H S Verma: Bombay to Mumbai to Mumbai Metropolitan City Region: Changing Character and Logic of Transformational Process (Second Installment) Several Mumbais in Mumbai There is significant similarity in the colonial physical development of Mumbai and Chennai. Both were built initially to meet the requirements of the colonial power and the native businessmen. Both of these metropolitan centres are many cities within one city. Characteristically, Mumbai is a city of the elites from every conceivable field, politicians, businessmen and entrepreneurs, technologists, educationists, entertainment professionals from film, TV, advertising and fashion industries,etc on the one hand and a city of common men from Maharashtra and all parts of the country who came to eke out their living in the city on the other. However, these diverse elements do share a common characteristic of Mumbaikars,a typical civic culture of being professional in delivering their assignments competently on time, and respecting individuality of both genders ,and keeping the city alive twenty four hours in all 365 days of the year. Although this civic culture of Mumbai has undergone a sea change during the last thirty-forty odd years, its fragments continue to linger on signifying the distinctiveness of Mumbaikars. The Ethnic Profile of Mumbai The different Mumbais can be seen along different axes. Geographically, various ethnic groups still reside in large numbers in specific localities. The largest numbers of Parsis are to be found in the Fort,Colaba,and Churchgate areas, the Bohris in Bhendi Bazar,the Muslims in Mohammad Ali Road,Nagpada,Byculla,and Santacruz,the Gujaratis in Khar,Ville Parle, Santacruz,and Ghatkopar,the south Indians in Mahim, Matunga,and Chembur,and the native Maharashtrians in Girgaon, Dhobi Talao,Kalbadevi,Churney Road,Prabhadevi, Sewri,and Reay Road,and the erstwhile migrant textile mill workers in Parel,Sewree,Mahalaxmi,,and Dadar. The rich and famous mostly live on the western side of the island facing the sea in areas like Churchgate, newly built Cuffe Parade, Worli Seaface, Napean Sea Road, Malabar Hill, Altamount Road, Mount Pleasant Road, Foreshore Road,Lamington Road,and Bandra.The lower middle class and the poor are certainly concentrated in the chawls and the slums. These slums are geographically spread in all parts of Mumbai with some of the biggest like Dharavi located in central Mumbai. The slums are not only residential areas: quite significant types of economic activities including small scale manufacturing are also carried out there. These ethnic groups retain their specific native sub-cultures in their intra-community dealings, and to that extent this subcultural distinctiveness is reflected in their behaviours in various ways. That defines their single identity, which has its pride and is jealously guarded. And yet, collectively they also share the city’s wider cultural identity which at times differs drastically from their individual ethnic cultural identities. Mumbai city’s overall cultural identity subsumes these single ethnic/religious identities, and Mumbai is better known not only in India but also internationally because of this larger deftly mixed cultural identity. Occupational Identities There are specific occupational group identities too that stand out. Interestingly enough, these are more akin to Mumbai city’s larger cultural identity than the smaller ethnic identities. These are too numerous to enumerate all of them, and it is sufficient to refer to one or two among them. The textile mill workers’ cultural identity is one such example. Textile Mills propelled industrial growth of Mumbai in one historical epoch, and some parts of the city were dominated by what came to be known as the textile mill culture. As is known, most of the textile mill workers were migrants from other states and they lived near the mills in the city.Meena R Menon and Neera Adarkar(2004) provide a very vivid narrative of the voices of textile mill workers, and talks of mill culture. Girangaon or village of mills was at the centre of Bombay’s evolution into a modern metropolis. The textile industry was one of the first modern industries in India and mill workers among the pioneers of trade unions in the country. It was once a stronghold of the Communist Party and an important part of the history of Indian independence. It was also here that right wing Marathi party, called the Shiv Sena(SS), took shape and later grew to occupy centre stage in Maharashtra. The Bombay mafia was born here. The history of Girngaon is, in a sense, intertwined with the history of modern India. Menon and Adarkar argue that there is a fear that the people of Mumbai are forgetting the city’s history that is so inextricably linked to mill culture. The Girangaon stretches over a thousand acres—from Byculla to Dadar and from Sewree to Mahalaxmi to Elphiston Road. Its evolution started in the mid-19th century, and flourished until the first half of the 20th century. Close to 2.5 lakh mill workers lived and worked in this space. The mill workers were male migrants from outside the city, mostly from outside Maharashtra. They worked and lived in quite adverse conditions. They put down their roots, evolved social institutions and associations, fought great political battles, entertained and educated the city with their plays, music, and verse. They influenced the economy, politics, culture, and space in innumerable ways. This made the city cosmopolitan, gave it the name that it never slept and that it was safe for the women. Being a melting plot of different cultures, brought together initially by the textile mills, Mumbai acquired a vibrant community life. During Ganpati festivals, along with performances of Tamasha and Dashavatar from Konkan and Ghat regions of Maharashtra, there would be shows of Yakshagna from Karnataka and puppetry from Andhra Pradesh. That cultural exchange is almost over since the late 1990s, and is tough to revive as the remaining mill workers are dispersed now. A community life can be fostered even while developing slums but in most cases, housing mill workers is created on a strip of land, where a tall building with small tenements leaves little space for community activities. In contrast, a much bigger chunk of land is kept for houses to be built and sold at higher prices. Menon and Adarkar talk of the oral tradition of voices of mill workers. Unlike other Mumbaikars, the mill workers were very conscious of their history and tradition. That was why they were part of the forward movement of the city. Once they were sidelined, there was no one to take their place. Not even the Kolis, considered to be the original inhabitants of the island city, can be considered to be the original builders of the city because they were dispossessed of their land centuries ago. Once the mill workers were dispossessed, there remained few people who had a sense of the original Mumbai city. They were poor and neglected. But they were the ones who fought for the city, and were still defending their claim on it by demanding their rightful share of mandatory public housing on mill lands lying unused after their closure. Once they and their culture were lost, then the soul of the city was gone forever. The year 1982 was the turning point when Dr. Datta Samant organized a two year long strike heralding the irreversible decline of the city’s textile industry.Girangaon now sees a proliferation of luxury apartments, malls and commercial spaces. There is no regulation as far as land uses are concerned. Jobs are not created either. This part of the city can’t grow if jobs are not created. The jobs that are being created are mostly for the middle class. There is growing sense of alienation among the working class youth who have failed to land a job. The other occupational sub-culture that is internationally known is the Bollywood which includes not only the film, television, and music industries, forming one composite bloc, but also the fashion and advertising industries. This conglomerate of activities was initially dominated by the Sindhis, and the Punjabis especially the ones that came over from what became Pakistan, and a mixture of talented individuals with a dream in their eyes from all parts of the country. Although the Indian films began their journey from Pune, ironically enough the industry had very negligible presence of the Maharashtrians.Technique-wise it was very rudimentary until late 1990s. The films were using a language which was a curious mixture of Hindi, Urdu and Mumbaiya languages. The industry had a sub-culture that was as surreal as its depiction of the empirical ground reality in the Indian society through its films. Only success defined relationships which were short-lived. Several camps existed that governed management of professional relationships. The heroes/ heroines were centres of focus, and technicians, despite their undeniable contribution in making a film a roaring success, were treated less than equals. Given their popularity, the film personalities acquired larger than life persona in the eyes of the general public, and the Congress party used them as easy mobilisers of uninformed voters in the general elections. As these industries grew up, their fraternity got a lot more diverse, techniques improved, films themselves became relatively more realistic, and the volume of their trades skyrocketed. Nearing the end of the 20th Century, Bollywood became international, and the financial volumes that the films released generated skyrocketed. What, however, did not change was their behavior as an important occupational group for which only money mattered. Consequently, it remains the most opportunistic group among the most visible professionals in Mumbai’s economy. Industries surrounded the original Chennai city area but in case of Mumbai, its industrial units, barring a few notable exceptions, mingled with the residential areas of the metropolis. Some areas in the extended suburbs like Bhandup and Mulund began only as industrial sites to begin with. The industrial groups like the Godrejs had been allotted large land tracts in these parts on long leases. They established their industrial units on parts of allotted lands and kept the unused parts as their estate. This unutilized part was later used to build housing. Eventually; the areas came to resemble the island wards which possessed a deft mix of industrial and the housing land uses. In ways more than one, this defines the basic character of the city where things defining Mumbaikars’ lives are intertwined intimately. This simultaneous specificity and commonality is what makes Mumbai stand out among the Indian cities. Above all, like most metropolitan mega city regions, the economic dominates the social, cultural, and political for the Mumbaikars.The new keeps on replacing/changing the old everywhere, and the replacement is more often than not is typically very cruel on the poor, and un-empowered. Inner-city redevelopment like the one underway in Bohri-dominated area of Bhendi Bazar, notorious for its crowded, noisy, and even violent existence, which involve primarily the efforts of the wealthy Bohri community itself rather than the municipal or state government, would benefit all the local residents and businessmen, are but an exception. Areas like Nariman Point, and Cuffe Parade developed as the CBD in the 1960s and 1970s accentuating the pressures on the mass rapid transport (MRT) systems operating on the roads and rails, and defined the character of commuter flows in the mornings and the evenings. Thus, emerged the very clear economic divisions of Mumbaikars, one totally dependent on MRTs and the second consisting of the rich who drove to the CBD on their individual transport. The high financial functions were not located at one place. The Bombay Stock Exchange was functioning from the Dalal Street, and the Reserve Bank of India was housed on the BPT road. The metal and jewelry markets operated from Zhaveri Bazar,and Dhobi Talao areas until the development of the subsidiary CBD at Bandra-Kurla Complex(BKC) in central Mumbai.A third CBD planned at Oshiwara in the western suburbs has a long way to go before it equals the subsidiary CBD of the BKC. Changing Economic Profile of Mumbai Above everything else, business, trade, commerce, and industry dominate the Mumbai city region. These subordinate even the governing process of the state of Maharashtra as well the local governance via the local urban government entities such as the BMC, and other urban entities in the MMCR, and para-state outfits like the BEST, BSES, and the like. The MMCR accounts for 10 per cent of all factory employment, 40 per cent of income tax collected, 60 per cent of all customs duty collections, 20 per cent of all central excise collections and 40 per cent of Indias foreign trade in corporate taxes. It also accounts for 25 per cent of industrial output, 40 per cent of maritime trade, and 70 per cent of capital transactions in India. In short, it is Indias central economic hub. Mumbais per capita income is almost three times the national average. Most of Indias main industrial, trade, commercial conglomerates, and financial companies including bank headquarters are based here. Large numbers of firms having their manufacturing units elsewhere in Maharashtra state and other states also have their headquarters and trade head offices in Mumbai. Most well-known international conglomerates have established their branches here. Key industries in Mumbai include engineering, diamond polishing, food, clothing and hoteling, healthcare and information technology. Aerospace, optical engineering, medical research, computers and electronic equipment, shipbuilding and salvaging, atomic energy and renewable energy and power are also increasingly important aspects of the local economy in this bustling city. Mumbai is also the primary financial centre for the country as well as the regional global capital, hosting both the major Indian stock exchanges, the BSE and the NSE, all commodity exchanges, brokerages, asset management companies (including majority of the mutual fund companies), headquarters of most Indian state-owned and commercial banks, as well as the financial and monetary regulatory authorities of India (SEBI, PFRDA, RBI, IRDA) among other institutions. Mumbai is also the media and movie capital of the country. Most of Indias major television and satellite networks, as well as its major publishing houses, are headquartered here. The Hindi movie industry, Bollywood, is also based here. Bollywood holds the record for the maximum number of movies produced in a year. All this has resulted in increased consumer spending in this city. According to a recent survey, Mumbai ranks tenth amongst the worlds biggest centres of commerce in terms of financial flow. The foregoing economic clout of Mumbai has a very serious consequence for the claim of the local Maharashtrians over the city. Despite its location in the state, the very nature of higher order economic activities, firmly under the control of the non-locals, requires very high levels of skills in these specific areas and consequently precludes larger local participation, and certainly very little control over them.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 10:57:38 +0000
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