Stripping India to its bones

I needed a break and I decided to revisit the United States of America. The last time I spent in this fabulous country was 15 years back in the year 2000. Since then the country may have sold millions and trillions of cars. So what would one expect in the new America? Alarming pollution and unending traffic jams? When I landed up at Las Vegas, all I could see were very wide roads and the air as clean as one can wish for.

That brings me back to my beloved country, its pollution, its crumbling infrastructure, its intolerance and its horribly growing population and poverty. I live in the capital city of New Delhi. It is plain dirty and horribly polluted. Its infrastructure is terrible and it’s getting worse. Every year the government brings new taxes to clean the air, the city’s rivers, build new roads and educate its children. Where does the money go? The air is thick with dirt and muck. People are unlikely to die of old age here in India, rather asthma may kill its children.

What is the government doing about it? Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is himself a victim of lung woes. Prime Minister Modi is pure rhetoric. When do we see an India with modern roads and infrastructure? If Delhi is so dilapidated, you can imagine the condition of places outside Delhi!

Travelling around the US, I feel India is hundreds of years behind the western world in terms of development. It’s sad to see my country disintegrate so badly. Politicians have ripped this country of mine apart...stolen every bit of it....leaving it bare to its bones!