Why we homeschooled our children

I was thinking about it recently and jotted down some reasons that may have been at the back of our minds when we decided to homeschool our children.

Reason 1: I learnt a lot of complicated real-life engineering in the first six months of starting my first job as a bridge design engineer. I also became convinced that my engineering professors at IIT were less engineer-like than my office seniors who were busily designing complicated structures (and seemingly enjoying the process). If the objective was to become a good bridge design engineer, it seemed like my IIT experience added zero value in that direction. After I gained some experience designing bridges, I used to tell my non-engineer friends that if they remembered 10th standard mathematics, I could make them structural engineers in half an hour. The point I am making is about the futility of all the complicated subjects that were uselessly forced on me as if to somehow fill four years of classroom time.

Reason 2: School and college education is a great corrupting influence on most people who pass through it. Let me explain. Most people are forced to desperately get marks to meet the expectations of their family and friends. The corruption that ensues is a byproduct of the intense competition that is at the back of the whole rigmarole of marks that we have to display to the world. Some years ago I heard that the cut-off marks to get into Sri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi University was 100%. In this scenario getting higher marks by any means possible becomes very desirable. In IIT we used to get some children who got in because they sat behind or next to and copied the answers from someone who had also gotten through the entrance exam.

Reason 3: Both my wife and I are resistant to being pushed around by authority figures. This manifests as a kind of childish rebellion which is not very endearing and many times irritates people who know us. So, when my boss or my father or the Government says—don’t ask so many questions and just do what I am telling you—my first impulse is to resist and say ‘NO’. I may think about it and later change my mind but I have found from long experience that when someone is pushing something hard it is more for their benefit than mine. This rebelliousness appears like unstable or angry behaviour to people and they tend to think that I specialize in doing the exact opposite of what the whole world says is good. So, when someone says send your children to school otherwise you will ruin their lives, it is expected in my circles that I would question the logic of it.

This is an incomplete list compiled to help you introspect and see whether your experience of school and college was similar…

Sanaatan aur samayik

भारत में न्याय और सत्य की समझ और पश्चिम से आई आधुनिकता में न्याय और सत्य की समझ में बड़ा भेद है। और चूंकि हम सभी पढ़े-लिखों पर आधुनिक शिक्षा का चश्मा कमोबेश चढ़ा हुआ है इसलिए यह भेद जब तब हम भूल से जाते हैं। चश्मा ही नहीं यह तो अब हमारे DNA का हिस्सा है। और यही आज की सबसे बड़ी चुनौती है। समस्या जहां (समझ) से उत्पन्न होती है और जहां (समझ में) उसका समाधान है, वहीं गड़बड़ी भी है। Our mind is an amazing instrument. It sees, perceives, and interprets, analyses, plans – all in one. If there is fault in seeing/perceiving then the rest is only a consequence though our (stupid) arrogance tells us (actually assumes) otherwise. Modern education trains us to ignore the functioning of the mind, only focusing on a very minute quality of it called ‘intelligence’ (which is mostly a given (by the divine?) and no one has ‘done’ anything to enhance it). People strut around assuming they are ‘intelligent’, others hide behind ‘attitude’ to show they are ‘intelligent’, and majority harbours a grudge that they are not. This dis-ease is mostly a modern disease.

But I want to discuss the major difference between ‘Truth’ (सनातन) and ‘nyaya’ as understood in our civilization and as understood in the modernity imposed upon us. First of all there is a difference between ‘speaking truth’ (सच बोलना) and ‘Truth’ (सत्य)। सत्य और सत्य बोलने में फर्क है। “मैं झूठ बोलता हूँ” यह सत्य बोलना हो सकता है पर यह सनातन नहीं। “मनुष्य कभी कभी झूठ बोलते हैं” यह सनातन का वक्तव्य हो सकता है। सनातन सार्वभौमिक और सार्वजनिन होगा। Universal। सत्य बोलना या झूठ बोलना सामयिक घटना या सामयिक क्रिया है। क्रिया गतिशील है, बदलती रहती है। इसमे सनातन जैसा कुछ भी नहीं। यहाँ ‘होने’ और ‘करने’ का और ‘होने’ और ‘दिखने/दिखाने’ का फर्क महत्वपूर्ण हो जाता है। सनातन ‘होने’ में है। ‘करना’ और ‘दिखना/दिखाना’ सामयिक होता है – स्थिति/परिस्थिति के अनुसार बदलता रहता है। भारतीयता में सनातन और सामयिक के बीच संबंध या यूं कहें ‘होने’ और ‘करने’/’दिखने’/’दिखाने’ में एक संबंध स्थापित किया गया लगता है जिसे कभी कर्तव्य, कभी मर्यादा, कभी परंपरा का नाम दिया गया होगा। करने/दिखने/दिखाने वाली दुनिया को सनातन के खूँटे से बांधा गया। इसे ‘स्वास्थ’ और ‘स्वाद’ इन दो पहलुओं से समझ सकते हैं। स्वास्थ – सनातन। ‘स्वाद’ – सामयिक। स्वाद को नकारा नहीं गया पर स्वास्थ के खूँटे से बांध कर स्वास्थ। आज की आधुनिकता में खूंटा गायब हो गया है। इसलिए करना और दिखना जो सामयिक है वह बेलगाम हो गया है।

भारतीयता में इसलिए ‘न्याय’, जो अक्सर ‘करने’ में हैं को सनातन के खूँटे से बांध कर और स्थिति/परिस्थिति को ध्यान में रख कर किया जाता रहा है। इसलिए कभी कभी झूठ बोल कर या जानते हुए भी चुप रह कर भी ‘न्याय’ किया जाता है। न्याय करने में हैं इसलिए संदर्भ यानि स्थिति परिस्थिति महत्वपूर्ण हो जाती हैं। एक ही क्रिया अलग अलग संदर्भों में न्यायोचित हो भी सकती हैं, नहीं भी। सामयिकता बदलती रहती है। सनातन नहीं। न्याय का आधार सनातन पर न्याय का करना संदर्भ के मुताबिक। आधुनिकता में यह बारीक समझ है ही नहीं। यह लचिलापन, यह नृत्य वहाँ नदारद है। आज की कानून व्यवस्था वैसी ही है।

आज का पुरुष-स्त्री के संबंध में भी यह बात आती है। आज की woke संस्कृति और हमारे यहाँ के अर्धनारीश्वर वाली बात में बड़ा फर्क है। woke पूरी तरह भावना (feeling या संवेदना) आधारित है। इसका कोई खूंटा नहीं। यह unbridled है – बेलगाम। परंतु भाव हमारे ‘देखने’, हमारी दृष्टि हमारे perception पर निर्भर करता है। जैसे हम देखते हैं या हमे दिखाई देता है वैसे ही हमारे भाव उठते हैं। feelings are dependent on perception। यह हम भूल जाते हैं। आधुनिकता में इसकी कोई समझ नहीं। हमारे यहाँ feelings की नहीं ‘त्व’ की बात है। ‘त्व’ यानि जो ‘है’ । potentiality है। पुरुष (शरीर) में स्त्रीत्व है। और स्त्री (शरीर) में पुरुषत्व है। यह सनातन है। इसको पहचाना गया है। और जिस प्रकार न्याय किया जाता है पर वह सनातन के खूँटे से बंधा हो कर स्थिति/परिस्थिति (सामयिकता) को ध्यान में रख किया जाता है, वही बात यहाँ भी लागू होती है। पुरुष पूरी तरह स्त्री के गुणों मे सराबोर हो सकता है यदि सामयिक स्थिति परिस्थिति वैसी हो – नाटक करते वक्त, नृत्य करते वक्त (कुछ उदाहरण), या कृष्ण भक्ति में लीन होते वक्त, और स्त्री विकराल रूप धरण कर सकती है (रण चंडी)। सामयिकता manifested को निर्धारित करेगी पर सनातन के खूँटे से बंधे हो कर। बेलगाम नहीं। और न ही सभी को “एक ही तराजू में तोलने” वाले सिद्धान्त में तोला जाएगा।

यह जो भी लिख रहा हूँ जो अपनी समझ में आया। कोई दावा नहीं है।

Covering the earth with leather

“Bodhicharyavatara composed in the 8th century C.E. by Shantideva is one of the most celebrated text of Mahayana Buddhism… In this masterpiece, the author, who belonged to the Madhyamika school of Nagarjuna, describes in detail the conduct of a Bodhisattva.”
– From the foreword by The Dalai Lama to the English translation of Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatara by Prof. Parmananda Sharma

In one of our workshops, Samdhong Rinpoche made a reference to a sloka by Shantideva that talked about how anger is always counterproductive. The sloka said something like ‘If there is a solution what is the use of anger and if there is no solution again what is the use of anger.’ I was intrigued! I started looking for the original Sanskrit sloka online and could not find it anywhere. But I tracked down and bought the book with the original Sanskrit and English translation and managed to find the quote. This is what it looks like…

यद्यस्त्येव प्रतीकारो दौर्मनस्येन तत्र किम् ।
अथ नास्ति प्रतीकारो दौर्मनस्येन तत्र किम् ।। १० ।।

  1. If remedy is possible, what use is ill-will there? If no remedy exists, ill-will will be of no avail.

If there is a way to resist or remedy the erosion of ‘ishta’ or to counter the onslaught of ‘anishta’, there is no place for anger or feelings of ill-will in the process. The remedy to forestall the undesirable should be sought by renouncing anger. Contrarily, if a remedial course of action does not exist, anger will be equally futile. Hence the best course under both situations is to overcome ill-feeling and eschew anger. Such an attitude alone will lead to happiness.

– From Page 186, chapter 6, of Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatara translated by Prof. Parmananda Sharma

I am still going through it but let me share another short sample that shows the power of this text…

कियतो मारयिष्यामि दुर्जनान् गगनोपमान् ।
मारिते क्रोधचित्ते तु मारिताः सर्वशत्रवः । । १२ ।।

  1. How many enemies, limitless as the sky, shall I kill? With the killing of the angry mind, all enemies are killed.

भूमिं छादयितुं सर्वं कुतश्चर्म भविष्यति ।
उपानच्चर्ममात्रेण छन्ना भवति मेदिनी ।। १३ ।।

  1. Where shall be available so much of leather as to cover up the whole earth? But, just with the leather of the shoes, the whole earth is covered.

बाह्यभावा मया तद्वच्छक्या वारयितुं न हि ।
स्वचित्तं वारयिष्यामि किं ममान्यैर्निवारितैः ।।१४।।

  1. Similarly, it is not possible for me to restrain external thoughts. So I shall restrain this mind of mine. What need for me, then, to restrain other things?

– From page 119 and 120, chapter 5, of Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatara translated by Prof. Parmananda Sharma

Joyless education

“I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me… I am verily persuaded that I should have made a quite different figure in the world, from that, in which the reader is likely to see me.”

– From ‘The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy’ by Laurence Sterne

Tristram shandy was published in 1759 and the quote above is from the beginning of the book. Somewhere in the initial chapters, Tristram Shandy speaking as the narrator talks about the rules of writing set by a famous Roman poet and makes it clear that this book is not going to follow any rules. He makes good on his promise and the book has:
– Chapters that go missing and reappear somewhere later
– A blank page where the narrator asks us the readers to draw the woman of our dreams
– A black page to mourn the passing of a friend
– A marbled page from which the readers are supposed to derive some complicated meaning
– Many squiggles and ‘*’ that represent parts of the story
– Fake and real Latin pages and their fake and real translations
etc.

The blurb on the back cover says:
“No one description will fit this strange, eccentric, endlessly complex masterpiece. It is a novel about writing a novel in which the invented world is as much infused with wit and genius as the theme of inventing it. It is a joyful celebration of the infinite possibilities of the art of fiction, and a wry demonstration of its limitations.”

It is the funniest book that I have ever read!

I wanted to talk about this book on the blog to make a point about our education system. Many years ago I was talking about ‘Tristram Shandy’ among a group of friends and acquaintances and a girl who had a masters degree in English said that the book seemed familiar. We talked some more about it and it turned out that she had studied the book and passed an exam on it during her BA or MA. She did not remember any of the details and till she heard me talking about it she had not realized, and nobody had told her, that it was a funny book.

I am just wondering how many other joyous and fun things we make drab and lifeless as we go through the grind of school and college education…

Taking the red pill

The red pill and blue pill represent a choice between the willingness to learn a potentially unsettling or life-changing truth by taking the red pill or remaining in the contented experience of ordinary reality with the blue pill. The terms originate from the 1999 film The Matrix.
– From the Wikipedia article on ‘Red pill and blue pill’

Modern education, technology and media build very powerful narratives. Narratives like:
– Education makes us rational, thinking human beings.
– The uneducated are primitive, confused and miserable.
– India is a superstitious, dirty, over-populated hell-hole.
– We have no choice but to go for ‘development’.
– The economy can keep growing forever.
– Science and technology can solve all human problems.
etc.

As the news coming out now shows, the hysteria that was whipped up to sell questionable pharmaceutical products to the entire world, was seriously misguided. Just today, I heard Scott Adams, the inventor of the Dilbert cartoon, say something like – the people who chose to remain unvaccinated took the right decision, my analysis was wrong and their distrust of the pushed narrative was right.

It is difficult to ignore or not be swayed by the narratives. They are pushed very hard and the voices that are speaking against them are ridiculed and silenced. In this scenario it is good to have some go-to resources that can help give us some new perspectives, correct the balance. Here is a random collection that you may find useful…

https://www.theautomaticearth.com/

https://boriquagato.substack.com/

https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/217015.html

The Ramayana Series: Part-1

वाल्मीकि जी द्वारा रचित रामायण के बालकाण्डम् के षष्ठ सर्गः में राजा दशरथ की आयोध्या पूरी में रहने वाले नागरिकों की उत्तम स्थिति का वर्णन है। यह बहुत रोचक वर्णन है और हमें भारतीयता की दृष्टि और उसके अन्तर्गत मनुष्य के किन गुणों को प्राथमिकता मिलती रही है इसकी एक झलक देता है। 6-वें श्लोक में श्री वाल्मीकि जी कहते हैं, ‘उस उत्तम नगर में निवास करने वाले सभी मनुष्य प्रसन्न, धर्मात्मा, बहुश्रुत, निर्लोभी, सत्यवादी और अपने धन से सतुष्ठ रहने वाले थे।’ अगले श्लोक में कहते हैं उस श्रेष्ठ पुरी में कोई भी ऐसा कुटुम्बी नहीं था, जिसके पास उत्कृष्ठ वस्तुओं का संग्रह अधिक मात्रा में ना हो, जिसके धर्म, अर्थ और काममय पुरुषार्थ सिद्ध न हो गये हों तथा सभी के पास पर्याप्त मात्रा में गाय-बैल, घोड़े, धन-धान्य आदि उपलब्ध हैं। 9-वाँ श्लोक है कि वहाँ के सभी स्त्री-पुरुष धर्मशील, संयमी, सदा प्रसन्न रहने वाले तथा शील और सदाचार की दृष्टि से महर्षियों की भांति निर्मल हैं। 10-वाँ श्लोक है कि वहाँ कोई भी कुण्डल, मुकुट और पुष्पाहार से शून्य नहीं है। किसी के पास भी भोग सामग्रियों की कमी नहीं है। सभी नहा-धोकर साफ-सुथरे रहते हैं, अंगो में चन्दन का लेप लगाते हैं और सुगन्ध का प्रयोग करते हैं। वहाँ सभी पवित्र भोजन करते हैं, दान देते हैं और इस प्रकार सभी के मनुष्यों के मन उनके वश में रहते हैं। 13-वाँ श्लोक है, वहाँ निवास करनेवाले ब्राहम्ण सदा अपने कर्मों में लगे रहते, इन्द्रियों को वश में रखते, दान और स्वाध्याय करते तथा प्रतिग्रह से बचे रहते हैं। 14-वें श्लोक में वे कहते हैं कि वहाँ कोई भी ऐसा व्यक्ति नहीं है जो किसी दूसरे व्यक्ति में दोष ढूँढ़ता हो। वहाँ कोई भी असमर्थ या विद्याहीन नहीं है।

यह व्याख्यान अद्भुत है। भारतीय मानस का एक प्रतिबिम्भ है। धन होना एक गुण है लेकिन ‘धन से संतुष्ठ रहना’ यह उससे भी महत्वपूर्ण व उच्च गुण है। धर्मशील, संयमी, सदा प्रसन्न रहने वाले, निर्मल जन, इस प्रकार के गुणों का वर्णन, आज के परिदृश्य में अकल्पनीय है। लोग नहा-धोकर साफ-सुथरे रहते हैं, अंगो पर चन्दन आदि का लेप करते हैं और सुगन्ध का भी प्रयोग करते हैं अर्थात स्वच्छता और सुन्दरता उस समय का एक प्रमुख गुण है। अपने मन को काबू में रखना, इन्द्रियों को वश में रखते हुए दान और स्वाध्याय आदि भारतीय मानस के प्रमुख गुण रहे हैं। यह सभी गुण एक ऐसे समाज की ओर ईशारा करते हैं जोकि बहुत गहन अध्ययन आदि के बाद एक स्थायी समाज है और जिसने अपनी प्राथमिकतायें चिन्हित कर ली हैं। सिद्ध में हम धर्मपाल जी या रविन्द्र शर्मा जी के माध्यम से जिस भारतीय समाज की झलक देखते रहे हैं उस के आधारभुत सिद्धान्त हमें रामायण जैसे अन्य पौराणिक ग्रन्थों में मिल रहे हैं। हमारा यह प्रयास जारी रहेगा और हम इसी प्रकार इन पौराणिक ग्रन्थों से रोचक सिद्धान्त एक श्रंखला के रूप में आपके सम्मुख रखते रहेंगे।

A Vision for the Future Of Bharat

“I think the period from 1750-1947 is largely a dead period in Indian history. This may be an extreme statement. But I think it is true. Ultimately this period should be written off. Nothing was achieved in this period in terms of creativity or originality. On the contrary people have suffered in every respect and become lesser human beings.”
– From Dharampal’s ‘Rediscovering India’

As a nation we appear to be deeply lost. The Western philosophies and way of life that were thrust upon us by the British don’t seem to have taken root in our soil. However, all our efforts seem to be focussed on making this wilted foreign seedling grow into a mighty tree. We want world-class ‘development’, ‘hospital-based-health’, ‘school-based-education’—we want to compete with the West, play their game, and win at it. This is probably not possible and playing someone else’s game, the rules of which are incomprehensibly alien to us, is not a very useful way forward for a nation.

Yet, the sparks of our civilization burn bright in the middle of the spiritual and material darkness we find ourselves in. We continue to speak our numerous languages, we still celebrate our beautiful festivals, we continue to cook our elaborate ancient cuisines, our women continue to wear their traditional dresses and a large percentage of our population—of all denominations—continues to be very religious.

The wise, confident, infinitely creative civilization that was birthed in this soil, which gave us the Vedas, our self-sufficient villages and our magnificent art and architecture, must have grown from native seeds. It is only from such seeds that vibrant civilizations arise, civilizations that sing the song of the soil and have the potential to touch the hearts of sensitive, considerate and courageous people from every part of the world.

There is no going back! And going forward in the direction we have been currently herded into is suicide! So, what do we do? Maybe we need to do nothing because the game of Kaala is on, wholly inscrutable to us, and things will go where they will, perfect as ever.

Meanwhile, here is a proposal…

With all of the above as background, it would be good if we vision a future for Bharat, vision it with the blessings of our sacred soil, vision it in silent communion with our ancestors and our Gods, vision it with the collective wisdom of our purvajanmas accessed in silent meditative contemplation. Because a vision has great power and it is time that we sit down, look past the toxic fog that surrounds us and think about the future that can be ours.

Advice To Those Stepping-Out (Part 2)

(The first part of this post was published last week and is available here…)

Let us look at lokeshna and its relationship with individualism. I may be wrong but I am proposing that people who step-out tend to fall into the trap of lokeshna—almost unconsciously—to cope with loneliness and, of course, because of the disease inflicted by modernity—individualism. The attention one gets because of the act of stepping out can be exhilarating. And then subtly idealism and righteousness creeps in. Idealism is good as an aim to be used for course correction but idealism in “doing” or in the manifested world is false and hence problematic.

There are two realities—coexisting like two sides of the same coin. The eternal reality of “being” (है और होना) and the transient or manifested reality—in the “doing”. There is and will always be a gap between being and doing. After all they belong to different realities, different worlds—eternal and transient. The world of doing is circumstantial, is contextual, needs to change and adapt according to the times and circumstances. This is not to say that “doing” is rudderless or rootless. No, it can be anchored in the eternal but while manifesting takes into account the context. Idealism can only be in the “being”. In fact the eternal IS. There are no alternatives in the eternal, hence it is beyond comparison. Idealism has validity only when there is another possibility—not ideal. In eternal, there are no alternatives, hence there is no space for idealism. Unless we are calling the eternal or ISNESS as ideal.

In the world of doing what can and must be aimed for is that the “doing” is rooted or anchored in the eternal (Truth). But this world is changing, is transient, hence again there is no space for the ideal. What is ideal today, may not be tomorrow! Idealism is rigid in the transient. It tends to fix things. Hence in the world of “doing” Idealism is an idea, an imagination and ultimately a trap which makes us righteous (and others wrong). A trap because it can only feed the ego, it has no basis in (transient) reality.

Understanding of the eternal makes it quite clear that we are not the doers. At best we are nimitta karana (incidental in the happening). We are not the doers (upaadaan). We are a product of the opportunity (which presents itself), the circumstances and the sankalpa (decision to do/ what to do/not to do etc.). If we are not the doers then how can we take credit for what happens. We can rejoice in it but we can not take credit. The problem arises because we mistakenly start taking credit for what we “do” in stepping out. Therefore the need to refrain from both lokeshna and idealism, if one is stepping out.

Advice To Those Stepping-Out (Part-1)

People, who are sensitive to the happenings around, who are socially and politically aware and who have the courage to take a step to move out of their comfort zone and ‘do something’ to make a difference, face a lot of difficulties. After the initial enthusiasm (momentum) wears off the loneliness strikes. There is a huge comfort in familiarity, even when one is not necessarily in agreement or in alignment with the visible and invisible pressures exerted by the (familiar) ecosystem. Human beings have an innate ability to adapt to the circumstances, often by wearing different masks, each suiting a different set of demands imposed by different aspects of the ecosystem. When one steps out of this familiar surrounding, others (friends and family) do not know how to deal with this (new) person. The relationship(s) get disturbed and unbalanced. The one stepping out and the other (old friends and relatives) have a hard time during the transition phase. It is almost like entering into a new relationship with the same (but now in a new avatar) person. This is a process which takes time and one needs to deal with it patiently and with perseverance. There is no short cut in this process.

It is somewhat like the process of “passage rites” (or the various sanskaras in Hindu tradition). When one enters puberty or adulthood or when one gets married or gets the first child – the same process (of realignment) is in operation. Every individual has various relationships and they all need to undergo a change and individuals involved have to deal with the change with understanding. In these various changes (to do with sanskaras or passage rites) both the parties involved in a relationship have to work towards this new adjustment. But when it comes to the change when an individual decides to step out it is only this person who will have to work towards making realignments without any support from the other. Sometimes it is hard and may entail taking very tough decisions. It is quite possible that the people who have stepped out may not enjoy the same flavour in the realigned relationship and this can be discomforting. One has to be prepared for this eventuality. Relationship with other like-minded individuals helps cope with this loneliness.

But there is a bigger issue involved in the process of stepping out. We are all products of modernity. And modernity has taken deep roots in all of us. One of the strongest strains of this root is the disease of “individualism”. We are all afflicted with this to a smaller or bigger degree. Lokeshna (the desire to be appreciated, to be known by the others, desire for popularity) is very subtle and is part of human psyche just like vitteshna (desire for material facilities, money) and puttreshna (desire for our children, vicariously living through them, bias we harbour towards our children). All these are obstacles or hindrances in the path to (spiritual) freedom (swatantrata).

(To be continued next week…)

The Development Addiction

My cousin has stayed all his life in Kerala and is a long-term communist sympathiser. The national highway that passes near his house is only two lanes wide. Unfortunately this highway is now part of some larger national scheme and is currently being six-laned. In the hilly parts where my cousin lives, this means very long bridges and large scale destruction of hill-sides and the houses and shops that crowd on both sides of the highway. Talking to him I was surprised that he is happy about this highway work. He said this is real development that will help Kerala become economically stable. I pointed out to him that:

– The people uprooted and resettled in the road construction are the working class people who his party was supposed to be looking out for.
– The highway and bridge construction and the sand that it will require will cause more destruction to the river near his home.
– The increased traffic will cause more accidents that will probably involve the youth of his neighbourhood.
– Crossing the road safely will need to be done in a vehicle because you may have to go a long distance to get to an underpass or pedestrian over-bridge.

He agreed to all this but he said that these are the sacrifices we have to make for development. As the argument got heated he told me that it was people like me who have kept India in the dark ages and that I was a danger to the nation.

In all the big cities of India the traffic increases faster than the incessant road construction work. We don’t need a war with a foreign power to make us feel that we are living in a war-zone. We are managing to do that fine with the smoke and noise and maddening chaos of our city traffic. On a particularly bad day in Bangalore, probably when rain had clogged some of the roads, Google maps was showing 4 hours to go 20 kilometres in a car and was showing around the same travel time if we went walking. And yet none of us are willing to give up our personal transport vehicles, the companies bring out strange-named (why Brezza or Creta?) car variants all the time and hundreds of people die on the roads of India everyday.

Recently the people I was staying with warned me against walking on the roads in Hyderabad. When I told them that I am always careful they told me of a car that fell off from a bridge and killed a pedestrian. I told them that I will be extra careful and along with right and left and front and back that I am used to checking I will also check ‘up’ in their city.

We can extend the above argument to include other ‘development’ markers like consumer goods and multi-storey buildings and malls but I have reached my 500 word limit and will let you do the extrapolation on your own. What kind of madness have we normalised in the name of development? Where is it all going?