Mumbai has locales that could be interchangeably used for loyalists. With a counterpoint ready for ever single negative of Mumbai, there’s not much you must have heard about, when considering the minuses of the city. But with every coin having two sides to it, we’ve only been familiar with one side of Mumbai and it’s time to flip over to the other.
Bindiya Chotrani plays true Mumbaikar and cites traits about Mumbai that are equally disappointing as compared to those few good ones that render us speechless.
Beggars
You will find all kinds of them. Old, young, kids, amputated, diseased, dirty, irritating, pitiful. You will also be overcome by various kinds of emotions for them – sadness, anger, pity, respite etc. And no matter how bad you feel for their sorry state of affairs, you just cannot hold that anger back, when they pester you, touch you all over and beg you for money. At the stations, at the signals, outside temples, Mumbai is a street dotted by hordes of them.
Roads
Roads in Mumbai are adorned – yes, adorned – with potholes. So much so that monsoons have us find roads in potholes than potholes in roads. The face of Mumbai, these roads are filled with filth, have cows sitting right in the middle and ruminating, have people spit out of their transport, and have men and kids defecating around. Mumbai may dream of turning into Shanghai, but with current state of the roads, we don’t seem to be moving to shanghai any time soon.
Slums
Now, unless you are a Slumdog millionaire, slums aint anything to be proud of. The stink, the muck, the disgust caused to a certain lifestyle, the sight – all are reason enough for one to detest it. And no matter what efforts our very efficient government may undertake to get rid of these, there is no way we see it happening in the near future. Well, the cheaper lifestyle could be held responsible for more than 54% of the cities population dwelling in these. And considering that, Mumbai’s landscape shall be completely taken over by these slums by 2025.
Traffic Rules
Mumbai is a traffic-snarled city. Commuting to-and-fro is more tasking than an entire day spent at work. And exactly why we don’t doubt it, when research study tells u that an average human spends more than43 hours a year stuck in traffic. Once known for its disciplined driving scenario, Mumbai has slowly but gradually lost this prestigious tag and now is now a driver’s nightmare. Breaking traffic rules, overtaking, lane cutting, drunk driving, disrespecting pedestrians – Mumbai is sliding down fast in road discipline. Fraying tempers, and drivers challenged by exasperating traffic is all but a rare sight in the city.
Fast-Paced Life
Mumbaikars considered being a tireless lot are streamlined for a fast-paced life. The city that never sleeps, has managed to gravitate people to it simply for this particular reason. But with the change in lifestyle comes along stress, anger, fury and prostration. We couldn’t agree more with William Wordsworth when he quoted “What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.”
Pollution
(Don’t) take a deep breath, brace yourself. The heavy fog enveloping the city during early mornings is an ominous indicator of Mumbai’s deteriorating air quality. With the rapid disappearance of the open spaces and playgrounds and forests being transformed into concrete jungles, pollution has been much envisaged. But what hasn’t been envisaged is the after-effects of pollution. If there’s one thing that could single-handedly compete for all those good things Mumbai has on offer, it’s the pollution.
Corruption
Corruption has been prevalent in the whole of India. But Mumbai, without a second thought, leads the other cities and could well become a role-model for corrupt cities some day. Caught when breaking a signal? Slip of a 100 to that mamu. Drunk-driving and fear being asked to perform a field sobriety test? Escape after you give that pandu some kharcha-paani. Ever get caught riding without a helmet, or do not have the seat belt on, decide to cut lanes, or almost run over somebody. Money does the trick there too!
Mumbai may be the city of dreams, and may very well welcome all those who have the grit to cling onto the life it has to offer. But let that grit take a dip, and we promise the city will be all of pitiless, unsparing, spiteful and callous.