No longer Hydera-GOOD, its Hydera-BAD

Ankit Arora, 22 years of age, from Patiala (Punjab) completed his bachelors degree in engineering in 2006, and landed up a prestigious placement with one of the top IT companies in India. And for that, he had to travel frequently to Hyderabad.

A logical choice, given that Hyderabad, over the years, has become a symbol of all that modern India today stands for: a booming IT sector, a very strong line-up of BPOs (Business process outsourcing), a vibrant and growing biotechnology and pharmaceutical setup, a city in the throes of an unimaginable real estate boom, a symbol of e-governance, some of the best professional institutions in the country, and almost a must-visit on every American President’s itinerary for India.

Hyderabad has been my home for the last four years, and it is the advantages that it has offered that have essentially kept me away from trying to relocate to places like Bombay or Delhi. Some of these advantages are- a safe city, very livable, good quality of life, distances not too big, cost of living moderate, people understand Hindi, well connected to all other places.

As Hyderabad sees a greater influx from people all over the country (and also some from Europe and North America), especially in the last ten years or so, people have the same set of advantages in mind when the plan the relocation.

All was well. Hydera-bad was actually, Hydera-good! Until, a few days ago, on a rainy September evening, when Ankit was traveling in his office car through the Panjagutta area of Hyderabad, for a training session and suddenly, the fly-over under construction at Panjagutta, supposed to relieve the city of its traffic woes in the most crowded stretch of the city from Begumpet to Banjara Hills, gave way.

Right on top of Ankit’s car. And marked the end of the road for the promising youngster. With the flyover, the world came crashing down for more than twenty families of people like Ankit: who were unfortunate enough to be stuck in traffic at Punjagutta junction at that horrible time.

Clearly, in Hyderabad, there are unmistakable signs that something is beginning to go terribly wrong. In the last few weeks, we have had, in addition to this flyover incident, terrorism on a Saturday weekend crowd at Lumbini Park and at an eatery in Koti. There is a fear in the air, an element of suspicion at everything. While most of the people have no choice but to move on with things, and their life (something that is, in clichéd terms, referred to as the unshakable spirit of…… , fill in the dots with the name of the city which has had a terror attack), there is so much of a sense of uneasiness in continuing to be in Hyderabad.

And, it is not because of fear that this sense of unease arises; there is probably no place in the world which can claim to be totally safe-but for, probably, Antarctica and Greenland (as yet).

The sense of uneasiness is because of something much worse: it is our shocking insensitivity to the happenings around us, our remarkable disdain for our fellow human beings. Terror attack, flyover deaths. The storyline in the aftermath is familiar: TV cameras, lip service by politicians displayed with shameless impunity, two days, and the story dies. The flashbulbs are dimmed. Hyderabad gets back to discussing real estate prices. The upper crust are back at their appointed place on Page 3. Ways to move on to the US, either with an admission in a university, or on project with an IT company, regain priority and become top of the mind for professionals. The police are back at chasing, video recording and sending challans to vehicles with number plates that do not follow the font specifications. Security has been modernized for the Chief Minister (an additional ten million dollars, scores of additional forces, and dozens of newer vehicles).

There is a palpable gap in the movement from the civil society to take ownership of the city that we are living in. We are responsible for it all, as much as the other cogs in the wheel. And it is this poor response from the civil society that allows so many of our politicians to get away with it all. Accountability is the biggest casualty. A terrorist attack is from ‘foreign forces’- something beyond our control. A fly-over collapse is the work of a negligent engineer. Curse him. In this case, a few engineers have been suspended. And well, with that, would end the story. But nothing would stop a similar event from happening again; absolutely nothing. Contrast this with an example from the US, where a recent bridge collapse shook the foundations of the government; a detailed study on all bridges in the COUNTRY (yes, country) has already been initiated, concrete action plans are under implementation. All other things aside, we must learn from the developed world to value life. Each and every single individual’s life. For sure, life is cheap in Hyderabad, and it moves on. With a population touching seven million, what are a few dozens here and there. We have all failed Hyderabad.

Ankit Arora’s has not been the first such story we would have heard. And for sure, it will not be the last. Tomorrow, however, it could be you or me, in Ankit’s place. But life at Hydera-BAD will move on.