Thousand pens and millions of
voices have already sketched myriad images in several shades and mere two
visits over a span of little more than a month, lasting little over 100 hours
in sum, can do little to add to the canvass. It’s a gross simplification
perhaps, or just restricted observations of a prejudiced mind too preoccupied
with seemingly more important endeavors. Mumbai was, nevertheless, a
revelation.
Coming straight from New Delhi, one
is condemned to lay the national and the financial capital on either side of a
line on a piece of paper. Yet, apart from the obvious cultural and geographical
divide, there was little to put the two apart. However, one subtle realization
was perhaps the most perceptible.
While you are subtly perturbed by
the stench of cautious revulsion bordering on misanthropy in the demeanor of a typical
Dilli wallah, one cannot help but
feel pleasantly overwhelmed by a strange sense of warmth of a random Mumbaikaar.
Delhi grasps you with its
peculiarly unsettling aura, grabs you by the scruff and collar and tries to shove
its own dented version of Dilligiri down
your throat, screaming ‘my way or the highway’. Mumbai too sure approaches you
with a mildly unnerving cocktail of aggression, affection and apathy- depending
on the time and place- but all that quickly evolves into a generally comforting
feeling of belonging.
Delhi receives such massive cross
border influx of people from all around- Punjabis, Biharis, Jats, Paharis etc-
that the place seems to have lost its own singular identity (just restricted to
parts of Old Delhi perhaps). One can raise the same argument for Mumbai but
cannot draw the same conclusion. It is like miniature India- an all embracing
entity that still somehow manages to wield a distinctively singular
identity.
Mumbai makes you conscious of the
perils of over population. It feels like everyone wants to go everywhere all
the time. The air is so dense it feels like someone’s trying to shovel mud down
your throat. The rural-urban divide is so abrupt at some places it seems like a rude anomaly. The roads are painfully congested and traffic disheartening.
However, the spirit of its inhabitants is
the truest reflection of a city, even more so than its urban aesthetics,
transport systems, extent of industrialization or even governance for that
matter. The mental disposition of the thousands who crowd its streets and fill its
real estate is the most objective, transparent and incontrovertible indicator
of all of the above variables. And in this regard, Mumbai- even in this short
while- seemed far better off than its metropolitan counterpart.
Be it a random Marathi with his/her barely manageable Hindi or a veteran auto walla who will know at first sight that you might never visit the city again in a long while, everyone is conveniently drawn into your conversation. This is most unlike Delhi, where everyone is so busy mastering the art of stoic indifference that almost every human interaction seems to be building on a "Dilli se hoon BC" footnote.
It is human to generalise- to forget the good and remember the bad. But even for a person who is always looking for an exception- yearning to change his opinions- Delhi only manages to disappoint every single time. I wonder why the search keeps getting more difficult each time...
