This is no ordinary love triangle. Its the love between the three most striking identities of Mumbai. Let me introduce the characters -
1. Congested roads of Mumbai (ugly like a Bollywood heroine sans make up)
2. Traffic (the spoilt rich brat hero)
3. Beggars and poor migrants (incapacitated, poor, frail second hero)
Now their love story goes like this...
Roads of Mumbai, like a good Indian heroine are silent, taken for granted, abused, not or under paid and get botchy patchwork maintainence done (poor nose jobs like Koena Mitra's).
Traffic (which actually meant movement of goods before it was used in the context of humans) consists of cars, two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws, BEST buses etc.
"Rich people" sit in their ac cars and look down on two-wheeler riders (who swish swash between lanes) and rickshaws (which are like cockroaches on road). Buses still are given certain forced respect out of a fear of their sheer size. Rich are worried that Rs.1 lac car Nano will increase the traffic and it would be impossible to drive their BMWs,Mercedes' and Ferrraris on the ever congested roads ( as it is I don't understand how people can abuse these lovely cars on Mumbai roads, its a shame to drive these beauties at 20km/hr) .
Then of course, we have the beggars and poor migrants who seem to occupy each and every inch of available space - foot paths, dividers, under flyovers etc. Its appalling to see them sleeping with their kids between the narrow dividers. Their whole house; living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom is confined in the 1.5-2 feet gap. But they sleep so peacefully in spite of all the noise and pollution ( I was surprised to know that some rickshaw drivers use kerosene as fuel )
Now I am sure many of us would have thought about this many a times... When a beggar approaches us, whether we are sitting in a car or a rick, we tend to look away or behave as if we cant see him or hear him. Are we ashamed of facing him ? May be, but mostly we tell ourselves that giving him money would encourage people to beg. Let me tell you...this is just a way to placate our conscience and absolve us of any passing guilt.
Stuck in a traffic jam for 2-3 hrs everyday on congested Mumbai roads, sitting in a car, looking down upon two and three wheelers, shying away from poor kids who are begging... I feel that I am shamelessly enjoying or at least passively watching this love triangle everyday....
1. Congested roads of Mumbai (ugly like a Bollywood heroine sans make up)
2. Traffic (the spoilt rich brat hero)
3. Beggars and poor migrants (incapacitated, poor, frail second hero)
Now their love story goes like this...
Roads of Mumbai, like a good Indian heroine are silent, taken for granted, abused, not or under paid and get botchy patchwork maintainence done (poor nose jobs like Koena Mitra's).
Traffic (which actually meant movement of goods before it was used in the context of humans) consists of cars, two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws, BEST buses etc.
"Rich people" sit in their ac cars and look down on two-wheeler riders (who swish swash between lanes) and rickshaws (which are like cockroaches on road). Buses still are given certain forced respect out of a fear of their sheer size. Rich are worried that Rs.1 lac car Nano will increase the traffic and it would be impossible to drive their BMWs,Mercedes' and Ferrraris on the ever congested roads ( as it is I don't understand how people can abuse these lovely cars on Mumbai roads, its a shame to drive these beauties at 20km/hr) .
Then of course, we have the beggars and poor migrants who seem to occupy each and every inch of available space - foot paths, dividers, under flyovers etc. Its appalling to see them sleeping with their kids between the narrow dividers. Their whole house; living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom is confined in the 1.5-2 feet gap. But they sleep so peacefully in spite of all the noise and pollution ( I was surprised to know that some rickshaw drivers use kerosene as fuel )
Now I am sure many of us would have thought about this many a times... When a beggar approaches us, whether we are sitting in a car or a rick, we tend to look away or behave as if we cant see him or hear him. Are we ashamed of facing him ? May be, but mostly we tell ourselves that giving him money would encourage people to beg. Let me tell you...this is just a way to placate our conscience and absolve us of any passing guilt.
Stuck in a traffic jam for 2-3 hrs everyday on congested Mumbai roads, sitting in a car, looking down upon two and three wheelers, shying away from poor kids who are begging... I feel that I am shamelessly enjoying or at least passively watching this love triangle everyday....
4 Comments:
All I would say is....Impressive.
I never can imagine that someone from the finacial sector background can think so deep.
Next time I drive back home, I can always relate to this.
Keep Going!!!
Impressive.
Now I can imagine how Mumbai looks like. I have never been to this place, but can tell u this that even Delhi is congested with traffic, beggars & crooked roads. I think this is the story of every city in India. But don’t know why, I think that Delhi still has widest of roads, better driving conditions & huge highways. But anyways, I still want to go & see Mumbai 1 day.
tHis is impressive ... i like it too much.
Sheron
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loved it !!
stupendous is d word darling :)
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