February 19, 2004

So much BS

I've had it upto here with people over here who've been so offended and disturbed at the suggestion that Mumbai and Delhi are one of the worst places in the worlds for expats to live in, apparently these 2 cities have been voted below some deep dark african cities.

I'm happy someone out there came and burst the bubble, wake up and smell the crap oh people of urban India. I'd have understood it if people took objection to a mention that Mumbai and Delhi are possibly the dirtiest and hardest to live in cities in the world (I think we'd easily figure on that list), for the people of India, but this was about "Expats" people who do not belong here but care enough to live and work here. Surely, anyone can see the obvious troubles they face here.

Here's a reality check :

* Mumbai is an urban mess. It is a symbol of everything that can go wrong within a city. It is a City planners nightmare.

*12 million people crammed into a space where ideally 3-4 million should be, probably the worst population density of all cities in the world.

*Almost 3/4th of those 12 million live on the streets, without proper access to water or sanitation, as a result the entire city is their toilet. Mumbai easily has the highest number of people who crap on the street of all the cities in the world.

*Dharavi is the largest slum in the world. This is nothing to be proud of.

*Health services are in a pretty poor state, we have something like 1 Doctor for 5000 people and very, very, few hospital beds, god forbid we ever have to face a large scale disaster like an earthquake.

*We have NO disaster management plan. The firebrigade is understaffed, undertrained and has equipment you will feel sorry for. Ambulances in this city are a joke. We have no concept of a paremedic.

*This is a very hard city to get around on your own. It's bad enough for those of us who live here, "expats" and tourists must have a bitching hell of a time. There are no uniform signboards and the only way to go about is by asking people directions on the street.

*Not the easiest city to travel in. The trains are demeaning and a downright threat to your life. Chances are if you're injured or hit by a train and bleeding on the platform, a million people will walk over you and not offer you any help. Nowhere in the world do people have to subject themselves to such unimaginable torture to get from one place to another.

*There is not enough open space in this city. Any "liveable" city in the world has a respectable number of public parks and places where people can sit back and enjoy open space.

Well, I could go on and on for days doing this. I, for one, am not in denial about the problems we have in this city and I would never dare compare it to New York, Boston and the like, I wouldn't compare it to Dubai or Singapore. Truth is, we're just kidding ourselves when we try to compare ourselves to big cities around the world, stand up to them and then feel good about our own city.

Mumbai will forever remain the Mumbai it always has been. It's not stopping us from producing great writers and the editor of newsweek and a zillion other great people. It's the success of these people and the role this city has played in their success that we should really be revelling in.


Posted by me on Thursday, February 19, 2004

February 14, 2004

Can't you just feel the love?

Valentine's day in Mumbai. This city is so starved of love, empathy, affection and all those wonderful stuff it's sickening. People seem to be very edgy these days, major fights breaking out over simple things, people being thrown off local trains and what not. People are indifferent these days to most matters and downright cruel, acts of sympathy and kindness are the exception and not the rule. A good heart these days is hard to find in Mumbai, and I'm guessing across the rest of the country as well.

Valentine's days is exactly the kind of day we shouldn't be celebrating. It's a sham, a farce, a ploy by lotsa companies out there to make YOU go out there and spend your money to celebrate an occasion that does not exist. Somewhere down the road we've lost the meaning of Valentine's day and now it's just a day for teens in heat to give wilted roses to their object of (perceived) affection. Sadly, for us in Mumbai, thats the kind of interpretation the Shiv Sena believes too.

Now, as much as I'm anti-valentine's, I find it impossible to imagine how the Shiv Sena is getting so bugged by the whole Valentine's day affair. Not enough love in the party? Many people will go out there and have a good time today and there are some people who're bent on spoiling the day for others.

I think I've done my bit for the occasion though, I've written a long letter, from the bottom of my heart to two people who I've admired and loved for long and I've let them know that. I feel mighty good about that, I just might start writing off letters every year during this time to my friends! What I won't be doing is buying the cards or the chocolates and teddy bears neither will I accept those as gifts. I'd buy chocolates and teddy bears and gift it to a child somewhere out there on Mumbai's streets who'd enjoy it way more than anyone else, not just during V-Day but throughout the year.

Birthday Coming up
My 23rd Birthday is coming up on the 17th. This is going to be my 1st ever birthday without my brother around. Guess there's a first time for everything. It'll be interesting to see how many of my friends actually remember my birthday, I suspect a lot lesser than last year because a few of my friends have left the country and somehow when that happens you lose all sense of occasion!


Posted by me on Saturday, February 14, 2004

February 06, 2004

Why do you build me up?

Woke up this morning to catch the VB series final today. India is doing awful. I'm glad they'bve prformed this badly and I hope we lose the finals cos we've been bult up to believe the teams fortunes have something to do with a "Feel good factor" in the country right now. Yeah right. What the teams performance today has show in that we're still a bunch of crappy losers, Sachin Tendulkar will never perform in a big match, we're nowhere as good as the aussie and people who talk about our team being as good as the aussies, well I hope they have their foot stuck firmly in their mouth!

Happy News!!

My brother called up the day before to let us know that he landed his "Dream Job" in England. It's the kind of work we've talked about many times in India but thought you'd have to be extremely fortunate to get a position like that, maybe Bobby is extremely fortunate. He gets to work with the IT as well as the marketing team in a large insurance company and to top it all of, the salary is way beyond his and our expectations! At times when we've been starved of good news, this has really bought a smile on everyone's faces!

Sadly though, now my brother'll have to leave the family he was staying with. They've been very good to him, they've been good for us in the sense that they've been an immense comfort for my mother who was very worried initially but calmed down after she found out how well he was being taken care of. You feel very humble when you realise how famous and celebrated this family is, we feel very lucky to know them and appreciate every little thing they've done for us. I'm going to call them up and let them know a big THANK YOU and how much they mean to us very soon.


Posted by me on Friday, February 06, 2004