Hopeful pessimism for 2024?

I hope you have a really good reason for not showing up last weekend I waited for nearly an hour before the good CaptainmdashGod bless himmdashspotted me and invited me over for a cuppa at the Cathedralrdquo Lady Florarsquos firm tone meant she was upset with her friendrsquos noshowSir PM knew he would have a lot of answering but he had a good reason to change her mood ldquoSincere apologies my lady I had erred by not informing you but that Percy the messenger pigeon for the uninformed is partly to be blamed He took illmdashsunstroke I presumemdashand couldnrsquot deliver the timely message I would have made it for our walk but the distance from Vikhroli back home wasnrsquot accounted forrdquo Lady Flora did an eye roll ldquoWhere did you sayhellipVeekhroolie Is that farrdquoSir PM knew this was his chance to shine ldquoVery very far I needed an entire day to recover But I attended some wonderful discussions on the cityrsquos welfare thanks to cousin Sohrab who invited me to meet the Godrej family We are possibly related they have this massive industrial hub in the outskirts where a conclave was underway Sohrab is aware of my keenness about the cityrsquos welfare so he promptly thought of me The experts were extremely vocal in their concerns about the current state of the metropolis One of them a globally acclaimed Indian architect went all the way to say that the current civic administration reacts only to problems and wasnrsquot thinking longterm This was in reaction to Bombayrsquos multiple issues from poorlyplanned hasty infrastructure to flooding that is directly related to the biggest worrymdashclimate change He recalled how New Bombay designed by the great Charles Correa was the last avantgarde gesture when it came to citizenfriendly sensitive urban planning Sharing several examples of mindless infrastructural ventures he highlighted how increasingly permanent solutions were being developed for temporary problems making them inflexible and useless after a point in time His biggest fear was that if this mindset continued by 2050 Bombay might actually return to being seven islands mainly because areas that are likely to submerge were being densifiedrdquo sighed Sir PMLady Flora was silently upset that she had missed this insightful session She egged her friend on to continue ldquoWhat else was discussedrdquo Sir PM gladly continued ldquoThe same gent spoke about how planning and basic facilities can be tackled even in the most challenging circumstances and cited the example of the Kumbh Mela to drive home his point Here detailed plans ensured that worldrsquos biggest gathering began and ended without a glitch Sanitation at the site was obviously a Herculean task But it was managed keeping the highest hygiene standards he saidrdquo Lady Florarsquos pet peeve had been raised ldquoSanitation It remains a mega issue even in cities like Bombay so why isnrsquot it being tackledrdquo Sir PM replied instantly ldquoAbsolutely He even said that the Hindi film industry was doing a better competent job to highlight sanitation issues and spread awareness than his own ilkrdquoLady Flora wasnrsquot done yet ldquoTell me Pheroze what else did you manage to catch on your adventure to this faraway landrdquo Sir PM resumed his monologue ldquoIn another discussion two concerned speakersmdasha respected environmentalist and a visionary architectmdashspoke about the health of the city from both aspects development and urban ecology Expectedly the current scenario isnrsquot bright on both fronts But they left us with plenty to think about The architect said that the next time your local corporator comes seeking your votendashand this I applauded out loud formdashask them if their election manifesto includes increased visibility with allocation of budgets and allowing the public to have a say in infrastructural projects He reminded the hooked audience that in a democracy a participatory effort was necessary In similar vein the environmentalist felt that social media is a major tool that todayrsquos generation must use wisely to increase transparency and accountability from the powers that be He used the termmdashlsquohopeful pessimismrsquo which I thought was the perfect way to leave us with an openended realisation This fantastic orator wanted todayrsquos youth to be aware of the reality of their threatened world and that it they had to stay positive act and speak up instead of leaving it to someone else lsquoI am in the departure lounge while all of you are in the arrival loungersquo he thundered amidst peals of laughter but I think he had driven home the point I hope the penny had dropped at least for some youngstersrdquo Sir PM hoped he was quite pleased that he could share such key observations with his Bombayphile friend Listening to all this made Lady Flora feel a tad concerned the permanent cityworrier that she was ldquoThis is a lot to expect from our people especially the authorities Pheroze Will they act upon these suggestionsrdquo Sir PM smiled ldquoIrsquod like to believe that the same hopeful pessimism will see us throughrdquomiddayrsquos Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the cityrsquos sights sounds smells and stoneswherever the ink and the inclination takes her She tweets bombayanaSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom