Mumbai - C'est la Vie!!!

Mumbai – a megapolis that attracts thousands of people each day with hopes of fulfilling their dreams and presenting opportunities. Thousands enter this maximum city with suitcases and bagful of dreams - dreams of making it big, dreams of landing a high-paying job, dreams of being independent, dreams to earn a livelihood, dreams of mere survival, dreams of finding love, solace, life….. Awestruck by its fast pace, undying spirit and give a damn attitude; the city soon makes these migrants its own who go on to love Mumbai despite its traffic woes, pot-holed roads, filth and open nullahs.

For an inhabitant like me who has lived all her life here, I have this love-hate relationship with the city. During peak hours; you absolutely abhor the over crowded trains, suffocating compartments – be it first or second, the “you just can’t do without me attitude” of rickshawallahs and sea of faces everywhere. However it is the same crowded trains, sea of faces and rude rick guys who come to your rescue at 3am not even once making you feel unsecure. I love to love-hate this city.

It’s a known fact that an individual’s personality is the sum total of his/her heredity factors, culture, upbringing and environment. I attribute a significant part of my personality to my upbringing in Mumbai. For me, Mumbai is much more than a city of fair opportunities. It is like a companion that constantly walks by your side no matter where the world is headed to.  It calms you down, soaks all your worries and matures your every day with new experiences. You may be experiencing the worst day of your life where you missed a promotion, got stranded due to heavy rains, are late for an important meeting, stuck in traffic, just broke-up and might be totally knocked out and de-spirited; when far away the high decibels of nashik dhols give you this adrenaline rush that pulls you back to the mad chaos and lifts up you up instantly.

As I bid adieu to this maximum city; I will miss the loud honking trains that announces its arrival befitting a king’s home-coming, the small nod that strangers exchange hinting the sight of their daily locals, the frustration that fellow passengers engage in while waiting in the long serpentine queues for a rickshaw, the sheer joy of sipping chai and vada pav on a rainy day.

I will miss all this and more. Coz this is Mumbai – C’est la vie!!!

The nit-picking generation

An inerasable childhood memory of most children who grew up in the 90’s - watching The Jungle book, Mahabharata, Ramayana and Jai Hanuman on Sundays. This was the time when the entire family enjoyed a Sunday morning breakfast together.  As the trend moved towards the boring saas-bahu sagas; Sunday morning slots got occupied by the re-runs of these soaps marking an end to the fun Sunday family mornings.  Cut to 2012; almost a decade after the dull Sunday mornings, Satyameva Jayate made a brave attempt to revive Indian Sunday mornings.

However the responses to the show have left me a bit surprised. Judging Aamir’s hosting skills, him getting too preachy, dissatisfaction on crying in every episode, marketing gimmick, Aamir’s ploy to use social issues to garner TRPs, him charging exorbitant fee for every episode, the show lacking a cool factor and the list is endless. Audience today adjudge every show how critics review a movie.  They review the set-up, the concept, predict the outcome and some go a bit too far to analyse the intention of the show. I surely seen signs of a cynical societal syndrome. We as a society have become very cynical and nit-picking.

When celebrities don’t contribute to real change – they are accused of making money. When Aamir tries to do an Anna Hazare – he is just doing it for TRP’s. Had he not shed tears hearing the horrendous stories – he is an insensitive host. If he cries – he is overdoing it. Good Lord!!!!! Why such fault-finding??

When doctors world over are encouraging mothers not to rapidly reduce weight post pregnancy as it affects baby feeding; the prejudiced Indian media has criticized Ash for not losing post partum weight. Mindless teenagers lacking perspective participating in reality (read - staged) shows is cool and vibrant, a KJO discussing celebrity gossip is hot stuff and 2 sisters showcasing their everyday lives is totally The Thing.

Dunno if India’s heading towards economic bankruptcy but it surely seems to be heading towards intellectual bankruptcy!!!  

Whose opinion is it anyway????

My favourite past time – observing people, often leads me to some thought provoking observations. Every individual is different and possesses a different mixture of personality traits that make him/her unique. The most commonly sought after personality traits are charisma, good sense of humour, dependability, humility, intelligence and so on. In pursuit of these, the most striking trait – that of forming rational views, opinions and judgements of one’s own, is frequently lost. I do not know how much of our learning through formal education imparts knowledge or if I may add wisdom in us. However I firmly believe that a nation’s true progress can only be assessed by the thoughtful opinions its masses produce.  

It is widely accepted that the news reporting agencies in any country are responsible for setting views of people in the right direction. Freedom of press has been traditionally glorified because it is the sacrosanct liberalist views of the press that help us wade through muddy waters. However, the actual contribution of the press now-a-days towards their true cause is highly debatable. The focus is more on sensationalizing news and concocting views to influence and manipulate opinions. The consequences of such reporting - people cheating with others opinions as their own, using explanations that have been drilled into their cranium by dull and limited thinking.  

It would be unfair to rest blame only on one agency for such a subject of significant importance. An equal fault lies in our in-built attitude of pursuing conventional wisdom and learning in precise terms that limits of our understanding of the world. Next time you watch a famous correspondent giving opinions on worldly issues, just pause and think “Whose opinion is this anyway???” You may discover your own hidden rich opinions.