Saturday, February 21, 2015

Same person, different cities

I complete a week in Gurgaon today. I never thought i'll be here. I never thought i'll stay here. I never thought i'll consider staying here longer than i'm currently staying—if that makes sense. This city looks like it's waking up from a nightmare. Anyway, the point being i'm new to this place and vice versa. I don't understand quite a lot of things already. For instance, i can't really gauge why exactly people here turn into assholes the moment they step into a car. At the risk of generalization, they look rather civilized but as soon as their soles touch the accelerator, they are different persons altogether. And they aren't alone in this drive to be desi transformers. This city's autorickshawwallahs are marvelous creatures. The difference between them and their counterparts in Mumbai is they don't even respect potholes. Back in my city, auto drivers slow down while approaching a macro-crater on the road. Here, the man behind the wheels would attempt to fly over it. Furthermore, he won't offer you the courtesy of a meter for putting your life in danger. He can charge you whatever he likes and everything boils down to either your bargaining skills or your desperation to get from Point A to Point Z. 
But i like something about them: They are from Gurgaon. 
So far, they are the only ones i've come across who ACTUALLY hail from this upcoming city. The rest of us are all migrants trying to make a quick buck. 
During one of my conversations with a rickshaw driver here, i understood the economic distinctions that is already in place. There are three types of Gurgaonwallahs in NCR today. 
1. Those who made the most of the rise of this otherwise sleepy location. Such people not only made money but also invested wisely in business and real estate to milk opportunity till it bleeds.
2. Those who made the most of the rise but are on the brink of losing it all because they can't help showsha-ing and this behaviour is bound to make them go back to square one sooner or later.
3. Those who couldn't make the most of the spike and are therefore working as autorickshawwallahs with the 'sole' ambition to overlook potholes the way only pilots are meant to.

1 comment:

Harry said...

Shakti bhai, its awesome that you are here in Gurgaon. Trust me, I have been following your blog. and have always wished if I could meet you some day.

on a related note, let me know if you need any help in terms of accommodation or any other thing.

will be great if you could acknowledge my comment. please spare sometime if we can meet.

Harpreet