On the eve of the 481st anniversary of our capital city, many web pages and reports in the conventional media carry reports, columns, sketches and recounts of historical data, emblematic characters, songs, about the three times crowned City of Kings. Now we propose an exercise in reflection In relation to what Lima is in this 21st century:are we really respectful of the city? Or do we surrender to the superficiality of the celebration without considering that being a citizen, a city dweller, implies more than remembering a date on the calendar? Contrary to what the followers of the nonagenarian Ayacucho sociologist José Matos Mar think, the popular overflow has caused more problems than benefits to a city whose dimensions are not enough to contain the excessive growth that has more chaos than organization. Even so, Lima generates as many likes as phobias, due to the natural connection it exerts on its inhabitants. That's what the following note is about:
Lima celebrates another year since its foundation, but with very different characteristics from those of that time. Throughout 481 years our city has changed substantially and has gone from being just the capital of our country with a small number of inhabitants, including foreigners who arrived with the conquest and locals, to being the home of millions of citizens from all over Peru .
For each of the almost nine million inhabitants that Lima currently houses, the capital city means different things and generates mixed feelings since our Lima may be one of the most missed and ancient South America, of which older people keep wonderful memories, but on the other side are those who affirm that it has become a chaotic, dirty and incorrigible city.
Well, this is Lima, home to many and many times the consolation of few, our capital that celebrates another year of foundation and offers us a new opportunity to reconcile with its long history and complex. One more opportunity to face this dual reality of love-hate that deeply links us with her and her problems, her shortcomings and her nostalgic memories of times when "everything was better."
Founded by the Spanish conquerors on January 18, 1535, with the name ofCity of the Kings In honor of the epiphany of the Three Wise Men who adored the newborn Jesus, we can ask ourselves a simple question that is always obvious when going to the historic center:Why are its streets so narrow? Who can move smoothly with such narrow roads?
Perhaps, if we keep in mind that it was the same Francisco Pizarro With the help of Nicolás de Ribera, Diego de Agüero and Francisco Quintero who traced the Plaza de Armas and the city grid, we will understand that the conqueror did not imagine how far Lima and its population would grow in the future. What is striking is that despite the fact that Lima has gone through large and terrible earthquakes in the following centuries that forced the rebuilding of large portions of the city, it has never been planned to make its circulation routes more spacious.
In short, the Historic Center of Lima it remained with most of the characteristics acquired at its foundation, which is why it would have been desirable to maintain its beauty and stateliness as a legacy for future generations and for visitors who come to the capital, as happens in many other cities in other countries and plan the growth of the capital towards its extremes.
However, that did not happen and the city did not stop growing, unfortunately without foresight from the authorities and marked in the 1980s by the high migration of the population from the different provinces of Peru fleeing brutal terrorist violence.
The history of that contemporary Lima is that of the capital that also endured the ravages of being in the midst of an internal war. However, despite this situation, the strength and ability to go out in front of the thousands of people who settled in Lima and made it grow based on their hard and honest work to earn a living with dignity became evident. /P>
Thus our city became this capital of the country of “all bloods” as our outstanding writer José María Arguedas called it so precisely. , who coincidentally was born on January 18, 1911, and was one of the personalities who devoted himself most to analyzing and interpreting the characteristics of this deep miscegenation that is sometimes difficult for all of us Peruvians to achieve.
Because in Lima we live together citizens from all parts of Peru but there are also its inhabitants descendants of the great migrations that came to our country:Asians, Africans, Europeans; we have all related to each other until delineating a new characteristic between us:the mixture. The one that gives us a special and different touch that, little by little, we are learning to value in all its richness.
For all its inhabitants, Lima is the scene of the story of their lives. We have happy, joyful, sad, bitter and even desperate memories that have taken place at some point in this enormous city, which is currently already divided into East, North and South -the so-called Cones- due to its great extension. To each one of us Lima gave and took something from us. Each of us owes something to Lima.
One more anniversary between celebrations and greetings should not go by without us fulfilling those debts with the city. If Lima is noisy to the point of migraine, let's lower the volume of our voices, radios, cell phones, horns and engines. If Lima is dirty to the point of unpleasantness, let's not throw away what is of no use to us in its streets, let's prevent it in such a way that there is no more waste thrown from the windows of cars, from buses to modern vans, when it is so It's easy to have a bag ready for what is no longer useful and store it until we reach a place where we can dispose of it, respecting the rules of coexistence with others and with the environment.
If Lima is aggressive to the extreme of fear, let us practice the most basic kindness:greet, smile, cooperate, not be so indifferent while remaining cautious, offer our help to those who They find the elderly, everyone who needs it, physically disadvantaged. Let's not commit irresponsible acts when we mobilize and let's not allow them to commit them with us either. Let's be supportive and never forget that this city we share is our home.
Let us teach that lesson of appreciation for our old and new Lima, let us put aside our criticism and grudges against it and reconcile with each other recognizing our responsibility in the reality that defines it and that It can always be better if we all collaborate.
Happy Anniversary Lima! Happy Anniversary to all of us!