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| Sunday, 20 March 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Capital contradictions "The city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo." - John Milton by Arefa Tehsin New Delhi is the huge capital and the political hub of a still bigger and massive country - India. Colombo is the capital and political hub of a not so massive country - Sri Lanka. Both these power centres - Colombo and Delhi - though not the same in size, are similar in many ways. These are the cities where the destinies of peoples and nations take shape. These are the cities of dreams and conspiracies, politics and powers, greatest heights and lowest depths, monies and crimes, successes and failures, skyscrapers and slums, enormous Parliaments and small power centres, ambitions and hunger. People from other parts of both countries rush to their respective capitals in search of food and future; some in their indefatigable search for fame, some in their unrelenting fight for survival. But the intensity and feel of both cities are worlds apart, Delhi being much more intense than this beautiful island capital. In turn Delhi does not breathe air, it breathes power. The life of India seems to rush through the veins of Delhi, through the thick traffic and thick air laden with pollution. They say Delhi is more lively; depending on what definition of life one uses. Carrying a history of more than 5,000 years - from the legendary Indraprasth of the epic Mahabharat to the master of art and politics Akbar to the Parliament of Independent India - Delhi has over the centuries seen imperial sways with empires rising to the skies and falling to dust. There have been numerous attempts to plunder this endless city, but each time it has again risen to glory. From the first rise of the independence struggle in 1857 to the Indian British capital being shifted from Calcutta to Delhi, to the hosting of the Tricolour on that fateful eve of 1947, Delhi has been the focal point of Indian Independence. The old regal ruins of Delhi cast a spell, and inspires awe. Renowned for its delicacies, you can eat at the cheapest of places on the streets yet enjoy the food like none other. Not just that, with its larger than life, old, yet contemporary institutions, Delhi has been the intellectual capital of the country as well. But the Delhi of the present has more to it than a glorious past and a present powerful existence. It has to its multitudes striving for a day's meal, sun which can't be seen in the day due to the weighty hanging smoke, vehicles in hundreds of thousands, for which there is no parking space, the attitude of public which is generally very high handed, multitudes of frauds who can't be differentiated from the general public making it difficult for a layman even to ask for directions without being sceptical. Colombo - on the other hand has been conquered and re-conquered from the Dutch, Portuguese and British till the country had its independence in 1948. With a comparatively small population of around 675,000, though being the political and commercial hub of the island nation, life is much more peaceful here. There is so much more space to breathe, live, work and relax. We get frustrated travelling from, say Nugegoda to Colombo or Rajagiriya to Borella. But friends, you haven't seen people travelling in cities like Delhi or Bombay. It takes hours to travel to and fro from offices, not forgetting the gallons of pollution breathed in. The population of Delhi exceeds 13.8 million with more than 10,000 persons per square km, 3.2 million mobile phone users, 1.15 million cars etc. etc. You call it growth or you call it decline, it remains a subjective outlook. Yes, Colombo too is congested with all the other cons of a metropolitan and it does not exactly match what Cyril Connolly had said about cities: "No city should be too large for a man to walk out of in a morning". But life is relaxed here for a common man with all available luxuries. Yes, at a price. The inflation is skyrocketing in contrast to India where the cost of living is so very affordable. The attitude towards work is another point of difference in both the capitals. People there are quite hard working with no great inclination for relaxing and holidaying. But the general attitude towards work here is not quite the same. People are more relaxed here, giving more time to themselves. It is hard to get a booking at any resort on weekends. People generally like spending and enjoying themselves in their full capacity with Arrack and Whiskies and outings and holidaying and not really exerting themselves too much in work. "God made the country and man made the town". Colombo today is spilling in all directions outside its defined space. The city is increasing yet narrowing down by the day. The beautiful avenues with tress stand in start contrast to the downtrodden areas of the city and the newly coming up suburbs. People and town planners should pay a little more heed to their beloved city. At the end I would like to say that if I have a choice of staying in either of these manmade mammoths - Delhi or Colombo - I would any day prefer staying in this beautiful island capital.
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