ONE WHO CAN LIVE IN MUMBAI CAN SURVIVE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
A friend of mine, who lives in California, wrote this, today, on her Timeline:
“Truly, one who can live in Mumbai can survive anywhere in
the world!”
I couldn’t agree
more with my friend.
We Mumbaikars,
would like to believe, that, in India, Mumbai is the only city which is not
only cosmopolitan in true sense, it is also a city that embraces all – regardless
of one’s class, creed, caste and colour. People from Antilias along the affluent,
glittering skylines to shanties alongside the gushing, stinking nalas… High
priests to untouchables – yes, all can co-exist here. There are our Muncipal
schools with their leaking roofs and broken furniture… and, alongside, there
are the luxurious schools with even air-conditioned toilets! The Seven-star
food to Street-side food, glamorous movie-stars and models to urchins in rags…
yes, Mumbai is everyone’s city… It can erupt, at times, like a volcano. But, it
can also forgive, forget and move on with the speed of a Jaguar… Here, strangers
on the streets can be too impatient and acidic to their fellow-citizens, at
times… but, they can be also too gentle and accommodating even more often… Particularly,
when calamities – natural or man-caused – strike…
Yesterday, the Rain
God came down heavily on Mumbaikars. When we had left our homes, last morning, most
of us had no clue about the kind of nightmare which was in store of us. Nobody expected 2005 episode to return and paralyze
our life, yesterday…
But, it did!
When our city went
under water outside, yesterday, my wife was at home… I was at my classes… and
our son was at his office in Andheri. My son could not leave his office as the
ground floor of their office building was flooded. He and his colleagues spent
the night in their office. I decided to wade through the water to reach home in
the evening. It was truly scary…It was heartening, and humbling, too… Scores of
young men had lined up holding the ropes so that people like us could safely
wade through. Hundreds of vehicles - buses, trucks, tempos, cars, taxies,
autos, two-wheelers, even ambulances – were found stuck in the deluge…
Shop-keepers were visibly anxious as water had already entered their shops… There
were many good smaritans offering people snacks and water…
This kind of
brotherhood and forbearance one gets to experience only in times of calamities
and crisis. Floods, earthquakes, riots, bomb-blasts etc are Life’s great
equalizers… Last night, when several people left their expensive cars on the
roads and came home, something inside them gave them that deep trust: everthing
would be safe!
It was!
When all is well,
none of us would dare to put our feet in the dirty water even by mistake. But,
yesterday, we all waded through the dirty water – you know it was gushing out
from those horrible nalas – and, none of us had either the choice or the
courage to reject it….
Belive me, that
trust and faith protects us, keeps us safe, always!
We need calamities
and crisis to keep us together and grounded!
So, my friend from
California was right. Mumbai is our quintessential Maximum City. If one can live
here, he can survive anywhere in the world!
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pics.: Internet
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