This was where I lived in Arunachal. Having left it and now being totally mired in Dirty Delhi, what I wonder is--what is the price of fresh air and natural beauty? How much would we be willing to pay for it? Maybe our cost of living should also include such elements. There is a cost to living in polluted cities--breathing air that damages our respiratory tracts, drinking water that corrodes our insides and eating food that is laced with pesticides. If there were a price attached to all of this maybe we would find that someone who earns 10,ooo rupees in Arunachal is actually much richer than somebody who earns 20,000 rupees (if not more) in Delhi.
I know I would be willing to pay a lot to wake up in a place where I can breathe in lungfuls of air that smells of flowers and wet grasss. I know that there has to be a negative price attached to breathing air that smells either of garbage or petrol fumes.
Only question is--is it enough to take a drastic salary cut and move to an area where I would get clean air, water and food?
What do you think? Is money for fresh air, rolling hills and clean rivers a fair tradeoff?
