Live and 'Let' live

It has been around a month and half since I have shifted to Delhi to be a part of one of the national hobbies - prepare for a competitive exam. I am currently settled in the older part of Delhi famously denoted by the postal code of Delhi : 6 "-1" (ah! just a shade lighter). This is an interesting part of the town where you can find the textual rich-poor economic divide, cluttered narrow streets, Delhi's world famous Gaffar market and of course the tourists who for some peculiar reason love to be here. While I am still learning to meander through the narrow streets and bustling markets of old Delhi, I am also discovering an altogether new sense of liveliness in wayward crowds and the honking-abusing delhites. However, the life as such is not that 'happening' in the literal sense of the term, but nevertheless the experience of going back to studies is great and at times tiring :). 

While staying here I couldn't help but notice that a very simple economy is thriving in this place, totally dependent on me and my fellow compatriots who have come here to fulfill the dream. The economy has been created, run and boosted by the institutions operating in the place providing guidance for the game (the game of life for some, an exam for others! ). Those who come to study here, have 'to let' a place and there comes alive the age old saying - "Live and 'Let' live" only with a slightly different connotation attached to it. Literally, the place is a hub of houses where the owners have constructed floors over floors (although illegally but how has that ever mattered) with rooms to be rented to the budding bureaucrats of the nation (if you ever had a house in this place you could have earned some serious money by just letting-out). The bulk of student presence has led to the mushrooming up of eateries, stationary shops and a whole lot of other businesses. A look around the place would reveal the need-based jugaad that the area has witnessed, as you would be hard-pressed to find a patterned (leave aside planned) infrastructural development. The area is a support system for several but this haphazard evolution (can't call it development) of the place has led to other problems which these days are fancily termed as the problems of urban sanitation. This is the place in Delhi which after first rains gives media the masterpiece shots to be relayed over the televised news 24X7, this is the place that gets the debut shot of dengue every year and what not. If ever a disaster strikes here, I am sure of the consequences but why would even nature harm the harmless (only till the time they get selected) future bureaucrats.

What a place for a bureaucrat to start his career with - to know from close quarters how things can go wrong and yet be so right for so many.