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How 25 years of economic reforms changed Indian streets

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Suraj Kumar Thube
Suraj Kumar ThubeJul 26, 2016 | 12:44

How 25 years of economic reforms changed Indian streets

For all those born after the tumultuous period of 1991, life saw a perceptible change. Albeit a gradual one, at best.

As the economic reforms began to show the power of opening up to the outside world, the new lives instantly connected with it. So much so that a 1990's kid saw both the decline of the old order and the emergence of a new generation desperate to emulate the American lifestyle.

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In order to make sense of the change, one only needs to peep through the windows of our houses to witness the tumult and dynamism of an Indian street. A laid-back reminiscence on the past on a sultry afternoon brought into focus quite a few discernible shifts.

Any Indian street, especially those situated in a slightly old part of a quintessential urban town, was a serene, quiet and less populated place. The weather was undoubtedly more pleasant as compared to the recurrent heatwaves of the present.

The tar roads were poorly built with the famed potholes being a living legacy of it even to this day. Less dense demography naturally paved the way for scant presence of vehicles. Spotting a four-wheeler in your immediate surrounding used to be a matter of profound admiration.

It was a world where the now defunct Maruti 800 used to be the prized possession of the rising middle class. Not to forget this car called Hyundai Accent, slightly elongated in shape which oozed off class and privilege. Lesser vehicles reflected a below middle class lifestyle for the majority.

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Local games such as kite flying (a thing still present in some parts) have withered away from the streets. 

A copious amount of greenery was a definite presence in contrast to the rapidly tree-less urban areas of today. More trees, less people (meaning far less noise pollution), moderate lifestyles (meaning frugal consumption patterns and thereby seldom any problems of waste management) and very few personal vehicles (almost a rarity in our hyper active world, wherein the prospect of relying on public transport just doesn't seem to be something in sync with the people despite demanding changes).

It is not just the economic angle that saw the maximum shifts. A cultural churning too has very much been a phenomenon during this period of radical transformation. A tilt toward neo-liberalism also came with an increased fixation with the traditional, religious and cultural moorings.

The seeds of a deadly cocktail of neo-liberal fantasy and religious jingoism were sown right in that early phase of the reforms. New temples, new mandals formed by youngsters who literally took up the mantle of celebrating all the festivals, and a surge in devotional songs being played at high decibels coming from houses across the street became a common scene.

Glitzy hoardings depicting birthdays, promotions of local dadas and nagarsevaks started becoming more prevalent. This was of course a side development to the towering apartments mushrooming at an unenviable pace.

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Rampant cutting down of trees under the name of beautification, cement roads replacing the tar roads (only to make them more prone to accidents) and a largely vacant surrounding started getting clogged with imported bikes and cars. The serenity was getting lost to the much dreaded and overcrowded oblivion at an alarming rate.

Economic reforms have made Indian society more globalised and Westernised, they say. Liberalisation has, however, brought in a phase of nostalgia, a period that people can live in only in their largely cordoned off dreams.

What about the people? Kids had a roller-coaster time with virtually empty roads at their disposal. Local games like lagori, tops, marbles, kite flying (a thing still present in some parts) have withered away from the streets. With less space and more technological progress that brought in its heels a wealth of indoor video games, largely compounded to making the street less lively.

An occasional period of cricket or football is a sorry replacement for that glorious past. People who used to meet and interact with strangers from their small tenements have now been pushed into the ever proliferating vertical slums.

But one group of people that still remain ubiquitous are the beggars. Their faces and voices still pepper the hot and hard stretches of cement roads and sometimes are heard even in the concrete jungles of gated colonies.

I wonder whether if our conscience has turned as hard as the cement road for increasingly preferring to live secluded lives. The festivals are more about blind, unquestioning continuation of tradition (now mixed with a lot of bling) than an event of socialising.

Traffic snarls, mandatory brawls, invectives hurled as casually as normal interactions are developments that clearly reflect the deep anxieties, fear psychosis and frustration of our unstable lives.

Capitalism along with shaping our thought processes and our worldly outlooks have brought in new notions of time and space. An insidious change which comes with sugarcoated allurements signifying Pavlovian conditioning.

The Indian street is now more chaotic yet socially dead. It is more glamorous but secluded. It is more prosperous but unequal. The growth is there to see but only in privileged gated communities.

If 25 years of economic reforms is a laudatory milestone, why does the happiness and contentment not reflect on Indian streets?

Last updated: July 26, 2016 | 12:44
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