Journal (Contrasting Delhi, Tri Nagar and Manu Apartments)

Map showing Mayur Vihar Phase-1:


Map showing Tri Nagar:


Manu Apartments is a society in East Delhi. The location of this society is at a walking distance of 5 to 10 minutes from the metro station and about 15-20 minutes from the Akshardham temple. The Mayur Vihar phase-1 station became an intersection on 31 December 2018. I realized it in December 2020 because I never had to use the Metro so much since moving to Chandigarh. When I was traveling in the metro Pink line in the December, I saw that Delhi has seen a lot of developments since the time I had seen it before.

Now, the thing about Manu apartments is that it is a society where if each flat costs about 7.3 crores INR (in Feb 2021) then each member of that society should be at least a millionaire in USD terms. The prices of flats would vary as there are seven A blocks, three B blocks and one C block with A being the cheapest and C being the costliest.

The calamity is that residents of this society don't have space to park their cars now. The management committee of the society drew the policy that only two cars can be parked inside the society and now people park their cars on the foot walk outside the society gate. It is a complete ridiculous sight if you ever get to go from outside this society.

The realization about the cost of a flat was important when it first occurred to me because at that point in the past, the flats were worth about 1 crore INR and it gave me an idea of what 200 crores INR might look like. We all see and hear big numbers and big money in newspaper and television, but this was what you could have owned with 200 crores (INR) once upon a time.

The society is also a place of employment for a lot of people from the unorganized or unskilled working class engaged in washing cars, sweeping floors, garbage man, security guards, electricians, plumbers, drivers, servants, etc.

I would have to research about how the government's law on minimum wages apply to a car washer or garbage man. Because a car washer or garbage man is essentially dealing with individual people and his salary is coming in parts from the individual households that he (or she) visits every day.

Delhi in comparison to this society or any other society in this area has fared much better in terms of my expectations as it turned out to be much faster in its overall development.

The thing I noticed about Delhi is its greenery, cleanliness, lesser slums, the wide roads, the flyovers (now they are everywhere in Delhi), Metro connectivity, and the visible crowd of Delhi (yes, that has changed too). Delhi has come a long way and it still has a long way to go. Thanks to Arvind Kejriwal.

The changes that I saw in Tri Nagar were:

- The roadside trash block had been closed and turned into an office for some government official. This led to major reduction in cows and dogs and litter in this area.

- The factories had been moved out from the Tri Nagar to some remote areas of Delhi such as Bawana district of North West Delhi. This led to a change of the tenant crowd here. The factory workers had moved out from Tri Nagar to locations near-by the factories.

- Street lights had been installed in the streets (at least in the streets near to my house). These street lights are very compact in size and very bright, thanks to the technological advancements.

- CCTV cameras had been installed in the streets (at least in the streets near to my house).