છઠ્ઠું વર્ષ અને 150મી પોસ્ટ: એકવીસમી સદીમાં ગુજરાતી લેખક અને વાચક!

1લી એપ્રિલ, 2010ના 'ફૂલ્સ ડે'ના પવિત્ર દિવસે હસતાં-હસતાં આ બ્લોગ શરુ કરેલો. હવે રમતાં-રમતાં 6 વર્ષ પુરા થયા. ત્યારે પણ 'લખતાં' નહોતું આવડતું, આજે પણ કદાચ નથી આવડતું! ત્યારે ય પણ ક્યારેક ઝીણું તો ક્યારેક જાડું કંતાતું હતું, આજે પણ! આ છ વર્ષમાં ગોકળગાયની ગતિએ 150 પોસ્ટ પૂરી કરી. ઇન ફેક્ટ, 150મી પોસ્ટ પૂરી કરી રહ્યો છું. આજે 150મી પોસ્ટ મારા બ્લોગના જન્મદિને (જન્મ અઠવાડિયે) એક્સક્લુઝીવલી માત્ર બ્લોગ પર મૂકી રહ્યો છું. આ 150 પોસ્ટમાં 'નવગુજરાત સમય' માટે લખેલી લગભગ પચાસ અને ડીએનએ માટે લખેલી લગભગ ત્રીસ પોસ્ટ અંગ્રેજીમાં પણ છે. આ ઉપરાંત સ્ક્રોલમાં (scroll.in) લખ્યું, સાર્થક 'જલસો'માં લખ્યું, નિરીક્ષકમાં લખ્યું. કોઈકે સામેથી હક અને હઠ કરીને લેખ માંગ્યા તો કોઈકે પૂછ્યા વિના કંઇક છાપી નાખ્યું. કોઈકે એવો આગ્રહ રાખ્યો કે મારે મારું લખેલું છપાવવા તેમની કુરનીશ બજાવવી જોઈએ. જો કે,  મોટેભાગે સારા અનુભવો જ થયા છે. ઘણાં નવા મિત્રો મળ્યા છે, ઘણી નવી સમજ કેળવાઈ છે, જે સૌથી મોટી મૂડી છે. 

પ્રોફેશનલ લેખકોની - કટાર લેખકોની જીંદગી આકરી હોય છે. ફૂલ ટાઈમ નોકરી અને પાર્ટ ટાઈમ પ્રવાસો સાથે નિયમિત કોલમ લખવાની શિસ્ત કેળવવી અઘરી હોય છે. વળી, 2010થી યુનિકોડના આવવા પછી ગુજરાતી લેખકો, કવિઓની સંખ્યામાં જે સતત વધારો થયો છે, જે જોતાં એવું લાગે છે કે આજે લેખકોની સંખ્યા વાચકો કરતાં વધારે છે. સાથે સાથે, મમળાવીને વાંચવું ગમે તે પ્રકારના લખાણો ઘટતાં જાય છે. છેલ્લે, તમે ભીજવતું કે દઝાડતું લખાણ ક્યારે વાંચેલું? મનોજ ખંડેરિયા તેમની લોકપ્રિય ગઝલમાં કહે છે તેમ પકડો કલમને કોઈ પળે, હાથ આખેઆખો બળે - તેવું બને છે? અને એવું બને તો શું લેખકની લ્હાય વાચક સુધી પહોંચે છે? લેખકની ગમે તેવી લ્હાય હોય પણ શું વાચક તેને સાહીઠ સેકંડથી વધારેનો એટેન્શન સ્પાન આપી શકે છે?

એક વાર 'લેખક' બની ગયા પછી, ઘણાં બીજા કોઈકે લખેલું વાંચવાનું છોડી દે છે પણ બીજા પોતાનું વાંચ્યા કરે તેવો આગ્રહ રાખે છે. દર અઠવાડિયે નવા વિચારો, નવી સામગ્રી,  મૌલિક લેખો વગેરે લાવવું અઘરું હોય છે. કેટલીક વાર કોઈક નવો મુદ્દો આવે ત્યારે વાચક તરીકે આપણને ખબર જ હોય છે કે આ વિષે કોણ શું લખશે. અને કમનસીબે, આ અનુમાન ખોટું પડતું નથી.  માન્યું કે મોટાભાગના લેખકોનું એક પ્રકારનું સામાજિક-રાજકીય વલણ હોય છે પણ તેની અંદર પણ તાજગી,  મૌલિકતા હોઈ શકે! આજે મને સરેરાશ ગુજરાતી લેખક એક તરફ સેલ્ફી-ગ્રસ્ત અવસ્થામાં પોતાનાં લખાણને પ્રમોટ કરતો દેખાય છે તો બીજી બાજુ વાચકોને લુભાવવા અને ખુશ રાખવા આગ્રહ કરીને પીરસતો પીરસણિયો થઇ ગયો છે. ફરક માત્ર એક જ છે કે કોઈનો શો રૂમ હોય છે, કોઈની દુકાન હોય છે અને કોઈની લારી - બાકી અલગ અલગ પ્રકારની દુકાનદારીની અપેક્ષા તો દરેક લેખક પાસેથી હોય છે. ક્યારેક તો લેખકની બનવાની તૈયારી કરતાં   દુકાનદારીની તૈયારી વધુ મજબૂત હોય છે.

સાથે સાથે મને છેલ્લા છ વર્ષમાં એ પણ ખૂંચે છે કે ગુજરાતી લેખનમાં રૂઢિચુસ્તતાનો ઉત્સવ લોકપ્રિય થઇ રહ્યો છે! સમાજના અને રાજકારણના સ્થાપિત હિતોને સ્વીકારી લેવાની અને બને તો તેનું મહાત્મ્ય કરવાની ફેશન ચાલે છે. આધુનિક, પ્રગતિશીલ, ખુલ્લું દિમાગ ધરાવતાં, ઉદાર મતના લેખકોની સંખ્યા ગુજરાતમાં કેટલી? શું આજે આપણાં એક સરેરાશ લેખકને પોતાની જાતિ-જ્ઞાતિ, લિંગ, ધર્મ, રંગ વગેરેમાંથી ઉદ્ભવતા સહજ પક્ષપાતો અને પૂર્વગ્રહોની જાણકારી હોય છે? શું આ લેખક સમજે છે કે તેની પોતાની સામાજિક પરિસ્થિતિના લીધે સહજ રીતે મળતાં પ્રિવિલેજ કેટલાં છે? અને પોતાને સહજ રીતે મળતાં સામાજિક વિશેષાધિકારોનો (પ્રીવીલેજીસનો) ઉપયોગ કરીને તે શું મેળવે છે? અને જે તે મેળવી લીધા પછી તે કોની પીઠ થાબડે છે? આ બધા અઘરા પ્રશ્નો છે. અને અઘરા પ્રશ્નોનો જવાબ અઘરો હોય છે. અઘરા જવાબોમાં મંથન-ચિંતન-વલોપાત હોય છે. ચાલો, આજે તમે  આધુનિક કે પ્રગતિશીલ વિચારોથી કેળવાયા ન હોય તે બની શકે પણ, કમ સે કમ તમારો કોઈ ઈમાનદાર વલોપાત કે અસલ વૈચારિક સંઘર્ષ તો હોઈ શકે ને! પણ લેખક પાસેથી અપેક્ષા હોય છે કે તે નિર્વાણ પામેલ દૈવી આત્માની જેમ ઊંચા આસનેથી બેસીને પ્રવચન આપે, દરેક મુદ્દાનું 'સનાતન સત્ય' પ્રગટ કરે. તેમાં વિચાર-વલોપાતનું કોઈ સ્થાન હોતું નથી. વધુમાં, તે માની લીધેલા અદ્રશ્ય રાજકીય શત્રુઓના ગાભાં કાઢી નાખે, બેન્ડ બજાવી દે. પછી તાળીઓનો ગડગડાટ થાય, શો પૂરો થાય. પેલો દૈવી આત્મા હવે નવરો પડે છે. વાચકો પોતાના બ્રાઉઝરમાં હવે બીજી નવી વિન્ડો ખોલે છે.

લેખક હવે દુકાનદાર, દૈવી આત્મા અને જાદુગરનું મિશ્રણ ધરાવતો બહુરુપીયો છે. વાચક હવે  ગ્રાહક, ભક્તગણ અને પ્રેક્ષકનું મિશ્રણ ધરાવતો બીજો બહુરુપીયો છે. લેખકની દુકાનનું કાઉન્ટર, ઉંચું આસન કે સ્ટેજ ઓળંગી શકવાની સંભાવના કેટલી? વાચકની બે હાથ જોડીને બેસી રહેવાની કે તાળીઓ પડવાની જગ્યાએ ઉભા થઈને  સવાલ પૂછવાની ભૂમિકા હોઈ શકે કે નહિ? લેખક 'આવું જ ખપે છે' તેમ  માનીને  ગુણવત્તા સાથે બાંધછોડ કરતો  થઇ જાય છે અને વાચક પણ બધી જ બાંધછોડો સ્વીકારી લે છે. મરીઝ કહે છે કે તેમ - તમે પણ કોઈ વાત મનથી ન કીધી અને અમે પણ કોઈ વાત મનમાં ન લાવ્યા. મને આ લેખક અને વાચક બંનેના બીબાંઢાળ રૂપ ખૂંચે છે. સરેરાશ લેખકની મીડીયોક્રિટી (mediocrity) અને સરેરાશ વાચકની પેસીવીટી (passivity) ખૂંચે છે. લેખક અને વાચક બંનેને માટે આ જડ ભૂમિકાને લાંઘવી જરૂરી છે. આ પ્રકારનું ઉલ્લંઘન (transgression) સ્વસ્થ સમાજની નિશાની હોય છે. એકવીસમી સદીમાં શું કોઈ લખાણ તમારા મગજના અંધારા ખૂણામાં રહેલા ન્યુરોન્સને અજવાળી શકે છે કે તે અંધારા ખૂણા પર દરવાજો જડીને સદાય માટે તાળું જડી દે છે? આ પૂછવા જેવો પ્રશ્ન હોય છે.

છ વર્ષમાં રાજકીય-સામાજિક ક્ષેત્રે ઘણું બદલાયું છે. 'ગરીબોના હાથ' વાળી સરકાર ગઈ અને 'અચ્છે દિન' વાળી સરકાર આવી છે. આ સાથે રાજકીય ધ્રુવીકરણ પણ જબરજસ્ત થયું છે. તમે ક્યાં તો અમારી સાથે છો અથવા વિરુદ્ધ! મધ્યમ માર્ગનો, મધ્યમાં રહેલી રાજકીય સ્પેસનો વિલય થયો છે. લેખક અને વાચક બંનેને આજે પક્ષાપક્ષીની રમત રમવી પડે છે. ઘટનાઓ બદલાય છે પણ તેમનું વિશ્લેષણ બદલાતું નથી. આ પક્ષાપક્ષીની રમતમાં સૌથી પહેલી ખુવારી સત્ય અને તર્કબુદ્ધિની થતી હોય છે. અત્યારે આપણે જે પ્રકારના રાજકીય લોલકમાં છીએ તેમાં આ ધ્રુવીકરણ ખુવાર થાય તે પહેલાં થોડા વર્ષ માટે વધવાનું છે. ત્યારે લેખકે અને વાચકે એ નક્કી કરવાનું છે કે તેઓ રાજકીય લોલકમાં લોલમલોલ થવું છે કે પછી લોલકગતિની બહાર ઉભા રહેવું છે. નીચે વાંચો રમેશ પારેખને! આ કરવું અઘરું હોય છે. પણ જીંદગી ક્યાં સહેલી હોય છે? સહેલી તો સુરજ બરજાત્યાની ફિલ્મો હોય છે!

બધાને આવતો સરખો વિચાર હોઈ શકું, 

અગર વિચારના વર્તુળની બહાર હોઈ શકું; 

હું કોઈ નક્કી નથી કે મને વિચારી શકો, 

જીવું ને જિંદગીમાંથી ફરાર હોઈ શકું ! 

 -રમેશ પારેખ

દરેક ટીકા કે ટિપ્પણ નવા વિચારનું, નવી વિભાવનાનું સ્વાગત કરે છે. મારી સમકાલીન લખાણો માટેની ટીકા-ટીપ્પણી તે મારો આખરી ચુકાદો નથી પણ મારું વિચાર દ્વંદ્વ છે. છેલ્લા છ વર્ષમાં થયેલા સ્વપ્નભંગની સૂચી છે. ઘણી શક્યતાઓ ધરાવતા ટેલેન્ટેડ લેખકોને 'સેટલ' થવાની લ્હ્યાયમાં ભેખડે ભરાતાં જોયા છે. આ લેખક અને વાચક જગતના પ્રવાહો ગુજરાત સુધી સીમિત નથી. તેથી આ ગુજરાતી અસ્મિતાની ક્રાઈસીસ નથી. આ ક્રાઈસીસ એકવીસમી સદી માટે સુસંગત લખાણના વિચારબીજની છે. આ ક્રાઈસીસ લોલકગતિની નિર્ધારિત ગતિને નહિ પડકારી શકવાથી ઉભી થઇ છે. આ એકવીસમી સદીના લેખક અને વાચકની એક્ઝીસ્ટેનશીયલ ક્રાઈસીસ છે. એક લખાણને સાહિત્ય બનવા માટે લાંબી મજલ કાપવી પડતી હોય છે. આ મજલ કાપવા માટે જે સાહસીઓ નીકળ્યા હોય તેમને 'ઓલ ધ બેસ્ટ' અને આ મજલમાં જે જલ્દી થાકી જવાના હોય તેમને 'બક અપ'. ફરી મનોજ ખંડેરિયાને યાદ કરીએ તો એવું પણ બને કે અડધા રસ્તે રસ્તોને ભોમિયા બંને છેતરે અને એવું પણ બને કે જ્યાં પહોંચવાની ઝંખના વર્ષોથી હોય ત્યાં પહોંચતા જ મન પાછું વળે. ખેર, લેખક અને વાચક બંને ને તેમની લાંબી ઉંચી ઉડાન મુબારક અને ગમતીલો મુકામ મુબારક! મુબારકબાદી સાથે નીચેની કવિતા બંધ બેસે છે. આ આર્થર સ્કીત્ઝ્લરે 1898માં લખેલી કવિતા વિયેના શહેરના લિયોપોલ્ડ મ્યુઝીયમમાં છે.

સત્યનું હાર્દ તેને જ મળે છે જે તેને શોધવા નીકળે છે. 

સ્વપ્ન અને  જાગૃતિની જેમ જ એકબીજાની અંદર એકધારા વહે છે,

સત્ય અને જૂઠ. કશું ય નિર્ધારિત ક્યાં હોય છે.

આપણે ક્યાં બીજાને કે પોતાની જાતને ઓળખી શકીએ છીએ.

આપણે તો રમતમાં રચ્યા રહીએ છીએ - અને જે આ જાણે તે ખરો ચતુર સુજાણ.

છેલ્લે, એક નાની ફોટોગ્રાફિક રમૂજ - વિયેના શહેરના અનેક પેડેસ્ટ્રિઅન ક્રોસિંગ આ પ્રકારની ગ્રીન લાઈટ મૂકીને સજાતીય સબંધોના સર્વત્ર સ્વીકાર માટેની પેરવી કરવામાં આવે છે. યોગનુયોગ, આ ફોટોગ્રાફ પર વેલેન્ટાઈન દિવસ (14 ફેબ્રુઆરી, 2016) પર લેવામાં આવ્યો છે.

Indian cities should discourage cars completely, not just restrict them!

CHOKING CITIES

Delhi's odd-even experiment will be messy, contested and incremental, but restrictions on using cars are here to stay.

The odd-even rationing of roads in Delhi has got everyone talking about air pollution, public transport, carpooling and parking charges. It’s amusing that issues that until recently were confined to policy and academic circles have suddenly entered the public discourse. While this reaffirms the belief that an issue’s proximity to Delhi is directly proportionate to its media coverage, it doesn’t change the reality that the air pollution levels in the capital and other cities are indicative of a public health crisis. And it’s a crisis that has been created by placing our relentless appetite for private automobiles above human interest.

Automobiles dominate our cities and our minds. “Traffic congestion” is part of everyday lexicon and building of flyovers is widely used to claim development in cities. Like the mythological demon that kept gobbling, the demands for uninterrupted traffic flow, wider roads and more flyovers remain unsatisfied.

Private automobiles have become dominant thanks to cheaper loans, lenient taxation, demand for free parking spaces and the absence of effective road-pricing mechanisms. “Car seva” remains the unofficial motto of our urban policies, putting a dent in the city’s budget while officials get criticised for not supplying enough essential “infrastructure” for smooth and fast traffic movement. The large number of litigations against the odd-even car use restrictions in Delhi and the bitter criticism of the capital’s Bus Rapid Transit System illustrate how the incumbent automobile regime resists any form of usage restrictions or re-prioritisation.

Here, there and everywhere

The space occupied by automobiles – moving or parked – is viewed as inevitable and legitimate over other urban activities such as play areas for children or street trading. A car or a motorbike are not only “utility vehicles” but are fast becoming personalised objects of cultural consumption. Popular media and automobile advertisements continue to portray automobiles as symbols of greater freedom and higher social status.

Ownership of an automobile brings a sense of entitlement for consuming increasingly more road space. We have fallaciously linked automobiles and the upgrade from a motorbike to a car as the only possible curve of social and economic progress. Similarly, a spurt in the private automobile sector is viewed as a pathway for economic growth. The automobile regime encompasses political, economic, social and cultural vested interests developed around the relentless consumption of automobile use.

The dominance of automobiles also affects other transport modes and access to public spaces. As automobiles appropriate more and more space, the use and quality of public transport and the share of walking and cycling in commuting declines. Even so, walking and cycling constitute 40% share in urban travel, according to the latest census.

Pedestrians and cyclists scavenge for road space. Jaywalking is not pleasant in most cities. Automobile-free areas, where one can walk freely, children can play carelessly or where the elderly can relax, are rare, gated, exclusive, and at times expensive.

Housing colonies, institutions, streets are infested with parked automobiles, each of them giving up on other activities to accommodate the vehicles. Soon, Gurgaon-like suburbs proliferating in cities around India will lock their residents into an automobile-centric culture, just like the residents of the low-density sprawling suburbs of the North American cities.

We live in cities made for automobiles, honking is an inevitable part of our urban soundscapes, and breathing the foul air emanating from automobiles completes our urban lives. While private automobiles are not solely responsible for air pollution, the dominance of the automobile regime severely affects the quality of urban life.

Long-term projections show that by 2050, the majority of urban travellers in India will depend on public transport of various forms including the para-transits, walking and cycling, carpools or car share if they become popular.

Future course

Despite high vehicle ownership, cities in industrialised countries have reversed their public policies and have started restricting the use of automobiles in one way or the other.

So how will the restrictions on automobile consumption become a political priority in India? Do we have political constituencies around promoting public transport today? Do people demand better buses – GPS-enabled, smart card-operated, etc. – instead of cheaper fuel for their private vehicles? Shouldn’t we have a Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Shahari Footpath Yojana? Will cycling to work be incentivised in the Smart Cities Mission?

There is a silver lining. The problem of automobile dominance in the city affects the elite class, and that’s why there is such a hue and cry at the moment. Delhi’s odd-even car use restrictions have initiated politics of differential mobility on a large scale – a little niche to discuss alternative ways of moving around the city, a first step to dismantling the idea that car ownership gives you god-given rights to the road space.

The policy may not be completely rational and the government might not have the wherewithal to fully implement it initially. But let’s remember that public interventions in India are messy, contested and incremental.

The odd-even formula from Delhi will slowly get more people on board to understand that restrictions on the use of cars are here to stay. It will grow into two-wheeler restrictions, carpooling and, hopefully, better public transport integration.

As long as the Delhi government is keen to stay the course, these restrictions will become a reality in the capital and hopefully in many other Indian cities as well.

Published on 4th January, 2016. URL: http://scroll.in/article/801229/indian-cities-should-discourage-cars-completely-not-jut-restrict-them 

True leaders lead by action: A welcome change among the politicians!

True leaders lead by action: A welcome change among the politicians (that 'practice what you preach' comes back in political fashion) 

- Ahmedabad mayor Gautam Shah has decided to take the BRTS to his office once a month. Last Monday, he initiated his resolve by commuting to his office via BRTS instead of his official car and he used the public transport throughout the day.

- A municipal corporater from Asarawa has resolved to cycle to the municipal corporation once a month. We hear the same news about a Member of Parliament who cycles to the Parliament everyday.

- Similarly, the Delhi government has decided to put in place the odd-even car use restrictions. The cabinet of Delhi lead the citizens by their own actions. Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister, has been cycling to office. Chief minister Arvind Kejariwal is car-pooling.

This is a welcome trend among the politicians across party lines. They are leading by actions. ‘Practice what you preach’ went out of political fashion in last two-three decades. But let us hope it is slowly coming back to public life and public discourse.This is a great trend nationally because the politicians are giving us an important message – individual actions actions matter.

One can be cynical and say that how much do these individual actions matter in the global picture of environmental protection. One trip less by car is not going to protect the environment. Well, it all starts with whether or not you believe in small actions and their power of transforming the world.

Unfortunately, the environmental discourse in India has not become about individual choices. The environmental discourse is more distant from one’s own self in India, where it is ‘some one else’ who is going to protect the environment, not ‘you’!

Some people also believe in ‘my right to pollute’ because we are a developing country. There is an assumption that we will have to pollute our way to prosperity. India as a country might take a bit longer to adopt to fully eco-friendly energy resources.That does not mean that we, as individuals will use that as an excuse not to change our polluting choices. We should not be comfortable with ‘right to pollute’ without exploring the alternatives. Environmental protection or more specifically, pollution-free cities is all about the individual choices that we make in our daily life.

Using a cycle to reach the office or taking public transport once in a while, will help us get out of the routine and try something new. Environmentally-friendly choices are also health friendly. The politicians have already shown us a way and now it is for the citizens do their bit. For politicians will go where we would like them to go. Do we want them to ‘practice what they preach’? Then we will also have to do the same – walk on the righteous path we expect others to walk. Finally, it is for us to decide if we want to make our individual actions matter. 

(21st December, 2015: DNA Ahmedabad edition, Cities Supplement, Page 5)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=76333&boxid=3005&ed_date=2016-1-04&ed_code=1310009&ed_page=5

Resolve to wear seasonal cloths, eat seasonal fruits and walk when you can!

New year resolutions to 'save the world' - we can do a lot more! 

There is a lot more we can do for the environment besides taking pride when the children make drawings on the subjects such as ‘save trees’ or ‘save environment’. Here is what could be our very own seven-point New Year resolutions to save the world–resolutions to ‘be the change we want to see in the world’:

1. Engage yourself with the environment debate - search, read, explore about the environmental issues. Involve yourself, engage yourself first in understanding and then making up your mind to do something about the issue.

2. Live as per the weather - Wear seasonal clothes, eat seasonal food. Avoid cooling yourself unnecessarily. Choose a house with ample light and wind, it will save your energy bills for the life time.

3. Sensible use of transport energy - Walk where you can, cycle if you are alone, motorbike is for the double ride, rickshaw is for the triple ride, use cars for four people and bigger cars/SUVs for large families. Be smart about your air travel and avoid the unnecessary ones, take trains for longer distances – it’s fun! Demand bonus for using public transport from your boss, if you are a boss - give the bonus to the public transport users. Do not resist parking charges to park your vehicles on roads – it is an act of ‘privatising’ public space! Do a campaign for better public transport, good walking/cycling infrastructure, more green spaces around your house and give your vote to such ‘green’ parties in the local elections!

4. First local then global - use more and more local materials, food and groceries. If you like local cheese, don’t go for the Swiss. If you can live with Ambaji’s marble, don’t import them from Italy. Eat a local burger, don’t fall for the American wheat and the French lettuce. Make a small garden and make your house green... even if you just have a little balcony.

5. Adopt green technologies - They will be in vogue if we use them! Use wind energy, solar energy where you can. Conserve rain water. Don’t use clean, potable water for gardening or to wash your motorbike and car(s). Use water miserly, get a plumber and fix that leaking tap.

6. Re-use and re-cycle - make a quilt out of the old saris and a shopping bag out of old shirts and use them with pride. Do the same with the food and don’t waste it. Don’t buy things with lot of packaging. Demand green products from the companies.

7. Be content - Don’t buy everything sold to you. Seek a great joy if you are not being sold anything. Go for shopping after eating, you will buy less. If you are depressed meet your friends instead of going for shopping to pamper yourself. Don’t fall for sentimental consumerism of all things!

Many of these ideas have been very much part of our lives but they are being forgotten slowly. Saving environment is actually saving that lifestyle which taught us to be fair, balanced and not be too extravagant in consuming resources. If we build our life around such ideas (which you will, if you explore the environmental issues) then you will not only add your two pence in climate change mitigation and adaptation but also change your lifestyle for the better. A new year is the best time to be ‘naively’ optimistic about the small acts, when they are multiplied by millions, can transform the world.

(28th December, 2015: DNA Ahmedabad edition, Cities Supplement, Page 5)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=76046&boxid=3177&ed_date=2015-12-28&ed_code=1310009&ed_page=5

Delhi Air Pollution: Ahmedabad should wake up and act, now!

Imagine a city where you wake up and look at the official alert on the air quality and then decide about your day – whether to go out or not. It might be safe to go out on the ‘saffron alert’ days but with a face mask on. Wearing a face mask does not bother you any more. On the ‘red alert’ days, people are advised to stay indoors. Only on the ‘green’ days, you may freely go out without a face mask. But ‘green days’ are decreasing every year. The air purifier installed in your house is working relentlessly and increasing your energy bill with the same rigor, just like those blooming air conditioners. Of course, It is a luxury to have air purifiers at homes and offices and it is even greater luxury to have a choice about going out or not. Since not everyone in the city have these luxuries, majority of the population in this city suffers by breathing the worst air possible for human beings. No, this is not a description of the distant, dystopian future from a sci-fi novel. This is happening right now in an Asian city, Beijing. 

Delhi’s air pollution problem is not less severe than the one in Beijing. Triggered by toxins and high levels of particulate matter, Delhi's air has crossed all limits of safety, breaching even WHO (World Health Organization) standards. The air pollution in Delhi has started a national debate about the quality of air we breath in our cities. While it is heartening to see that the Judiciary, the government and the private sector is working towards the possible solution, the time is running out. The air pollution levels in Delhi are a public health emergency. But let us find out how severe is the problem in Ahmedabad. 

Unfortunately, we not have reliable data about ambient air quality in Ahmedabad from the recent months. One wonders if it is the case of ‘if we don’t look that way, we don’t have to worry about it’. However, the earlier trends show that Ahmedabad does not have a very good track record of healthy ambient air quality. The levels of particular matter, specially the particulates less than 2.5 micrometers are quite high in the Ahmedabad air, often at unhealthy levels. Along with the vehicular exhausts and re-suspended dust due to vehicles, what make the things worst are the industrial fumes, open garbage burning, construction dust and the power plant emissions. 

So what is the plan of tackling the growing air pollution problem in Ahmedabad? There is nothing comprehensive in sight yet. The need of the hour is to have an air quality management unit within the Municipal Corporation with the support from the State government. This unit should have short-term plan of managing construction and road dust better while prohibiting open burning of garbage and other residues. The long term plan would include promotion of walking, cycling and public transport while improving the efficiency of the industries and the power plant in dealing with their emissions. 

Apparently, Ahmedabad has just submitted the plan make the city ‘Smart’. One important parameter of making Ahmedabad smart is to prevent or mitigate the air pollution disaster rather than passively waiting for it to occur.

(21st December, 2015: DNA Ahmedabad edition, Cities Supplement, Page 5)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=75721&boxid=3695&ed_date=2015-12-21&ed_code=1310009&ed_page=5

A dynamic city deserves a charismatic and inspiring mayor!

A dynamic city deserves a charismatic and inspiring mayor! (Will we ever get one?)

Can you name the last three mayors of your city? Do you know their achievements during their tenure? Did we even get to ask them what they have achieved? Have you come across the interview of your mayor in the local media? We hardly know the mayors of our cities and what they set out to achieve. However, the mayors of various cities across the world are reaching new heights on their charismatic leadership and leading the urban development initiative in their cities. This is for them to elevate to national-level politics after becoming the mayor of an important city. But, quite an opposite turn is taking place in India’s urban politics. The last ten mayors in the city – whether from BJP or Congress – did not make to state-level politics or held an important public office after their tenure as a mayor. The position of mayor in our cities is a ceremonial position in our cities without any real political power.

Many cities have the Mayor-in-Council kind of system where the Mayor has full authority and ultimate political and financial autonomy in his city. In India, we do not have such a system. Our cities are indirectly governed by state governments and do not enjoy full political or financial autonomy even after the 74th constitutional amendment act. Most urban projects would have to pass through the scrutiny of the state officials and politicians. But it is still possible for a mayor to have a decisive role and vision and forge a partnership for development with the municipal commissioner and the standing committee chairman. The successful mayors around the world are punching above their own weights. Cities like New York and London have famous mayors like Michael Bloomberg and Boris Johnson respectively, who managed to implement many successful and people-centric projects in their city. For successful politicians, it is always ‘people first’ and not ‘friends first’.

In many developing cities, a positive turn in urban politics is being lead by their mayors. Tri Rishmaharini is the first female mayor of Surabaya in Indonesia. She is a trained architect with a masters’ degree in urban management and with a work experience of 20 years in government agencies. She decided to make the most of public open spaces and empty lands. In a short time span of three-four years, she managed to develop 11 parks with full WiFi access, libraries, fitness and sports facilities. Similarly, Enrique Penelosa who was recently re-elected in Bogota, Colombia had a track record of developing a new public transport system, building public libraries, giving space to the street-hawkers and building sidewalks. Similarly, Lee Myung-bak was the mayor of Seoul before he became the president of South Korea between 2008 and 2013. 

From Bogota to Surabaya, the city-level politicians have turned adversities into advantages for their cities. Our cities have their own dynamism of local culture and businesses, and are bustling with indigenous entrepreneurs. The results of the local body elections are due in Gujarat and it is the right time to hope for a dynamic mayor in your town!

(30th November, 2015: DNA Ahmedabad edition, Cities Supplement, Page 5)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=74800&boxid=5019&ed_date=2015-11-30&ed_code=1310009&ed_page=5

In the local body elections this year, I feel cheated as a voter!

Do you know what BJP has promised for your city if it is re-elected to power? And, any clue what Congress has promised for you if given a chance to emerge? BJP declared its city-level manifesto 48 hours before the deadline to end the campaigning for civic body elections. Congress declared its manifesto for the polls a day before that. Interestingly, both parties subtly and directly hinted that the other party has copied their ideas.It does not matter ‘who copied from whom’ but this entire episode conveys only one thing: there is no fundamental difference between the promises made by these parties respectively. We will have to choose between either of these Tweeddledees or Tweeddledums.

Politics in Gujarat has for long been political jugglery between two parties, hence, the lack of an alternative is not a new thing. Seriously, the citizens never got a chance to deliberate on the local urban development agenda of either of the parties. Did we get to discuss the traffic problems, water supply irregularities, solid waste mess created in the city? Did we get to discuss what is the future of the riverfront project or the BRTS? We did not even get a week to look at the manifestos and to deliberate them in detail. We also didn’t get to evaluate the ruling party’s performance in state in the last five years of municipal corporation. We didn’t get time to evaluate the role of opposition party in making the ruling party more accountable. Somewhere, both political parties are going to be happy if there is no demand of accountability or transparency in their decision- making process.

It is true that there is a lot of rush in a build up to this election. But the political parties and the election commission knew that the elections are due, yet they were never prepared for it. It was the High Court’s order, which pushed the administration to conduct the elections in due time. Why would the court intervene if people do their job well? The complacency of not taking the municipal elections seriously flows from the election commission to political parties to local volunteers to the voters. Voters’ turnout is going to be much lesser this time and we can hardly blame the voters for this. One political party might lose the election but as voters and as citizens, we are going to be the ultimate losers. As citizens, we will be giving one political party the right of ruling us for five years without knowing their development agenda. There are no local agendas or promises of changing things in our surroundings. State-level politics of caste, religion and class has crept into these local elections.

I had no rational parameters to choose between two parties. I feel cheated by the system – the election commission, political parties and their candidates. I feel defeated as a voter who wants to see positive changes in my municipal ward. This election translates into losing an opportunity of making democracy work at the local level.

PS: As I claim in the article, the voter turnout was very poor in Ahmedabad (about 27% till 4 pm) but it dramatically increased by 20% in last one hour!

(23rd November, 2015: DNA Ahmedabad edition, Cities Supplement, Page 5)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=74495&boxid=3374&ed_date=2015-11-23&ed_code=1310009&ed_page=2

Corporator, we should meet often and work together for our ward

Dear Corporator, 

you might not remember me but I remember seeing you in a marriage function in the neighborhood last year. I have not seen you ever since. I appreciate the fact that you have attended all the marriages, openings of shops and other social functions in the neighbourhood. Five years back, when you came to my building to ask for our votes, you promised that we will be in touch. I never realised that ‘being in touch’ means you will be attending all the social events in the area, or occasionally we will see your face on the posters and hoardings wishing us for various festivals.

I thought we will have a dialogue about the developmental issues in our municipal ward. But we never got a chance to do that. Now, it is again time for the municipal elections and I am likely to see you again. I hope, you are not relying on an assumption that I will be voting for a particular party based on national or state politics. This time, I have decided to vote for a local candidate who works locally and not based on the party lines. Because the state level or national level politicians are not going to hear my pleas about the garbage collection or footpaths in my ward.

I guess you have put some benches here and there with your name on it. I am not sure if you have done anything else apart from putting these benches. Isn’t it too ad hoc! I don’t even know how much budget you had for the development works. How did you spend it? How did you decide the priorities? When you get elected for five years, shouldn’t you, along with other corporators, decide a roadmap for spending the budget in a planned manner?

Let me make a quick list of the problems in the ward. The door-to-door garbage collection is working alright, but the sweeping of streets and the garbage collections from the streets is not at all efficient. The street garbage is openly burnt which is a health hazard. There are many unsafe spots on the roads in our ward. It is dangerous for anyone to cross the roads – especially so for senior citizens. There are no footpaths to walk on, or safe pedestrian crossings. Every time we raise this issue, we are told that we don’t make footpaths because they will be encroached! Isn’t it absurd! Some areas in the ward are suffering from unhygienic conditions and irregular water supply. Some of the street lights do not work. Are there any plans for more planting trees in our ward? How do we tackle these issues? There are many more in my list.

I will probably not receive any answers to these questions, but that doesn’t mean that I will stop asking. You probably don’t like the ‘concerned citizen’ types like me. Let’s put the personal likes and dislikes aside to try and make a deliberative democracy work at the local level. Shouldn’t we have monthly meetings at the neighborhood level and a large one annually at the area level to discuss your budget and the priorities? Please involve us, discuss things with us, make us participate in your plans for the ward.

Thanks for patience.

Sincerely,
a concerned citizen from your ward – our ward (though you know me as a voter).

(2nd November, 2015: DNA Ahmedabad edition, Cities Supplement, Page 5)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=73613&boxid=2522&ed_date=2015-11-02&ed_code=1310009&ed_page=5

Welfare of sanitary workers is the first step towards 'Clean India'!

Welfare of sanitary workers is the first step towards 'Clean India'. (સફાઈ કર્મચારીઓના કલ્યાણ વગર 'સ્વચ્છ ભારત' શક્ય નથી.)

Is it only me, or did everyone miss the great spectacle on October 2 of netas, babus, celebrities and wanna-be-celebrities posing with brooms in their hands? In 2014, this time of the year, the media was buzzing with photos and videos of celebrity cleaning acts. Some naïve people like me thought the dirty days are over. Indian cities will be clean. But we live in times where the photo-ops are more important than the cause.

There are two severe bottlenecks in the governing system of garbage in our cities. One, the workers, who collect garbage and clean our streets, are not much cared for. And the organisations who hire these workers – the municipalities – have their own problems of financial health and political autonomy. Who is looking into these aspects of ‘clean India’?

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has started a remarkable pilot project of segregating garbage at the household level into dry and food waste. Households, which segregate the waste, will get 5 percent discount on property tax bills as incentives. This is a great way to make waste collection environment-friendly.But the garbage collection, in itself, is a major challenge in most cities in Gujarat. Apparently, Gujarat state has reported that they have 120 towns out of 195, which collect and transport 100 percent of the garbage produced. Only the citizens of those 120 towns can verify these claims. My experience of towns in Gujarat is quite the opposite. Streets remain filthy, and garbage is not collected for days, unless there is an official visit of some sort. Probably, I have only experienced those 75 towns, which do not claim to collect 100 percent garbage.

So, what kind of garbage collection systems do our municipal towns have? How frequently are the streets cleaned? How is the collected garbage disposed of? What percent of garbage is burnt openly? How are they paying for the cost of their staff and equipment? How much is paid to municipal sanitary staff and sweepers?

It is important to recognise the foot soldiers in the battle against filth in our cities. They are the sanitary workers and sweepers, who are the least-paid in the municipal hierarchy. The sanitary workers are paid lower than even the prevalent minimum wages in the state. And then, we expect these workers to perform their duties all seven days a week, whether during festivals or after violent clashes.

Oxford University professor Barbara Harriss-White has studied India’s waste economy in great detail. She says that the dignity and social condition of workers involved in waste management figures right at the bottom of the political agenda. Unlike many countries, India’s sanitation sector is highly caste-based. Many ‘dalit’ workers continue to clean our cities with little or no possibility of moving out of their occupations. Unless the ‘Clean India’ mission addresses such fundamental issues of welfare of workers who are actually cleaning India, our country is unlikely to be either be filth-free or be able to develop an egalitarian society.

Unless the financial health and administrative capacities of municipal towns are improved, they will not have any wherewithal to work toward the welfare of their sanitary staff. Clean India will need explicit policies of empowering the sanitary workers and municipalities.

(12th October, 2015: DNA Ahmedabad edition, Cities Supplement, Page 5)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=72604&boxid=2823&ed_date=2015-10-12&ed_code=1310009&ed_page=5

Lack of good political institutions, not resources, make countries poor!

'Lack of good political institutions, not resources, make countries poor (AKA who will make local actions plans for global development goals?)

World leaders representing 150 countries gathered in New York City last week and agreed to work towards 17 global development goals. More than three years of brainstorming and negotiations took place in every corner of the world to build consensus over them. They are designed to provide a roadmap for countries to finance and shape government policies over the next 15 years. Out of these 17 global development goals, three are highlighted here – end extreme poverty, fight inequalities or injustices, and fix climate change. These three are truly the biggest challenges faced by the world today.

Now comes the hard part. Only time will tell if these goals will remain empty rhetoric or whether they will be instrumental in changing people’s lives for better. Without adequate financing, evidence-based planning and the political will to implement the goals, 2030 will not deliver the transformative agenda desired. It is obvious that the global goals cannot remain completely top-down. Conventionally, all the decisions, plans and finances flow from the top (national level) to the bottom (city level). The real challenge is to translate these goals from national level to the city level and from the city level to the local level. Global goals require local actions. Nothing will change unless you and I see changes in our own neighbourhoods and be part of these changes. But do we have mechanisms in our cities to take the global goals to local levels?

Who will take the ownership of these local action plans based on the global goals? So who is in-charge of our local area - the neighbourhoods we live in? If there are issues like the lack of proper footpaths, problems with water supply or filthy streets then whom should we contact? Do we even know our municipal ward corporator? In fact, we do not have any occasions, which bring the local voters and their representatives together – except the elections held once in five years. Unless we put such mechanisms in place where the local corporators have to take people along, nothing much is going to change. Local communities are in the best position to ask for better infrastructure and public places or support an increase in the green cover. Pune city experimented with ‘participatory budgeting’ where the citizens of particular local areas participated in deciding what is required the most in their areas. 

Urban local bodies are the key local institutions to further any developmental agenda and yet they are the weakest links in the hierarchy of governance. There are a number of peculiarly disjointed efforts, which are far from good governance practices. We have city level plans without budgets and municipal budgets without proper plans. . We have the development plan of the city being prepared for 10 or 20 years but they are not linked with city level budgets. Again, city level plans are not sensitive to local issues.

American political scientist Francis Fukuyama says that ‘institutions matter’- poor countries are poor not because they lack resources, but because they lack effective political institutions. For the local institutions to be effective, they need their own roadmaps – short-term action plans linked with municipal budgets emerging out of various local areas in a city.

21st September, 2015: DNA Ahmedabad edition, Cities Supplement, Page 5)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=72012&boxid=2949&ed_date=2015-09-28&ed_code=1310009&ed_page=5

‘Minimum government’ means minimum meddling in people’s lives!

The state government has gotten used to putting blanket mobile internet ban. It is the second time in less than a month and this time, it is pre-emptive. Instead of the government preparing itself to deal with social media or other digital applications devised by the agitating groups, it has decided to ban all the internet functions. So from now on, with every political agitation – whether it is the Patidars or the OBC or the opposition party – the government will take the ‘law and order’ measures like banning the mobile internet and broadband internet will follow. One is not sure if other conventional law and order measures like mobilising the police force or patrolling the streets precedes such bans or not.

These are bleak turn of events. The internet ban coupled with the ban on the SMS services disrupts public life. These are not the cries of the affluent class of people who cannot access social media or book cinema tickets. Many important civic amenities are accessed through internet these days. According to the Ericsson study, 45% of mobile internet users are low-income and less-educated ones and the mobile is their only source to access internet. Add 20% students users to this group as well.

On one side, the government of India is promoting its flagship programme called ‘Digital India’, which is aspiring to build ‘digitally empowered society and knowledge economy’. On the other side, the state government is regularly banning internet. How do these two things go together? Along with digital India, the prime minister promised ‘minimum government and maximum governance’. The spirit of the slogan comes from the economic philosophy of letting private enterprises and individuals prosper while the government does not interfere in private life or private businesses. What is practiced in Gujarat is surely not ‘minimum government’.

The act of banning internet is an overbearing, paternalistic act. It is an act from a ‘maximum government’ or a ‘nanny state’, which does not mind curtailing the citizen’s access to information and other functions in the name of ‘law and order’ or worse, to hide its own failures in dealing with political agitations. The phrase ‘nanny state’ is an apt description for -‘Don’t do this’, ‘Don’t look there’, ‘Don’t talk to any one’, ‘Don’t eat that’, ‘Don’t go out’ and of course, ‘I am doing all these for you own good’. A lot of people were sympathetic with the decision to ban mobile internet earlier but this time, it is not going to go well with the citizens – I mean, voters. The digital technologies have made everyone’s life super-convenient. The government should make sure that it remains so.

Governments around the world know our desire for safety too well. Fear from unknown enemies, fear of possible unrest is proven to be very effective for curtailing freedom. But the frequent use of fear tactics is not as effective. Ideally, the democratic checks and balances should overcome such tactics. When the High Court rejected the public interest litigation against the internet ban in the last week of August, the court probably did not want to interfere in the state’s affairs. Possibly, if the High Court had known that this is going to be a regular and frequent practice then the verdict might have been a different one.

(21st September, 2015: DNA Ahmedabad edition, Cities Supplement, Page 5)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=71660&boxid=2840&ed_date=2015-09-21&ed_code=1310009&ed_page=5

Two bus systems roll under one roof, but not talking to each other!

There are two bus systems in Ahmedabad – one, the six-year-old bus rapid transit system aka ‘Janmarg’ and two, the six-decades-old AMTS run bus services popularly known as ‘red bus’. Both of these bus systems belong to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation but they have different models of operations. AMTS is operated in a conventional municipal way by shared power between officials and politicians whereas a special purpose company owned by the government operates the BRTS. Both the systems operate parallel to each other – BRTS gets to use the special dedicated corridor where as the AMTS buses runs in the mixed traffic. AMTS carries about 8 lakhs passengers every day whereas BRTS carries about 1.3 lakhs. Both bus systems run competing with each other. They have separate management, different ticketing, different fare model, different bus stops and different way of reaching out to customers.

Cities around the world, which have efficient transport systems, work very hard at integrating various public transport modes rather than keeping them segregated. Integration of public transport modes means traveling across different public transport modes through one ticket, platform sharing, revenue sharing and bringing every public mode into one brand which people can identify with easily. More importantly, public transport integration is good for business! When two (public transit) companies start sharing the customers, their business gets multiplied. ‘Transport for London’ is one brand identity and it actively integrates various modes of transport – buses and express buses, light rail (DLR), heavy rail (metro or underground), suburban rail and even the boat service across Thames. One can travel across these modes using one ticket or smart card. Each system actively shares information about other systems and make the life of the public transit users comfortable. No wonder London’s transport system is one of the best in the world!

It is often difficult to get two different government agencies to talk to each other but when two entities are under one roof, integration should be easy. But it seems that it is not the case in Ahmedabad. Since the inception of the BRTS, an unnecessary schism is developed between two bus systems. BRTS was projected as an exclusive service whereas AMTS has suffered because of the lack of innovations, years of neglect and accumulation of vested interests. However, a slow process of ‘talking to each other’ seems to have started between AMTS and BRTS. Apparently,now 46 AMTS buses are going to be using about 4 BRTS corridors. But the use of the BRTS corridors by the AMTS buses is not the most useful way of integrating the two systems.

There is a need for a comprehensive strategy of integration between two bus systems in Ahmedabad. Both require continuing investments in planning, operations and maintenance. It is very difficult for the public transport to make profits but if a ‘smart’ business plan is shared between two systems then both can benefit from each other. This essentially requires ‘taking to each other’. And the biggest challenge in our cities is to get people-government-authorities to talk to each other. Keep talking to each other is the only way for public systems to be strengthened, well coordinated and integrated. Let us hope that we will soon see integrated ticketing, sharing of platforms, sharing of revenue and complimentary operations between these two ‘not talking’ bus systems in Ahmedabad.

(14th September, 2015: DNA Ahmedabad edition, Cities Supplement, Page 5)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=71358&boxid=3225&ed_date=2015-09-14&ed_code=1310009&ed_page=5

If blanket internet ban means peace, then silence means consent!

Cartoon by Xavier Bonilla 'Bonil'

Now it all looks like routine life but just a few days ago, the city was burning. One political agitation was mishandled and as a result, public properties were vandalised and the city was on the brink of total collapse of public life for a long time. Just in a couple of days, we saw misplaced agitations, governmental apathy and policy brutalities. The administration called the para-military forces swiftly and the city life did not take much time to normalise. As part of these events, there was a blanket ban on mobile internet – apparently, with an excuse of curtailing rumour mongering. And it is still puzzling, why was there a blanket ban on the mobile internet? 

There is a difference between temporary de-activation of social media sites and a blanket internet ban for a week. It might be advisable, if at all in some cases, to ban the social media temporarily at the times of riots in the city. But a blanket internet ban affects all internet operations, which are becoming common amongst all the user groups. Now a days, a lot of important transactions take place on the mobile internet like banking, tickets booking, searching for important information and even the state-supported ration shops use the mobile application based on internet. The blanket ban was extended for a week, making it impossible for the mobile internet users to do any transactions. 

But the excuse of curtailing rumour mongering or inflammatory new items, does not stand a close scrutiny. Social media sites were not the only sources of inflammatory contents and rumour mongering. Many more inflammatory stories were being broadcasted on some of the local TV channels. A word of caution to them would have been advisable. But instead the mobile internet ban was operationalised imagining it as a sole mode of spreading inflammatory material. There was not internet in 1984 or 2002 but still this country saw its worst riots. It was probably first time, a blanket ban on mobile internet was enforced. Surprisingly, the blanket ban on internet was not well-covered in the national media. And many local media stories made it only about how the youngsters are missing the social media instead of understanding the wider repercussions of the blanket internet ban. 

Do we even realize how the government has become used to intrude in the citizen’s life and how they have become used to censorship? A blanket ban on mobile internet amounts to internet censorship. Internet censorship is just another form of bullying and it is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.Internet censorship in Gujarat reflected the lack of confidence of the state administration in itself. There is a real danger of the government getting used to internet censorship every now and then. During those days of the blanket internet ban, Gujarat has unfortunately joined some countries like China, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

In many ways, internet is an anti-thesis to censorship. The internet users always find new ways of subverting the censorship authority’s orders. It is extremely important for a democratic society to protect this very nature of internet.

(7th September, 2015: DNA Ahmedabad edition, Cities Supplement, Page 3)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=71051&boxid=4275&ed_date=2015-09-07&ed_code=1310009&ed_page=3

Living in ghettos of mind: segregated cities on caste & communal lines

“We don’t believe in all that” – one often hears this while discussing the caste-based or the communal politics in India.This self-righteous and a-political sounding lot goes further to claim how they believe in equality or meritocracy and how they are completely against caste-based reservation or caste-based politics. Very well, but people who oppose reservations based on ‘meritocracy’ arguments do not come out as strongly against the caste system itself. The idea of ‘caste’ is not based on any merits yet it is being practiced for thousands of years. The practices of caste system systematically excluded a major part of Indian population from acquiring any education, new skills or new sources of livelihood. Yet, the caste-based thinking prevails amongst the most educated and privileged section of the society. 

Unfortunately, ‘we don’t believe in caste system’ and ‘I am proud of being from my caste’ is often spoken in the same breath! Those who claim their belief in equality and meritocracy need to check, what drives their newfound love for equality. Is the conventional caste-based inequalities are not beneficial to them anymore?

Caste system is deeply ingrained in the Indian psyche and its direct implication is seen in our cities – small and big. Neighbourhoods dominated by a certain castes or sub-castes have been a unique feature of Indian cities since centuries – From Madurai to Varansi and from Ahmedabad to Kolkata. People who say that they do not believe in the caste system should check their own surroundings to figure out if they are living in the ghetto of their own tribe. This tribe is defined by ‘people like us’ and by othering the ‘others’. ‘People like us’ are people from the same caste or sub-caste or from the same religion. Ask the real estate agents in your city and they will tell you the advantages of belonging to a certain so-called higher castes. The buyers flag their caste while buying the property and the sellers gloat over the fact that the property is sold to ‘one of us’! Such attitudes result in making cities segregated on caste and communal lines.

So what is the problem with segregated cities on caste lines? Segregated cities create population groups, which are insulated from each other, and deep mistrust is cultivated between communities. Human beings are the species who have prospered by co-operating with other human beings for thousands of years. Openness and diversities are fertile grounds for innovations and social progress. Historically, whenever segregation and inequalities have taken over integration and equalities, the social progress has regressed. If we live in our own tribe then we are not taking full advantage of being in a city – melting pot of cultures, agglomeration of economies and congregation of multi-sectarian societies.

The issue of ‘caste’ needs to be dealt with politically and socially. It is not enough to say that lets put all these caste-based reservations behind and built a society based on meritocracy. It is more important to demonstrate how are you breaking the caste barriers – beginning with your own mind, your own surroundings. Many Eastern societies like China and Japan had their own systems of social hierarchies which they have put behind and embraced the modern ways. Globalization makes it impossible for modern societies to collapse in isolation unless the modern urban societies decide to live in ghettos of their own tribes. Living in one’s own tribe shows how deeply ingrained the caste considerations are. Then the arguments on equality or meritocracy sound quite hollow.

(24th August, 2015: DNA Ahmedabad edition, Cities Supplement, Page 5)
URL:http://dnasyndication.com/dna/dna_english_news_and_features/Living-in-ghettos-of-mind_-Segregated-cities-on-caste-&-communal-lines-/DNAHM89969

Why free parking is entitlement but street vending is encroachment?

You must have seen people who push their way through the queues at the airport, people who honk indiscriminately at the moving vehicles in front, people who throw garbage out of moving cars, people who feel proud of making noise at the restaurants. These people have a great sense of entitlements and they have assumed that they deserve everything they can grab. They feel deeply threatened when their sense of entitlement is challenged. These are the people, who fight for parking spots and believe that it is the obligation of the city to provide space for their car wherever they need.

Parking spots are weirdly linked with the vehicle owner’s ego and the size of the ego is directly proportional to the size of the vehicle they drive. Many vehicles owners think, it is their birth right to get free parking every where. Free parking is usually haphazard parking, which not only obstructs the pedestrian movement but the moving vehicles on the streets. Most of the roads in our cities operate on half their capacity andparked vehicles occupy the other half. We keep making multi-storied parking buildings, which remain empty, but the parking on the streets is chaos.

Every large city in Gujarat and elsewhere requires a policy of paid parking on all their major roads. The international experience shows that the paid parking policies have magical effect of removing unnecessary parking from the streets. This goes a long way in opening up the pedestrian paths and smoothening the traffic flow. But to convert the free parking lots in all major roads into the paid parking lots is a very unpopular move. Because many car owners think that free parking is their entitlement that the government is supposed to provide. The government officials who move around in official vehicles also feel that it is too harsh to charge for parking. This mindset needs to change.

Vehicular parking is similar to street vending as both occupy public spaces like roads for private activities. Arguably, both are economic generating activities and add to the vibrancy of the city. Yet both are treated entirely differently in popular perceptions and thus, by the city government. When word ‘encroachments’ is used generally for the street vendors and not for the freely parked vehicles. The municipal raids to clear ‘encroachments’ do not touch the parked vehicles. Vendors are often under threats by the police and they are pushed around at different occasions. But vehicles can be parked freely anywhere and everywhere. Even the traffic police is selective about the kind of vehicles they catch to fine.

I am optimistic about paid parking policy to become a reality soon. The ever-increasing vehicles on the roads are going to force us to think of new ways of dealing with the ‘parking problem’. In a welcome move, the Ahmedabad’s Municipal Corporation and the Traffic Police have decided to have the paid parking lots around the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway. The CG road has had paid parking lots for two decades now but there is lot of unpaid parking in the side lanes. If our cities want to save their streets from being converted into permanent parking lots then the paid parking needs to be extended to its all major roads.

(17th August, 2015: DNA Ahmedabad edition, Cities Supplement, Page 5)

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=70207&boxid=1215&ed_date=2015-08-17&ed_code=1310009&ed_page=5