My trip has been quite a let down so far. Now, don’t get me wrong. I still like this town (maybe..) and am having a good time but the expectations that I had built up based on other people’s accounts, are now shattered.
The city is developing but nowhere close to the point where it can still call itself a major metropolitan city. The districts that lie just outside the city, and claimed to be upcoming and developing, have roads that are about 16 feet wide which means that they are really about 10 feet wide, given the housing intrusions, etc.
Now, that makes it just wide enough for a single truck to pass through…if there are no other vehicles parked on the street. Oh and did I mention that they have no roads or sewer lines or water lines for that matter? Sure, there are a bunch of infrastructure development projects being implemented in the city, but its at least 5+ years away from being livable.
But its the people that surprise me the most here. Chaos seems to be an accepted way of life with no regard to anyone else. I’ve created many scenarios for major multiple vehicle collisions by stopping at red lights, in the 8 days that I have been driving here. Fender benders are a common sight and people don’t even bother to get down or fight or ask for a compensation anymore. A cursory glance is all you can expect and they just drive away.
People litter, drive on the wrong side of the road, run red lights and do everything else that was UNacceptable, just four years ago. My friend tells me that this is how its always been and that I’ve changed and so have my expectations. I beg to differ. Four years ago, there were people who would still try to follow the rules, who would still get angry at those that break it and there were people who still cared.
Is it too much to expect people to follow basic road rules, respect other people, not litter and generally act civilized? People here, suck at self-governance and I think it is the result of a over-controlling school system and a creatively oppressed childhood filled with tuition classes and overly ambitious parents. I’m going to wait until I visit Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi before I write this country off for good.
I do however know that I will never ever consider living in Chennai again. The city I knew, the city I grew up in, is as good as dead. The one that exists in its place is one of chaos, confusion and inhabited by a species that has forgotten what it is that makes them human.