punditSpeak: Blame it on [ the client ], not to me

Blame it on, not to me

Mumbai’s failure to provide a decent life to its people is ultimately — 
and singularly — a failure of its various civic bureaucratic structures

Last week a panel discussion on television on Mumbai’s infrastructural 
woes reminded me of a very interesting book.

Animal to Edible is written by French Anthropologist Noelie Vialles and 
is about the modern day abattoir — the French word for a 
slaughter-house. An interesting concept she introduces is that of the 
‘Devolution of Guilt and Responsibility’ built into the contemporary 
abattoir. She says that unlike the traditional butcher, who has to deal 
upfront with the inherent violence in his role of slaughtering animals, 
the modern day abattoir is a more complicated space.
....
It was touching to watch the participants of the show allow a panelist 
to blame them, the city’s citizens, for the state of affairs. All we do 
is complain, said the panelist, and the participants applauded. The 
builder-architect, the politician, the civic authority representative 
and the industrialist turned away. They didn’t acknowledge that their 
own prejudices are more harmful to the city than the harried citizen who 
lives a difficult life, struggles to smile through commutes and happily 
takes the blame at the end of the day. For the citizen, the city is and 
has always been more than its infrastructure. It is that intangible 
something that keeps the city — and them — going, even though large 
parts of the city’s body is regularly wounded and savaged — and their 
own gets constantly bruised and battered in the process of living.

cont'd....
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=14&articleid=22820062026395152282006202416859