Fear & Loathing In New Delhi And London

But it’s an easy myth to believe—at first. A few days after arriving, Iwas sipping Earl Grey tea and feeding crumbs of carrot cake to the plump Canadageese that grace the Serpentine at this time of year. The Queen’s Cavalry weretrotting past in all their spit-and-polish glory—ramrod-backed upon theirmahogany charges. The flags above Whitehall were fluttering in the breeze; thewind in the lime trees filled the air with a hushing whishing, like pebbles on abeach. And the city was cheering and gleeful at winning the Olympic bid: "WEWON!" shouted the evening headlines, though more in small-Englander triumph atbeating our old rivals the French than anything more internationalist in spirit.

And then came the bombings. And changed everything.

The terrorists who bombed London on the 7th of July, who killed 171 in Madridlast year, who redefined the meaningless numbers 9/11, are skilled reshapers ofour imaginations.

The ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures might be the same, but they accruea whole new set of sinister meanings after events like this.

The twin towers of the World Trade Centre one glimpses in movies made before2001, now look like skittles just waiting to be knocked over, or metal men atthe fairground inviting the next punter with an airgun to take a potshot.

Yesterday what looked like peace, today seems more like a temporary lull inhostilities. The pastel bands denoting different fare-zones on yesterday’s mapof the London Underground, today look like nothing so much as the concentricrings of a painted target.

"Is nowhere safe?" the commuters ask. "Is nothing sacred?" ponder thepundits. The answer to both is: no. But perhaps the problem is not so much infinding another country where one could be safe—or at least safer—but thatus city-dwellers are, almost by definition, the footsoldiers in the terroristwar.

A terrorist—or an advertiser, or a politician or a singer—looks forvenues that will have maximum impact. Density of population is a big draw forbombers as well as retailers.

Look out of your aeroplane window and Delhi is just another spider’s bodyin the centre of a spinning wheeling web of lights, no different from London orBeijing or Addis Ababa.

Like iron filings to a magnet, we are pulled towards urban centres—insearch of money, or love, or recognition, or opportunities, or change.

It is estimated that the cities of the world are growing at a rate of 1million people per week and soon, half of the world’s population will live inits cities.

Soft targets.

Cannonfodder.

I’m seriously thinking of moving to the countryside.

This piece appeared in the first sample issue of Delhi City Limits.