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Winter is setting in and New Delhi is gearing up for the season, a season of woollens, festivals, exhibitions, cultural shows, trade fairs, international symposiums and of course of fun, food and frolic.

The Delhi International Arts Festival, which began October 31, has several cultural performances lined up.Theatre, music bands playing Sufi, jazz, fusion and a variety of dance recitals have been planned. The Kamani auditorium is bustling with activity and so are the several book clubs across the city with book releases, book readings and donations scheduled in the coming days. Not one to be left behind, Pragati Maidan is gearing up for trade shows in the upcoming cooler months.

Colourful billboards and hoardings of 'Delhi meri jaan' are dotting the south Delhi horizon. Diwali and upcoming Christmas have the city lit up and buoyant.

A visit to the office of the tehsildar however, jostled me out of the exotic images I had of the city. The place is still the same, dilapidated like it was when I used to live in Delhi nearly 15 years ago. Circle rate for property is undergoing an upside revision, following a notification. A lot of people wanted to take advantage of the current rates before the notification came into effect, leading to a mad rush at the stamp collector's office. People pushed, pulled and hustled near the window, just to keep track of whose business was being dealt with, as the number indicator for it was broken and hanging by a wire.

Several other government offices are in such shabby conditions. Being in posh and expensive south Delhi, the office transacts crores of rupees daily. People still have to stand in the sun with no proper waiting area. The paint is peeling off and tell-tale signs of water leakage are all over the place. I'm afraid to imagine what happens here during monsoon. A local agent mentioned that a previous sub-registrar spent from his personal funds to build an asbestos shade and stone seating in the compound. Expecting drinking water or toilets or any such necessary facilities is a far cry.

Shouldn't a part of those funds transacted at the office be used for office maintenance? What image are we projecting to the high net-worth individuals (HNIs) who visit the place? I actually spotted some foreigners wiping the sweat off their brows. Apart from focusing on art and culture, shouldn't civic facilities be given a look too? Shouldn't the sub-registrar take the initiative for development or should I, as a concerned citizen, write an application to draw the attention of the authorities towards the apathy?

The infrastructure of Delhi has certainly improved. Wide roads lined with trees, interlocking multi-level flyovers and overbridges and its metro rail have eased the traffic jams. The tariff on water and power charges are somewhat lower than the rest of the country. There are several public multi-layer car parking spaces being constructed to remove roadside congestion in popular market areas of South Extension, Sarojini Naidu market and Greater Kailash.

That said, why are government offices like the stamp collector's office in south Delhi in such a mess? I guess this is what makes Delhi with its inherent contradictions, 'Dilli meri jaan'!

— The writer is an entrepreneur and educationist