Watching Federer go down against Nadal at the final of the Australian Open was an overbearing experience. An year ago, Nadal had demolished the master at the French garrison and then stole the Wimbledon from right under Federer's nose in one of the greatest matches of the open era. Even so, Nadal had to fight every inch of the way as the fifth set went all the way to 9-7 before laying his hands on the crystal trophy.
The Australian open final was different. It was, as Federer later admitted, a match he should have won. He was the on who hit far more winners, albeit compensated with his higher number of unforced errors, had almost doulble break points to his opponent, and also won two of his sets rather easily - 6-3. So what went wrong?
It was a battle which, more than anything, Federer lost in the mind. He made one bad error in the third game of the fifth set which allowed Nadal to break him, and you could almost recognise that Federer had lost the plot. Though Nadal's immensely powerful top-spinning forehand and his relentless pursuit of the ball are valid technical reasons for Nadal's success, he is the only player in the world who has yet managed to beat Federer psychologically.
Nadal had come on the circuit with Federer firmly confirmed as the next big thing in Tennis, and in his first two years Federer had proven everyone right, winning grand slams all over, at the same time sending purists into raptures with his exquisite play. Nadal was primarily a clay court player with huge shoulders and biceps for a nineteen year old.
While most players tried to play the traditional way to combat Federer's powers, Nadal was building up a game of his own, based on powerful top spinning forehands and exceptional ability to return the most accurate 'winners'. Being left handed also allowed him to attack Federer's relatively weak backhand.
Right from the first time they faced up, Nadal has had an upper hand against Roger. By the time Federer first beat Nadal, at their fourth encounter head to head, the so called clay court player stole a set off Federer in Federer's most hallowed court, that of Wimbledon, in Jul '06.
The next year when they repeated successes at the Roland Garros and Wimbledon, while Federer managed just a set in Paris, Nadal took the Wimbledon final to the fifth set and was actually dominating the match till well into the fourth. Most people who saw that match, Federer fans included, acknowledged that Nadal would most likely overcome the Wimbledon barrier the next year, which he so famously did, routing Federer in a epic five setter in 2008.
But the real death blow had come a month earlier in the clay court of Paris, where Nadal ruthlessly ripped Federer's game apart in a 6-1,6-3,6-0 demolition job. That match more than anything has given Nadal a mental stronghold over Federer which he has since found impossible to overcome.
Federer fans have since started to doubt whether Federer would ever be able to break the hold at all. Indeed, if he is to overcome Sampras' 14 grand slams he would have to reduce his unforced errors against Nadal drastically. The unforced errors had such a huge impact on his loss at Wimbledon last year and at the Aussie open this year, so did his inability to convert breakpoints.
It is when Roger has a breakpoint that one can see the depth of Nadal's resolve and self belief. He doesnt give an inch and keeps belting winners when most players would go for conservative gameplay. In the Aussie open final, he came back from 0-40 and 15-40 in the third set, which he eventually won on the tiebreak. Had Federer broken him in one of those two games, the trophy would have been his - three sets to one.
Nadal has clearly raised the bar higher than Federer did a couple of years ago. While Federer is on the verge of Sampras' record, Nadal already has almost half the slams Federer has and is touted as the next favourite to have a crack at the record.
Federer has at best an year and half to raise his game and to instill the belief that he can beat Nadal. If he ever manages to get the 14th or the 15th grand slam with Nadal at the other side of the net, it would be the icing on the cherry.
For now, the power, as they say, is with the boy from Mallorca.
February 08, 2009
December 22, 2008
Cutting!
Whatever it means in the English language, for boys growing up in India, it only means one thing - a monthly trip to the nearest barber after a scolding at school!
India's hair cut saloons are a lovely reflection of the culture of the place. The water and the after shave being sprayed around the place leaves a lingering smell which is at once damp and refreshing. The cut locks lying about the floor add their own to the ambience. If the shop is relatively old, the furniture would have got all creaky with lime scales lining up the mirrors. The platform in front of the mirror is littered with water sprays, blades, creams of all makes, dyes, and the like. All in all, a great place to get in touch with the real India (forgive me for sounding like a firang tourist.)
If, like 80% of the general populace, you find it too hard to get up on a weekday for the harvest and only visit the place 'subah subah' on a Sunday (anytime before 1PM), chances are, there would be atleast 7-8 people waiting for attention. These would have a liberal distribution of retired grandpas with their grandsons, teenagers wishing to look cool, and the working man, desperate to get the haircut done as soon as possible so he can rest for the R of the day.
Most of the medium range barber shops have posters showing scalps with various lengths of mane cut in different shapes.
Though for most of the people, the Q 'how do I cut your hair' is generally answered in a word: 'short', 'medium' or the like, few of the adventurous lot desire their cut to look like on of the ones in the posters, or better still, they come up with an original design which takes a lot of effort to explain, with hands going all over the place as they instruct the barber how to apply the razor and the scissors.
It is with precisely such species that the barber is most satisfied with. Though the usual 'I will get my haircut done every four weeks' sort are their bread and butter, these people provide them the freedom to explore their art and push the boundaries. They are their exotic leg glances for six to the common man's dab to the third man for a single.
They provide them the licence to exercise their creative side, to traverse their scissors and clipper through unknown paths, all the while charting a new course which would translate as their very own hairstyle and place the benefactor upon the highest pedestal among his circle of friends, each of whose barbers no doubt would have had tried to take a similar route to the unknown, only to fail miserably, finally resorting to a lift home.
These people leave the place with an investigative look into the mirror, which slowly but surely transforms into an appreciation of their own reflection and a nod to the barber for a job well done. Not for them the quick payment and the rush back home to take a quick bath. They are gifted souls who know how to appreciate a good thing and thus take their own sweet time before taking the much needed head bath.
The reluctant kid with the grandpa is the one to watch out for. For, even though the brat would have arrived a full half and hour late to the place, he is most likely to leapfrog you to the chair. He would also take more time to get an inch of his hair cut than you would for a haircut and a shave twice over. He is the one the barber is least reluctant to get his hands to, for the simple reason that the return in this case is inversely proportional on investment (time), since the rates for a 'baba' cut only being two thirds that of a 'men' cut.
This rule must have been proposed and approved by a commitee entirely comprising of bald heads and women, for anyone who suffered at the hands of these fiendish creatures would have rather banned babas from entering the domain of annas.
The advent of television has transformed these formerly troublesome but, on the whole, stupid babas into 'kids' who talk the talk. I recently came across a ten year old who insisted on having a 'crew cut'. When the barber asked him to take the seat, he, wanting to make sure the barber knew what he was doing, quizzed the barber on the various intricacies of having such a cut done, before granting the barber the approval to go ahead with the cut, with a disclaimer of a non payment in case the cut did not come up as expected! On the other hand, when I was a part of the kid parade, even my 'chota kaato', 'medium kaato' was decided by my dad! Aaah... time does fly!
As people wait to get attention while the cool dudes and the kids are occupying the chairs, most people go through the newspapers or watch the television. For some strange reason, the barber shop is the only place I have ever read Filmfare. I never bought one at railways stations or at other book shops. Maybe because I did not want to be seen reading a film magazine (?), I don't know. But that was that. I also know a couple of people who used to go to the barber's just to read Filmfare and come back without a haircut, but with vital inside information on 'who is with whom'; It must be noted that for much of the nineties, the Filmfare was one of the few sources of news on forthcoming films and of filmi gossips.
The barber's is also a good place to catch up with other 'cutting' friends (for the uninitiated, these are people you know solely because your harvesting seasons match). The barber of course acts as the mediator if you do not come across a few of these for two-three regular visits.
With 'posh' places mushrooming all over the place, the good ol' hair cutting saloon has also caught the bug with AC Unisex saloons coming up in metros. Thankfully, these cost a fortune, atleast for now. I thus have kept my 'cutting' friends till now, and hope to do so, for many cuts to come, till I go bald that is.
India's hair cut saloons are a lovely reflection of the culture of the place. The water and the after shave being sprayed around the place leaves a lingering smell which is at once damp and refreshing. The cut locks lying about the floor add their own to the ambience. If the shop is relatively old, the furniture would have got all creaky with lime scales lining up the mirrors. The platform in front of the mirror is littered with water sprays, blades, creams of all makes, dyes, and the like. All in all, a great place to get in touch with the real India (forgive me for sounding like a firang tourist.)
If, like 80% of the general populace, you find it too hard to get up on a weekday for the harvest and only visit the place 'subah subah' on a Sunday (anytime before 1PM), chances are, there would be atleast 7-8 people waiting for attention. These would have a liberal distribution of retired grandpas with their grandsons, teenagers wishing to look cool, and the working man, desperate to get the haircut done as soon as possible so he can rest for the R of the day.
Most of the medium range barber shops have posters showing scalps with various lengths of mane cut in different shapes.
Though for most of the people, the Q 'how do I cut your hair' is generally answered in a word: 'short', 'medium' or the like, few of the adventurous lot desire their cut to look like on of the ones in the posters, or better still, they come up with an original design which takes a lot of effort to explain, with hands going all over the place as they instruct the barber how to apply the razor and the scissors.
It is with precisely such species that the barber is most satisfied with. Though the usual 'I will get my haircut done every four weeks' sort are their bread and butter, these people provide them the freedom to explore their art and push the boundaries. They are their exotic leg glances for six to the common man's dab to the third man for a single.
They provide them the licence to exercise their creative side, to traverse their scissors and clipper through unknown paths, all the while charting a new course which would translate as their very own hairstyle and place the benefactor upon the highest pedestal among his circle of friends, each of whose barbers no doubt would have had tried to take a similar route to the unknown, only to fail miserably, finally resorting to a lift home.
These people leave the place with an investigative look into the mirror, which slowly but surely transforms into an appreciation of their own reflection and a nod to the barber for a job well done. Not for them the quick payment and the rush back home to take a quick bath. They are gifted souls who know how to appreciate a good thing and thus take their own sweet time before taking the much needed head bath.
The reluctant kid with the grandpa is the one to watch out for. For, even though the brat would have arrived a full half and hour late to the place, he is most likely to leapfrog you to the chair. He would also take more time to get an inch of his hair cut than you would for a haircut and a shave twice over. He is the one the barber is least reluctant to get his hands to, for the simple reason that the return in this case is inversely proportional on investment (time), since the rates for a 'baba' cut only being two thirds that of a 'men' cut.
This rule must have been proposed and approved by a commitee entirely comprising of bald heads and women, for anyone who suffered at the hands of these fiendish creatures would have rather banned babas from entering the domain of annas.
The advent of television has transformed these formerly troublesome but, on the whole, stupid babas into 'kids' who talk the talk. I recently came across a ten year old who insisted on having a 'crew cut'. When the barber asked him to take the seat, he, wanting to make sure the barber knew what he was doing, quizzed the barber on the various intricacies of having such a cut done, before granting the barber the approval to go ahead with the cut, with a disclaimer of a non payment in case the cut did not come up as expected! On the other hand, when I was a part of the kid parade, even my 'chota kaato', 'medium kaato' was decided by my dad! Aaah... time does fly!
As people wait to get attention while the cool dudes and the kids are occupying the chairs, most people go through the newspapers or watch the television. For some strange reason, the barber shop is the only place I have ever read Filmfare. I never bought one at railways stations or at other book shops. Maybe because I did not want to be seen reading a film magazine (?), I don't know. But that was that. I also know a couple of people who used to go to the barber's just to read Filmfare and come back without a haircut, but with vital inside information on 'who is with whom'; It must be noted that for much of the nineties, the Filmfare was one of the few sources of news on forthcoming films and of filmi gossips.
The barber's is also a good place to catch up with other 'cutting' friends (for the uninitiated, these are people you know solely because your harvesting seasons match). The barber of course acts as the mediator if you do not come across a few of these for two-three regular visits.
With 'posh' places mushrooming all over the place, the good ol' hair cutting saloon has also caught the bug with AC Unisex saloons coming up in metros. Thankfully, these cost a fortune, atleast for now. I thus have kept my 'cutting' friends till now, and hope to do so, for many cuts to come, till I go bald that is.
September 09, 2008
A tale of three cities
London, New York and Paris are three cities which have withstood the test of time and have redefined the way the modern world has shaped up, for better or for worse.
Having been fortunate enough to spend time in all three of them within a space of an year, and having been bewitched by each of them in their own unique ways, here are my views on them.
London was home to me for two years. London was everything I expected it to be, and a bit more. As a character says in Snatch, "London, you know... - fish, chips, cup 'O tea, bad weather, worse food, Mary @#$%ing Poppins, London!". My own views are not that cynical but yes, the worst thing about London is surely the weather. Well, for eight months of the year at least.
It is not just the fact that it is cold but it so amazingly depressing in the short and cloudy days of the winter, that I often wonder how the British have resisted suicidal tendencies! In the summer, however, England is the best place to be. With the extended daytime and sunshine which is at once bright and not overbearing, the English countryside is a great place to take long walks. Coming back to London though...
No matter what kind of a person you are and whatever is it that you like, chances are, London will have just the kind of place which would keep you interested. For anyone with the an interest in history and the arts, there is the British Museum, the National Gallery, the theatres in West end and numerous other places. If you are a party animal, there are countless clubs blaring out music all night long. If you like Sports, there are at least 3 test matches played in London alone every year, apart from Wimbledon, football, Formula One, the London Marathon, etc etc.
Only a few of the British however, were as I had expected them to be. My idea of a Britisher was of a tough as nails, eloquent fellow who knows exactly how to convey disappointment and appreciation in equal measure, without ever seeming to do either!
Unfortunately, like the rest of the developed world, the British have also gone into a slumber. The youngest native Britisher in my office was 27! Most of the young generation do not study beyond high school and chalk out their livelihood doing petty jobs in supermarkets and the like. Whatever happened to the seafaring adventurers and pioneers of industrial revolution I do not know. They seem to have lost the buccaneering spirit. According to a statistic, Pakistani immigrants would outnumber the English in Birmingham in as early as 2027. What that would do to England as we know it, only time can tell.
But meeting a few of the people I was fortunate to work with made me appreciate what made these people rule the world. The written and verbal communication skills coupled with the analytical ability of one gentleman in particular made me step up the bar of my own work and improve.
While discussing a particular logic, this particular gentleman would say something I wouldn't understand at the moment. As I kept looking for solutions to the problem and thought out the outcomes of each step of the proposed solution, I would finally hit a roadblock and blurt out 'we could have done XYZ but it wouldn't be possible because of ABC' and it would strike me that he had said the same thing about four or five minutes earlier. As they say, the best way to learn to play is to play against a better player and that's what happened to me!
All said and done, as a wise man had said, 'A man tired of London is tired of life!'
London and Paris were the most prominent cities of the middle age and shaped much of arts and technology of the time. I was expecting Paris to be similar to London but the moment I saw trash lying all over the place and overflowing toilets at the bus stop, I knew I was in for a surprise. Paris is as different from London as the French are to the British.
As with London, Paris has more than its share of museums, art galleries and grand old buildings, with a little difference. Most buildings in London (I only refer to the ones built before 1850), though large and grand in their own way, were built to serve practical purposes more than anything else. Not for the British the unnecessarily large halls and archways. Paris, and Europe by extension, has huge palaces and cathedrals which were built to satisfy the royal families' ego more than anything else. Whatever it cost the citizens of the time, they make for excellent tourist destinations. I visited the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, and the Eiffel in a single day and that was best combination of monuments I saw in such a short time. The Notre Dame and other cathedrals are also a must watch, and so is a boat ride on the Seine.
Paris once stood for grandeur and magnificence and is now mostly known to be the fashion capital of the world and, for some strange reason, the most romantic city in the world. Maybe it was because I roamed all over Paris all alone, but I couldn't fathom why it is considered so. But not for nothing is it called the fashion capital of the world. Home to every other fashion label, even the streets of Paris have clothes and accessories of all kinds catering to all budgets. I never saw a wider range of shoes and hats worn than I did in two days in Paris.
The Parisians love food. Roadside restaurants with lovely umbrellas and chairs line up either sides of almost all major streets. Sitting in one of these sipping coffee and people watching is a great way to while your time away.
The French are very easy going people. While the British make a conscious effort to maintain a stoic expression and look 'stylish', it comes fairly naturally to the French. They are very liberal, as is evident from their movies, and quite prone to bend the rules when required. The British on the other hand follow every rule to the T.
Paris, thus, is not as clean and disciplined as London is. In two years I saw exactly one traffic violation in London while I lost count of it in Paris in precisely two days, just like I would back home. The streets, the underground railway and the city in general has a feel of a city which 'once was'. However, with so many magnificent buildings and monuments, it is unlikely that Paris would ever lose its charm.
If London and Paris represent the older world, New York, more than anything, symbolises the new world and the idea behind America as a nation. A land of settlers rather than natives, the country has been built brick by brick by people who travelled across the seas to a vast, hostile land which had as many natural obstacles as it had resources.
For more than a century, New York was the first place Europeans from across the Pacific landed in and tried to chalk out a living. It was not a land where freebies were given away. As a result, only the enterprising and the hardworking survived.
In a sense, it is to America and the world what Mumbai is to India. It is a melting pot of people and cultures from all corners of the world. As with London, it has something to offer for everybody. But it is just so much bigger and busier and livelier than London that it took my breath away.
I always thought touring New York would be akin to visiting a concrete jungle. I couldn't have been more wrong. The city has such an energy about itself, it is hard not to get infected by it. Manhattan with its skyscrapers and unruly traffic is a great place to stroll through. Though the likes of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State building and Central Park are good to visit, they are not a jot on the attractions on offer in the other two cities. But that is not where the charm of New York lies. New York thrives on its streets. It is said that if you stand on the Times Square long enough, you would meet people from every country in the world. It is certainly not an exaggeration.
It does have its share of traditional attractions too in the form of museums, night life and Broadway.
New York has for long been a Democratic hub and is quite liberal in its outlook. The dignity it observed while mourning for the loss of 9/11 was a lesson for us in particular. The eerie silence on the WTC site sends a shiver down the spine even today.
The Americans live in a world of their own. All the fuss about global warming and saving natural resources does not seem to have reached them yet. They continue to drive their SUVs as if it is the only 'single seater' conveyance mode available, use up as much paper in form of stationery and toiletry in a day as we would in a fortnight, keep the lights on throughout the night in malls and shops, and do just about everything possible to accelerate the planet's death.
It is not that they do not care, but just that they do not get it.
They are the most interactive of the lot. Any polite enquiry towards their well being is answered with an emphatic 'great!', 'wonderful!' and the like. A Britisher would feel stretched to say as much as 'good'. A typical answer in this case would be that he isn't doing bad, or worse, that he is doing tolerably well.
With its diverse architecture and cultures, these cities have shaped the modern world and attracted people all over the world for more than a century. It is up to us, the developing world, to draw inspiration from them with respect to urban planning and mass transportation.
I certainly do hope to visit each of them again to soak in the sights and sounds of these wonderful cities.
Having been fortunate enough to spend time in all three of them within a space of an year, and having been bewitched by each of them in their own unique ways, here are my views on them.
London was home to me for two years. London was everything I expected it to be, and a bit more. As a character says in Snatch, "London, you know... - fish, chips, cup 'O tea, bad weather, worse food, Mary @#$%ing Poppins, London!". My own views are not that cynical but yes, the worst thing about London is surely the weather. Well, for eight months of the year at least.
It is not just the fact that it is cold but it so amazingly depressing in the short and cloudy days of the winter, that I often wonder how the British have resisted suicidal tendencies! In the summer, however, England is the best place to be. With the extended daytime and sunshine which is at once bright and not overbearing, the English countryside is a great place to take long walks. Coming back to London though...
No matter what kind of a person you are and whatever is it that you like, chances are, London will have just the kind of place which would keep you interested. For anyone with the an interest in history and the arts, there is the British Museum, the National Gallery, the theatres in West end and numerous other places. If you are a party animal, there are countless clubs blaring out music all night long. If you like Sports, there are at least 3 test matches played in London alone every year, apart from Wimbledon, football, Formula One, the London Marathon, etc etc.
Only a few of the British however, were as I had expected them to be. My idea of a Britisher was of a tough as nails, eloquent fellow who knows exactly how to convey disappointment and appreciation in equal measure, without ever seeming to do either!
Unfortunately, like the rest of the developed world, the British have also gone into a slumber. The youngest native Britisher in my office was 27! Most of the young generation do not study beyond high school and chalk out their livelihood doing petty jobs in supermarkets and the like. Whatever happened to the seafaring adventurers and pioneers of industrial revolution I do not know. They seem to have lost the buccaneering spirit. According to a statistic, Pakistani immigrants would outnumber the English in Birmingham in as early as 2027. What that would do to England as we know it, only time can tell.
But meeting a few of the people I was fortunate to work with made me appreciate what made these people rule the world. The written and verbal communication skills coupled with the analytical ability of one gentleman in particular made me step up the bar of my own work and improve.
While discussing a particular logic, this particular gentleman would say something I wouldn't understand at the moment. As I kept looking for solutions to the problem and thought out the outcomes of each step of the proposed solution, I would finally hit a roadblock and blurt out 'we could have done XYZ but it wouldn't be possible because of ABC' and it would strike me that he had said the same thing about four or five minutes earlier. As they say, the best way to learn to play is to play against a better player and that's what happened to me!
All said and done, as a wise man had said, 'A man tired of London is tired of life!'
London and Paris were the most prominent cities of the middle age and shaped much of arts and technology of the time. I was expecting Paris to be similar to London but the moment I saw trash lying all over the place and overflowing toilets at the bus stop, I knew I was in for a surprise. Paris is as different from London as the French are to the British.
As with London, Paris has more than its share of museums, art galleries and grand old buildings, with a little difference. Most buildings in London (I only refer to the ones built before 1850), though large and grand in their own way, were built to serve practical purposes more than anything else. Not for the British the unnecessarily large halls and archways. Paris, and Europe by extension, has huge palaces and cathedrals which were built to satisfy the royal families' ego more than anything else. Whatever it cost the citizens of the time, they make for excellent tourist destinations. I visited the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, and the Eiffel in a single day and that was best combination of monuments I saw in such a short time. The Notre Dame and other cathedrals are also a must watch, and so is a boat ride on the Seine.
Paris once stood for grandeur and magnificence and is now mostly known to be the fashion capital of the world and, for some strange reason, the most romantic city in the world. Maybe it was because I roamed all over Paris all alone, but I couldn't fathom why it is considered so. But not for nothing is it called the fashion capital of the world. Home to every other fashion label, even the streets of Paris have clothes and accessories of all kinds catering to all budgets. I never saw a wider range of shoes and hats worn than I did in two days in Paris.
The Parisians love food. Roadside restaurants with lovely umbrellas and chairs line up either sides of almost all major streets. Sitting in one of these sipping coffee and people watching is a great way to while your time away.
The French are very easy going people. While the British make a conscious effort to maintain a stoic expression and look 'stylish', it comes fairly naturally to the French. They are very liberal, as is evident from their movies, and quite prone to bend the rules when required. The British on the other hand follow every rule to the T.
Paris, thus, is not as clean and disciplined as London is. In two years I saw exactly one traffic violation in London while I lost count of it in Paris in precisely two days, just like I would back home. The streets, the underground railway and the city in general has a feel of a city which 'once was'. However, with so many magnificent buildings and monuments, it is unlikely that Paris would ever lose its charm.
If London and Paris represent the older world, New York, more than anything, symbolises the new world and the idea behind America as a nation. A land of settlers rather than natives, the country has been built brick by brick by people who travelled across the seas to a vast, hostile land which had as many natural obstacles as it had resources.
For more than a century, New York was the first place Europeans from across the Pacific landed in and tried to chalk out a living. It was not a land where freebies were given away. As a result, only the enterprising and the hardworking survived.
In a sense, it is to America and the world what Mumbai is to India. It is a melting pot of people and cultures from all corners of the world. As with London, it has something to offer for everybody. But it is just so much bigger and busier and livelier than London that it took my breath away.
I always thought touring New York would be akin to visiting a concrete jungle. I couldn't have been more wrong. The city has such an energy about itself, it is hard not to get infected by it. Manhattan with its skyscrapers and unruly traffic is a great place to stroll through. Though the likes of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State building and Central Park are good to visit, they are not a jot on the attractions on offer in the other two cities. But that is not where the charm of New York lies. New York thrives on its streets. It is said that if you stand on the Times Square long enough, you would meet people from every country in the world. It is certainly not an exaggeration.
It does have its share of traditional attractions too in the form of museums, night life and Broadway.
New York has for long been a Democratic hub and is quite liberal in its outlook. The dignity it observed while mourning for the loss of 9/11 was a lesson for us in particular. The eerie silence on the WTC site sends a shiver down the spine even today.
The Americans live in a world of their own. All the fuss about global warming and saving natural resources does not seem to have reached them yet. They continue to drive their SUVs as if it is the only 'single seater' conveyance mode available, use up as much paper in form of stationery and toiletry in a day as we would in a fortnight, keep the lights on throughout the night in malls and shops, and do just about everything possible to accelerate the planet's death.
It is not that they do not care, but just that they do not get it.
They are the most interactive of the lot. Any polite enquiry towards their well being is answered with an emphatic 'great!', 'wonderful!' and the like. A Britisher would feel stretched to say as much as 'good'. A typical answer in this case would be that he isn't doing bad, or worse, that he is doing tolerably well.
With its diverse architecture and cultures, these cities have shaped the modern world and attracted people all over the world for more than a century. It is up to us, the developing world, to draw inspiration from them with respect to urban planning and mass transportation.
I certainly do hope to visit each of them again to soak in the sights and sounds of these wonderful cities.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
