I
was recently on a trip to Bombay along with couple of my friends to attend Mood
Indigo, the cultural fest of IIT- Bombay. I'd never been to the city before.
Technically speaking I had, but only as a touchdown to switch flights. So that
doesn't count. First impressions ,as the saying, goes is always the best
impression. My maiden trip to Mumbai was rather good.
We took a train from Chennai, Dadar Express. Since it was
December, we figured the weather would be fine for a full day train journey.
The early morning chill at Bombay was biting. Touching down at Chattrapathi
Shivaji Terminus, we switched to a local train headed to our place of stay at
Goregaon.
My knowledge of Bombay city was limited, that too gathered from
readings of Suketu Mehta's immensely readable profile of the city – Maximum
City. It is one of the best books I've read. Mehta returns after many years to
the city of his birth only to find it to be no more the Bombay it used to be.
It was Mumbai now. I digress, but do read the book.
So,
essentially I'd no idea about the city. My friend had been there before, so
took up the lead to guide us home, so to say. It was 6 o'clock or so in the
morning, yet the crowd in the ticket counter was overwhelming. There were just
2 or 3 counters to service the commuters. I'd estimate around 100 people
standing there at that time, and many more were flooding in. Logic would dictate the opening of few more
counters for fast process, considering India's population and Bombay's
metropolis status. It is as if the authorities have lost all interest.
Contrastingly, the trains were good. They were clean. The best part was there
was a small LED screen that scrolled the approaching station's name in three
languages; also a pre-recorded voice repeated the upcoming stations loud and
clear in Marathi, Hindi and English in that order. Nice touch that. Saves a lot
of trouble, for new comers to the city. Mehta discusses the menace of open air
defecation in the city, especially by the railway tracks. The city has a
serious sanitation problem. He's right. I got to see that. I was using the Maps
feature in my friend's phone to get acquainted with the city's topography. GPS
helped me trace my path in the map, as I travelled from one station to the
next. I marvel at such technology. Amazing.
Touching down at Goregaon, I was amazed to see the city up and
functioning full throttle even at that early hours in the morning. Children
were going to school, smartly dressed men to catch the train for their offices,
shops busy with business. Yet, I found a common denominator among this vast
crowd. The omnipresent cell phone. Everyone had it. From the small school kid
to the senior citizen. Some spoke, some listened to music, some just had it in
their hands. Was surprised to find how pervasive it has become. Cellphones ,
next to the television and internet are probably the greatest technology in our
times, in my eyes, for their sheer pervasiveness.
From
Goregaon station we'd to take a bus to reach our place of stay. We had
ascertained which bus and which stop to get down, over phone. But to our horror
we saw all bus boards written in Marathi. Even the bus numbers were in the
Devnagri Script. Not that we did not know to read Hindi, but it was difficult to
decipher quickly. By the time we figured it, bus left. I can't understand why
English directions can't be given along with the one in Marathi. Chennai buses
have clear markings in both Tamil and English. Why not here? So much for
ethno-geographic chauvinism. For a city
proclaimed as India's economic capital this is a massive oversight. How could
outsiders who come to the city manage? Or, like the Shiv Sena the Bombay
Authorities don't want outsiders in their city too, and this was a subtle way
of telling it?
... to be continued
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