DOUBLE STANDARDS

‘In the last three months you have seen what we hadn’t in the past fifteen years’-this was a wry comment from a friend of ours, who was previously posted out here. To me however, it feels more like Mumbai is hell bent on competing with the rest of the cities for its daily space in the headlines. And all for the wrong reasons!

As if national poverty and domestic strife was not enough, Nature also decided to chip in its share by hammering rains, splattering diseases and crumbling buildings. When the clouds burst there were anxious calls from all over the world wanting to know if we had got caught in the deluge of the Terrible Torrential Tuesday. Subsequently concerned relations from all over the country were keen to know if any of us had contacted the dengue, the malaria or the unpronounceable leptospirosis. Last month the apprehension shifted to newer quarters. Fingers were crossed with the fervent hope that none of us were buried beneath the ancient- but- certified- safe- by-the-MHADA building that had collapsed. Had I come from Manipur (not Berhampur) then after the Gateway affair probably our telephone lines would have got jammed too.

I grew up in Orissa - a State, which unfortunately is still considered poor and pedestrian by many. Thanks to a Super Cyclone, the sporadic food scarcity and the intermittent famines and floods, it finally got highlighted in the Indian map. I am hardly proud of this fact except for the sole reason that at least people now know that it exists.

What I’m trying to say is simple. It is not the multiple factors of a tragedy that amazes me. It is the double standards. When calamities strike impoverished States and the Government is deemed inefficient, it still makes sense. But when chaos and pandemonium reign in sophisticated, modern and prosperous Metros, where is the progress that we speak of? When people associate hunger or poverty with a State that is unanimously deemed as underdeveloped it is still reasonable. But when progressive, advanced and ‘happening’ cities are paralyzed for weeks, there is only one question that comes to mind. Are we heading forth, traveling back, or living in a dream world?

Progress is not encroaching every inch of open space so that a city’s drainage system is impeded. It is not a competition of wanting to touch the skies through beautiful but meaningless edifices. Neither is it Demolition Dharavis or Bar Bans where thousands of people are instantly dislocated without a thought. Whether we like it or not, the heart of India’s image is reflected in the gory headlines of the dailies, not in its superfluous Page Three. Developments cannot happen in spurts and phases depending upon the whims and fancies of the ruling government. It is a methodical and long drawn out process. Instead of weeding out problems, the grass roots have to be targeted first and then strengthened.

Sitting in the comforts of our cosy air conditioned homes and offices, it is very easy to discuss about disaster management or the remodeling of a city. The bitter truth is that sometimes we are so caught up in fantasizing about the Shanghai Noons and Nights that reality sometimes passes us by. Everyone has a right to dream. But not at the expense of someone else’s nightmares!

Nargis Natarajan.