There's a lack, even as of today, of robust and active citizens' organisations that have a thorough knowledge of, and clarity on, the legal and constitutional frameworks for the freedom of expression, which could begin countering the suppression of dissent and of our civil liberties on the basis of this knowledge. I would like these to grow.
The past year continued the decimation of what's most architecturally important about our modern cities, and the pursuit of "development" without a vision. The outcome and untenability of this pursuit, in Mumbai and more recently in Chennai, are now very apparent. I would like this to stop.
We have a system of education which ultimately privileges a passage abroad, putting our children, roughly from the age six to seventeen, in transit, so putting the onus of crucial change and reform not on ourselves – since we're not going to be here if we're successful – but solely on government. I'd like our education to prepare our children not just to be skilled technicians (like cardiac surgeons) abroad, but for greater engagement at home: not nationalistic, but intellectual, engagement.
