Ashis Nandy, eminent political psychologist and sociologist, on India's urban crisis

On the automobile culture Societies that developed cars have also found ways to manage and regulate them. That's because in Europe and North America, several sociologists have studied automobile culture. There are none in India; we just adopted the automobile without learning how to manage it. That's why we are unaware of the true costs of using cars.

On public life and road culture in Delhi The culture of manhood and domination has been central to rise of the automobile across the world. In Delhi, it gets worse because there is a siege mentality at work. There is a lot of free-floating violence in Delhi, a consequence of immigration of families that saw the trauma during India's partition. Overtaking on our roads is considered a slight. There is a clear hierarchy on Delhi's roads.The pedestrian and the cycle-rickshaw are on the lowest rung. Then come public transport users, then vehicle owners, and then those with government vehicles. The police treats each one differently.