The city chugs to life again
I LOVE BOMBAY. This city teaches you to live. No matter what happens we are able to move on. Time, they say, heals every wound. What Bombay went through on July 26th was nothing short of a disaster. I can vouch for it having borne that storm.
The losses are astronomical. Insurance companies are going to have an onerous task on themselves. The slightest drizzle nowadays gets people in a frenzy as to what would happen.
But thats not what defines this city. Its far too strong a city to have a cloudburst affect it so. The blur of faces sprinting in the opposite direction as I go to college vindicate my statement. My bus stop has all possible people stand beside me. You have those slum dwellers who can be labelled survivors. MY college has students whose houses were ravged that day. Yet, you see that very same smile on their faces as you see everyday.
What is it that makes people move on so quickly? I am pretty sure having to throw away many sentimental possessions due to the effects of rainfall that lasted 2 hours is very much easier said than done. How are they able to come out of the trauma? Is it callousness or the sheer lack of time? Might be. But there must be more concrete a reason. MY guess is the resilience inculcated in all of Bombayites. We travel in the most crowded of buses. No matter what the situation, we end up in office on time. We know failure would be the end of our job. The prices are sky high, yet the hearts of the people are far bigger than the sky. When R.K Laxman coined the Common Man he must have been travelling in V.T Local. That face reflects a Bombayite than any other Indian.
My building still has a damp smell to it. There is still debry lying around. Horror stories of the floods are not out of the favourite topics of discussion. But as I wait for the bus home, I see my friend from Saki Naka, who cheerfully waves out to me.
The losses are astronomical. Insurance companies are going to have an onerous task on themselves. The slightest drizzle nowadays gets people in a frenzy as to what would happen.
But thats not what defines this city. Its far too strong a city to have a cloudburst affect it so. The blur of faces sprinting in the opposite direction as I go to college vindicate my statement. My bus stop has all possible people stand beside me. You have those slum dwellers who can be labelled survivors. MY college has students whose houses were ravged that day. Yet, you see that very same smile on their faces as you see everyday.
What is it that makes people move on so quickly? I am pretty sure having to throw away many sentimental possessions due to the effects of rainfall that lasted 2 hours is very much easier said than done. How are they able to come out of the trauma? Is it callousness or the sheer lack of time? Might be. But there must be more concrete a reason. MY guess is the resilience inculcated in all of Bombayites. We travel in the most crowded of buses. No matter what the situation, we end up in office on time. We know failure would be the end of our job. The prices are sky high, yet the hearts of the people are far bigger than the sky. When R.K Laxman coined the Common Man he must have been travelling in V.T Local. That face reflects a Bombayite than any other Indian.
My building still has a damp smell to it. There is still debry lying around. Horror stories of the floods are not out of the favourite topics of discussion. But as I wait for the bus home, I see my friend from Saki Naka, who cheerfully waves out to me.
posted by Sunil Natraj at 8/10/2005 04:36:00 PM
4 Comments:
You are right when you say that Mumbaikars are resilient. But one may counter that after such tragedies, people are left with no option but to move on. Resilience is not so much a local phenomenon, as much as a general feature of those who suffer. One only prays that in addition to resilience, Mumbaikars soon inculcate within themselves the spirit of enquiry, of an unwillingness to take things lying down. Maybe then, the newspapers could speak on some other emotion of the people.
i have heard that once you live in Bombay, you can survive anywhere in the world. nice to see you back
Welcome back Sunil! I've missed your posts greatly. Hopefully, we can hear from you on a more frequent basis. Everytime something happens in your neck of the woods, I worry about your well-being.
I would love to visit India and see the cities and the country. I've always wanted to go there, even when I was in school. I'd sit there and stare into the pictures, trying to picture myself in the picture. The illustration that you've provided only serves to heighten my desire to come visit your country.
u bet.. we're a phoenix pack. one helluva city this is.
Post a Comment
<< Home