Indians and Maintenance don't seem to go hand in hand. We buy expensive homes, but cringe paying our maid decent money for its upkeep, or delay painting our homes when a lick is due, or not repair an equipment the 'right way, right time'. This same attitude is visible in our public infrastructure too - our utilities look run down right from the beginning - the bridges look old Day 2, new roads get laid but budgets are not allocated for their upkeep, and sidewalks are built with nary a thought for its use. The list goes on and on. We Indians just don't have the orientation, the process, the skills, or the training to keep things in good shape. And that is because, deep within us, we lack pride - in ourselves, in our neighbourhood, in our city, or in our country. Pride is not about chest-thumping and singing Vande Mataram or Jana Gana Mana twice in a year. Pride is doing those small things, irrespective of whether it is our duty, to keep our own homes, and own our locality, nice and appealing.
Sundarbans. 27 th December, 2016 Just as the needle edged past ten p.m. on a still, dark, moonless night, a small fishing boat slid silently out of its berth, with a party of nine aboard – the boatman, the tour guide, and seven wide-eyed city-bred men & women. As the boat swished its way into the deep and murky waters of the Gangetic delta, it kicked off two of the most magical hours I’ve ever spent in my life. A few hours back, eighteen tired bodies had returned to our temporary home in the Sundarbans eco village, after a ten-hour day on a modified fishing trawler, touring the various islands of Sundarbans, wonderously taking in the flora and fauna that the mangroves offered. After resting our tired limbs for a few minutes on bamboo beds in our room, we headed to the dining hut fifty yards away. Mowgli (yes, he is one of the threesome that runs this very interesting tour/village) and Om were on hand, dishing out plates-full of piping-hot pakoras and black tea (milk is a ...
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