Its weekend again....and angst, irritation, work stress are at bay.....relaxed I have for the day....and now its time to blog again.....ouch...sorry for the silly rhyme....Stupidity is my tag for the day...
Okay....back to Mumbai...it's summer time now and I spotted a few tourists walking around when I was going back home from work...it led me to a small flashback...back in collage I used to be extremely excited to have people over from different part of the country/world and show them around the city...know their opinions and thoughts on it.....One thing I learnt from these trips and from my readings...tourists either love the city or simply hate it...its black or white..with no room for any kind of grey area. Mind you, I specifically speak for a tourist, an outsider view, not for those who have come to settle here, for short/long duration. For, the city makes these new comers their own, takes them into its arms or simply kicks them hard, down and out. And these people have their means and adjustments for survival..I choose to call one of these adjustments/ways Mumbai Ghetto...
For those who do not know about the word... roughly, it is a small community or group of people that come together bound by a common past. This past may be real or imagined, say a common region of origin, common religion or a common culture. When you apply the idea to this hectic and huge city, it translates to small areas, bonded by common characteristics. For instance, a ghetto of middle class economic strata of people in Parel or Goregaon, or those with a common language or those migerated from the same region like Bhycalla.
The problem however, with these ghettos is that their existance does not end merely with their strog/feable existance in different areas across the city and stop at commedarie, but is translated into a strong identity and projection of their own. Wheather this is a good or a bad thing, I would leave for the readers to decide. For me hurried judgements and opinions do not make sense, I can think of good and bad both...
Oh damn, I have begun rambling all over again..But the Ghetto-ing of this city is something I have been wanting to write about for a while now. I think it is an very important part of the city, something that contributes to its layered identity to a deep level, and is the reason for making this city what it is....and so it requires a deep telling...It would be silly if I would try to bundle up this tpoic in a single blog, for I risk boredom or my readers or clutter them too much with my thoughts...so I shall leave you with this introduction on Mumbai Ghetto to speculate on....and await my next writing...
Till then, do tell me what you think of the city, and share your experiences on different Mumbai Ghettos that you have encountered....
I do not know the constitutional dynamics of a 'ghetto', hence will stay away from commenting on that. But as far as Mumbai to the quintessential outsider is concerned, in this case the outsider being me, I just have to say one thing. I fell in love with the city right at the outset. There were not just shades of black, white or grey but a melange of other colors that Mumbai offered me. And its true cosmopolitanism with people from all over the country is simply amazing. So even if you reside in a Mumbai Ghetto, get out of it and explore this wonderful city!!
ReplyDelete"Ghetto" may not be the right word here but I will try to use it here..ever been to malvani church area in Malad...the first time I went there I was lost with ultra small crowded lanes and as usual jam all over!!! In 10 mins My friend introduced me to one of his friend and excused himself for half hour...In next 10 mins we were four of us sipping beer sitting under a shade and having time like childhood buddies!!! and guess wat..They were christians and were speaking Malvani-Agri-Marathi!!! Didnt see something like tat happening in any of the towns I have been!! Truely Mumbailous!! :-)
ReplyDelete@Rahul, Sohini....I agree..ghetto is not the word...and the cosmopolitan nature of the city never fails to amuse, interest and excite me...however, in this context, the word ghetto/community-living, sharing together, merely implies that there is a certain perspective we tend to form, conditioned by the "ghetto", space we live in... that condition leads us to respond in a certain way to our surrounds... Perhaps my next post with examples might make it clearer...
ReplyDeleteGood thought!
ReplyDeleteWill look forward to your next post Chaitali!