Should we be doing it?

I often wonder whether, even though we can and also shall, we should be organizing the commonwealth games. The moot point is whether a country that is unable to provide twenty hours supply of drinking water and electricity even to the citizens of its capital city should be organizing an extravaganza like the commonwealth games? Does a capital city where many of its citizens have to carry out their daily morning ablutions in the open, quite often along the railway tracks deserves to organize a sporting extravaganza the outlay on which could have served its inhabitants in a much better way?
And to top it all, the decision makers also appear keen to bid for the olympics! The prospect and also the implications of this decision makes me shudder.
Opinions may vary, but the fact remains that a person deprieved of the basic necessities and also the basic dignity that a human being deserves shall remain unconcerned. The games shall definitely touch the lives of the high and mighty, but the lives of almost ninety percent of its citizens shall remain untouched. The event, by no stretch of imagination can instill a sense of pride in the common man, as is being widely expected in the elite circle.
After all, for a man sitting on a heap of waste and refuse, the talk of pride in the nation is surely a long shot. Not worth attempting, but shall we ever learn? Never, despite being almost at the bottom of the list of nations, and that is why we are where we are.
This republic day, let us all pledge to attempt excellence and pull the nation out of the abyss it finds itself in rather that rejoicing in the transient extravaganza that the games really are!

Reaching Delhi

My earlier post was on leaving Bhopal, and the very next post, this post had to be on reaching Delhi. And so here it is.
Having lived for over 11 years in Delhi, I am definitely not an alien here. But Bhopal still feels more like home. Is it because of the artificiality of Delhi, or the crowds, or the dirt and dust, I cant' say? But definitely it has something to do with the genuineness of the people of Bhopal. Delhi is more commercial, even in matters relating to personal relations. Here one is assessed and treated more on the basis of how powerful or wealthy one is. Human values count much less here.
Yet here I am to do a job, a specific job assigned to me. It is no doubt more difficult than the job at Bhopal, yet the same shall be done. After all, sheer will power is still a much more potent force than many other powers.
Delhi is preparing for the ensuing commonwealth games, at a speed that reminds me of a poor man preparing his house for a brief visit of a wealthy man. All areas that the foreigners may visit or see are either being spruced up or being hidden. Why do we have to put up an artificial facade that will soon revert to normal is something that I cannot comprehend? Perhaps it is in tune with the artificiality of the city, where even a smile is not without a specific purpose.
I also have to get on with the job of improving the three major stations of the city in right earnest. A monumental job no doubt, but possible. After all it was in Delhi only where I got mine and also the railways its first guinness by running the fairy queen and also where I almost achieved the biggest turnaround of the country at the (in) famous ITDC.
As always, I am excited and waiting for the non stop excitement to begin.