The city of dreams - Bombay - where people come from all over to make a living and achieve success . India's commercial capital where all industries thrive -Bollywood , television,retail, commerce, small trades and multinational companies,academia , tourism ,the list is endless. The wild crazy city full of warm chaos ,over twenty million people , unbelievably skyrocketing cost of living and a sense of functioning that is unique to anywhere in the world .
I grew up in the massive suburb of Andheri which I am told is the size of Zurich - only bigger . Navigating amongst the hundreds of lanes , roads , unsystematic railway station platforms and finding your way despite the hundreds of names of streets and junctions in such a bustling megacity gives you a sense of sharp road skills and makes you streetsmarter than your rural counterparts who grew up in villages or smaller towns with limited geographical surface area . Why is it then that this wonderful monster city has consistently received nothing but stepmotherly treatment in terms of infrastructure and facilities from our politicians despite Bombayites paying the highest taxes in the entire country?
All my suburban friends and people I grew up with have always had a lifelong love,devotion and gratitude to this metro city that gives us our livelihood and education . Then something really nasty and unexpected started to happen : it was during my final year in high school ; the infamous Ayodhya-Babri mosque issue led to an aftermath of horrendous riots in Bombay which left absolutely everybody cringing in fear and fatal casualities beyond imagination.Then after a few months, during our final Board exams in the last year of high school before we went to college - we had given exams for half of our subjects and we heard that there were serial bomb blasts in our own city .The stock exchange,the five star hotels,the airport - a total of 13 vital crowded locations struck in broad daylight .People had no choice but to pick up the pieces in their lives and carry on with their life .
We Bombayites are so ambitious ,hardworking and busy with the routine in our hectic life that time tends to heal some wounds .Public memory is short ,there is always some or the other natural disaster in India like cyclones and floods, maybe that's why we are strong when we hear of deadly attacks on human life .There was the odd transport strike now and then which did little to stop the workaholic overprofessional Mumbaikar from reaching his workplace.
After a few years when I was teaching in a private school in Powai which is the eastern zone of Bombay , there were serial bombs exploding in the BEST buses in areas where my co-workers lived like Mulund and Ghatkopar in 2003.The leafy peaceful suburb of Vile Parle where I studied and went shopping to the massive market of 'Bhaji Galli' ( Vegetables street) was affected too ,close to the railway station that me and my friends always frequented. Saddening was an understatement for this unfortunate incident. There were'nt as many casualities from this episode because the worse was yet to follow.
On 25th August 2003, two taxis loaded with explosives blew up within minutes of each other at the Gateway of India - close to the Taj, and at a busy shopping complex.The attacks were one of the worst in the history of bombings .
In July 2006 on a weekday peak evening rush hour, a friend called me to ask if I was ok because she saw on the tv that serial bombs have exploded in several local trains which is the lifeline of Bombay . It was horrifying to watch live coverage of the newschannel reporters who were trying to interview survivors and the deadly chaos that followed . As if it was not enough that just the previous year , for the first time , there were unexpected floods in Mumbai in the monsoon of July 2005 . And the devastating Tsunami in the winter of december 2004 a year before that . My girlfriends who had already migrated to the west a few years ago could not stop contacting their family and friends worried which scary disaster would strike India next - natural or man-made .
For some reason the government cut off all mobile network coverage so communication was impossible because almost everyone is accessible only via his/her mobile phone.Over a 150 people killed,numerous others crippled for life and countless others witnessed grotesque scenes of blood and gore on the railway tracks while all they were doing was returning home to the suburbs after working/studying in the town.
Security was beefed up everywhere post the attacks - bags scanned at every public place -shopping malls,cinema halls,airports etc.Too late Mister Defence minister. Some sinister people were already hatching the ultimate terrorist attack plot to stab the nation not behind the back , but right in your face . And that happened three years later when a three day terror attack by ten men left the megapolis,the country and the rest of the world horrified,hurt , dead, injured and scared for life .
No more needs to be said about the tragic event that happened in November 2008 . The very fact that only ten armed men managed to continue attacking the major public places of Bombay over a three day period goes to show how poor,unfair and disorganised our indian disaster management system is . The bottomline was that despite the previous numerous bomb blasts and terror attacks on Bombay,the city did not have a NSG(National security guard force - a mini-army specifically deployed for emergency public protection ) and by the time NSG arrived ( planes not available , buses were stuck in traffic) , the damage was already done . No amount of public protests, peace marches or petitions could bring back the horror embedded in the minds of victims,onlookers and everyone else who could relate to this large scale hellish event .
The next year in 2009 , when the swine flu epidemic struck, the government decided to shut down schools,colleges,universities,cinema halls and major public places for three days. Absolutely everyone seems to be walking on a tightrope since the past few years - not know what nasty surprise could strike next . I hope and pray like millions of others - NONE . We've already had enough . Poor Mumbai claims it has not lost its spirit but its taken too much already and there is a limit of tolerance . I feel worse because my friends and family claim that work and family keep their mind off the violent attacks that happened in the past , but deep down inside, despite our robotic machine-like lifestyles, we can never forget , nor forgive .
Bombay has the worst roads in India,leading to the worst nightmarish traffic and pollution whereas New Delhi is on CNG with wide smooth roads , like other cities in India .For some reason, Bombay seems to have lost its glorious charm like Calcutta . We have always been proud of our city no matter how tiny our flats are and no matter how much we are looked down upon by our rural relatives who remind us that they enjoy a better lifestyle with bigger houses , gardens and less stress in the smaller towns .
The government is now building a sky metro which will take donkey's years to complete. Give it another decade and Mumbai will be even more flourishing ,more prosperous and less stressful for commuting about . Its like the universal fact of life that its always the innocent, nice , good hearted people who get nasty unexpected things in life , in this case its the hardworking ,cheerful Bombayites who want nothing more than earning enough to look after their family and owning a flat . Let's hope peace prevails not only in Bombay , but also everywhere else in the world .
