Mumbai - The Pride of India

There was this book by Rohinton Mistry called 'A Fine Balance' which I read a few months ago. The book is set in Bombay and talks about the life of 2 tailors in Mumbai and their struggles to live in the 'jhopatpattis' (probably didnt spell it right). Their struggles to maintain their space on the footpath etc. In parts, the book was quite good. However this post is not about that.

So recently, I saw this feature on NDTV about the slumlords in Mumbai. This is something that has been spoken and woven into the plot very well in the book. I actually could relate this to the book better. Kudos to NDTV for featuring this really old story that everyone conveniently ignores - that of the worlds largest slum.

All Mumbaiite friends of mine keep extolling the virtues of the city (to which I have never been). By coincidence, I have been reading quite a number of things about Mumbai, the latest being 'Maximum City' where there is a detailed description about the 'dhanda'- the dance bars and the underworld and about the usage of the notorius 'Rent Control Act'. I do not know if it was the nature of the readings but frankly I get the impression, you go live in Mumbai to struggle and then feel elated about your victory over a miserable life. Arent all these about the blatant breakdown of normal social order? I am becoming more and more convinced that Bangalore is just getting unfair press. Having said that, I would like to live in Mumbai someday to see if what the people say is true.

Probably will get a few brickbats from the people I know in Mumbai. So to appease them, here is a post on how well planned Navi Mumbai is. It's good to know that we have a Chandigarh and Navi Mumbai to talk of as 'planned cities' even in this chaotic great nation.

Finally this post is not about Mumbai being bad or Bangalore being better but wanted to end with a few questions. What makes an effective city administration? How do we in India live comfortably in the midst of blatant violation of human rights? Have we just become too immune to all this? Is the burden of thinking about 1 billion people just too much?