Walking in the City

The other day, walking out of the parking lot at my local metro rail station in Gurgaon, I was almost run over by a car whose driver was wriggling his way in. He could clearly see there was very little space between me and a haphazardly planted metal rod at the exit. He had two options – he could stop to let me through so I wouldn’t have to step into a puddle or he could run me over with his vehicle. As he wasn’t about to stop, I took the safer option of stepping into the puddle. The car passed me at an ambling speed, the driver’s eyes met mine and he drove on – it was as if nothing at all had happened.

If I think of this event in combination with one that is of national significance, I am forced to consider the odd nature of the “public” in our fast-growing cities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently exhorted us to rid our public spaces of garbage by taking responsibility for the waste we generate. On 2 October, I noticed a motley group of citizens – a vice chancellor, university students, NCC cadets, members of political parties – enthusiastically wielding brooms all over the city. The next day, 3 October, the garbage was back on the very same streets and footpaths that had just been cleaned.