Mumbai - The City of Dreams and Dust

Mumbai Rocks! Mumbai Sizzles! 

A colleague of mine said during one of our official trips. We were on our way to office quarters from Delhi Station. It was 7.30 a.m. in the morning. The roads looked deserted and calm as compared to our buzzing Mumbai roads. 

Mumbai roads are bustling with activity all the time. Even during night, one may find people on the road having a rollicking time. Bomb blasts, floods, communal riots - nothing can ever deter Mumbai's spirit. It is the city of dreams where thousands come in a day from different cities, states and villages to become something in life, to be successful. They have dreams in their eyes and hope in their hearts. Some are very ambitious and come here to make it big in the filmdom. They get so addicted to the fast pace life of Mumbai that they drop their plans to go back to their hometown. They might not get a job initially but the city makes them tough. They might even sleep on the roads for days for they have the faith that they can survive here or say an uncanny attachment to the city.


Mumbai is also known as the tinsel town of India. The city has a glamorous side to it. The who's who of the film industry and industrialists can be spotted at late night parties and become Page 3 celebrities. These same people are in the news for the wrong reasons as well.

However, the real heroes are the so called middle class of Mumbai. They travel by the crowded train and go to work. They juggle a lot of things in a day. Even if they are tired at the end of the day, it is the enthusiasm and energy in them that keeps their life kicking. The trains are the lifeline of Mumbai. They carry millions of people to work and back home. If the trains are disrupted even for an hour, the city comes to a halt.
If you are not traveling by train then you would be missing out on a whole lot of filmy hot gossips, daily soaps, the latest trends in dresses and accessories, office politics and so on. Thecity respects people for their hard work and sincerity irrespective of class, caste or status. Have you ever heard of dabbawalas giving speech to management students? It happens only in Mumbai. They give lectures on time management, as they are famous for delivering lunch boxes at the right time at different places and are never late. Their time management kissas are so famous that they were even invited for Prince Charles wedding.
When you meet a Mumbaikar, you will not be able to make out where he or she is from. It is a cosmopolitan city. A Mumbaite is a mix of everything as they imbibe the culture and traditions of everyone. One can learn all the languages right from Tamil, Malyalam to Urdu, Bhojpuri, Nepali, Bengali and even know their culture and traditions.

The financial city of India is divided into two parts- South Mumbai and the suburbs. In South Mumbai only the rich and famous live while working class people dominate the suburbs. The difference is due to exorbitant real estate prices. Then there is the third area where people live in small and dilapidated huts near railway tracks, in large grounds and near building sites - the slum area. 

The largest slum area in the world exists in Mumbai - Dharavi. There is no proper sanitation, not enough supply of drinking water, and the surrounding area is very unhygienic. Still people lead their life there with a smile on their face. 

The governments dream to transform the city into Shanghai might be very difficult but it is not impossible. It might take a decade for the city to change, as it has to wipe off poverty and provide accommodation to thousands of people who enter the city everyday. For this, the citizens of Mumbai should lend a helping hand and provide support to slowly eradicate poverty and keep the city clean.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

25 Kickass and Interesting Facts About Boxing

Image
25 Facts, We should Know about our Favorite Boxers around the world. The tips and tricks they use to show us the awesome fight matches.   So here is Kick Ass facts about the top Wrestlers. 1. John L. Sullivan, the fighter from the overly manly man meme, fought in a bare-knuckle boxing match that lasted 75 rounds before he won. Sullivan died from a heart attack on February 2, 1918. When Sullivan was buried, the ground was frozen so hard that they had to blast out the grave with dynamite. Jake Kilrain, who served as a pallbearer, said, “Old John L. would have approved.” –  Source 2. George Foreman has made more money selling his grills than for his boxing career in which he was a 2-time heavyweight champion. –  Source 3. As a child Muhammad Ali was refused an autograph by his boxing idol, Sugar Ray Robinson. When Ali became a prizefighter, he vowed never to deny an autograph request, which he honored throughout his career. –  Source 4. Thai prison...
Read more

Yes, E-Wallets are better than cash: How to setup and use e-wallets.

Image
There is chaos on the street, in the banks, ATMs and petrol pumps. We expect the scene to remain the same for coming days or weeks. But there is an easy way out of this, especially for all those who have a smartphone. Tuesday, November 8, was a usual day till about 8pm in the evening when PM Modi said that  Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes will cease to be legal tenders from the midnight in India. That was the midnight of November 8. What followed that decision, presumably made to fight black money, has been a blurry slideshow of long queues outside ATMs, petrol pumps and just about everywhere. While many smartphone users are aware of mobile wallets and are probably using them, many are not. And even those who are using mobile wallets probably don't know all the uses of these apps at present. If a mobile wallet like Paytm is used to its full potential, you will not even need to carry cash, except for some situations. If you think it is an overstatement, keep on reading...
Read more

25 Interesting Facts About Mushrooms

Image
1. Long before trees overtook the land, earth was covered by giant mushrooms. 2. John Hopkins University conducted a study of mushrooms with 36 college-educated adults (average age of 46) who had never tried psilocybin nor had a history of drug use. More than two-thirds reported it was among the top five most spiritually significant experiences in their lives. 3. There is an edible mushroom that grows in the wild that tastes nearly identical to chicken/fried chicken called Laetiporus. 4. There is a 2400 year old giant “honey mushroom” in Oregon, covering 2200 acres, slowly killing off the trees in the forest. It is the largest living organism on the planet. 5. Psilocybe tampanensis, a psychedelic mushroom species, was found once and never again in Tampa, Florida in 1977, and all of today’s widely circulating tampanensis mushrooms are the descendants of that original specimen. 6. Gili Trawangan is a small island in Bali with predominantly Muslim population. There is har...
Read more