Lose your pessimism

By ZAHID H JAVALI

There is much gloom in the way things are functioning. The truth is they are justified. But what people forget is that negativity begets negativity. Just the way we get the politicians and officials we deserve, we get the neighbours we deserve too.

How many times have you spent your money to sweep the road and footpath in front of your house? How often have you cleaned up the vacant site next to your house? How many times have you raised a voice against illegalities around you? And how many times have you picked yourself up for failing to effect a change and got back to activism again? That’s the mark of a winner. You have to be the change you want to see in the world might sound like a cliché, but this is precisely what you need to develop your neighbourhood.

When you are young, you welcome a mall and a pub in your neighbourhood. But as you grow older, you realise that these are actually a public nuisance. In addition to the noise pollution, there are parking issues, traffic bottlenecks, air pollution (you forget the chimney spewing thick smoke on rooftops) and importantly, a fire hazard, as no setback areas have been left on all sides to let the fire force inside the building in case of an emergency.

We have to ask ourselves this question? What kind of a role model are we to children? If we believe in ‘everything goes’ and ‘India will never change’, it’s because we are not being worthy citizens. Just because the other person has built eight houses on a 20-30 plot doesn’t mean you should copy him?

Imagine the problems of housing so many people in such a small space. Back to back bricks with no sunlight, no air, and no privacy. You can peak into their bathroom and they can peak into your bedroom. So what do you do? You shut the windows, draw the curtains and switch on the light. That’s life in a metro. Only you can change it for the better. Your time starts now.