Khudai….

Khudai, a divine word, derived from the word Khuda, meaning God, Khudai means Godliness. Now that is a word from Urdu language, the same word when used in Hindi would mean digging, and no one would be more acquainted with that word that a person living in Mumbai. For someone living in Mumbai the Hindi meaning of Khudai is the exact opposite of the Urdu meaning, it is basically synonymous to the Devil himself/herself (just being politically correct). Devil has quite a few appointed agents in Mumbai; e.g.; BMC, MMRDA, MUIP, Reliance Infocomm & energy to name a few. I guess, these agencies compete with each other in digging up the roads of Mumbai. Well, the competition does not end here, they also compete for who can dig up faster and keep it dug up for longer period of time. This does not quench Satan’s thirst, in addition to these agencies are the multiple number of small time contractors, building flyovers, rubberizing or concretizing the roads, they take their own sweet time. “No problem, it will be over by the time Mumbai hosts the Olympics” would probably be the typical reply of any of the agency officials.

Now, I am in a dilemma, I want to pray for Mumbai, but I can’t even ask for Khuda’s “Khudai” for Mumbai.