Vision of Life; by Sanjay: New Guardians of the Smart City!

Dear new elected MLA’s of the Smart City,

“Ask a child's guardians what it takes to be good at their jobs, and most will answer with a single word... SACRIFICE… Brian K. Vaughan

Brian Keller Vaughan (born July 17, 1976) is an American comic book and television writer, best known for the comic book series like, The Last Man, Ex Machine, and Runaways etc. No wonder he can define role of a guardian in a child’s life in one single word! Well, when the child is a Smart City this is what the guardians need to be remember, yes I am referring to our newly elected MLA’s of the city which are in a way, guardians of the city also! The State Assembly elections are through & though we may not be having a new ruling govt but the city has got most new guardians barring a few & I felt like writing them as a common citizen which are part of this child named Smart City! Indeed these elections may be bringing many changes in the way things have been happening at HQ i.e. Mantralay but as a city our eyes, ears, nose (read all senses) will be focused on our guardians which we have elected & will be representing us up above! I don’t want to go in to debate regarding political parties because that’s something for contesting the elections & to win them but once you have won then your role for the city (read as child) is you must give everything whatever is necessary for the better upbringing of the child, just the way some times a mother has to play a fathers role & vice-a-versa! And a times one has to keep his or her personal agenda i.e. liking, ego, hobbies, passion aside for the child & this exactly is what we call as sacrifice by the guardian!

Let’s take a look at the scene before these elections means before entry of the new guardians; I don’t say all was well (sub changa si, sagala chaan aahe) but the comparing to all other cities Pune is blessed on many fronts & you can’t take away all the credit from the earlier guardians for sure, well we are not as bad as them then, if we say so, isn’t it? We have one of the best water supply (not system, read as source) in compare to our size other cities. We have better education facilities here (even if paid). We have a public transport in place if not as effective as Mumbai yet it commutes nearly a million people every day & Metro is in coming! We have nearly twenty four hour electric supply, a perk not many cities enjoys in the State, though in rains it does gives some trouble yet we have fairly good electric power supply. We have much better road net-work, here many citizens will lift their eye brows but behold, go the other District places of mid size cities & then tell me the road conditions. We have a system in place which takes away our garbage & don’t ask what that system does with the garbage & how it’s generated in first place in so big quantity! The list of good things is quite big & yes we are one of the country’s & not just State’s largest employment generation center, this is very important aspect in upbringing of a child (read as city) as this aspects keeps many people migrating here & add in the wealth of the city in many ways for their living as well by their earnings!

Now after going through all such goody-goody things one will say then why the earlier guardians were rejected by the “janata janardan” & you are not wrong to ask this question! Well, I am not a political analyst but as the fact remains there are new guardians elected (read as selected) by the citizens means even after the big list above of the good things yet there is something missing which the city needs to have but hasn’t been provided & the child has retaliated through only one act it knows i.e. change of guardians!

This is exactly what the guardians (read as elected MLA’s) must not forget & this can be achieved by forgetting the differences among themselves such as political party, rivalry, personal ambitions, old accounts with the opponents, taking the child granted & yes, greed (don’t ask of what); all these things were the age old reasons by which the earlier guardians have to go & in process the city has suffered a lot. As we have water in abundance but we don’t have proper water lines to carry that water to the homes of the citizens & thus we have new specie in the city i.e. Tanker Mafias (water tanker)! Then we have thousands of schools & hospitals here but where the quality of education & medical treatment is good those places are unaffordable for the common man is also a fact. We have a public transport system in place but its condition is like an old person in the family which exists but of hardly any use to the family members because of his poor health condition. We have good electric power supply but just like water supply systems, the power grids are inadequate making citizen to spend millions to get this supply in their homes or offices or factories, causing huge expense issues for the citizens who has to pay for this power grid from their pocket which is govt’s (read as guardian’s) job actually. And then whatever power line grids are there are of low quality causing continuous disturbance in the power supply as small rains also can damage the electric cables making the city go in darkness. We have road network but road conditions i.e. road surface & monitoring of traffic i.e. signals , dividers, crossings etc is pathetic causing the city goes cripple not just in rains but any work or school hours on any day all along the year! Now it takes nearly two hours (or more depending up on your bad luck) to cross this city any hour of the time. And worst part most of the citizens need to this i.e. crossing the city for their every need may it be a job or education or health services or even recreation, such is planning of the city! And yes the city may be a much clean at first look but don’t get deceived, every now & then the garbage dump place gets in to controversy & you see heaps of garbage flowing all around. Decades have gone yet we have to find a dumping place for our city’s garbage & more than that we can control or treat the garbage without damaging peace (read health) of the people who lives around the place where you dump your garbage, is a fact! Same is the scene with public toilets of the city, just try by yourself using for your nature call & I am sure next time you will learn to hold the nature’s call also! And then there are safety as well security force's poor infrastructure aspect is there. As well ever damaging biodiversity policies which are ruining Pune's hills & water bodies (can't use the word river) of not just city but entire surrounding, so many other such issues are there! And then despite all the negativity, yet employment this city generates is still a positive factor, but then even an orphan also grows, that’s nature but how healthy it remains while it grows depends on its guardians!

And then the entire good & bad lists above about the city, is in a way responsible to the most important aspect of citizens, a Makan i.e. Home! As more & more people are migrating here in this city then their second need is home (first always will be employment) & here we are lacking extreme. Many will say, are there not thousands of flats (read as homes) unsold even ready possession & builders are running around screaming Mandi i.e. Slowdown in real estate, how can be you call home front as failure! Well, indeed thousand (may be more) flats are unsold & so are the many incomplete projects also there & it’s not a healthy sign for the city, because this slow down in real estate is due to uneven infrastructure this city provides to its citizens & not only because of the prices or over-supply of the homes available for sale. And that’s main reason just some three decades back when the illegal homes residents population (read as slums also) was hardly 15-25% of total population now this number has grown to nearly 45%, mean nearly half the population of this city resides in illegal homes & this is alarming for the guardians! As obviously nobody will like to stay in an illegal home or slum willingly & then time & again they will throw their anger on the guardians via only possible mean that is by voting against the existing guardians, may be just once in a five year opportunity! And then those who are residing in the legal homes they also if not getting the services they have paid for by their hard earned money (and lots of it). Current floods which made havoc for both legal & illegal homes is the classic example of the city’s guardians not looking after the citizens, where millions of families suffered in every possible way, may it be losing valuables or loss of dear one’s life or frustration due to traffic jams & power cuts! These all citizens were going to revolt by voting against the guardians & this is what we witnessed in current elections!

This all scene our new guardians must study as five years will pass very quick & people’s memory is no more that short which media & rulers & so called business gurus’ thinks it is. The guardians (read MLAs’, MPs’ & Corporators’) who has been reelected they should thank their luck as the margins has reduced this means people are not that happy which once used to be as well the new faces has been given this as a responsibility or say faith that these new faces will change something on better side & this is where the Sacrifice aspect of guardianships comes in at city level. We look at you as guardian & that makes you responsible to the citizens & not to the political party of which ticket you have won the election! You will be needed to cut across the so called party walls & act united for the city’s wellness as well you must not be working for some group of the citizens but for the entire city’s greater good. And for that each of you must become part of the city as well make yourself available to the society & that’s only possible when you will understand the role as well definition of a Guardian & yes a Guardian is family member first, which in your case is citizen of this Smart City which has made you a Guardian! And when we say sacrifice then we don’t expect you not be ambitious or not grow by wealth or name or fame, just do mind these all are by-products of the duty you will be doing as a Guardian & not the objectives! That’s the sacrifice this city expects (read as demands) from you in lieu of the faith we have put in you all, just try to do your best & see the same citizens will keep on making you their guardians time & again; the examples are all around the State of such faces, this also the current elections showed us!

So, go on Guardians, all best wishes for your responsibility ahead as this country is a wonderful place where people loves & hates with equal passion; especially to the face which they calls’ (read as thinks) a Guardian. And then do mind just like we make our own Gods, we only make or destroy our Guardians too!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.
Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

https://youtu.be/al0NZ-7Zhq0

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2018/08/pune-city-no-1.html