Santosh Desai, the famous brandman, write I regular column in the Times of India. I have always wondered what qualifies a person to write "freewheeling" columns in national dailies? But to stick to the point I wanted to make. I was inspired to make this entry by his article on steel which appeared today. For me it is the humble plastic which needs to be celebrated today as a great business facilitator, great leveller and a great insider to all that we do.
Remember those silly paper bags made by poor widows and chidren, which could not even hold soggy salt [there was no plastic packed tata salt then], remember those metal buckets that used to adorn most bathrooms and those aluminium mugs which kept millions of bums clean every morning? Remember the humble bathroom tin door on a wooden frame? They have all lost out to the plastic and various versions of it. On the dining table there are plastic plates, plastic cutlery sometimes even plastic food [I am exaggerating]. In case you forgot not many years back airlines used to provide real cutlery not the plastic one which can only poke yout tongue or cut your lips. Not to forget milk in glass bottles, coke in glass bottles. We have travelled a long way since then one brand of whiskey very successfully switched to glass bottles for 500 ml servings.
Then of course there is the great recycle potential of plastic as office bags, as tiffin carrier, as everything really.... you just have to look what we get in and what we get out of our houses and you would be convinced that the civilisation as we know it, would cease to exist wihtout plastic. This is the biggest triumph of humanity in recent years and we are like typical humans celerating the success in such a way that we even describe human emotions with reference to plastic: plastic smile for example..... It looks like soon we will have to shrink in order to make room for plastic in this planet. My personal observation is that in India Bombay is the real plastic city both literally and figuratively.
Victory to Plastic!
Showing posts with label Mumbai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mumbai. Show all posts
Monday, November 03, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Mumbai Meri Jaan
If you happen to read three relatively recent books on Mumbai, Shantaram, Millennium City and Sacred games, you will not fail to notice that Mumbai continues to be the most captivating city in India both in terms of dreams and aspirations on one hand and the reality. Shantaram is a narrative of the experiences of a man, Millennium is part fiction part truth and Sacred Games is a pure fiction based on "what possibly happens" in Mumbai. But if you read them together, you will realise that so far as Mumbai is concerned it is difficult to tell where fiction ends and facts begin. To me they appeared interchageable so far as the great city is concerned.
Another striking point is that once you start writing about the city, you just can not stop. Look at the size of all the three books I mentioned.... each of them looks and feels like a brick. Of course Sacred Games takes the cake followed closely by the other two. It would seem that the authors just could not stop writing. And if you keep in mind that all three books describe incidents of only a few years and not decades or centuries of the city's history - you ought to be impressed.
However, missing is all these mega narratives, although there are slivers of this in all and most notably in Shantaram, is the life of the ordinary person. It would be fascinating to chronicle the life and times of an ordinary citizen with all its ups and downs. Unfortunately, I do not read Marathi very well and have not had an opportunity to look for Marathi books on the subject. I am sure there are a few around. However, I have had the opportunity to read a four volume biography of a Bengali who was born in 1899 and became famous after he fled home in Calcutta. Among the various places he fled to was of course Mumbai. The name will not be known today but he was a cult director in 1930s and 40s making such movies as Yahudi Ki Beti. Premankur Atorthi was his name and his voluminous biography is titled "Mahasthabir Jataka" .
Not too many people can read Bengali these days, I am therefore, planning to translate the book and I can assure you Atorthi's description of Mumbai before the first world war will give you goosepimples and put many of the recent authors to shame. Especially fascinating for me was his description of pavement dwellers and fighting among gangs of beggars.
I hope I will find some time to soon to start translating the book.
Another striking point is that once you start writing about the city, you just can not stop. Look at the size of all the three books I mentioned.... each of them looks and feels like a brick. Of course Sacred Games takes the cake followed closely by the other two. It would seem that the authors just could not stop writing. And if you keep in mind that all three books describe incidents of only a few years and not decades or centuries of the city's history - you ought to be impressed.
However, missing is all these mega narratives, although there are slivers of this in all and most notably in Shantaram, is the life of the ordinary person. It would be fascinating to chronicle the life and times of an ordinary citizen with all its ups and downs. Unfortunately, I do not read Marathi very well and have not had an opportunity to look for Marathi books on the subject. I am sure there are a few around. However, I have had the opportunity to read a four volume biography of a Bengali who was born in 1899 and became famous after he fled home in Calcutta. Among the various places he fled to was of course Mumbai. The name will not be known today but he was a cult director in 1930s and 40s making such movies as Yahudi Ki Beti. Premankur Atorthi was his name and his voluminous biography is titled "Mahasthabir Jataka" .
Not too many people can read Bengali these days, I am therefore, planning to translate the book and I can assure you Atorthi's description of Mumbai before the first world war will give you goosepimples and put many of the recent authors to shame. Especially fascinating for me was his description of pavement dwellers and fighting among gangs of beggars.
I hope I will find some time to soon to start translating the book.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Back to Delhi
After spending two eventful years in Mumbai, I have come back to Delhi hoping to spend many more eventful years. In no way was my return to Delhi "motivated" by the recent political and parochial events in Mumbai and Maharashtra although I was eminently qualified to be a victim as a Bihari as well as a "fortune seeker".
Delhi has it's shares of problems, perhaps much more than Mumbai: there are these horrible things they are doing to roads, entire roads are being closed for Metro, realigned because of Bus Corridor, new pavements are being laid; there is power shortage even in winter, seriously bad traffic. Girls are still being attacked in their homes by neighbours, men still pee on roads in broad daylight and people still think that everything can be bought with money, men still do not understand the need to queue up. The hindi word Jugad is still the operating principle of the citizens.
But the problems of Delhi are essentially existential - and in resolving them together is the effort of the Delhite to build a better future of herself/himself. Past has got very little to do with it. Present and future are what matters.... Where you come from [figuratively as well as literally] matters much less than what you are and where you are headed. This is where I guess it differs from the colonial cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and now Bengaluru.... All colonial cities surprisingly run on pre-colonial sentiments of caste, race, sub-caste and identity and communitarian based society and politics.
It is indeed very surprising that the oldest city in India, Delhi, has the greatest collective urge to think of the future while the relatively youthful ones show a strong tendency to go back to some utopian and idyllic past... which actually never existed.
Why is this so? I do not know... But can guess: Delhi is a clever woman, she does not want to belong to anyone whatever the promises made.... She is suffered very badly for this attitude in the last 1000 years, but she still wants to remain free of emotional attachment.... While the others have tied emotional knots with many a suitor at different points in time and are now suffering from the claims and counter claims of each of the suitors.
I love your independence Delhi... Be that way and you will get the best of us seek your hand, although we know you will decline it with a wicked wink.
Delhi has it's shares of problems, perhaps much more than Mumbai: there are these horrible things they are doing to roads, entire roads are being closed for Metro, realigned because of Bus Corridor, new pavements are being laid; there is power shortage even in winter, seriously bad traffic. Girls are still being attacked in their homes by neighbours, men still pee on roads in broad daylight and people still think that everything can be bought with money, men still do not understand the need to queue up. The hindi word Jugad is still the operating principle of the citizens.
But the problems of Delhi are essentially existential - and in resolving them together is the effort of the Delhite to build a better future of herself/himself. Past has got very little to do with it. Present and future are what matters.... Where you come from [figuratively as well as literally] matters much less than what you are and where you are headed. This is where I guess it differs from the colonial cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and now Bengaluru.... All colonial cities surprisingly run on pre-colonial sentiments of caste, race, sub-caste and identity and communitarian based society and politics.
It is indeed very surprising that the oldest city in India, Delhi, has the greatest collective urge to think of the future while the relatively youthful ones show a strong tendency to go back to some utopian and idyllic past... which actually never existed.
Why is this so? I do not know... But can guess: Delhi is a clever woman, she does not want to belong to anyone whatever the promises made.... She is suffered very badly for this attitude in the last 1000 years, but she still wants to remain free of emotional attachment.... While the others have tied emotional knots with many a suitor at different points in time and are now suffering from the claims and counter claims of each of the suitors.
I love your independence Delhi... Be that way and you will get the best of us seek your hand, although we know you will decline it with a wicked wink.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Beggars as Choosers?
If you live in Delhi or Mumbai beggars at traffic junctions are a common site. In South Delhi and in the western suburbs it is pretty common to see young kids playing on the kerb, mothers with babies in arms begging for food, Children playing small tricks on the roadside to earn a fe rupees. But of late you would not have failed to notice a new phenomenon.... beggar are increasingly being engaged as salespersons and the line between street side begging and street side selling is getting blurred.
Initially, at least in Delhi small time vendors used to compete with full time beggars for space and mindshare on the traffic junctions.... not small time vendors are jostling for space with full time beggars turned out as part-time salespersons of recognised brands. There are the usual children's toys, agarbattis, chinese stuff etc that these people have been selling to shore up their incomes from begging, but more recently they have been selling well recognised branded stuff.
And I would like to out on record the fact that the worst offenders are newspapers and branded international society magazines.... the names of Mid Day, Hello, Cosmopolitan among others come to mind immediately. Also in the race are pirated book sellers.
These beggars turned salespersons represent a massive pressure on you..... first with their blatant knock [all beggars in India have the right to draw your attention by any means]; then by appealing to your consumer side by showing the goodies they want you to buy and if that fails then by telling you on your face "buy something, I haven't had my morning cup of tea"....
Nothing wrong with these people, they behave just as some of the corporate types that visit your office from Airtel, ICICI Bank or some such do. But everything is wrong with people who engage their services.... First of all no one knows what is their term of engagement, secondly and especially if it is a child's toy why do you get a filthy beggar to sell it to a child [I never buy ballloons from beggars on streets]? thirdly, those sitting in board rooms are clearly not aware of what this means for the erosion of their brand.... I have stopped reading Mid Day sometime back and do not even look at the magazines sold by beggar/salespersons... finally, I find it strange that print media one of the most virulent critics of social exploitation engaging this practice openly... Just imagine buying a copy of a leading newpaper froma beggar and a report inside read "beggars are exploited in our country". That would be a real irony...
Initially, at least in Delhi small time vendors used to compete with full time beggars for space and mindshare on the traffic junctions.... not small time vendors are jostling for space with full time beggars turned out as part-time salespersons of recognised brands. There are the usual children's toys, agarbattis, chinese stuff etc that these people have been selling to shore up their incomes from begging, but more recently they have been selling well recognised branded stuff.
And I would like to out on record the fact that the worst offenders are newspapers and branded international society magazines.... the names of Mid Day, Hello, Cosmopolitan among others come to mind immediately. Also in the race are pirated book sellers.
These beggars turned salespersons represent a massive pressure on you..... first with their blatant knock [all beggars in India have the right to draw your attention by any means]; then by appealing to your consumer side by showing the goodies they want you to buy and if that fails then by telling you on your face "buy something, I haven't had my morning cup of tea"....
Nothing wrong with these people, they behave just as some of the corporate types that visit your office from Airtel, ICICI Bank or some such do. But everything is wrong with people who engage their services.... First of all no one knows what is their term of engagement, secondly and especially if it is a child's toy why do you get a filthy beggar to sell it to a child [I never buy ballloons from beggars on streets]? thirdly, those sitting in board rooms are clearly not aware of what this means for the erosion of their brand.... I have stopped reading Mid Day sometime back and do not even look at the magazines sold by beggar/salespersons... finally, I find it strange that print media one of the most virulent critics of social exploitation engaging this practice openly... Just imagine buying a copy of a leading newpaper froma beggar and a report inside read "beggars are exploited in our country". That would be a real irony...
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Crowded Skies and Timeless Travel
Air India's international flights were delayed by 24 hours and there was violence at the Delhi airport last weekend... that was the big news.. The bigger news of course is how the concept of crowded airports, low cost flights and overcrowded skies are combining to change the concept of time altogether in India. Take this example below
When I started flying before the start of so called railway passengers taking to wings, a flight to Mumbai from Delhi actually took 1:30 mins but the declared time was 1:55 mins... the exra twenty five minutes was time to taxi etc.... After two hours if a flight was late by 15 mins, you could see some of the older passengers getting uneasy and some younger people complaining about the sorry state of Indian Airlines [Indian Airlines and Jet take 5 minutes to travel Delhi Mumbai route even today 1:55 mins as oppsed to 2 hrs by all other airlines... I do not know why]........
But as I said, the concept of time itself has changed.... My much younger colleague who flying started post crowded skies, low cost airlines etc.... has a different concept of time altogether... The other day he was on a flight to Calicut from Delhi with a change and stopover to 1:40 mins in Mumbai. When he reached Calicut I enquired after his flight... He was all in praise for Jet Airways and told me in the passing that the Delhi Mumbai flight was only an hour late..... A two hour flight taking three hours is so normal that no one complains nowadays... I could not figure out why this change in us.
Is it because our inherent believe in fatalism, karma or some other tangential cultual experience? Probably not. It's probably those used to train travels have a differnt concept of late/delayed and when they take to flights they retain at least in the initial years of flying the same concept..... It is not surprising therefore that so few people in India complain about late flights and there are so few scuffles at airports... From my colleague's point of view one hour is no big deal since travelling to Calicut from Delhi by train would have taken him a week.....
Has this got to do something with the theory of relativity?
When I started flying before the start of so called railway passengers taking to wings, a flight to Mumbai from Delhi actually took 1:30 mins but the declared time was 1:55 mins... the exra twenty five minutes was time to taxi etc.... After two hours if a flight was late by 15 mins, you could see some of the older passengers getting uneasy and some younger people complaining about the sorry state of Indian Airlines [Indian Airlines and Jet take 5 minutes to travel Delhi Mumbai route even today 1:55 mins as oppsed to 2 hrs by all other airlines... I do not know why]........
But as I said, the concept of time itself has changed.... My much younger colleague who flying started post crowded skies, low cost airlines etc.... has a different concept of time altogether... The other day he was on a flight to Calicut from Delhi with a change and stopover to 1:40 mins in Mumbai. When he reached Calicut I enquired after his flight... He was all in praise for Jet Airways and told me in the passing that the Delhi Mumbai flight was only an hour late..... A two hour flight taking three hours is so normal that no one complains nowadays... I could not figure out why this change in us.
Is it because our inherent believe in fatalism, karma or some other tangential cultual experience? Probably not. It's probably those used to train travels have a differnt concept of late/delayed and when they take to flights they retain at least in the initial years of flying the same concept..... It is not surprising therefore that so few people in India complain about late flights and there are so few scuffles at airports... From my colleague's point of view one hour is no big deal since travelling to Calicut from Delhi by train would have taken him a week.....
Has this got to do something with the theory of relativity?
Monday, September 03, 2007
Rediscovery of Railways
Yes, recently, after a few unpleasant experience in mid air caused by bad weather and my intuaitive fear of flying, I have taken to travelling by trains. Not fully true because there are still places were trains can not take you or can not take you first enough. But I have really taken to travelling between Delhi and Mumbai by trains and I have to make the following observations;
1. It only takes 16 hours to travel from Mumbai Central to New Delhi and the timings are very decent. You can almost finish your day's work in Mumbai and reach Delhi early enough to join office by 930 in Delhi. If you are travelling by Rajdhani you can be sure that in 90 per cent of the time the train would be on time. If you are travelling first class in that train you can be assure of a) a good night's sleep in airconditioned comfort b) great breakfast c) a shower so that you are fully prepared to rush to office in the morning.
2. In a sixteen hour journey you get three full meals which are much much better than whatever they serve you in planes and you can actually choose from a wide menu [at least in first class]. And those cutleries that have now disappeared from airlines, you still get to see them here with real plates, bowls and forks and knives. Food is served to you and not thrown at you. I was amazed to see once that they also carry sugarfree sachets as well as extra chocolates and icecreams, addressing both youngsters and oldies like me.
3. The toilets are cleaner than the normal airline toilets and if you find them to up to your standards of cleanliness you can get someone to clean them for you. The first class coach also has a shower. Toilet papers and mugs both are provided:)
4. You get to sleep on a berth which is six and a half feet by three feet and someone actually makes your bed for you. In addition there is an attendant to respond to your call, a bell being provided in each coupe. If you are an early riser you get bed tea too.
5. Sight seeing is free: You will be amazed to see Neel Gais and Peacocks at dusk while travelling from Delhi in addition to quaint little villages; while entering Mumbai the scene is not so attractive, though:)
If you want to enjoy this journey all you need to do is to book yourself once [you can do an online booking and travel with a printed ticket with your id from the irctc website] and enjoy the experience, I am sure you would be hooked.
A word few words of caution though:
1. Sometimes you will get stuck with the wrong type of co-passenger [ask the conductor to change your seat] I had once been on a 9 hour non stop flight with a pubjabi gentleman who was very talkative and was convinced that Punjabi is the national language of the world and he was shocked that I did not speak the language, that of course did not stop him talking with me all the way]
2. When the waiters come in the morning with saunf post breakfast you are supposed to tip them. 50 Rs in the first class is fine.
3. Most importantly, be careful at dusk and dawn. People standing by the side of the track are neither a welcoming party nor have they come to watch the train. If you watch carefully each one has a water container in their hands. Shakespeare said "world is stage" they say "world is a bog". So do not disturb they with your curiosity.
Bon Voyage
1. It only takes 16 hours to travel from Mumbai Central to New Delhi and the timings are very decent. You can almost finish your day's work in Mumbai and reach Delhi early enough to join office by 930 in Delhi. If you are travelling by Rajdhani you can be sure that in 90 per cent of the time the train would be on time. If you are travelling first class in that train you can be assure of a) a good night's sleep in airconditioned comfort b) great breakfast c) a shower so that you are fully prepared to rush to office in the morning.
2. In a sixteen hour journey you get three full meals which are much much better than whatever they serve you in planes and you can actually choose from a wide menu [at least in first class]. And those cutleries that have now disappeared from airlines, you still get to see them here with real plates, bowls and forks and knives. Food is served to you and not thrown at you. I was amazed to see once that they also carry sugarfree sachets as well as extra chocolates and icecreams, addressing both youngsters and oldies like me.
3. The toilets are cleaner than the normal airline toilets and if you find them to up to your standards of cleanliness you can get someone to clean them for you. The first class coach also has a shower. Toilet papers and mugs both are provided:)
4. You get to sleep on a berth which is six and a half feet by three feet and someone actually makes your bed for you. In addition there is an attendant to respond to your call, a bell being provided in each coupe. If you are an early riser you get bed tea too.
5. Sight seeing is free: You will be amazed to see Neel Gais and Peacocks at dusk while travelling from Delhi in addition to quaint little villages; while entering Mumbai the scene is not so attractive, though:)
If you want to enjoy this journey all you need to do is to book yourself once [you can do an online booking and travel with a printed ticket with your id from the irctc website] and enjoy the experience, I am sure you would be hooked.
A word few words of caution though:
1. Sometimes you will get stuck with the wrong type of co-passenger [ask the conductor to change your seat] I had once been on a 9 hour non stop flight with a pubjabi gentleman who was very talkative and was convinced that Punjabi is the national language of the world and he was shocked that I did not speak the language, that of course did not stop him talking with me all the way]
2. When the waiters come in the morning with saunf post breakfast you are supposed to tip them. 50 Rs in the first class is fine.
3. Most importantly, be careful at dusk and dawn. People standing by the side of the track are neither a welcoming party nor have they come to watch the train. If you watch carefully each one has a water container in their hands. Shakespeare said "world is stage" they say "world is a bog". So do not disturb they with your curiosity.
Bon Voyage
Monday, June 18, 2007
First Love
Food is my first love.
I can say this with a lot of commitment and conviction knowing full well that my wife, my daughter, my mother, my sister and three people who I call friends and who have stuck with me through thick and thin for the last 5 years to the last two decades do not read blogs:) [That is what I call freedom of expression].
I am agnostic about food.
I use the word not in the recent sense of technology but in the original sense of religion [techies are using a lot of serious words without understanding them nowadays]
I love food irrespective of where they origin and who cooks them. That is agnosticism for me.
I am religious and dogmatic about food.
Food should be good to taste and made of good ingredients. That is what I mean by I am religious and dogmatic about food.
Armed with the above parameters [again a word which is pythagorean but currently being used by IT project managers], for the last one year I have been hunting for good eating places in Mumbai.
Again, I must mention that my search for good food in Mumbai is not dependent on a) Times Good food guide or Vir Sanghvi's Rude Food or any such tome [I think they are fake]. My tongue and pockets are the best judge. b) secondly, I have my biases: However good a dal is it cannot be sweet, for example, you cannot make a sphageti bolognaise with chicken mice, for example, and there are not diet sweets.....
With such huge biases I have drawn up a list of places where I would like to visit again and again. The list is random:
1. Mondy: Value for money for so called continental food and reasonably priced booze. [Leopold is horrible but the cylinders they serve their pitchers are interesting]
2. Copper Chimney [Good Indian veg and non-veg food, they make their rotis with atta not with maida] Please avoid Delhi Durbar in Colaba if you know your food.
3. JafferBhai: best Mughlai takeaway if you know what to order and if you do not compromise with your mughlai dishes [no salt no chilly types keep out]
4. Taj Mahal lunch buffet [if you like cold cuts and salads for lunch there is no better place than this. They also have a wide selection of "Indian" dishes from Kolkata to Goa]
5. Ivy Bistro best value for money, preparation and excellent wine. Must try the red and white port here. The costs are a real steal here and the bakery stuff is the best
6. Gordon House: The best Indian Chinese in the Chinese restaurant in the ground floor.
7. Sports bar buffet lunch on a late Friday afternoon with beer: Good value for money and you can just gorge on the salads and soups.
I am still working on the list and will update whenever possible. Also, I forget the names of some places which I liked: E.g.; the small place in Malad where they served exquisite chilly meat balls [beef]; or the numerous takeways which are great value for money Or even my local bar ani restaurant where they can prepare a chilly chicken to order.
Please do not take my views lightly if you care either for your stomachs or for your wallets, since my opinion is based on spending my hard earned money and experimenting on my rather mature stomach.
Last but not the least: If you love bengali sweets please not got to sweet bengal try visiting Brijwasi instead.
Bon Apetit
I can say this with a lot of commitment and conviction knowing full well that my wife, my daughter, my mother, my sister and three people who I call friends and who have stuck with me through thick and thin for the last 5 years to the last two decades do not read blogs:) [That is what I call freedom of expression].
I am agnostic about food.
I use the word not in the recent sense of technology but in the original sense of religion [techies are using a lot of serious words without understanding them nowadays]
I love food irrespective of where they origin and who cooks them. That is agnosticism for me.
I am religious and dogmatic about food.
Food should be good to taste and made of good ingredients. That is what I mean by I am religious and dogmatic about food.
Armed with the above parameters [again a word which is pythagorean but currently being used by IT project managers], for the last one year I have been hunting for good eating places in Mumbai.
Again, I must mention that my search for good food in Mumbai is not dependent on a) Times Good food guide or Vir Sanghvi's Rude Food or any such tome [I think they are fake]. My tongue and pockets are the best judge. b) secondly, I have my biases: However good a dal is it cannot be sweet, for example, you cannot make a sphageti bolognaise with chicken mice, for example, and there are not diet sweets.....
With such huge biases I have drawn up a list of places where I would like to visit again and again. The list is random:
1. Mondy: Value for money for so called continental food and reasonably priced booze. [Leopold is horrible but the cylinders they serve their pitchers are interesting]
2. Copper Chimney [Good Indian veg and non-veg food, they make their rotis with atta not with maida] Please avoid Delhi Durbar in Colaba if you know your food.
3. JafferBhai: best Mughlai takeaway if you know what to order and if you do not compromise with your mughlai dishes [no salt no chilly types keep out]
4. Taj Mahal lunch buffet [if you like cold cuts and salads for lunch there is no better place than this. They also have a wide selection of "Indian" dishes from Kolkata to Goa]
5. Ivy Bistro best value for money, preparation and excellent wine. Must try the red and white port here. The costs are a real steal here and the bakery stuff is the best
6. Gordon House: The best Indian Chinese in the Chinese restaurant in the ground floor.
7. Sports bar buffet lunch on a late Friday afternoon with beer: Good value for money and you can just gorge on the salads and soups.
I am still working on the list and will update whenever possible. Also, I forget the names of some places which I liked: E.g.; the small place in Malad where they served exquisite chilly meat balls [beef]; or the numerous takeways which are great value for money Or even my local bar ani restaurant where they can prepare a chilly chicken to order.
Please do not take my views lightly if you care either for your stomachs or for your wallets, since my opinion is based on spending my hard earned money and experimenting on my rather mature stomach.
Last but not the least: If you love bengali sweets please not got to sweet bengal try visiting Brijwasi instead.
Bon Apetit
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Sleepless for Mumbai
Last week I was in Delhi, but spent a couple of sleepless nights thinking about the future of Mumbai, a city I seem to be slowly and quite unintentionally adopting to be my home town. My views on Mumbai are not private and secret and I do not hesitate to reiterate it once again: I like it in small measure, but in large measure I do not like the city... For two reasons mainly:
1. It does not teach you to struggle [weather is mild, people are mild, everything is too mild; water, sunlight, electricity are enough and easily avaialble, transport is easy, jobs are easy etc etc]. In India if your city does not teach you to struggle, if are deadmeat.
2. In spite of 1 above, it sucks quite a bit out of you slowly but surely, reminds you that your dreams are just dreams, takes a lot and gives you very little in return. It keeps you alive by giving you a subsistence that's it.
However, last few nights I have really been scared to return to Mumbai.
One reason was of course, the constant media coverage of so call lack of power supply in Mumbai and its suburbs and the impending doom thereof.... I for one am not scared of power cuts... But in Mumbai you are so helpless if that happens. because as i said earlier, the city has for generations not prepared you for a power cut. There are no invertors, generators etc etc here in Mumbai. In other parts of the country no one really cares the power supply is there or not, every one has their private arrangements.
The second reason was that there were talks of water shortage as well. Again for the same reasons Mumbaikar is not prepared to face it. She is so dependent on BMC suply that she has forgotten to make her own arrangements
The third reason was the news that BPO and ITjobs are going to be cut and Mumbai is one of the cities which is going to be majorly affected. That is going to pinch hard all those merry makers in the hypermalls
The fourth reason was that with the government tightening the money supply very seriously, there will be less of loans. I was wondering how will the Mumbaikar survive
The fifth reason was that with RBI cracking down on various bank rates, the stock market looks like a conoe in an open sea. bad luck to all those who make a killing and then buy fancy flats for cash in the posh suburbs
Finally, the biggest cause of my nightmare was the impending natural disaster. Along with bangladesh, Mumbai is going to be worst effected by rising sea level and large parts of Mumbai will be under the sea. Here again, Mubaikars have no experience of fighting natural calamities. except the July deluge a couple of years back.
I am really worried about Mumbai and Just want to tell Mumbaikars "Welcome to India my dears"
1. It does not teach you to struggle [weather is mild, people are mild, everything is too mild; water, sunlight, electricity are enough and easily avaialble, transport is easy, jobs are easy etc etc]. In India if your city does not teach you to struggle, if are deadmeat.
2. In spite of 1 above, it sucks quite a bit out of you slowly but surely, reminds you that your dreams are just dreams, takes a lot and gives you very little in return. It keeps you alive by giving you a subsistence that's it.
However, last few nights I have really been scared to return to Mumbai.
One reason was of course, the constant media coverage of so call lack of power supply in Mumbai and its suburbs and the impending doom thereof.... I for one am not scared of power cuts... But in Mumbai you are so helpless if that happens. because as i said earlier, the city has for generations not prepared you for a power cut. There are no invertors, generators etc etc here in Mumbai. In other parts of the country no one really cares the power supply is there or not, every one has their private arrangements.
The second reason was that there were talks of water shortage as well. Again for the same reasons Mumbaikar is not prepared to face it. She is so dependent on BMC suply that she has forgotten to make her own arrangements
The third reason was the news that BPO and ITjobs are going to be cut and Mumbai is one of the cities which is going to be majorly affected. That is going to pinch hard all those merry makers in the hypermalls
The fourth reason was that with the government tightening the money supply very seriously, there will be less of loans. I was wondering how will the Mumbaikar survive
The fifth reason was that with RBI cracking down on various bank rates, the stock market looks like a conoe in an open sea. bad luck to all those who make a killing and then buy fancy flats for cash in the posh suburbs
Finally, the biggest cause of my nightmare was the impending natural disaster. Along with bangladesh, Mumbai is going to be worst effected by rising sea level and large parts of Mumbai will be under the sea. Here again, Mubaikars have no experience of fighting natural calamities. except the July deluge a couple of years back.
I am really worried about Mumbai and Just want to tell Mumbaikars "Welcome to India my dears"
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