This column is usually dedicated to documenting the many ways in which Bombay is becoming one of the world’s most liveable cities. This time around, however, I wanted to pause and spare a thought for a place that isn’t getting the kind of amazing publicity we have long grown used to: the United States of America. For those paying attention, it doesn’t appear to be doing so well these days, and I couldn’t help worrying about it.

When I was little, in an era before colour television or Wikipedia, the USA was looked upon as the promised land by my friends and neighbours. It was a place many wanted to settle in, attracted by the long-running ‘American Dream Advertising Campaign’ and its promise of prosperity. It was thought of as a country where the world’s most honourable Caucasian men and women gathered to reinvent the wheel and make everything better. But that was then, and I think a lot of us can see how that view has shifted in recent years. That once golden glow has started to give way to something dull and rusted.