Be nice to others willya

I have recently begun commuting about 10 kms daily to and from my new workplace (more about the change later) by bus (this is Bangalore btw) and apart from acquiring interesting data showing insight into the co-relation between brands of cars and traffic violations, I have come to realize that our cities are developing with complete disregard towards its citizens. And you know what, its not just the infrastructure thats cold to people. Its people too. I daily see youngsters like myself sitting comfortably in the buses while the old stand and revisit practical inertia. I know they're tired having looked at Dr Chaudhary on youtube all day long but its people of their own parents' age we're talking about here. The drivers of the buses care more about waving to their friends driving pass them than the safety of the passengers inside the bus or waiting to get down. The autorickshaws deny taking people to where they want to go, probably only because they can. Basically the whole analogy of city and jungles that I once thought was so over poetic (especially with no news of a Cafe Coffee Day sighting in a forest), it actually makes a lot of sense. After all almost every person is hostile to every other person in their struggle for more comfort and unfortunately its a zero sum game.

Someone needs to stop this development of utter disregard for the other. Someone needs to, for the lack of a better expression, show everyone some Animal Planet and explain how close we are in our behavior to the four legged vertebrates. Someone needs to be out there telling people about the forgotten values of extending courtesy to their kind. I really hope someone starts a campaign for 'being good to the other'. Something on the lines of Gandhigiri but much more elaborate and reaching out to more people and hopefully a little more prolific.

The idea is to build better cities, cause its the people that make cities. Cities that offer a life worth working hard for. Cities that treat all men equal (the one driving a hummer and the one getting down of a BMTC bus and crossing the road). Cities that are safe for citizens and hard on law breakers. Cities that offer free wifi, cheap food, open air theater shows and ..ah well I digress.