As Ahmedabad burns for the second time in less than a month's time, my mind moves to the December, 1999 when I was there to meet my friend and architect. The visit to the Gujarat city of Ahmedabad, along with a short sojourn to Baroda, was filled with a sense of delight; a delight that stemmed from the interactions with an extremely peace loving denizens of the Gujrati state. A couple of incidents of that visit are still etched in my memory. It was around 12.00 in the night and I along with my friends were generally roaming in the city. Even at that time in the night, I could see groups of women peacefully moving around in groups, without any men-folk to provide any security. What overwhelmed me was the sense of freedom with which people, ordinary men, women and children included, moved around. The next day, when we were travelling in a local bus, a pickpocket entered the bus. The bus-conductor nabbed the potential culprit. He then requested all the commuters to check their pockets for the safety of their wallets. When the house was brought in order, the pickpocket was promptly requested to disembark, much to the relief of all concerned. In the night, we reached Baroda at around 1.00 in the night to meet a common friend who resided there. The incomplete address we had of our friend made us locating his house a real nightmare. However, couple of gentlemen, presumably Gujratis, helped us to find our way out. Even at that odd hour, we were welcomed with open arms and given the best possible treatment. The welcome proved the veracity of Indian heritage, "Visitors are like Gods, and they ought to be welcomed." Anyways, the point was that my visit to the state was so delightful that I made my mind to move to the state at the first opportunity available. However, now, another gentlemen from the very same state, after seeing his shop being vandalized, yearns to leave that state and move to some other state, or may be some other country; a place where he gets the most basic right of an individual ¾ to live without fear, and to be able to earn his living ¾ without any threat of any kind, what so ever.

Moving over to another topic, there were some remarkable incidents that hogged the front-page headlines. A sewer tank at a certain army recruitment center capsized and many hopefuls met a sordid end. The event was very unfortunate, but what transpired thereafter was even more so. The remaining army hopefuls went out on to streets burning buses and cars. This is not an isolated incident. Every time something tragic happens, few buses are burnt. This form of dissent is really shocking. Citing another interesting incident here, every summer, residents of certain areas of Najafgarh sit on a dharna on the roads, blocking traffic and bringing the traffic movement to a standstill. The demonstrators, mostly women, demand for water and electricity. Presumably, their colonies are out of potable drinking water most of the times, as is the condition of electricity. The merits of demonstration apart, the beauty of the whole event is that this trick works most of times.

Few comments are pertinent here. One, do we have to allow things to come to the brink to take any action. Two, what do we gain by destroying public property. This may only backfire as transport costs may rise, inconveniencing those who effected the vandalism at the first place. Third, the step-motherly treatment of certain areas of Delhi, the so-called not so privileged areas of the Capital of country.