Even though I've been living in New Delhi since I was born. i.e. 16 years ago, which means I've been in New Delhi for 16 years now, I still at times don't exactly catch the crux of this city. Living in the capital of the country makes me feel special but there are certain crux of this city that are only fitting to be shared with my readers.
There are 2 types of Delhi - one that belongs to the richer population of the city and country for that matter and one that belongs to the middle-class and poor. I've been in Delhi for 16 years and yet, up until a few months ago I hadn't even visited the international airport of the capital.
On my way to the airport, I was very excited, filled with the anxiety to know how does the airport of the capital looks. Within the range of 5 KM from the airport, it feels that you're into a whole new city, it isn't the Delhi I know. It's much more greener, cleaner and not exactly how the WHOLE of Delhi is. The lightning on the airport is mind-boggling and that wasn't exactly my point of concern, my concern was/is - why couldn't the money spent on the unnecessary development of an already "good" airport not be invested on the people of India that would certainly be bettered by this investment by the government. Build schools, betterment the facilities of the schools already built, facilitate the population of the capital by improving the quality of the roads or are WE just asking for too much?
Coming back to my airport visit : As I waited for my uncle to come out of the airport, I looked around and saw plenty of cabs standing for people's convenience, there were food stalls outside the airport that looked good but certainly expensive. It didn't seem like I was in Delhi, it felt a whole lot different. It was a Delhi for the "richer". I mean, we middle class people would even think twice before even buying something from the airport, that's how drastic the rate difference is between the items that you would usually find to be priced half the amount lesser than the price at which they're being sold at the airport. Thus, how exactly does the common man benefit from this? Furthermore, the sellers of those products that earn a living by selling those products, they're not profited either. Neither the sellers, nor we as consumers are benefited from this and yet this persists.
Coming back to the topic of discussion, I stayed at the airport for about half an hour and then picked up a cab to come back home along with my uncle. On my way, several thoughts crossed my mind. The primary one being - the commonwealth games of 2010, that were held in the capital. Now, you'd say, why did I remember the CWG games! The answer is simple - the development that took place in Delhi around the time of CWG games is unbelievable. The roads were cleaner, the whole city felt a lot greener and certainly, it felt like YES - this is the CAPITAL of our country. Why can't we persist with such attitude? Why do we work just for the sake of showing others?
There exist several parts of the Delhi that still look for some help from the government, the development is absolutely mediocre. Even the land on which people's flats are built have no certainty, the water supply is lower than mediocre and this is the much familiar face of Delhi. Remember, we are not a country of the rich but middle-class and poor and yet we're being neglected.
If the capital of the city has such drastic differences, what can we expect from the other parts of our country? You decide - is it better to invest on government properties to make them more luxurious and for the richer or is it better to invest in the middle-class and poor PEOPLE of India, investing upon whom will certainly give fruits to the whole country.
This article is written just to apprehend the point that if one part of Delhi can be developed, surely the other part can be too. The right to live a good life must be provided to every citizen of India, not just in the capital of the country. I hope you write the article. Suggestions and comments are welcomed. :)
There are 2 types of Delhi - one that belongs to the richer population of the city and country for that matter and one that belongs to the middle-class and poor. I've been in Delhi for 16 years and yet, up until a few months ago I hadn't even visited the international airport of the capital.
On my way to the airport, I was very excited, filled with the anxiety to know how does the airport of the capital looks. Within the range of 5 KM from the airport, it feels that you're into a whole new city, it isn't the Delhi I know. It's much more greener, cleaner and not exactly how the WHOLE of Delhi is. The lightning on the airport is mind-boggling and that wasn't exactly my point of concern, my concern was/is - why couldn't the money spent on the unnecessary development of an already "good" airport not be invested on the people of India that would certainly be bettered by this investment by the government. Build schools, betterment the facilities of the schools already built, facilitate the population of the capital by improving the quality of the roads or are WE just asking for too much?
Coming back to my airport visit : As I waited for my uncle to come out of the airport, I looked around and saw plenty of cabs standing for people's convenience, there were food stalls outside the airport that looked good but certainly expensive. It didn't seem like I was in Delhi, it felt a whole lot different. It was a Delhi for the "richer". I mean, we middle class people would even think twice before even buying something from the airport, that's how drastic the rate difference is between the items that you would usually find to be priced half the amount lesser than the price at which they're being sold at the airport. Thus, how exactly does the common man benefit from this? Furthermore, the sellers of those products that earn a living by selling those products, they're not profited either. Neither the sellers, nor we as consumers are benefited from this and yet this persists.
Coming back to the topic of discussion, I stayed at the airport for about half an hour and then picked up a cab to come back home along with my uncle. On my way, several thoughts crossed my mind. The primary one being - the commonwealth games of 2010, that were held in the capital. Now, you'd say, why did I remember the CWG games! The answer is simple - the development that took place in Delhi around the time of CWG games is unbelievable. The roads were cleaner, the whole city felt a lot greener and certainly, it felt like YES - this is the CAPITAL of our country. Why can't we persist with such attitude? Why do we work just for the sake of showing others?
There exist several parts of the Delhi that still look for some help from the government, the development is absolutely mediocre. Even the land on which people's flats are built have no certainty, the water supply is lower than mediocre and this is the much familiar face of Delhi. Remember, we are not a country of the rich but middle-class and poor and yet we're being neglected.
If the capital of the city has such drastic differences, what can we expect from the other parts of our country? You decide - is it better to invest on government properties to make them more luxurious and for the richer or is it better to invest in the middle-class and poor PEOPLE of India, investing upon whom will certainly give fruits to the whole country.
This article is written just to apprehend the point that if one part of Delhi can be developed, surely the other part can be too. The right to live a good life must be provided to every citizen of India, not just in the capital of the country. I hope you write the article. Suggestions and comments are welcomed. :)
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