Delhi Diary 1

I am starting with this new column which I shall be updating almost every day. At least will try to. I’m calling it Delhi Diary coz there is a lot to observe in this madness of a city.

I am on the roads of the capital four days a week. Going to office at around 11 am and returning around 6 pm. Now, the returning time is ok as far as the outside temperature goes. But while going to office, I am baked slowly but surely in the auto rickshaw for an hour.

The road from Mahipalpur till the end of Vasant Kunj is a nightmare. Cars, buses, two wheelers, people, shops, everything to negotiate. Not to forget the noise that break sound barriers and the stench that makes me wish for my cologne bottle.

The flyovers on outer Ring Road which I negotiate at times, while returning home, serve little purpose in reducing traffic snarls. The more space created, the more the number of vehicles. (He got two cars, why should I not have three? is the philosophy here.)

So, I was on the outer ring road the other day when I saw a cow with a bloated stomach lying dead on one side of the road – at the Rao Tula Ram crossing. Must have consumed plastic, trying to fend fro lunch coz where is the grass??? Tree covers are coming up, but green pastures are a thing of the past now. And if we cannot provide their fodder, why do these bovine beauties loiter among the i10s, Accords and Mercs?? If not food, the smoke will most certainly kill them.

The Commonwealth Games has given us the dream of a cleaner developed city. Well, the way things are going, doesn’t seem like it. Hopefully, there will be games held here. But will the venues be ready? Already there is talk that school students will attend classes till the end of May so that they can have an extended autumn break during the Commonwealth games. Tell me, is this humane? Already temperatures are soaring to 41 degrees now. God bless the thoughtful Government.