Windjammer
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I often wonder why I live in Mumbai.
The city is dirty, smelly, congested. We have a bureaucracy that hinders the simplest of tasks, such as getting a PAN card, but makes others that should be challenging, like getting a pilots license, dangerously easy. If you have kids, then you probably worry about their exposure to disease, getting them into school, and their future prospects in a city, which though touted as a modern megalopolis, barely survives from one monsoon to the next without needing serious refurbishment.
All these factors explain why, when it comes to livability indexes, Mumbai sits near the bottom (often our sole consolation is that cities in Pakistan are worse off than us.)( Obsession Pakistan)
A recent episode of Oprah Winfreys show looked at how people across the world live, and revealed that though world economies are crumbling, the good folks of Dubai, Istanbul, Tokyo and Copenhagen still live exceedingly well. In Copenhagen for instance, women get one year maternity leave, people are encouraged to leave work by 4pm, healthcare is free and readily accessible, and kitchen floors are quite literally clean enough to eat off of. Unsurprisingly, Danes are also the happiest people on earth.
Visa issues not withstanding, why would so many people voluntarily choose to move to Mumbai and remain here? There are obvious explanations like the ready-made personal and professional networks for Indians who return, and vast opportunities and the jobs that come with them for people fleeing meltdowns in America and Europe. But Singapore and Beijing offer those benefits too, and the added bonus of cleanliness and efficient infrastructure.
A friend, a long-time defender of Mumbai, but who of late has become less assured of that role, explained: Its like being addicted to crack, youre constantly in a crazed state, hopped up, and when you crash you need another hit. Im not quite sure he meant this as a bad thing, but a poll of arrivals, both old and new, threw up some unusual justifications. While were not likely to break into Monocles index of the worlds most livable cities anytime soon, there seem to be enough reasons to create our own metrics for judging Mumbais quality of life:
Uncomfortable Living:
If youre currently living in Mumbai, then youll know that being in a perpetual state of discomfort is the Mumbai way. And this is not necessarily a bad thing. This feeling some liken it to sitting in damp clothes on a leather couch has less to do with the weather and more to do with the citys single most identifiable characteristic: poverty. Walk down a road, out of a restaurant or into a shop, and you will see the millions of Indians who struggle a great deal more than you. It may begin at home with your maid, or your driver but it doesnt end there your building jamadar, the fruit seller, the mochi, your office peon who gets you chai, the shop clerk, the waiter who serves you wine, the gas-wallah who comes to your apartment, the dozens of people who make your life that much more convenient are also living barometers that in comparison, life is always better.
Helping Others:
At last count India had the largest number of NGOs in the world, of one for about 400 people. Many of those are in Mumbai, where it doesnt take much to make a difference. Sponsor a childs meals, donate paper (a surprisingly big cost for some NGOs), play bridge with a lonely senior citizen. Here, it takes almost nothing to do good and by extension feel good.
Feeling Connected:
Monocle likes to measure this by how well a city is connected to the outside world. In Mumbai and India at large, being connected has more to do with a spiritual, metaphorical feeling that somehow were all cue cheesy soundtrack one. While I cant tell you what it is about Mumbai that promulgates this feeling more than say, Los Angeles, many people I spoke to mentioned feeling like they were part of something bigger, of being connected either with a larger purpose or more literally, with a larger group of people. One expat banker from London, who moved to the city a year-and-a-half ago, said people seemed to feel things more here. She used the citys revived outdoor bandstand concerts as an example. In London, the musicians are probably better, but here its like its coming from their souls, she said. It seems to mean so much more to them.
Inspiration:
For many reasons, not least the littered mise-en-scene afforded by Mumbais finest slums, Slumdog Millionaire could only have been made here. Director Danny Boyle has spoken at length about how inspired he was by the citys frenetic energy and he isnt the only one. There are millions of stories waiting to be told, and generally plundered for inspiration for songs, movies, books and paintings; weve uncovered but a fraction of them. A documentary filmmaker I know, who has lived in Dubai and Mumbai and recently shifted to Vancouver, said he was more inspired by the grittiness and ***** of Mumbai than by the natural splendor and security of whats been called one of the most livable cities in the world. Clean air, it turns out, does not make for riveting stories.
Mumbai Journal: This Citys Not So Unlivable - India Real Time - WSJ
The city is dirty, smelly, congested. We have a bureaucracy that hinders the simplest of tasks, such as getting a PAN card, but makes others that should be challenging, like getting a pilots license, dangerously easy. If you have kids, then you probably worry about their exposure to disease, getting them into school, and their future prospects in a city, which though touted as a modern megalopolis, barely survives from one monsoon to the next without needing serious refurbishment.
All these factors explain why, when it comes to livability indexes, Mumbai sits near the bottom (often our sole consolation is that cities in Pakistan are worse off than us.)( Obsession Pakistan)
A recent episode of Oprah Winfreys show looked at how people across the world live, and revealed that though world economies are crumbling, the good folks of Dubai, Istanbul, Tokyo and Copenhagen still live exceedingly well. In Copenhagen for instance, women get one year maternity leave, people are encouraged to leave work by 4pm, healthcare is free and readily accessible, and kitchen floors are quite literally clean enough to eat off of. Unsurprisingly, Danes are also the happiest people on earth.Visa issues not withstanding, why would so many people voluntarily choose to move to Mumbai and remain here? There are obvious explanations like the ready-made personal and professional networks for Indians who return, and vast opportunities and the jobs that come with them for people fleeing meltdowns in America and Europe. But Singapore and Beijing offer those benefits too, and the added bonus of cleanliness and efficient infrastructure.
A friend, a long-time defender of Mumbai, but who of late has become less assured of that role, explained: Its like being addicted to crack, youre constantly in a crazed state, hopped up, and when you crash you need another hit. Im not quite sure he meant this as a bad thing, but a poll of arrivals, both old and new, threw up some unusual justifications. While were not likely to break into Monocles index of the worlds most livable cities anytime soon, there seem to be enough reasons to create our own metrics for judging Mumbais quality of life:
Uncomfortable Living:
If youre currently living in Mumbai, then youll know that being in a perpetual state of discomfort is the Mumbai way. And this is not necessarily a bad thing. This feeling some liken it to sitting in damp clothes on a leather couch has less to do with the weather and more to do with the citys single most identifiable characteristic: poverty. Walk down a road, out of a restaurant or into a shop, and you will see the millions of Indians who struggle a great deal more than you. It may begin at home with your maid, or your driver but it doesnt end there your building jamadar, the fruit seller, the mochi, your office peon who gets you chai, the shop clerk, the waiter who serves you wine, the gas-wallah who comes to your apartment, the dozens of people who make your life that much more convenient are also living barometers that in comparison, life is always better.
Helping Others:
At last count India had the largest number of NGOs in the world, of one for about 400 people. Many of those are in Mumbai, where it doesnt take much to make a difference. Sponsor a childs meals, donate paper (a surprisingly big cost for some NGOs), play bridge with a lonely senior citizen. Here, it takes almost nothing to do good and by extension feel good.
Feeling Connected:
Monocle likes to measure this by how well a city is connected to the outside world. In Mumbai and India at large, being connected has more to do with a spiritual, metaphorical feeling that somehow were all cue cheesy soundtrack one. While I cant tell you what it is about Mumbai that promulgates this feeling more than say, Los Angeles, many people I spoke to mentioned feeling like they were part of something bigger, of being connected either with a larger purpose or more literally, with a larger group of people. One expat banker from London, who moved to the city a year-and-a-half ago, said people seemed to feel things more here. She used the citys revived outdoor bandstand concerts as an example. In London, the musicians are probably better, but here its like its coming from their souls, she said. It seems to mean so much more to them.
Inspiration:
For many reasons, not least the littered mise-en-scene afforded by Mumbais finest slums, Slumdog Millionaire could only have been made here. Director Danny Boyle has spoken at length about how inspired he was by the citys frenetic energy and he isnt the only one. There are millions of stories waiting to be told, and generally plundered for inspiration for songs, movies, books and paintings; weve uncovered but a fraction of them. A documentary filmmaker I know, who has lived in Dubai and Mumbai and recently shifted to Vancouver, said he was more inspired by the grittiness and ***** of Mumbai than by the natural splendor and security of whats been called one of the most livable cities in the world. Clean air, it turns out, does not make for riveting stories.
Mumbai Journal: This Citys Not So Unlivable - India Real Time - WSJ
