City of Sorrow

Even if you discount the bomb blast, Pune is imploding, with no one and nothing to blame but itself.

It would not be entirely right to say that cities that are crumbling are most vulnerable to terrorism. New York and London weren’t exactly imploding when the planes crashed into the Twin Towers or bombs went off in the subway. But it does make the job of the terrorist easier if degeneration has set in. Mumbai, which has a terrorist attack once every couple of years, is a case in point, and last week, Pune showed how vulnerable it had allowed itself to become.

Pune was once a pensioner’s delight, but today it is more aptly described as a paradise lost. Once the intellectual and cultural hub of Maharashtra, it is now fertile ground for crime. The state’s narcotics bureau says Pune is now an important point for drug trafficking, connected to the international market. The city where reformist Savitribai Phule set out to empower women is also now a centre for sex trafficking. A DNA report quoted First Advantage, an international background-screening company for employers, saying that Pune was among cities with the maximum number of criminal job candidates. Authbridge, which provides a similar service, echoed it.

It’s not just crime. Even the environment is degrading, with extremely high water, air and sound pollution levels. Pune has witnessed little planned growth. Civic sense is vanishing with alarming speed. Recently, when the government wanted to make uniforms and licence badges compulsory for autorickshaw drivers, it was opposed not just by the unions but the  citizens as well. After a three-day strike, the government withdrew its order. Then again, when the government wanted to make helmets compulsory, the city, which one newspaper termed the country’s accident capital, started a mass protest. All political parties came together and threatened a helmet todo (break helmet) agitation. Just step on the roads and it is immediately apparent that anyone who runs a vehicle thinks using horns, mirrors, lights and indicators is a sign of cowardice.

In Pune, awareness campaigns on civic issues are treated with scorn. In the 1960s, the late PL Deshpande, a noted humorist, wrote an essay comparing residents of Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur. Here’s his witticism about the Punekar (translation by Gaurav Sabnis, gauravsabnis.blogspot.com):  ‘Firstly, do not nurse the notion that you are inferior to anyone in any aspect of life. You are not. You are a superior being. Secondly, learn to express dissent on every issue possible. I mean seriously, stop thinking about minor things like who you are, how educated or uneducated you are, what your achievements are… just express a contradictory opinion’.

One way for Punekars to protect themselves against terrorism is to start going against character and being receptive to other opinions and believe a little in the good old rules.

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