MUMBAI-A CITY VICTIM OF IT'S OWN SUCCESS..

"MUMBAI", a lot has been written & heard about this place & am no new to write on it,but for me writing this today here has a deeper meaning than what's been written about it till date.40 decades ago,this place then called "bombay" but just a land of fisheries was colonised by the britishers & i should say,it all began from there.When Americans went in for their independence from the britishers & the cotton trouble there began,it was "bombay" that became a "cotton trade king", when history built it's suez canal,it was "bombay" that became a "sea king" for exporters & importers, and that's how the money began flowing in this city.40 decades later this place is "India's economic center" with almost everything that's termed essential for an economic center of any country.With a population of around 13 million that is an approx population of Greece,this city would swell over 20 million by 2014,turning the most populated city in the world.When you talk about mumbai,how can you ignore "bollywood",that being the second most attractive reason that people come here.But for me,I have spent 20 years out of my 23 years of existence in this place & i proudly term myself "a true mumbaikar". I am certainly in love with the cosmopolitan society this place has, or the spirit of life that often outsiders claim to witness here,or the "queen's necklace" marine drive when the sunsets or for that matter even "the dabawallas" even acknowledged by The Forbes magazine with "the six sigma" the best rating of management.where else in this over-populated country you come across women so free, mumbai local trains are one of the best running system in the world & the only one to have trains running especially for women called "ladies special" ( that i love to travel in proudly ) & even Asia's first woman rail driver - Ms.Sunita Yadav.I am indeed in love with the beaches,the way people value time here and also with the not-to-forget monsoons-the mumbai rains:). From the warmth this city offers to the lovely rainy breeze & mild winter chills am in love with all that the list of which won't end and this city has to offer for my memory book in my mind.Every corner here & every mumbaikar you come across will get you a new story unread before.From Mc'Burger to vada pav,pav bhaji,pani puri,from sea link to vihar lake,from dadar market to shoppers stop one sees all to fit in the economic cadre one can.It's all beautiful but the coin has another side even,beauty has it's own cost,& this very place am in love with is also i feel a city victim of it's own success.A success that has either been taken for granted or misunderstood.
At times there are certain things in life that just happen & you can't avoid their presence but compromise.We mumbaikars compromise everyday,at times for the trains running late, at times for the over crowded ones, at times for working hours,or the monsoon water blocking our ways or at times for no social lives at all,but we compromise and move on.It's not a choice it's may be an enforcement.It's a vicious circle of the blame game that i don't see has an end easily.The reason am here after so many days writing this blog is 3 painful events that i witnessed last evening.Like any other mumbaikar,i too often travel & like many i too am short of options but to travel in mostly over crowded local trains that has a capacity of 7500 passengers at once but actually carries thrice of that number,excluding the self claimed heroes that travel on board of the trains,which itself clarifies the state it is when you travel in that.Nobody wants to but everybody has to.In any other place travelling 120 km a day could mean reaching an all new city but here that would surely mean you are well "roaming" in mumbai itself.My story of travelling in rush hours of locals could have sounded similar to any mumbaikar if you have heard alike one,but thanks to my profession i generally travel in non-rush hours,lucky in that sense,but am not new to the experience of travelling in rush hours though,Yesterday was a rare day of my week where i was to travel between 7 pm - 8.30 pm from Borivali to Mira Road.Well Borivali to Mira Road practically takes a maximum of 9 minutes by local trains but you would be paused to know it took me 90 minutes for the reason i chose to wait for a train i could manage to atleast stand inside in & not hang on it's doors.I waited from 7 pm to 8.30 to finally find a train i decided to enter into & these 90 minutes made me see something people either avoid or have no options but ignore.Many of you who have either been on stations or trains in these rush hours in mumbai must have uptill now guessed what i witnessed , it is a common scenario & not even new to me but it still manages to send shiver through my spine.
I witnessed 3 people dieing right before my eyes,their bodies crashed either wholly or partially.As simple it is to disregard the value of life in these english words in reality facing that isn't that simple.Previously even i have witnessed many such cases of rail crash in my life here,but yesterday i felt the cases were a little different.All the three-2 men , 1st between age group 16-20,2nd in his late 40's & the 3rd a woman possibly in her late 30's i felt invited their death.All were in rush,were in haste,chose the short cut & were may b forced to.I do understand,this place values time better than any other & that at times makes people take decisions which may cost them heavier than their imagination,but what i don't understand is what would anything fetch you if your not alive to even live it.There are times when things are genuinely urgent & at those moments behaving like those 3 did sounds justified but what remains a question is "who decides what's urgent?",it indeed has relative answer.
I really cannot judge if the reason behind the action of those 3 was a genuine urgency,or someone dashed them in their circumstance,but i certainly know one thing,what ever they were chasing would remain unchased forever.
Over 3500 people die each year in mumbai local train records & that's approx 1 every 10 days,somehow the human value has fallen in valuing the time & the task here.Our railway authorities no matter how much we blame them have did atleast a bit for us,let that be just ringing horns when the trains arrive or penalizing for crossing the rail tracks.At times it's we who choose to ignore certain facts & rules & may be run off safe & successful for decades but not valuing that even one failure can cost us all the success.
This city is beautiful & no doubt the economic center & the entertainment king attracts everyone,there is a bread for everyone here,but all this is worth till it's safe.All i can say is may god rest the soul of those i witnessed last evening in peace & give their families the strength to overcome the pain & us a moment to pause & think before endangering our lives & of all those whose lives are attached to ours.Things should be valued but not over limits & it's for us to decide the limits.I end this blog today with a hope that everyone reading this would take out a minute of their lives before creating a mistake that can neither be forgiven & nor be corrected.At times there is no second chance,so value the first & the one you have.I am sorry for a long article but thoughts just need to be expressed.
God bless.