An all-pervading sense of panic seems to have gripped our cities and theirpopulations. No one, it appears, feels safe. The frantic whipping up of frenzyby the media - hysterical homilies on TV or headlines emblazoned on front pageswith news of gruesome murders, rapes and sensational crimes - heightens publicinsecurities to a pitch, creating an insidious culture of fear. We are at riskfrom strangers, domestic help, terrorists, drunkards, ‘monkey men’, andleopards, who stalk the cities or the imagination of their populations, creatinga mentality akin to being perpetually holed-up in a bunker.