The Helpless Mumbaikar

I feel so sad for the Mumbaikar today. Ever since I can remember I have had a car and have traveled in Mumbai primarily by my personal vehicle, may it be on my bike or in my car. My use of public transportation has been very limited. This has been more so because of the non-availability of easily accessible public transport where I live. I have used the BEST buses and the local trains whenever I felt that reaching a particular place in Mumbai would be easier that way. The public transport system is very good, but the sheer number of commuters availing these facilities makes them a chore rather than a convenience. If given an opportunity to chose between my personal vehicle and public transport, I would choose public transport because it is simply easier; but not so in Mumbai. Given the hassles that a commuter has to go through, sitting in traffic for hours in the comfort of the AC in my car and listening to music is preferable. One might notice; neither is convenient.  

Today, I experienced the difficulties of traveling by public transport more than ever. I had to reach a place that is about 4 km from where I live. I could not find a cab immediately so I kept on walking towards the nearest bus-stop which is usually pretty busy and has some taxis waiting. Also, I thought that while walking towards the bus-stop, I might be able to hail a taxi. I reached the bus-stop and yet was not able to find a taxi. Finally, a bus came along and I boarded it. Now, until I boarded the bus, I was not able to find a taxi for almost 20 minutes, which in Mumbai is pretty remarkable. The bus was extremely crowded, the stench of sweat was suffocating and there was hardly any place to stand. The bus ride took me about 15 minutes or so, which is what it usually takes. So, fortunately, I didn't have to endure that for long. 

This experience made me think of something which crosses everybody's mind at some point or the other. It is the trouble that a common man has to go through. I have led a privileged life compared to many and have not had to travel in such conditions a lot of times. But, there are lacs of people who have to endure this torture every single day. Perhaps they complain at some point but resign to the fact that they have no choice. They are perhaps of tired and disgusted of such a state of condition but find no solution or an alternative. Buying a car or a two-wheeler might be easy but to use it daily is not affordable for them. Thus, they have to make the best of what is available. 

Taxis and Rickshaws are perhaps more of an irritant than anything else. They consider themselves to be the Kings on the road and drive as they please with no regard to other cars or pedestrians. They say yes or no to a fare as they please. Although it is obligatory on their part to accept any fare by law, they don't care about commuters at all. I am young and pretty well-built, so at times I have forcibly asked the Taxi or the Rickshaw to take me where I want to go. Now, I am not doing anything wrong or illegal here. On the other hand, there are women, children and old people who are helpless. They cannot exert force like I can and are forced to swallow their pride and dignity and their troubles to wait on these Taxis and Rickshaws to say yes to their fare. It is so deplorable that it makes me seethe with anger. 

Mumbai is going to get a Metro and a Monorail system in the next few years. Hopefully, they will lighten the burden on the already super over-burdened public transport system. It is not a mystery why the current public transport system in Mumbai is insufficient. It is simply the population. The burden on the public infrastructure is such that it is impossible to keep up with such ever-increasing population. Migration and uncontrolled breeding are killing this 'City of Dreams'.

First, let me take up migration. Any developed and welcoming city in this world has seen migration from other parts of that country as well as from other countries. New York is an excellent example. Mumbai is many times compared to New York, which is quite laughable. Although population wise, the two cities are almost on par, New York does not have such problems. It faces similar issues like Mumbai but there is one major difference and that is the discipline and integrity. The US has not allowed illegal housing to come up. One wouldn't find street-dwellers or a slum cropping up on Park Avenue, whereas you will find that in plush areas of Mumbai like Cuffe Parade, Colaba, Pali Hill, etc. It is almost as if every citizen of this country feels that the Right to Movement also grants them the Right to Illegal Housing or a Right to Construct Slums wherever they please. And, the Government in power will never do anything about that because it will lose out on their precious votes. SHAMEFUL!!! What about those millions of people who have been living in this city for decades? Do they have no say? Do they deserve such horrible living conditions when they have spent their entire lives living in this city hoping for a better future for themselves and their kids? What about those who have grown up in this city, studied here and hoped to lead a nice life here? Will they be so condemned to their fate? They have enriched this city and made it what it is today. But, all that goes to waste when day after day, a new scandal is exposed. Real Estate in Mumbai being at such a premium, it is impossible for even a middle-class person to buy a small apartment. The concept of a house is non-existent in Mumbai. If it resembles a house, it is a mansion or a monstrosity like Anitlla. 

Now, the uncontrolled breeding. I use the word 'breeding' because it doesn't seem like most Indians understand that they are humans and not animals. Even animals breed  only during the mating season and the only animal that has sexual intercourse for pleasure apart from human beings is a pig. The idea that a boy is more desirable than a girl nauseates me. Even mothers prefer a boy, more than a girl. What kind of sick thinking is this? A woman who prefers that she never gives birth a girl!!! Unfortunately, this thinking persists even in many well-educated and financially well-off families who don't really have to worry about another pair of hands to aid their family. And today, even that is not an issue as girls are equally interested in pursuing a career like boys. Many Indians 'breed' until they have a boy in the family. DESPICABLE!!! There are others who simply don't care whether they will even be able to support a large family. They simply go on procreating like animals without the slightest thought. The Family Management Program by the Indian Government has been going for several years now. I don't know how far it has been successful but I hope it has had some effect. The recent census actually showed the male to female ratio in India is quite horrible. 

It is impossible to meet the demands of such a huge population in smaller towns and villages. Consequentially, everybody makes way for Mumbai. And, why not? If I was in a smaller town/village I might have done the same for better opportunities. But, here it does not remain as simple as that. It leads to slums, crime and dirtiness! Again, the Mumbaikar faces it all, not because he is brave and strong but that he is completely helpless. 

I have myself been to the US and worked there, my brother is in the US and is working there. Hopefully, in a few months, I will embark on another journey in another country and will hope for a better future there. It is quite natural. However, neither would the US have tolerated any illegal activity and nor will the other country. 

I pray to God that the 'City of Dream' does not metamorphose in to the 'City of Hell'

A song for those who love this city:

High on Romance

Cloudy, grey and gloomy, greenery everywhere and a pleasant coolness in the air. And, wet! 

Weird it is, this monsoon in Mumbai - the most romantic of all seasons. As it arrives, it leaves behind the scorching heat of the summer and brings in a refreshing change. It is exactly like a splash of cold water on your face after walking in the noon-day sun in a desert. You feel so refreshed. 

For me it is the most romantic time of the year, I feel refreshed and energized and invigorated. The mere memory of a monsoon in Mumbai makes me get all charged-up. Yes, it is not the most comfortable of times to travel in the city and the flooding does not really add to the romantic setting but somehow, these things get completely overlooked. I get to see so many smiling faces walking on the streets during these times. People who have ventured out to enjoy the rain with their loved ones. It's a phenomenon I have not heard of happen anywhere else. It's like a tradition to go and get wet in the rains. One feels lucky to have gotten wet in the first rains of the season. There are special hikes and treks organized during this time of the year especially to enjoy the rain. 

It's considered to be the ultimate enjoyment to have hot bhajiyyas/vada (fritters) and tea when it is raining. More so, if you are wet from the rain and cold and are able to enjoy this special treat. What makes it special is the fact that you are eating bhajiyas/vada and drinking tea in the rains with your friends or if it is a more romantic setting then with your spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend. There can be nothing more romantic than that. 

Since the last couple of days, the monsoon clouds have made their presence felt although it has not really rained yet. It did drizzle for a few minutes last week and I was lucky enough to enjoy that. It felt so nice. I was just so excited even though, not even my head got wet. 

During those few months of the monsoon rains, I feel like I am on high on romance, like I have dosed myself with a 'love drug'. It is simply a very beautiful time of the year and I am glad that I will be in Mumbai this year to enjoy it. It would perhaps, surprise a few that wading through the flooded waters in Mumbai is also considered a romantic thing to do by some. 

When I go out of the city, the landscape is completely green and lush. Waterfalls and streams can be seen on the mountains of the Sahyadri. Rivers and streams are full and flowing with vigorous force. Even nature shows off itself and is playful at this time, trying to get rid off the dullness it has had to suffer during the summer months. 

A couple of lines by बालकवी  describing the month of Shravan that falls within these months of the monsoon -

श्रावण मासी हर्ष मानसी हिरवळ दाटे चोहिकडे,

क्षणात येते सरसर शिरवे, क्षणात फिरुनी उन पडे.

An extremely romantic song with the backdrop of the Mumbai monsoons - Rim Jhim Gire Sawan by Kishore Kumar:

The Lonely Traveler

The great Marathi poet Suresh Bhat has penned an extremely insightful poem - 

रंगुनी रंगात साऱ्या, रंग माझा वेगळा 

गुंतुनी गुंत्यात साऱ्या, पाय माझा मोकळा.

The two lines above would make no sense if translated literally. However, the sense of the two lines is that although being a part of the society and a part of the people in the society, I am different. I stand out among all. Although being involved in the various problems of life, I am still free from them. 

Translated literally - Although being drenched in different colours, my colour stands out. Although being stuck in all the mess, I am still free. 

It is not as easy to understand as it sounds. The poet has put down an extremely intense emotion in very simple words. It talks about a certain arrogance, a certain indifference and a certain ego. It talks about how a person perceives himself to be different from others. The poet tries to tell the reader that his life is lonely. It conveys pride and yet conveys a certain sadness. I am completely in love with this poem. It has also been rendered exceptionally well by Devaki Pandit. 

Do we all feel at a certain point that we are different from others? Do we all feel at a certain point that our's is a lonely path? We are surrounded by our friends and family and yet it feels so lonely at times. In the Qawwali, 'Chadhta Suraj', the poet touches upon this point very nicely. Perhaps the word nicely might sound too mellow, given that the words in the Qawwali are neither subtle nor indirect. They show a very naked reality. 

Perhaps my life has not yet given me the opportunity to fully understand this emotion. I have always been fortunate enough to have my family and my friends to support me. There were times when I have been physically alone but their presence in my life was never missed.

And yet, I felt like I was alone! I am in the driver's seat and I might face obstacles, bumps, potholes and diversions and even break-downs but it is in my hands whether to keep on travelling or not. Whatever support one may have in his life, he is really always alone. Your experiences are your own and your decisions are your own. 

My friend Aamir had written about a conversation that he had once had with a total of two people in it - his Alter Ego and Himself. So, if you look at it from that perspective, you are never alone. 

Strangely, it is a soothing thought when you accept that you are alone and you have to face life alone. It give you confidence in yourself and the strength to stand up to the challenges of life. You understand that help is not always round the corner.

For those who would like to hear the song, it's simply brilliant:

Patriotism: A Dying Sentiment

I am an Indian. I love my country and I am a patriot. But these days, the sentiment of patriotism for India rings hollow for me. I grew up learning about the Independence struggle of India from the British; about people like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Swatantryaveer Savarkar, Lokmanya Tilak and many others. Before that it was the oppression of the Mughals and learnt of great warriors like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Maharana Pratap. I adore and am humbled to live in a country that produced such people. I am proud of my country's achievements in various fields.

But, do I really have a lot to be proud about my country at the moment?

The 'zero' was discovered in India. It is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It has a rich heritage and culture. It has tremendous amounts of diversity not just in the peoples but geographically as well. Indian scientists and IT professionals have performed exceptionally well all over the world. It is said the the when the Mughals burnt the libraries of Nalanda (one of the oldest universities in the world) and Takshashila, they contained so many books and scriptures that they were burning for almost a year. Such was the advanced stage of culture in India hundreds and thousands of years ago. Very few countries can boast of such things.

However, most of India's achievements have been in the past. The achievements by many Indians today have been out of India in some other country that provided them with the facilities and the encouragement. Why is it that other countries have the ability to understand the importance of these things and India fails to do so/? There is certainly not a lack of talent anywhere or even money. No doubt there is poverty in India but at the same time, enough resources are available for the advancement of India in all fields.

If Indians were able to accomplish so much, centuries and millennia ago, why is it so difficult now? Lately, I have seen a general apathy towards everything. I have only seen India high up in the rankings on corruption and scandals. Is this the India that the freedom fighters were hoping for? No, definitely not. Sometimes, when I think about it, I almost feel like apologizing to those people for not having fulfilled their dream of a great India.

Anant Kanhere, a 19 year old boy killed Jackson, the Collector of Nashik. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged when they were just about 24. Savarkar suffered the 'Kaalapaani', the jail on the Andaman & Nicobar Islands when he was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment. People did so much for the attainment of a noble goal and less than a century after the independence of India, the country has only been able to rake up the number of scandals and increase corruption.

I was lucky to have been born within the first 50 years of Indian Independence. There was some sense of freedom and the understanding of what it meant to be free. It was not because I had any personal experience, but I understood the importance from what I saw and heard and read around me. My grandparents and so many others were still alive to teach me the value of what I have and that I should always keep it in mind. I should never forget the sacrifices of so many that gave their lives for me to enjoy what I do today.

But, how do I make my kids understand that value? I could get a sense because I was lucky enough to be in that atmosphere. But, what do I tell my kids? Do I tell them that about 100 years ago, a 19 year old boy out of sheer determination to rid the society of an evil man and out of love for his country, killed that man? Will that have any effect? I don't know but I doubt it will. Although these people and incidents are admirable and are golden moments in the history of India, (golden, because of the spirit they represented) they may not hold much value to future generations as they did for mine and the ones before mine.

The world has changed and people are moving all over the globe. Patriotism is an idea only strengthened by a bond that you develop with your country. But how does that bond form if one keeps moving about?

As I said before, India does not have many moments of glory in the recent past. In fact, I hear people everyday compromising on their life. I hear many people say that they love India and yet complain about every single thing. Finally, all they say is that they have no choice and have to live like this. Many proclaim that whatever it is, India is the place to live, when they have never traveled outside India. Even if they have, they have only traveled for a few days, which doesn't give them a real sense of living in a different environment altogether. There are some, however, like my uncle who has lived and traveled extensively all over the world and never chose to settle anywhere else except India. He made a choice because there were some things he could not let go at home and he preferred to live in India because of the benefits it offered him, but he is not oblivious to the realities.

So, does Patriotism only come down to what makes it beneficial to someone at a particular time. Is it just convenience? I believe it should be more meaningful than that. John F. Kennedy once famously said, "Ask not your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". He was right but there are few who even get that opportunity in India without indulging in some kind of corruption. And, he was talking to Americans who actually don't have to fight for the basic necessities of life or the basic joys of life, for example, going to a movie and not having to endure 1.5 hours of traffic to reach a theater 10 km away in a busy city like Mumbai.

I am just not sure why somebody would be proud of India right now and be patriotic towards it in the coming generations. What do they really have to be proud of? I hope I am proved wrong.

If there are any visitors from other countries to this blog and read this post, I would request you to post your views about your own country and if you feel the same. Is it the same case in your country where most of your country's achievements have been in the past and has relatively very little to show in the recent past? The reason I ask is, whether it is a sentiment echoed by people in other countries as well and that the achievements only seem to be a thing of the past in other places as well. 

Through the 'Viewfinder'

Keeping in line with the title of the blog, here's one 'Observation'. The title, I find is very apt but I cannot take the entire credit for it. My inspiration is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson or his pseudonym Lewis Carroll and his book 'Through the Looking Glass". I don't intend to analyze anything here by prying into something with a looking-glass or a viewfinder. I merely intend to make a very funny observation.

Cameras. The cameras available today would make a man 10 years ago go crazy. Such has been the development. I remember when I got my first digital camera in 2003, people didn't know how to use it. The concept of capturing the image by composing through the screen was completely novel. People would invariably try to look through the viewfinder and would get really confused to find that the viewfinder was not turned on. People might even find this surprising that there used to be an option in the earlier digital cameras, the point-and-shoot ones, to switch between the viewfinder and the screen. Point-and-shoot cameras today have no such option. It is just the LCD screen.

I bought a digital SLR a few months ago and I have been overjoyed with the acquisition. And, because of it, I came to observe that people now have forgotten that there was such a thing as a viewfinder and there are even those from the younger generation who have never used a camera with a viewfinder. They simply don't understand how to use a camera and take photos using a viewfinder. This is such a shift from what it used to be before. It came naturally to people but now it has to be learnt.

I found it very amusing that recently I had to actually teach someone how to hold my SLR and how to look through the viewfinder. It was not their inability that was amusing but the fact that just a few years ago I was teaching someone to use my point-and-shoot digital camera and look through the screen!