The Brave Pedestrian

Mumbai, 12 November, 2018: If Lodha New Cuffe Parade were a movie, it might get a one-star rating out of five from its present occupants; and it would be "A" rated, because it is scary and unsafe for children. If Lodha New Cuffe Parade were a car, it would have to be recalled. Lodha NCP Wadala is touted as a super-luxury real estate project, and each flat is sold at between Rs 2.5 to 7 cr. But customers are not just disappointed, they are shocked to discover that these super-expensive flats flats are poorly designed, made of poor-quality materials, substandard, defective, prone to damage and seepage. Basic design flaws in the flats, the towers, and the entire layout, make it dangerous for occupants, maintenance staff and passersby.  Lodha NCP towers like Dioro, Enchante and Evoq have got part-OC (Occupation Certificate) from MMRDA, but they are unfit for habitation. The part-OC appears to be due to MMRDA officials' negligence or corruption, or both. MMRDA appea...

    I keep looking for images and words that express what I feel our world should be like. Well, here’s a pic I saw on L Kini’s Rediff iland blog. What does this picture signify? I see humankind, having voluntarily given up all their technological achievements and all their acquisitions, all protections, comforts and clothes, bowing in the midst of the grandeur of nature. I see people bowing before nothing in particular. (Maybe in reality they were bowing before a guru, an idol or a symbol when this picture was taken, but that need not concern us.) They seem to be bowing reverentially to the world in general, which includes themselves. I see all of us at ease with our own nakedness and humanness. Our shame and self-consciousness is replaced by a superconsciousness, a supreme fellow-feeling, a sense of being one with all others. A serene oneness pervades this picture. ...