SAD BUT TRUE WORDS

It is our ethos to uglify places, rather than to beautify them. We seem to be happiest when surrounded by hordes of people in the most cramped conditions as imaginable. The communal way of living excludes any privacy, having space for itself is obscene according to the Indian mind. Wether it is shopping or driving, one must necessarily fight for every inch of shoulder space. Some of course romanticise in the chaos. And the romatics are right, though for different reasons; we can't help it, because it is in our genetic code to use brick and mortar in the most aesthetically offensive way possible. The Indian way is all about how bad things can be made to look, not how pretty.
(citation ou of Indian times, sotto voce by Yamini Lohia.)