Since we moved to Gurgaon one year ago,my experiences have ,on many occassions,left me with fondness and love for this chaotic, self-sufficient,buzzing city. And THEN, the monsoons stormed in....It was almost like the end of a crazy affair with the classic "Bad boy" :) The cracks (pun intended) started to show and the romance faded..
I happen to work at the DLF Cyber "traffic-out-of-control" Park ,which stands tall on your left as soon as you enter "The Millenium City"..the sight takes your breathe away, especially at night,doesn't it?! Ask those who travel ON this road daily and they will surely say it takes their breathe away too..while they struggle for 40-60 mins to cover 500 odd metres!In the name of a road,there are potholes,stones,claylike sand which gives in when its had enough,dug up footpaths and if those are not enough, one shall also have to dodge their way past rickshaws coming in the worng directions, the holy indian cow and on luckier days,Gurgaon Police Barricades!! I might sound like a overreacting helpless office-goer,but I thought writing MIGHT make me feel better as I ping-pong on those roads...
So every morning and evening, I am forced to ask myself this - Is it really worth living in this city? Well,my friends crib about Delhi traffic as much,but like another Gurgaon traffic-stricken colleague of mine explained - "You cover 50 Kms in 2 hours,I cover 10 in 1.5 hours! So atleast you're DRIVING!" :) Actually,am still waiting to smirk at my colleagues who get stuck for 2-3 hours in a jam on Delhi roads - this god-foresaken city devoids me of that pleasure time and again! I remember this one time when my husband and I decided to learn the entire lyrics of "Gal Mithi Mithi bol" after being stuck for almost 45 mins just 5 kms from our place! Well, how this explains the time we continued to be stuck is that he isn't punjabi AND happens to have the worst memory when it comes to song lyrics :) SO you can well imagine how much longer we were stuck that he learnt the entire punjabi lyrics and sang them back to me TWICE! lol!!
Yes,I have tried very hard to forgive these "small bumps", literally, in my relationship with this city - really I have,but last few days have been like the final blow - Thanks to CWG!! This is when "nasty" Gurgaon really turned "devilish" - people taking 2 hours to get to work, frantically taking U-turns from any gap in the divider ( some even created those gaps!), honking at the slightest hope to let out their frustrations, roads filled with knee-deep water and the COWS,oh man the COWS!! Now, before I sound like a firangi who finds "cows on the roads fascinating",I highlight this coz I'm not talking of a 1/2 cows every 10 kms,I'm talking cow kitty parties,cow family breakfast and dinner get togethers,cow muhallas every 2 mins! Hear this - another colleague tols me this today- so the guy in the front car is smoking while stuck in traffic with his hand leaning outside the window - a cow snatches his cigarrete away! I mean,tell me, now we have mummy cows telling us what to do in traffic?!
The point is I want to know why this city doesn't get all that it deserves ,why inspite of all the "creme de la creme" restaurants in town, the "largest" mall in NCR etc etc is Gurgaon still a feared and disrespected city? Inspite of the largest of MNCs here (thats another blog on who suggested these companies to move to this mad place,in the first place!) and more than 50% of the state revenue coming from Gurgaon,why this step daughterly treatment?!
I feel tired of blaming our political system,corruption,bureaucracy etc etc.. I just want to find a solution for my selfish self,well for now I guess venting it out will do me good :) Don't you feel these feelings that I do ;)
