Won't you be my neighbor?

We get a community newsletter for our little neighborhood every month. The entries and articles are sent in by the residents. One of Merinda's friends, a Mennonite missionary lady is frequently asked for entries because she is one of the few that is willing to write something positive. Most people just write in to complain.

For context, ours is considered to be a pretty nice neighborhood. It isn't the most upscale in Delhi, but pretty close. Here is a sampling to give you a taste of the goings on. FYI a "wallah" is a professional in something. Like, a plumber would be a plumbing-wallah, a guy who pedals a rickshaw is a rickshaw-wallah and so forth...

From the "Snapshots" Section of the New Friends Colony Community Newsletter:

• Munnilal, Mali! A gardener named Munnilal, after working very well for 1 1/2 years at the D-Block Park, took an advance of Rs. 7000 from a resident of the Block and disappeared. Apparently he is still working somewhere in the Colony. Any resident who knows his whereabouts please inform us.
• Low Cables Cause High Tension! There are electric wires hanging dangerously low in the Community Centre. The concerned authorities must take note as it could be a fatality if a passerby comes in contact with the cables and is electrocuted.
• Road Discipline Needed: The road between Archies and the Community Center is usually blocked by traffic largely because of rickshaws and auto-rickshaws parked haphazardly all over the road. The ricksaw-wallahs loudly shout out for passengers, literally compelling passersby to use their services.
• Roads Flood With Rain Water: With the few days of rain last month the road outside the Community Centre was so flooded that many girls who seemed to be stranded were spotted requesting Rickshaw-wallahs to help them cross over in their Rickshaws to save their shoes and clothes from getting soiled and soaked. Whatever will happen with the rainy season actually begins?
• Baraat Park? A tent-wallah has almost taken over the Park next to Shivji Mandir adjoining the Club. He books it for marriages and other functions in the Park, in league with the authorities. This has become a big business for him, especially because the courts have clamped down heavily on most other Parks and the illegal baraat ghars [wedding party houses] of South Delhi.
• Stop this Eve-Teasing [cat calling]: A resident of D-Block has complained that her grown-up daughter is being eve-teased by the young labourers working at a house construction site. They invariably pass lewd remarks and personal comments about her.
• From Smelly Corner to Community Centre: A new Community Centre is coming up on the empty plot next to Sujan Mohindra Hospital. The place that was known as the "stinking corner" has finally been given a cemented boundary wall and construction has begun. We will soon have a swanky area with another Community Centre to use for rest, celebrations, and shopping.

Finally here is a sampling of some of the main articles. This one is a little gross, but for the sake of documenting life in India, must be repeated:

Tragedy of the Park Taken over by the Club
by Vinod Aggarwal

Aruna Kapoor a resident of the D Block wondered why the authorities don't construct a toilet next to the park which has recently been taken over by the club. "I have to cover my nose with a handkerchief when I walk in the park. The entire area stinks. Urine is flowering down from all sides. As you enter from the D-Block side, sweepers, rickshaw-wallas and laborers can be spotted urinating with total disregard to anybody passing by. I have no choice but to walk there because of my illness, I am unable to go very far from my house."

Earlier the park was being looked after by the DDA [Delhi Development Authority]. They had maintained it in a much better condition. If the club is unable to look after it, they should return its upkeep back to the DDA. Even though there is a guard but he is helpless as nobody bothers about him. It seems the park is too big for a lone guard to control.

Once we spotted a furniture polisher polishing the chairs of the club in that park. This attitude further adds to the casual and arrogant behavior of the people who are constantly mauling the park.

Nowadays even the grass of the park has been ruined and the ornamented plants and flower beds are nowhere to be seen. Earlier the department malis [gardeners] used to get after people who used to ruin the park. Now the culprits are never questioned.

If the club looks after the park then they should put a board saying so, so the residents who use the park know where to go if they have a complaint.

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So, just to end on a upbeat note, here is the article written by Merinda's friend about their dancing get-togethers. I saw these ladies do their thing at a party and it was pretty impressive.

Bhangra at Bindu's: More Residents Can Come & Join
by Amy Klassen

What motivates you to exercise? For many, it helps if the exercise is fun and involves others. For a few months now, some ladies have been dancing the Bhangra in A-Block to keep fit and have fun together. It has also proved to be a great opportunity to get to know each other and learn together.

At the moment the group is exclusively for ladies, there are ladies from various backgrounds in the group, as well as various ages represented. Most of those involved had no previous experience with Bhangra, so anyone who is willing to give it a try is welcome.

There is no charge for the workout and there is presently room for more ladies. If you are interested, please come and check it out. For further information please call Bindu at -- or Amy at ---

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So, it really is true that there are low-hanging wires, flooding roads, rickshaws everywhere, parks in chaos, Bhangra dancing, and spots that smell worse than others, but it's also true that it's easy to become accustomed to all that, and it's really not as bad as it sounds above.

What is interesting is why write these complaints in a community newsletter? I don't know but a few reasons come to mind:

1. Raise awareness in the hopes that something may happen.
2. Actually complaining to the "authorities" is not going to result in anything, so you might as well vent in a newsletter.
3. Nobody is really sure who the "authorities" actually are...especially the authorities themselves.

For the sake of the good residents of New Friends Colony and of the rest of India (where it's all downhill from here) we hope that things get better, but until then it's nice that there are still interesting places in the world!