London, Sept 04: It has now gone beyond just a joke. Many of us Indians used to quip more as a joke at get-togethers that London was becoming so much like Delhi. More horn blowing, more changing of lanes without signalling, letters going amiss and trains running late.

Bus drivers, known the world over for their disciplined driving and courtesy, are now often seen driving through yellow lights. One red London bus driver was harangued by a few pedestrians on a Zebra crossing when he tried to go past although lights had turned red.
Things are indeed getting a bit more real for comfort. Possibly the agreement signed over a year ago between the Mayor and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit to declare London and Delhi twin cities has something to do with the former acquiring distinctive traits of India's capital city. We Indians are not complaining, in fact, some cynical ones are distinctly feeling "equal".
The other day invitees, especially we the media hacks, got delayed and reached the meeting convened by the Pak opposition parties over an hour late.
Most had to then ask around to note the speeches made earlier. The reason for our delay was the failure of power over a large area of central London and south of the river.



Thousands of commuters in Tubes had to be escorted by the underground staff from stranded trains through darkened tunnels. Traffic lights had failed and some drivers caught in jams lost their cools. Hospitals had to switch on emergency power generators. Old Londoners said that in their living memory such a thing had never happened. But my media friend from Pakistan at the meeting had a ready explanation for the blackout.



He said, " Bhai saheb, why should you wonder. More of our cities would soon be imported here. After all so many thousands of us have been given jobs in public utilities. Do you believe that we, even in the third generation, shed our national characteristics?" He could be right, he was agitated too for his family had called from Pakistan to find out about his safety. They had heard that over 50,000 were sweating and suffocating in tubes stranded in tunnels. But it is not the full story. I have lived at two places in north London that are considered upmarket for the last over nine years. But, only for three years or so I have found that the postman often misses to come on Saturdays. Initially, I thought a particular one was fond of long weekends. But, I have been noticing that on many Saturdays the post does not come. And believe me all of them are neither from India nor Pakistan. The worst experience, of course, is very recent. The taps went suddenly dry at midnight and the water supply was not restored for over 30 hours. The emergency telephones of the Thames Water responsible for the supply went "dry" too.



Only a recorded message told the hapless callers that engineers were working and arrangements were being made to provide water through tankers. No human was available to tell when the water supply would be restored. Many retail outlets of Sainsburys had to reportedly ask for more water bottles. Imagine people buying Evian to fill in WC cisterns.



The steady decline of the city that has always been known to be eternally young has nothing to do with ethnicity. The fact is that all systems have aged and the city has been expanding in all directions. More and more people have settled in London and the ever-increasing number of tourists has only added to the burden on the creaking public utility services. London needs rejuvenation and not just the Mayor's congestion charge.