Mumbai - the commercial hub of India and home to 14.6 million people in a city size that approximates that of Singapore's (with a population of ~4 million) - is a sadly congested place. The largely reclaimed city is constantly bogged with traffic - from the small motorcycles to the old-rackety buses, and the mid-sized cars and auto rickshaws in between, EVERYBODY has right of way and the honks are used more often than the signals. They say if you can drive in Chicago or New York, you can drive anywhere in the world? Well, they haven't seen driving in Mumbai then that's for sure! The drivers there can knock your socks off. I ventured out to town on an auto rickshaw one night and had one of the best and worst times of my life in the 15 minutes ride - with soot and other pollution thrown in as well...oh why the heck not.
The complexity in this western Indian city is mind-boggling. The disparity between the 'haves' and 'haves-not' bothered me. There were modern high-rise condos developed next to clusters of slums. I saw a little girl playing in her 'home' made of a canvas tarp roof and a plastic sheet floor covering that was squattered next to a busy street and near a traffic junction. How do you reconcile this?
This inequality in rank and status, it's pervasive. The citizens here seem to accept this incongruity as a self-purported fate or birthright. This, plus the senseless (autocratic) bureaucracy laid down by those from the so-called upper echelons are presumably 2 reasons why many of the locals here live such a jaded life of simply minding their own business and eking out a living in this populous Indian city. It's a sad thing when people give up and lose hope.
And I should also point out the gender inequality in Mumbai - it is evident that the testosterones outnumber the estrogens in Mumbai (as you can see from the pictures). My dear women folk in Mumbai, wherefore art thou??
Even though I know I should not judge another city with the first-world/developed-world frame of reference, it is hard not to be affected by or overlook Mumbai's filth. Trash is everywhere it seems. Good health and hygiene are important foundations in the social development of any community. Perhaps Mumbai (or India as a whole) should start from the basics and improve their infrastructure and promote sustainable development.
The complexity in this western Indian city is mind-boggling. The disparity between the 'haves' and 'haves-not' bothered me. There were modern high-rise condos developed next to clusters of slums. I saw a little girl playing in her 'home' made of a canvas tarp roof and a plastic sheet floor covering that was squattered next to a busy street and near a traffic junction. How do you reconcile this?
This inequality in rank and status, it's pervasive. The citizens here seem to accept this incongruity as a self-purported fate or birthright. This, plus the senseless (autocratic) bureaucracy laid down by those from the so-called upper echelons are presumably 2 reasons why many of the locals here live such a jaded life of simply minding their own business and eking out a living in this populous Indian city. It's a sad thing when people give up and lose hope.
And I should also point out the gender inequality in Mumbai - it is evident that the testosterones outnumber the estrogens in Mumbai (as you can see from the pictures). My dear women folk in Mumbai, wherefore art thou??
Even though I know I should not judge another city with the first-world/developed-world frame of reference, it is hard not to be affected by or overlook Mumbai's filth. Trash is everywhere it seems. Good health and hygiene are important foundations in the social development of any community. Perhaps Mumbai (or India as a whole) should start from the basics and improve their infrastructure and promote sustainable development.
1 comment:
gee thank god my NOV trip go cancelled!
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