, not concerned with where they are being led. The foolish are impatient and their attention is claimed by the horizon, but who is to tell how far they might lead.

While the words ‘wise’ and ‘foolish’ imply that one is better than the other, the choice is not so simple. The Tarot deck gives the ‘fool’ his due – he does not know his limitations or acknowledge all the obstacles in his path, so he has the potential to overcome them with his belief and reach further than the ’wise’ who will notice all obstacles and perhaps, even allow his journey to move in another direction.

So, which is the path to choose? Is one better than the other?

Each has its challenges and rewards but in the end knowledge is not the province of one man but of mankind. The foolish and wise, both contribute to what we know and what we cannot know. We may choose to be wise or foolish but ignoring the ‘other’ leaves us incomplete.

IN THE END IS THE BEGINNING

Hindu philosophy divides time into ‘yugas’ – as one yuga comes to an end, another begins. For a beginning, an ending is necessary…so time is seen as a cycle. Related to this is the Physics rule – ‘what goes up must come down’. Again the motion is cyclic.

All of life can be seen as a cycle – night and day, death and birth, recession and growth, destruction and creation, war and peace….

If only we could take a step back and see the big picture as the Buddha does. Nothing disturbs him – if there is a ‘down’, he knows the ‘up’ is round the corner so he will not be depressed. If there is an ‘up’, he knows the’ down’ is coming up next, so he will not treat it as permanent either.

This is the impermanence of life. Always changing, always transforming. In every obstacle there is an opportunity. In every opportunity, there is an obstacle. The yin and yang co-exist. In fact, they do not exist without the other!

So, in every contradiction, there is reconciliation possible – if only we can try to see it. No ending is completely bad, no beginning completely good. Life is a cycle. In the beginning is the end, in the end the beginning.

FREEDOM OR CONTROL

I’m usually a champion of individual freedom. Most of us like to think we are! I believe that everyone should have the right of choice – to choose how they live, what they do, how they talk & interact with other people, whom they vote for, what products to buy and use….etc.

But this benevolent attitude to the freedoms of other people is quick to end the second someone lights a cigarette/cigar/pipe/beedi/agarbatti/whatever. I’m allergic to smoke and suffer from unending hayfever if I’m exposed to second or third hand smoke (I don’t smoke, so first hand smoke is moot). And I freely admit it – I’m quite prejudiced towards smokers.

As much as I claim to respect the freedom of others, I strongly resent it when this freedom allows them to cause me pain. When it comes to smoking, I wish I could control smokers so that they never lit up in my presence or subjected me to smoky breath when they’re back from a smoke break. As for the neighbor who smokes in his bathroom such that the smoke ends up in mine, nothing less than a straight-jacket & restraining order would do!

It’s a fine line of balance but we all have our triggers. We are happy to allow others to exercise freedom until it crosses our own line of tolerance and then we’re suddenly all for control over individual freedom. Think about it….there may be at least one instance when you have wished you could control someone else’s actions…the neighbor who plays music too loud, the taxi drivers who cut lanes recklessly, the domineering aunty who cuts ahead of you in the supermarket queue, the kids who snigger and talk through the movie in a theatre….feel free to add your particular triggers to the list.

Democracy is about balancing individual freedoms versus collective control. Many people seem particularly good at practicing the former themselves and preaching the latter to others around them! When it comes to smoking, I do the same – since I don’t smoke myself, I don’t understand how difficult it is to control. How would I feel if someone tried to control my behavior similarly? There’s a good chance, I wouldn’t like it at all!

So where do we draw the line?

DISABLE OR ENABLE?

This wonderful, awe-inspiring talk by Aimee Mullins, an athlete/actor/model/activist, teaches us that the only true disability that can truly afflict us is one of the spirit. As she says, “adversity isn't an obstacle that we need to get around in order to resume living our life. It's part of our life.”

Aimee’s talk makes me feel ashamed of all the times in my life, when I have said ‘I can’t.’ I realize now that what I was really saying was, ‘I don’t want to try.’ But her larger message is even starker – for our words affect not just ourselves and our abilities but also others and their abilities. How many times have we told someone else that they are not capable/that they should not try to do something? How many times have we said this to our children?

Neurologist and psychiatrist, Victor Frankl survived the holocaust with his idealism & sense of humour intact. In the talk below, he too strives to teach us why we must allow ourselves to believe the best of others, encouraging them to truly believe in their better selves and live out this belief.



When we accept our influence on not just how we choose to live our lives but also on the choices and lives of the people around us, we have an important decision to make. Should we ‘disable’ or ‘enable’ ourselves and others?

DAY OR NIGHT

This is my favourite painting – "Impression, Sunrise" by Claude Monet. I don’t know much about art but I do know that I appreciate creative work not for what it is or is intended to be but for what it makes me feel. And this painting makes me feel that delicious melancholy which comes with my favourite time of day.

Sunrise or sunset, the sadness of a final closing blurring with the excitement of a new beginning is a unique sensation. It makes me feel a little incomplete, a little uncertain but is reassuring all the same because it’s a signal to move on. The sun waits for no one and we must rush to catch up with it’s emerging or fading light.

It’s also a moment that always gives me pause. For a brief few seconds, I enjoy a larger perspective where my small concerns and efforts don’t register. I’m so insignificant in the magnificent nature of the Universe that I can only be awed and inspired. Yet, the moment passes and the grind of life returns, where I’m at the centre and must try to achieve my own significance.

What a beautiful contradiction!

I’M ONLY HAPPY WHEN IT RAINS

Yes, I know this is the title of a song by Garbage :) It’s a song I’ve always loved and like anyone who’s ever loved a song, I feel that this one could have been written about me.

It’s raining chaos in Bombay…quite literally! The monsoons are here and like every one of the past 30+ years, we are again not prepared. So, while the rain has brought a much-welcome respite from the unrelenting heat, it’s also dredged up a whole other list of things we can complain of instead. Like the drains being shut so the roads can flood or road repairs which have inconveniently just started or the trains standing still after half an hour’s rain or the roads being congested after an hour’s pouring….not to mention the mud, dirt, sniffles and sneezing coming around!

Yet, there’s also something quite uplifting about a good rainy day, ok – especially if we have the good fortune to be indoors. It changes the complexion of the city, making the grey look dreamy instead of grimy, the breeze refreshing instead of humid and the mad rain dances of street urchins and tourists never fail to make you smile.

Or maybe it’s just the nostalgia that makes me feel like a truant school child wishing for an unexpected holiday!

THE PRICE OF PASSION

We’ve all heard of the struggling artist, the struggling writer…how many have heard of the struggling investment banker? (Well, apart from those who may have been laid off by the recession!)

When a person pursues money blatantly through his/her work, it’s understood, celebrated and yes, rewarded. However, if the same person were to pursue work for any other reason, his passion is commended yet it’s quickly pointed out that he/she may not expect any kind of financial reward.

Why is this?

Is the pursuit of a passion considered reward enough?
Or is it necessary that money and passion may not be found together?

Consider Bollywood as an example. Commercial viability and critical acclaim are almost mutually exclusive. Shahrukh Khan may sell many films but even with a few acclaimed performances, he is considered a ‘star’ rather than an ‘actor’. To qualify as an artist, he would need to regularly feature in those obscure ‘art films’ which almost never do well commercially.

In other industries too, candidates in job interviews are put on trial to demonstrate their passion – this is a requisite to making an impression and performing well in the interview, of course, but it is also a guarantee that the salary will never meet expectations! As someone once told me, ‘I want to hire someone who is motivated by passion, not by money.”

Well, I agree that you cannot put a price on passion. But does that mean that passion shouldn’t ever be rewarded?

THE WRITER WHO DOES NOT WRITE

I always wanted to be a writer – as a child it seemed like such a fun thing to do and as I grew up the attraction grew….even as I realized that this profession has its own custom-built excuse for goofing off. After all, whether we admit it or not, the attraction of work is not just in and of itself but also when there’s a chance of some respite from it. This is the added value perk of any profession (and I’m sure every profession does have at least one!)

For writing (and also for pretty much any creative pursuit), one needs to be inspired. There is no formula/framework for inspiration – the creative philosophy is to explore/do whatever works. This leaves room for expressing individual idiosyncrasies and exercising creativity in the very pursuit of creativity. Sometimes, sadly, despite efforts to the contrary, inspiration does not strike.

For a writer, this is the dreaded curse of writer’s block. Or is it? Hmmm……

I’m not saying writer’s block is not real! It’s just that there’s no way to tell the difference…even for the writer him/herself. Take me for example…I haven’t updated this blog for a while. I didn’t have a justifiable reason for this. Yes, my regular work does keep me busy, but I was busy too when I started this blog. I didn’t use work as an excuse then, did I?

So, what’s my excuse now? When all else fails, I fall back to blaming writer’s block! Is there anything worse than a writer who does not write?

AIR TRAVEL – BLESSING OR STRESSING?

Air travel has changed the way that we live, work and holiday. Think about it the next time you travel – if your journey took about five times longer, what would you differently?

For one, you might plan better. You would make sure that everything /everybody you wanted to visit was available well in advance and that you had time to cover everything. And for another, you would clear everything else from your schedule – no multitasking or planning to be available for anything else. And since you would be essentially ‘captive’ for the hours/days of traveling, you might actually reach your destination well-rested!

Air travel was supposed to be a blessing. But what happened? Since it’s quick, we can do it last-minute without foresight or detailed planning – sometimes, even cutting the time so close that we’re racked by anxiety! Also, we see no need to clear our schedules because we feel we can always attend to a few calls or e-mails (for the Blackberry addicts). And given all of the above plus the extensive security screenings and inevitable delays, I find few things more stressful than air travel.

Every time I do a one day trip by air to another city, I’m exhausted. I usually have to take an early morning flight and return by the red eye. Add to that the one to two hours I spend at the airport, standing in queues, going through security minus my shoes, belt & laptop, and simply waiting because of delays that are announced in only fifteen minute intervals. If that’s not exhausting enough – what about the hour or so it takes to drive to & from the airport? And the probability is that that during all of this, I’m usually attending to other things on the phone.

Having speeded up our lives, we are all reluctant to slow down. So, we probably won’t revert to slower modes of travel. But could we at least TRY to separate some of the stress from the blessing?

FOODIE ON A DIET

How’s this for a contradiction!

People often say, “I love food! I could never go on a diet.” I used to one of these people. When well-meaning and not so well-meaning acquaintances suggested I should try a diet, I bristled. And shut them up with my favourite Garfield quote – “diet is ‘die’ with a ‘t’.” Any one will beat a hasty retreat when you accuse them of trying to kill you!

Yet, the stubborn food lover was forced to re-evaluate when health concerns made my weight the culprit. Terrified, I stood on the scale and agreed to lose 20 kilograms, even if I didn’t know how I was going to do it.

Like all diet-haters, I had built up my impressions of starvation & extreme diets. Since I was taking this path to better my health, losing my health along the way was definitely not to be considered. I decided I would take it slow, gradually increasing my exercise routine and phasing out the ‘bad’ foods till I reached my target.

Three things saved me and kept me on my diet –
1. The high-metabolism plan – eating small meals every 2-3 hours means I spend more time planning meals and thinking about food than I did before.
2. The discovery that giving up calories doesn’t mean giving up taste – healthy food really does taste good! And your food habits can & do evolve! My comfort craving used to be pepperoni pizza, now its poached eggs. And I actually prefer the taste of multi-grain bread to white bread.
3. Scheduled cheating – I allow myself to cheat on my diet occasionally. The only rules are not more than once a week and a limit on quantity. This ensures that I don’t entertain the ‘deprived victim’ mentality, which can lead to the vicious cycle of unhindered bingeing and relentless guilt.

I’m still a few kilograms away from my target, but I’m feeling more energetic and healthy. And I’m still a foodie. I just don’t know which kind of food I love more – the sinful calorie-rich stuff which I get once a week or the simple wholesome stuff that I get to eat every day.

YOUR JOB OR YOUR LIFE

Someone recently told me that a job is just a job – “it shouldn’t infringe on your life.” I have heard this or versions of this statement many times over. It is usually said by the kind of people who have their lives in perfect balance (i.e. have ‘made it’ to wherever ‘it’ is) or older people reminiscing about an earlier strictly 9 to 5 world or people who have never officially worked a day in their lives.

Regardless of who says it, being the recipient of this statement usually leaves me disoriented for considerable time. Why? Well, it’s because my response usually is, “what life?”

Yes, it’s true!

When I first started working I did have other interests. I knew what the latest music was, was aware of current events and had opinions on the latest movies, books, exhibitions, plays, etc. Yet, I was convinced that to advance my career, I had to ‘sacrifice’. I heard stories from senior colleagues about nights & weekends spent in the office which somehow had me convinced that whenever the situation arose, I would have to man up and do the job.

And my friends didn’t seem to have it any different. At least, when I worked late I actually had work to do. My friends had stories of having to stay in office without work just so they wouldn’t be seen to leave before the boss. What’s more, they sometimes went to work on weekends only to show their faces, thus displaying their strong commitment to the company.

Whenever we managed to meet, we all griped about this. This is not the way to live. We should put our foot down. As long as the work gets done, we should not have to give up our evening’s entertainment or night’s sleep. We would resolve to change this but when we went back to work, we never quite got up the courage. What if they fire me? There are plenty of people willing to work like this – they’ll get ahead and I’ll be left behind!

A few years later and I’m beginning to wonder if this was true or was I participating in some kind of mass self-delusion? The truth is that when something is pressing, we always manage to make time for it. Our jobs seem so important to us that they are given priority over all the other things we claim to care much more deeply for – our families, our friends and our passions. Is this really what some unspoken corporate morality is forcing us to do or is it a rationalization for those of us who define ourselves more by our jobs than any by any other parameter?

Think about it. When we meet new people, we no longer first ask ‘where are you from?’ Instead, our first question is ‘what do you do?’ It’s as if we believe that the choice (or compulsion) of a job is the best indicator of who the person is. And this is the same standard we are applying to ourselves.

While I ponder this, I also feel that it seems to be too late to get a life. If I have the energy to do anything once I leave the office, I’m not aware of it! If I get a weekend off, I only want to catch up on my sleep deficit. Even a movie seems like a perfect waste of 3 good hours. And as for writing this blog – it feels like therapy and it might just help me get a little bit better at my job ;)

I always thought that if I ever killed anyone it would be a taxi driver!

City dwellers all over the world might relate to this frustration – overcharging and reckless endangerment are only part of the problem. Many taxi drivers seem to think that their cabs are buses – they can decide where they want to go and at which point they will condescend to drop you. Add to that a rude abrasive manner and the fact that they seem to disappear magically when it starts to rain!

Seems pretty straight-forward, right? So, where’s the contradiction in that?

Something changed the way I felt about taxi drivers. And that something is this brilliant work by flickerpixanimations called ‘Horn Ok Please’. The story follows a day in the life of a Mumbai city taxi driver and succeeds in showing the world from his point of view.



After seeing this video, my perspective changed dramatically. I now feel empathy for this person, who is struggling against the odds to make it in the big city and has it so much tougher than the passengers he ferries.

So, do I still get angry at taxi drivers – occasionally, yes! But, that irrational homicidal tendency has been replaced by a willingness to see the situation from his point of view and cut him a break, now and then.

Bravo flickerpixanimations! You have changed a small part of the world and saved lives… those of the taxi drivers I might have killed ;)

AATANKWADI YA SAINIK?/TERRORIST OR NATIONALIST?

Ateet ke gham mann mein jhoolte hain,
Jawan khoon khaulta hai –
Sar par ab junoon hai sawaar,
Ab pakdenge khud insaaf ki talwaar!

Beete kal ke karz aanewaale kal se chukwayenge,
Aage dekhnewalon ko peeche mudwayenge:
Yeh duniya hil jaayegi,
Humein pehchaan mil jayegi!

Mann ka chor karta hai shor
Aur leader ki baatein karti hain zor.
Par dil mein dabbi awaaz kehti hai, “batta,
Iss sab mein masoomon ki kya hai khatta?”


Past sorrows have gripped my mind,
My young blood is restless for action –
My head is obsessed now,
To hold the sword of justice!

I will make tomorrow pay off yesterday’s debts,
I will force those facing forward to look behind:
The world will be shaken,
We will get recognition!

The thief of my mind is creating havoc
And my leader’s words insist on action.
But a voice buried deep in my heart asks,
“What is the fault of the innocents?”

SAYING WHAT YOU MEAN = MEANING WHAT YOU SAY

Many people, as they grow older, like to say that younger generations don’t have respect. They lament that we’re losing those niceties of courtesy & convention that defined previous eras, when men were ‘gentlemen’ and women were ‘ladies’ not ‘bros’ and ho’s’ as is the recent colloquial trend.

I strongly object to women being referred to as ‘ho’s’ but I suspect that this is only because I too am growing older and remember a time when the sound had sleazy connotations. Societal conventions of behavior, sexual & otherwise, have changed. Promiscuity without a professional angle is no longer frowned upon but laughed at or even admired. So, perhaps the implication of being called a ‘ho’ is not as insulting as one burdened with past baggage, such as I, might believe.

The loss of hypocritical niceties, on the other hand, is something I can relate to. How many times have you met someone new who gushes warmly only to look through you the next time you see them? Or conversely, have you had someone say something mean and then laugh it off saying they didn’t really mean it? If you live in the Punjabi-dominated North of India, it probably happens all the time!

My childhood memories are peppered with such instances….

- My sister in tears and my grandmother saying, “I didn’t mean to call you golguppy – yeh toh mohkaul tha!” (fatty – this was only teasing)

- My parents driving from end to end in Delhi to meet relatives who didn’t appear as thrilled to see them as they had previously claimed they’d be

- An aunt grabbing hold of me and saying how worried she is about my welfare, only to walk off when I start talking

When you can’t tell the difference between what people say and what they actually mean, it leads to confusion & chaos. The people who are too polite to express how they actually feel build up castles of resentment. Those who are misled into believing that they are genuinely like-able and popular, if not checked, can become obnoxious and entitled. Where, then, are the strong social ties that such courtesy is supposed to elicit?

To people who say I’m anti-social, I say, I’m honest. If I’m happy to see you that’s how you’ll see me behave and if I’m not – well, I won’t pretend just to save your feelings. Isn’t better to know first-hand, which people you genuinely have a chance to connect with and which people are, in the spirit of frankness, a lost cause?

I maybe mean but I mean it!

MUMBAI – CITY OF CONTRADICTIONS & CHAOS

If you are not Indian and have heard of Mumbai, it’s probably because of 2 reasons –
1. Slumdog Millionaire – the Oscar-winning movie set in the city, that celebrates the ultimate victory of good karma
2. 26/11 – the shocking terror attacks that exposed the city’s vulnerability

However, if Mumbai were to be known for only one thing, that one thing should be the resilience of its citizens. The approximately 19 million Mumbaikars, as we like to call ourselves, share a spirit that slows down or stops for no one.

Despite the shock of random shooting at a major train station, many Mumbaikars got right back on the trains the day after 26/11. In fact a lot of them travel hanging out of a crowded train just to get to work on time – a risk probably far more likely to be fatal than a terror attack. What’s more, they travel this way twice a day…because as we say in India, sab chalta hai (it all works)!

This attitude is largely why India’s primary wealth-generating city has crumbling infrastructure. We are so busy working hard to chase our personal karmas that we don’t have time to ask questions or having posed them, search for appropriate answers. Questions such as…
- Why the city that stops for no one comes to a standstill every year, in every monsoon, every time it rains continuously for over an hour?
- Why the city with the largest tax contribution doesn’t have a single road free of potholes?
- Why the small bridge to solve a small part of Mumbai’s traffic congestion took over 11 years to build and is still not complete?

After all, we are a city of professionals – we go about our own work and leave it to others to do their own. So what if our politicians define their priority jobs differently from what we’d like them to – such as…
- Changing the names of landmarks and roads to the point where it is near impossible to identify a place from its correct postal address alone
- Pitting Maharashtrians against non-Maharashtrians, a concept that should have no place in secular India and cosmopolitan Mumbai, whose growth is driven by the confluence of different communities and cultures

I love Mumbai – every Mumbaikar does, but sadly, we love the city in our own selfish ways. We want the city to improve in many ways but we feel that our part in this ends with pointing fingers & finding flaws.

Will we ever wake up to our responsibilities in a city that never sleeps?