Hello my beautiful, awesome, gorgeous readers!
I am back with a new article. In the past, I have written two most serious articles that readers may have started hating me. One on Marketing and the other on macro-economics, to be specific on inflation. So, today I thought that I should not bore you. I thought I should write something lighter for everybody to understand and enjoy.
I was looking for a topic for few weeks. First I thought to write about something on current affairs but no burning topic clicked me. So, suddenly few minutes back while chilling at Starbucks, Powai, I got a click. I thought why shouldn’t I write about the city I live? The city where everybody dreams to stay in, the city where the local trains are the life line, the city where the waves of the Arabian sea teaches people to dream…..dream bigger indeed. Yes I am talking about Bombay urf Mumbai, the city where I love to live, enjoy every second, enjoy the crowd, the mountains, the forest, the sea and off course the Starbucks ;-)
MUMBAI: THE CITY THAT HAS IT ALL
Mumbai, to describe this place in one line is that, this is the city of dreamers, hard laborers, actors and gangsters, stray dogs and exotic birds, artists, servants, fisher-folks and millionaires.
It has the most prolific film industries, one of Asia’s biggest slums and the largest tropical forest in an urban zone. This is also India’s financial powerhouse, fashion capital and a pulse point of religious tension as well.
The city has evolved its own language called Bambaiyya Hindi which is a mix of aaaaaah everything. It has also got some of the world’s most expensive real estate and a knack of creating those multi-storey buildings by creating land from water and garbage.
Contrary you might think, you might not have almost died in that train, or been rushed in the station crowd of Dadar or run over by that guy wearing a funny outfit like a monkey. The city has its own rhythm. The city is complex but has a playful raga, a gliding and light-footed dance that all of Mumbai seems to know.
The Bollywood:
Mumbai is the place of bollywood, the gigantic film industry of Hindi Language. This industry produces more than 900 films every year which is highest in the world compared to any other film industry (yes Hollywood too). Bollywood is famous for its formulae of Masala Entertainment. Singing and dancing, lover’s fight and winning over all enemies is a very natural phenomenon in an average bollywood film. Bollywood stars can attain near godlike status in India. Their face appears in many advertisements across the country. Star spotting in a posh locality of Mumbai is a favorite time pass for mumbaikars. Visit outside Mannat (SRK’s residence) at bandstand at any point of time and you could see people waiting the super star to wave his hand from his balcony or window when he is at home.
The slums:
It was in a bollywood film few years back called Slumdog Millionaire, represented how the other half of the city lives in Mumbai in a stereotypical fashion. The slum dwellers represent approximately 60% population of Mumbai. The life of slums is strikingly normal. Residents normally pay rent and most of the houses are having a small room, a kitchen (most of the time in the same room) with a common washroom used by at least 20 families. The building materials are normally of iron shacks or concrete multistory with iron stairs from outside of it. The famous slums of Mumbai are Dharavi and Govandi which caters to approximately 55% of the total slum population of Mumbai. Dharavi residents often have white collar jobs, they choose to stay like that because of decent rent and to stay near to their work places. Do not judge people of Mumbai with the place where they stay. An illiterate vegetable vender can be seen staying in a multistory apartment in Andheri or Bandra whereas a white-collar jobbie can be seen staying at a slum at Dharavi.
Understanding the city and its local economy is too tough. Do not even try to be logical to understand because you will never understand.
The Local Train: Unique Facts:
The local train is called the lifeline of the city which is the cheapest local transport to reach anywhere to anywhere in the city. The Mumbai Sub-urban trains has three line extensions, Western, Central and Harbour. All three lines connect from different outer parts of Mumbai to the South Mumbai, which is the actual Mumbai City. The places of Mumbai are defined by the railway stations; western side of the rail line is called west and eastern side, east. When you say that you stay at Ghatkopar, the person will automatically figure out that you stay at the central line and if you stay at andheri, it’s western line. People will also understand how much time you take to reach your office from your place without you even telling them. People also make train mates here which are unique. They know their train mates more than their neighbors and this is hilarious for the person who doesn’t stay at Mumbai, but normal for a mumbaikar.
Conclusion:
To conclude my article, it is very important to know the fact that Mumbai is one of the most unique cities in the planet. Experiencing the uniqueness as a tourist is not what you can expect. You need to come here in the city to stay like a common man, and then you can experience the great uniqueness. First few months, you will get astonished; you will have a lot of new experiences to share with your family and friends who are not a mumbaikar; but after that? You will BE a part of that uniqueness. I guarantee you, that you will never be able to love any other city in the planet when you experience the flavor of Mumbai, when you smell the diesel of B.E.S.T. bus (the local bus), or get into an over-crowded train while listening to the crowd saying “poora khali hai, chalo chalo” (train is empty……get in get in) and I am sure later you will also change the definition of a crowded train in the back of your mind.
So sit back, develop your equanimity and set yourself be a part of the song “Ye hai Mumbai, Ye hai Mumbai, Ye hai Mumbai……Meri Jaan” (This is Mumbai, my heart)
(Few points and languages are taken from an article of Lonely Planet)