Hyderabad, Nov. 26 -- One of the things that Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy has been repeating is that he will turn Hyderabad into one of the best cities; one that he says can be compared to globally renowned cities like Tokyo and New York. Most of us here would never step into Tokyo, but earlier this month I just happened to, and realised how laughable it is to even think of comparing both cities.

Hyderabad is notorious for not having footpaths, which is why commuters are forced to walk on the streets. In Tokyo, and even in other cities, daily life for most people functions due to subway and metro rail connectivity. Using cabs for daily commute is out of the question because it is ridiculously expensive. It is after using public...