Mumbai, our own international financial centre, has certain distinct features which are hard to miss. Have you ever stopped to count them? There are ten such outstanding features which may be highlighted here though there are obviously several others that are omitted. The first sign that you are in Mumbai is the abundance of spitting which is visible everywhere. You may find one walking on the road spitting; or from a train, taxi, auto or even a chauffeur driven car. Class is no constraint when it comes to relieving your throat in the city. You only need to hear the clearing of a throat to dive to the other side.
The second sign is that everyone is invariably rushing in and out and pushing those in the vicinity. This is evidently a hangover from traveling in local trains where one is constantly being jostled around that we forget that even in parks where one is taking a walk or a mall where we are shopping, there is no possibility of missing the train. But, we still push.
The level of impatience is visible even when we are driving, whether on the inner roads or the arterial ones where the same vein flows in the people. They are busy blowing the horn even when the entire traffic comes to a standstill and there are long lines of stationary vehicles in front and behind you.
The fourth sight is that of the beggar economy which looms large on the roads where the business has no age bar. Right from 1 to 80 years, the streets have these professionals who earn up to Rs 100 a day who accost you for alms with a blend of pity and threat – depending on the gender of the beggar.
The fifth sight, which one can argue seriously about being Indian rather than Mumbaish is the concept of the Any Time Toilet (ATT) which are well spread across the metropolis from Malabar Hill to Virar where people relieve themselves anytime of the day in the most nonchalant manner. While there are laws to stop this activity, it always goes past unpunished.
The sixth distinct flavor of the city is the series of roadside stalls which dish out the most pungent eatables from the popular bhel puri and sev puri to the well greasy vada pavs and pav bhaji. Mumbaikars just drool over this stuff and even though the vendors are bathed in sweat, and use these hands to belt out the fare, we are not concerned. Have you thought of the odour emanating from the urinals at Churchgate station which mingles with that from the over crowded Chinese and burger stalls? The beaches and sea fronts of Mumbai and other popular haunts (are there any others?) have become legendary for these eateries.
The seventh specialty which follows not just from eating on the road, but as a deep ingrained habit is to litter the city. Garbage piles are just amazing as they nourish the large canine populace and the discarded herbivores which share a perfect harmony that could put human communities to shame. True to spirit we do not hesitate to throw anything in our hands from a bus ticket to polythene bags anywhere on the roads – the bins are supposed to be there but have been pinched several years back.
If you get away from the garbage, the eight omnipresent activity is digging enables experiences of camel-like rides on the roads of Mumbai and have meant flourishing business for the orthopedics. Tracking road construction is an education marvel: fresh roads of bitumen are changed to concrete and then to cement and then to interlocking bricks by the authorities. But they all come apart in the rains irrespective of the texture. Then the telecom operators, electric companies, Mahanagar Gas, and water works do their digging and leave the holes to be filled up, by which time the monsoon descends and keeps this process an ongoing activity.
Once you retreat to the solitude of your housing complex, the ninth wonder hits you when you try taking a walk. There is a perpetual stream of water combined with mud that flows from someone’s balcony with the floor changing every time. Any discussion within the housing society is like chasing a shadow.
Lastly, if you retire to your bedroom, you will be woken up by little brats who have smashed your window or your vehicle parked downstairs- there are no garages anyway as the builder has constructed more flats where there must be parking space. The kids manage their cricket anywhere and have a standard reply – sorry uncle/aunty; we will pay for the damage. The money does not come anyway and years later you have a star proudly talking of how he smashed windows when he was a kid – they will never compensate for them in their lifetime.
When you live in Mumbai, you hence learn to become resilient to disease, immune to filth, tolerant to mankind and a bit philosophical. At times we learn to still glorify the city and highlight the indomitable spirit of Mumbaikars – maximum city is what it was called, right?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment