Isn't this true of Bombay, Rangoon, Kampala, Nairobi, Aden, Calcutta, Colombo, and especially the 'White Town' in Pondicherry? This is true of cities which remained inegalitarian colonial paradise as long as their policies encouraged a priviledged few to enter and stay there in relative luxury.
Could this state of affairs be maintained after the decolonisation process? And did not these islands of splendour in colonial nations depend on the immiseration of vast areas of the hinterland? Yes, these cities did crash in the 'sixties and thereafter (perhaps less perceptibly in the 1950s). But, to blame the inherent inability to maintain cleanliness on post-colonial times and a lack of the cleanliness gene in non-Europeans is unfair. True, there was a shortage of resources then (remember what happened when the rupee was not longer valued at seven to dollar?) It's easy to keep a city pristine when we have financial or other restrictions on the poor entering. Just as it's easy to keep a five star hotel clean as long as the prices keep out the average folk. I think if we want more such places that seem to be an oasis of luxury, we can hope to get the same soon. The nearest that reminded me of it was watching the airconditioners on six-storey monstrosities called hotels in the Calangute belt. These places never seem to have power failures, while we in neighbouring villages not only face regular power cuts at peak tourist season (Christmas was terrible!) but also get the tourist garbage dumped on our hillocks. FN 2009/12/30 philip pereira <[email protected]>: > I left Karachi in 1959 - some 50 years ago and went back just a couple of > times - > once in 1972 and the 2nd in 1989. Prior to partition in 1947, Karachi was an > absolute paradise with just some 250,000 people. Had it remained this way, I > would > never have left. However, after partition, the population jumped to over > 3,000,000 > and, now, it must be close to 18,000,000. When I went there in 1989, it was > a total > disaster - overcrowded and filthy - and I vowed to never go back again - > which I > have not. -- FN +91-9822122436 P +91-832-2409490 Updated: http://twitter.com/fn
