Can anything save Indians from miserable urban lives?

The state of our urban spaces reveals an odd hierarchy of wants and a lack of imagination at many levels

- MANU JOSEPH

When I used to see images of Indians wading through flooded streets, or large crowds trying to squeeze into trains in Mumbai, or a mile-long queue of people in the rain waiting for an auto, I used to feel infuriated, but these days I feel this is what they voted for.

You may argue that people want better urban lives, but there is nothing more useless than a 'want'. In fact, I would argue that the political class too 'wants' better urban planning. Everybody 'wants' to live amid beauty. An intent is not as important as where it lies in the hierarchy of intents. Everybody has broadly the same set of wants, intentions, values and goals. What separates people and nations is the order of those things.

I even think it is absurd in many situations to use the plural for priority. There is usually one wish or goal of a person, city or nation that has an outsized influence on everything they do. The hierarchy of wants is everything, because wants are often in conflict.

And our cities and lives show that quality of urban life is not the priority of India's political class and most Indians. As a result, we have no hope.

Urban India is only going to get worse from here. We try to throw money at escaping India within India, but even that is becoming exorbitant, because India keeps seeping in and you have to pay more and more to fully escape.