5 Things I Hate About India

Make no mistake about it, India is my mother land and I love it.  Having said that, there are some things that I absolutely hate (like "development"), and others that I find merely annoying (like stray dogs).  Here's a list of 5 things that I "hate" about India - I hope you find it amusing.

1) Stray dogs
There are too many damn stray dogs in India!  In the day time, they are shy and lazy, but one still has to be careful so as not to inadvertently step on a sleeping dog while avoiding the throngs of people.  At night, one better watch out since packs of dogs spill out on the empty streets and often have turf wars with rivals, and they surely don't hesitate to intimidate innocent bystanders - like me!

2) Pot Holes
Pot holes, pot holes and more pot holes - they are everywhere!  There's a popular saying - are there pot holes in the road or is there road in between the pot holes?  It's a shame that the roads of India's economic capital city, Mumbai, are littered with pot holes.. and people talk about Mumbai becoming the next Shanghai - until the quality of the roads improve, they can keep dreaming.  This can only happen when the corrupt-to-the-bone politicians stop giving road construction contracts to companies who do a poor job.

3) Garbage, Traffic and Pollution
It is sad but true, that cities are overflowing with garbage, traffic and pollution.  Bus depots, train stations, markets, residential areas, commercial areas... garbage is overflowing everywhere.  How far is the dump-it-over-the-fence attitude for garbage going to take us?  Not very.  Temples, especially the famous ones, are some of the dirtiest places where the devotees don't hesitate to simply dump their plastic and other garbage in the surroundings. In big cities, mere 15 kilometers seems like a huge distance because of traffic clogged roads.  On Indian roads, those who can afford it can breath A/C air (sitting in their cars), and those who don't breath pollution - there is no fresh air any more.

4) Development
I think "development" is a bad word in India.  It is nothing but encroachment, and rampant and unplanned development.  It's more like destruction - environmental destruction.  Hills are carved, blasted and flattened to make way for new roads and housing, lakes are filled in by greedy land sharks to construct more buildings, trees are cut down for road widening etc.  Why does development necessarily compete against nature in India?  The way India is "developing" is totally unsustainable and I think the payback for going against nature will be severe...

5) Crowds
Over-population has led to over-crowding in India putting a serious strain on resources and infrastructure.  It has also led to a general loss of respect for life.  On average, more than 10 people die everyday while commuting on Mumbai's over-crowded local trains - ironically known as the "lifeline" of Mumbai.  It's terrible that over-crowded buses in Pune don't even bother to stop at designated stops to pick up passengers; they just slow down a bit further from the stop so people who want to get off can jump off!

Coming up next: 5 Things I Love About India