Cities and sustainability

Cities are moving towards increasing populations and development of infrastructures.

Intellectuals are talking about better ways of making cities sustainable by mass transport systems to stop cars, by disincentivising cars, by making water recycling and harvesting mandatory. Institutions boast of their liquid and solid waste methodologies.

But no matter what is said and done- the crux is that one can never make a city completely or even distinctively clean, non-polluting- sustainability is out of question.

How can so much generation of sewage be sustainable? How can there be any technology which can convert so much of sewage into something usable? Can you think of any technology which can ‘eat up’ all the waste that we generate- so many plastic bottles and what not?

So, many people huddled together can never be sustainable and neither can be an urban sprawl. Cities are and would remain un sustainable. With increasing trends in urbanization and as the recent UN report puts that the urban population of the world set to increase – isn’t it a time that UN starts working against urbanization.

Everybody is missing the point and even the best of environmentalists or social thinkers cannot think of leaving the city. They are trying to find solutions in the city. And the answer is that the city needs to cease to exist.

It high time we understand that cities are against nature and will always be. Nature never wanted so many people to live together.

I am seriously thinking of shifting to a village and thinking of starting a campaign – chalo gaon ki ore

Of Dogs, defecation and humans

I was walking my dog the other day – as usual. The daily routine – two rounds in the area in between the service lane and the main road. I have now walked my dogs for around an year now in those service lanes. So, do my fellow neighbours.

My dog would go around a bush and after much adjustment of angles would finally deliver…to my respite. As then I can get back to my house and start getting ready for office. But I cannot acknowledge my satisfaction as I pretend to look away and ignore if my dog is shitting.

But today was different, just as my dog started his delivery…and as I looked in some other direction. I suddenly saw these four or five rickshaw wallahs, who sit there along the rickshaws waiting for people to pay for a ride to the metro station, looking at us.

They were all looking at my dog shit. I don’t know how can I describe their expressions – it was neither a smile nor a retortment, it was neither embarrassment nor anything else. But a thought came into my mind (Don’t know if I am correct)

Probably, most of them must be living in some slum nearby and go out to some bushy places outside civilization to shit. And they have to do it secretly perhaps, so that no one watches them and rebukes them for having spoilt the place. And…I am sure they must have been shooed away once in a while…while caught shitting.

And there Max was…the dog of a not so upper class Indian family, who had the right to shit in the middle of city…in the middle of the day…(not early morning)…and nobody can stop him because he is a dog.

What a wonderful city…where a lazy Labrador can shit wherever it wants but a hard working rickshaw puller would have to find a place to shit.

The T3 experience: Prayer rooms

Heard a lot…read a lot about the new T3 terminal at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. Recently got my first experience of it.
Well…it certainly wasn’t a WOW! effect. It was ok. Yes…it does match up to international standards to a great extent.
But the thing which I liked most and noticed was the special prayer rooms at the airport. Never seen or lets say noticed prayer rooms at any of the international airports…I have been to.
Thought…might as well go and see…what a prayer room looks like.
A well carpeted room with some books lying there…(Kurans…Some Mullaji must have left there). There were some stands to keep the book open to read it. Interestingly, someone had indicated the direction of Kaba on the wall.
It felt nice that a space had been created for prayers…for reading namaz (I thought in my head)
Later…I shared the same with my wife. She felt irritated that a place had been created to do namaaz. She said why cant a person do Hindu prayers or read the Bible.
And instantly…I said “ who said it is for namaaz. Anybody could pray there. Its called a prayer room. Its just that a lot of Muslims actually do pray and do the namaaz. And a lot of Hindus or Christians don’t …or rather do”
There was a thought going on in my mind of an airport being a secular place. But then…when you can have smoking rooms at airports…why not prayer rooms. After all smoking is despised in all religions.

Way to go T3.

Second thoughts: I just saw that the symbol for the prayer room resembles the Islamic posture for praying. But..still I don’t think its reason enough to edit what I have written above.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that there is a seperate prayer room for women.