I was in India during February 2011 to attend my nephew’s marriage. It was a truly modern yet traditional union between two beautiful young people and their families. The groom and the bride “met” on Internet, their mutual interest and attraction grew, they met, the families met, priests were engaged, venues were booked, transportation arrangements were made, and the result: a wonderful wedding spread over two States, attended by family from the U.S., Australia, and Singapore.
While taking a break from the euphoria of this wedding and all the reunions, I managed to take some side-trips from Hyderabad. These are some thoughts regarding my forays in and out of Hyderabad. You will probably notice immediately that most of it is griping. But then all trips to India are like that; Yin and Yang, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, black and white, fun and frustration. Happy and fun to see the family and friends, visit places either you didn’t know existed or couldn’t afford to visit when you were growing up in India, depressed and angry because nothing ever seems to change, especially the bad and depressing things like the political goondaism, corruption, dust, the garbage, open sewer lines, the depressing banks and post-offices, and the nothing-ever-works syndrome. Sure there are more designer Malls, fast-food restaurants, and expensive cars. But basically, nothing ever seems to change. Another way to put it is: the more things change, the more they stay the same.
If nothing ever changes, then why am I bitching about it, you may ask. First of all, Indians in India are probably resigned to the fact that nothing will ever change in their life time, so they learn to live with it, kind of go with the flow. However, when I visit, I am there only for about a month, during which I enjoy, suffer, and feel entitled to bitch about a lot of things, knowing it doesn’t do any good, but after living 43 years in the U.S.A. you sort of hope that may be things will change a little. But mostly it feels good to get things off my chest.
GREAT NEWS! After years of research and a few million dollars spent on experimental models, a team of Civil Engineers and Transportation experts discovered the causes and the cure for DUST in Indian towns, cities, and highways. It turned out the cause and the fix is very simple. PAVE THE WHOLE DAMN ROAD!!! Does anybody understand why we leave 3-feet unpaved on each side of the tarred or paved roads?. At first I thought it is part of the built-in Indian graft / bribery / and black money scheme, where when you get the contract to build a paved road, it is customary you leave 3-feet unpaved on both sides to pocket that money. But I don’t think anybody would complain if 3-feet on each side of the roads in included in this scheme. I get the feeling that nobody actually thinks about it or concerned about it. We have done it this way for as long as anybody can remember, so it has to be right. This dust is like an uncontrolled cancer; you know it is there but nobody seems to be able to do anything about it. Millions of Indians are breathing this pathogen borne dust everyday of their lives, every time they go out. It makes me sick just thinking about it. Apart from health concerns, a psychological downer associated with this dust is to see trees and beautiful lush green leaves covered with dust, except may be for a day after a rain. When you go to any western country or advanced Asian countries like Singapore you see no dust because they PAVE THE WHOLE DAMN ROAD!!!
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