Salaam Mumbai
Mumbai (मुम़बई) [ mŭm´bī' ] n. Resilience. The ability to recover quickly in the face of an adversity. Also, the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the most populous Indian city. Mumbai is located on an island off the west coast of India. With an estimated metropolitan population in 2005 of 17 million, it is the third largest metropolitan area in the world.
Even the highest rainfall ever recorded in a day in India could not keep the irrepressible Mumbai spirit down. I know it’s a terribly overused cliché to harp on about the resilient Mumbai spirit, but then like it or not, the spirit is a reality!
Oh yes, the infrastructure collapsed and stayed collapsed! Services that should’ve swung into action either did not do so at all or were woefully late in acting… either due to the lack of planning or the lack of mobility. Despite BMC’s assurances that no water-logging would take place this year, almost the entire suburban expanse was under water. Local trains and BEST buses were non-functional. Electricity had been deliberately cut off at places to avoid fires due to short-circuiting. Phone landlines were erratic… as were the cell-phone networks. Flights in and out of Mumbai had been cancelled. So in a way, Mumbai was crippled… no doubt about that!
But the engine and the spirit that keeps Mumbai humming is not in its infrastructure or the administration or not even in the development plans. The spirit that moves Mumbai is in its people. And however corny it may sound, it is the truth - a truth that was readily apparent on the ground over the last two days. Stories of courage and kindness were seen in action over the last couple of days. Sheer optimism and a tremendous belief in themselves are two of the most abundant qualities of Mumbaikars and they shone through once again. Whether it was helping people cross flooded streets or directing traffic out of harm’s way or distributing water and biscuits to people trudging along the railway tracks or keeping a watch on water levels that threatened partially submerged vehicles with passengers inside. Adversity had made heroes out of ordinary folks… like it always happens in Mumbai.
The cynics that the news channels are, all they could concentrate on was the failure of the administrative machinery. The worst of the lot was ‘Star News’. It was constantly beaming stale pictures of water logged roads and announcing the crashing of Mumbai’s ‘Shanghai’ dreams. All it concentrated was the question, “Why?!” rather than asking themselves “How” they could help make an actual difference on the street level. The SMS services offered by these news channels are a mere farce! With electricity and cell-phone networks down or erratic, tickers scrolling at the bottom of the TV screens are the last thing people stuck on the roads are going to refer to! These are merely ways to generate revenue since each SMS is charged at a premium rate rather than the usual Re.1 charge. At the same time, the FM channels served us well by disseminating essential and latest information (area-wise flood warnings, traffic situations, SOS calls from listeners, etc.) on a continuous basis. A tip of the hat to the FM channels and rotten eggs on the faces of the news channels!
This city moves on the heartbeats of its fearless denizens. Trains and buses may move bodies… but its the soul of the ordinary Mumbaikar that keeps this megapolis ticking!
Makes me proud to claim that, Mee Mumbaikar!!
7 comments
Hi Sameer,
Fantastic article.. I couldl feel each and every word of it.. Absolutely Salaam Mumbai.. Thats the city to be man.. Its the confidence a Mumbaikar has that come what may our city is going to stand up erect sooner.. We have witnessed everything from riots to bombings to floods now and yet the backbone of Mumbai, its people has never been broken.. 3 Cheers for aapli Mumbai hip hip hooray !!!
A proud Mumbaikar currently in Tokyo and missing Mumbai badly…
True, Any other city, and things would have taken eons to recover. :)
mee pun mumbaikar:)
what an amazing city. a friend of mine left Parel to reach Andheri west. She is a Delhiite who told me - if this had happened in Delhi women would have been molested. But all along the way people were helping each other. In bandra - people were serving clean water and food to those who were trying to make their way home.
I was watching NDTV last night and this journalist who said - we have spent hte last 28 hours here, as though she was dying. I really wanted to laugh. Most mumbaikars go through this atleast once in two years!
i really don’t know anyone who watched too much TV. around 70% of mumbai barely had electricity. most cable guys were down. It was FM all the way as far as media was concerned.
What an amazing city. and what amazing people.
absolutely….mumbai has proved its spirit and much more
hi sameer…great work there. i completely agree with u regarding th news coverage on tv…it was completely dissociated in time and th latest situation was always unknown…..it was just a case of bashing th authoirites but no real help was provided…..th FM channelswere a real help with traffic updates which were more tuned with reality. th most imp thing is that the unbeatable spirit of the city lives on…..
star news was horrible … they feature report .. on what should have been done earlier .. rather then what can be done now… etc was it desperation to catch on the event or what ?
the tickers scrolling in between the sms from people suddenly thing like ” free bsnl gprs send blah blah… its sad.. I know news channel is like business but at least during such drastic situation they could have been little considerate
I seek your kind advise
Hi:
I am a Victim of Systematic De-Faming and Heavy Stalking by a Muslim Girl who is in the Modeling Profession. Her name is Sanya Shiekh and is goes by the name Sanea. She stays in Lokandwala in Andheri. She is well connected with M TV (world-wide), Radio Show Hosts and all Leading Advertising Agencies and are involved in, rather are the Master-Minds behind all this – pranksters ! I am Dealing with a wanna-be Page 3 Type of a Person who is Well Connected with Media etc.
They derive Concepts from the occurrences in My Life and also at Times Deliberately Create Circumstances for Me and this is Affecting & Influencing My Personal Life and are deriving Sick Pleasure outta all this…
I have all records i.e.
- Numbers that have been used to Call Me
- Numbers of the Vehicles that Her Friends and others used to Stalk Me
She knows where I stay and has all our Phone numbers. She has contacted People from My Area who have over a period of time has got close to My Father and has used all information against Me just for a Dirty Message…
She gets assistance from People from My Building. There is someone at the Ground Floor, Nagarkar who gives detailed information like:
- the Time I get out of My House
- the Color of My Shirt / Clothes
- If I have Shaved or not…
- My Office Timings etc.
This Person uses His Driver to get back at Me and sometimes This Muslim Girl asks Him to have Me Provoked…
She has got My Email Accounts Hacked and is Monitoring all incoming & out-going Messages. They have Wireless Access to My Data on the Computer and Scan if I am sending any Info against Her…
They Listen to Cell-Phone Conversations and send People to Stalk Me based on the Nature of the Meeting with My Friends and then use that for Concepts. I AM A VICTIM OF STALKING !!!
They are Following Me around and My (Female) Friends/Companions and Sharing our details with Anyone & Everyone who is willing to Stalk us just to derive concepts outta all this and make Programs etc. – all this just for Fun ! They have placed Persons at Strategic Locations at My regular Friends Residences and had us followed everywhere. They Track us through the Cell Phone.
I also have an Email Message directly from Her that Reads “Don’t Compel Me to Hurt You”
I didn’t Lodge a Complaint yet because of My Grand Mother’s Severe Heart Condition. Please understand that My Father is a Chronic Asthmatic and My Mother has recently undergone a Thyroid Surgery and most importantly they had met with an Car Accident whilst returning from a Holy Place and are not in a position to take any Stress. I seek your consent and advice on this Serious matter as me and My Friends are being Stalked and our Phone Conversations being listened to…
Abhijeet Uttarkar
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