The attached picture have been sent to me by a venerable veteran, Col Bhanu K Rai. As I was looking at them, my mind’s eye went to the following sociological changes which I have personally seen in my life :

During 1953 – 55, we lived on The Mall in Delhi Cantt (bungalow number 24) We could pedal down from our house to the Con-naught Place in less than an hour at a leisurely pace. My friends who live there now, have swank cars, which can accelerate from 0 to70 kmph in nine seconds , and yet they take longer to traverse the same distance, and the journey is far from pleasant! One of our our favorite picnic spots was the Okhla, on the banks of the  riverYamuna. In May-June when the snow used to melt the pristine clear  water used to cool our mangoes and we children loved the outing in that serene environment. The stench and filth of the river is nauseating now, thanks to the double digit growth in our economy. The sight of River Citarum which flows through Bandung in Jakarta left me stunned. With utter horror I discovered that the Yamuna is NOT the most polluted water way. In fact as per the list in the Internet, it ranks number 11. And if we add to it the fact that this very river had potable water, until as late as 1980, one realizes that we human beings are actually the most despicable creatures on the earth. In social sciences, this phenomenon is known as the “law of unintended consequences”

I am impelled to quote from Ghalib on this also. He said,

“Zikr us parivash ka, aur phir bayaaN apnaa   (parivash = a  very pretty young lady and  bayaaN=description)

Ban gaya raqib aakhir,tha jo raazdaaN apnaa  (raqib=competitor or villain and raazdaaN=a bosom friend in whom a person confides)

I think there is an urgent need for introspection

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