Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Bombay or Mumbai!!!!

Mumbai is a city of high manpower but I felt as if it was a city of huge population trying to get a crumb of bread for themselves out of a small chunk of food assigned to them. I saw their living from very close and I observed something. People here, I felt, are not economically strong and still they have to show that they belong to high class. I found lack of educated class. In north India, people know their limits and I felt that they spend only for their basic needs which are compulsory and go for the luxury only when they can afford it.

Mumbai on the other part felt like exact opposite. It is city of style, fashion and exaggerated things. The common people and the lower middle class live a shallow and hollow life. I found even the slum dwellers carrying styles and other unnecessary things which they are not able to afford.

Let me cite an example for if I don’t, people will say that I am getting ruthless to the city. I visited my relatives to their flat and during the visit I observed a person with highly styled haircut with an unusual coloring to it. I felt that it was too stylish carrying a comb spikes in the hair cut and enquired about that guy as to who was he and what he did for his living. I came to know that he was a sweeper of the compound and lived in the nearby slum. I was taken aback. Was he able to afford it? Was he able to meet his daily needs of him and his family?

The answer to this question can be easily guessed and need not to be answered by me.

Mumbai is city of adjustments, low space and crowd. But on the other part, it is known for its high speed, high profile people, high society and highly priced commodities. I delved some deeper and was astonished to know the cost of basic commodities. Some of them were twice the price in North India.

Mumbai local trains are its veins and arteries. Should they stop for few minutes the life of Mumbai comes to an end. The controlling of the trains is all manual and still everything works as good as Delhi metro. The low cost travel which these local trains provide is a matter of awe.
Though I cannot compare Delhi metro to these local trains but still running the whole city with fast pace and accuracy is as good as Metro.

Though I personally didn’t like Mumbai and even its suburbs, but still there was something attractive to this city. It is a city of surprises. It is a city where women are respected, an opposite thing to Delhi.

Also, Mumbai is a city of discipline. Educated or uneducated, people here follow the rules. They form a queue on their own and without any volunteer. They are calm people and don’t enter into altercations easily as compared to Delhi hooligans.

I was “shocked”, I should say, to see the traffic moving and people walking on half the space of jammed roads of Delhi, which stops even due to dogs roaming around.
Auto drivers don’t blackmail you and don’t ask for exaggerated fares from you as in Delhi, which is known for their nuisance auto drivers.

Love it or hate it. Mumbai has its own charm.

1 comment: