Australian Journalist Charles Thomson Shares His Connect With India & Why He Keeps Revisiting

Oneindia

Australian journalist Charles Thomson reveals his profound connection with India and the reasons for his recurring visits. In an exclusive with Oneindia, Thomson explores the cultural bonds and experiences that draw him back to the vibrant and diverse landscapes of India.    #CharlesThomson #AustraliaIndiaConnection #CulturalBonds #OneindiaExclusive                 ~HT.178~

Transcript

00:00 Right. Charles, I don't want to use the word an outside view

00:06 because you have spent so much time

00:07 as a travel lens and breadth of India.

00:10 As a commuter, as a person

00:15 who has seen a different world also altogether,

00:18 what would be your suggestion that India can work on,

00:22 be it commuting, be it the road discipline

00:26 or the societal set up?

00:27 Is there something that you observe

00:29 that India can improve upon

00:30 or something that is really very rare and new in India?

00:33 Okay. So, 30 years ago, if you visited Sydney,

00:37 you couldn't see the sky. It was brown, okay, in the day.

00:41 At night, you couldn't see the stars.

00:43 In Sydney. In Sydney.

00:44 In the middle of the CBD of Sydney.

00:46 Oh, Sydney. Yes. Today, you can stand there

00:48 and look up and see a blue sky in the day, dark blue,

00:51 and at night, the stars.

00:52 Overlooking the Opera House.

00:53 Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's no excuse for Delhi.

00:56 I understand there's a problem

00:58 about burning in Punjab,

00:59 and at this particular time, the smog,

01:02 the pollution comes from there.

01:03 But for the rest of the year, road dust.

01:06 Just get some people to fix up the side of the roads.

01:10 India, Bharat has everything here.

01:14 It can be done.

01:15 Just we have to get the netters on both sides of politics

01:18 to do their job, and I will.

01:20 I did do a municipality, Delhi municipality.

01:24 I became Ottawa Babu,

01:25 and I did discover something that was very unique there,

01:28 and get me into trouble, but I'll say it.

01:30 I found one area of Delhi

01:33 where the federal member, the Lok Sabha member was BJP,

01:38 the MLA was Ahmadi, and the Nigam Parishad was Congress.

01:43 And then I found another part of Delhi was the same.

01:46 Okay. BJP, Ahmadi, and Congress.

01:50 But there was a huge difference between these two areas.

01:53 And at first, I was puzzled why.

01:56 I'm talking about cleanliness, less road dust,

01:59 the parks were maintained.

02:01 One particular area, and I won't name them,

02:03 you can work them out.

02:05 One, all three levels were ladies.

02:08 The other, all three levels were men.

02:11 So if Delhi wants to get cleaner,

02:13 we need to see more women in the parliament.

02:16 And in leadership.

02:18 And that's what Prime Minister Modi has introduced also.

02:21 We are looking at women's reservation,

02:23 33% seats being--

02:25 Yeah, but reservation, fine,

02:26 but political parties can also put a bit more effort

02:29 in choosing women candidates.

02:31 And it's really needed.

02:32 I mean, it is tragic today.

02:35 This is, I come back to India all the time,

02:38 but this time I've noticed in Delhi, wherever I go,

02:41 the pollution is so high.

02:42 One of the side effects is that even young people

02:45 just lose their temper.

02:48 Normally in India, people are very well-mannered,

02:50 and even if they have a problem, they consume it,

02:52 and they take it home with them.

02:54 But now people are exploding.

02:55 The air quality has to be, and it can be done.

02:59 It's not complicated.

03:01 It's not a question that there's too many people living here.

03:04 If the right systems are put in place,

03:07 challans are issued there, a lot can be done.

03:10 Sydney did it, so many countries have done it.

03:12 Bangkok's done it, Tokyo's done it.

03:15 Now it's Delhi's turn.

Transcript

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