An open letter to Mayor Shraddha Jadhav

Dear Madam,
Fuck that...
Madam,

Firstly, at the outset let me congratulate you. You have done what no other woman has done before; well maybe only a couple other women have done before. You have made me cry today - Out of sheer physical exhaustion from marauding my way through an incessant maze of dug up roads.

Let me give you some background to this episode. You see, ingrained in my thinking, is a sense of living in denial. I have been brought up to believe that I love my city and that it can do no wrong. That the land of misal pav and marine lines is the best it can get and there is nothing wrong with the city. And if you criticized this city, then you must be from Pune.

The tears of today have washed away that facade and i have come to terms, albeit painfully, that this city is dying; in fact its dead - infrastructurally speaking. I work fourteen hours a day, i pay my taxes, i speak in marathi when im spoken to in marathi, i do not litter and i think there is nothing more prettier than the view of the Mumbai High Sea. So why am i being subject to this torture.

If things continue like this, you will lose people and investments. But you will lose investments anyways and you will blame the impending floods/ bomb-blasts/ raj thackerey (not in that order) for fucking the FDI up for you.. What will hurt Mumbai more is losing people. Im only back here a week and it seems like the world comes crashing around me between 8PM and 10 PM each weeknight.Like lubing up in prison before heading of to the showers. And i think its about time i stop masquerading my rage at this city's traffic by the beaten down "i love my mumbai" theme song.

I dont say that if you lose me its your loss, hell... i didnt even say that to my ex when we broke up. What i will say though is if things continue the way they are, you will lose people. Some very good people who'd rather live up in the hills or by the sea and rather walk to work and pay 10% tax rather than put themselves through the ordeal that most of us have become numbed to.

I am pissed, Shraddha. I am pissed that my city is dying and there is nothing i can do about it. I am pissed that I'm wasting 520 hrs a year sitting behind the wheel when i could spend that doing something meaningful. I am pissed that i came home pissed and lost my cool with my parents. I am pretty pissed for being so pissed and i cant help but feel that its your fault Ms. Jadhav. In many ways, you are responsible for making me want to leave this city today, and for making my mum sad tonight.

This is not done and a sorry just wont cut it. I speak on behalf of 12mn other frustrated blokes.
Do not make us cry or we will yell.

yours honestly,
srini