Part IV(concluding) - Mumbai I reached Mumbai on 16th traversing 1984 kms over 27 hours non-stop virtually through the heart of India from the Bay of Bengal to the Indian ocean. I had deliberately decided to travel by Duranto as the major part of the journey was during the day time, providing a great opportunity to see the core of tribal India. The train passed through West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chattisgarh before entering Maharashtra. The journey was a reminder of the enormity, beauty, diversity and the underlying unity of India. The greenery and hundreds of streams around Igatpuri in the Western Ghats during the rains were really a sight to watch. On the flip side, what one saw during the journey also laid bare the depravity and the indifference to all that is beautiful about our land. I had written earlier also, coming to Mumbai is like home coming. I love the city and always look for opportunity to come. This is my 5th trip in the last 18 months since my retirement. Staying with Anku and Terniza and sharing some quality time as a family is one more excuse for my frequent visits to the city – a pleasure I could not share as a son with my father as he left us before I could set up my establishment. Mai came and stayed with us many times but it was not the same as both Bauji and Mai staying with us. That’s why I always strive to make full use of each living moment and live life fully –not necessarily opulent & king size. I also suggest the same to everyone. Who knows what happens the next moment? Like it happens every time we visit Mumbai, the social calendar was packed, though it rained and rained heavily almost continuously. After a day of rest, the action started. Visited Rajeev, Kumkum, Himanshu, Devyani and Kabir on 17th at their apartment. They also stay in Asoka Garden. Sarans are one of the finest and the most well knit families I have ever seen. I don’t know how but somehow, we have been moving alongside during the last 20 years after our first meeting at Tokyo in 1994, we were together again at Delhi in 2000-2002 and at Mumbai from 2003-2005. They visited us at Mauritius and we visited them at Jakarta last year. It was really nice watching Rajeev and Kumkum playing and pampering their cute grandson Kabir. From my personal experience, I can say that Grand parenting is a great feeling and experience. Shiv Kumar and Meena came over, Choubey and Sheela came over for lunch, Sushil & Rani invited us for dinner, had dinner with Arvind & Mona at their place where Devendra Prasad and Sameera also joined, Rajeev & Kumkum threw a lavish dinner at their flat for the old gang of Madhuban and Harbour Heights - A. C. Verma Sahib & Malaji(incidentally , they also happened to be in Mumbai) , Shiv & Meena and us. We had a great evening - repeated the next day at Punjab Grill at Palladium, hosted by Shiv & Meena. We relived old times. In between, we watched ‘Bhag Milkha Bhag’ at IMAX at Wadala with Sarans - Full masti for a week. These series of meetings with old friends from Patna set me thinking- how is that these friendships have endured for more than 40 years. May be, because these friendships are not linear relationships between two batch mates or class mates or colleagues. Friendships in small towns like Patna are like 360 degree relationship. Rani’s elder brother was my friend from school days, my elder brother was a close friend of Malaji’s elder brother in their school days, we call Shiv’s elder brother as Ram bhaiyya and his sister Sudha and brother- in- law Sun ji were our local guardians during our stay at Mauritius and treated us exactly the way they would treat Shiv. Besides, Patna was a very simple place when we were growing up. I remember my school days when we used to walk for four/five kms to school. And who were my co-walkers - sons of a cabinet minister (Sarat- Rani’s brother), a serving judge (Harinandan, we are still in touch, he has settled down at pune after retirement as MD of DICGC) and an ICS officer ( Mr K Raman’s son- do not remember his name- we lost touch after school). Today, each one of them would have travelled to school in red beacon bearing official vehicles. Things have changed over the years. I don’t know whether this is a sign of progress or decay. We celebrated Anku’s birthday on 20th July- that was the reason why we were in Mumbai. We had planned to visit Lonavala/Matheran but the incessant rain played the spoilt sport. So he cut the cake at home as the clock stuck 12. We had excellent Thai dinner at a high end restaurant near Taj along with Mrs Berry and Rishab, Terniza’s brother. The dessert was superb. Modesty prevented me from asking for more. On 21st,, we were on home hunting trip- visited few sites. The minimum base price was Rs3.3 crore for a two bed room flat. Though we bankers are good in numbers, these numbers stumped me out of my wits. In a country where the poverty line is Rs 33 in urban areas (even at this pathetically low level, we have 25 crore poor - 22% of India, don’t earn even that measly income), a two bed room flat with a carpet area of 700 sq ft costing Rs 3.3 crore (and it is not Nariman Point but Wadala I am talking about) - something is horribly wrong with us. How many times is Rs 3.3 crore (Rs 330 lakh) of Rs 33/-. I tried on my calculator- it conked off. My manual calculation tells me, it is 10 lakh times. Still, the governments want us to believe that India shone during 1998- 2004 and since 2004, Bharat has been under Nirman. Why do we put up with this nonsense? It’s our fault- the much talked about middle class. They talk much, do nothing - me included- trying desperately to shrug off this habit by not talking less but talking more vociferously and matching that with commensurate action. Can we pledge that each one of us will at least go out and vote in the next election- a target of 90%+ vote. It will change your surroundings, it will change India. After a gap of 6 years, I visited Mumbai LHO at BKC – my office for two years from August 2005 – July 2007. I travelled to BKC via Sion – Dharavi and saw the ugly underbelly of Mumbai. Things have only worsened in the last 6 years since the time I used to take this route everyday to/fro Nariman point residence to office. A day prior, I had travelled on LBS Marg/Kurla, on way to Powai and was depressed to see what I saw. On the other hand, on return journey, one really marveled at the beauty of Mumbai driving down the VIP road from Prabhadevi upto Nariman Point/Church gate/VT/Fort. Went to Ballard Estate to meet Sanjeev Singhal, an old SBI colleague – the area with its tree lined streets and beautiful buildings can give any locality in London or any European city a run for their money but poor maintenance and upkeep mar the beauty of the place. With more than 60% population living in slums, Mumbai is fast becoming a city in the slums rather than slums in the city. What a decline for this beautiful city? I only wish that the 7 projects underway – 3 metro lines, Eastern Freeway(already open to public), Mumbai trans harbour Link, Monorail, Santacruz-Chembur Link, elevated local train from Churchgate to Virar and the coastal road from Cuffe Parade/Nariman Point and finally, Daharavi Redevelopment will change the face of Mumbai. Most of the people I met told me that one person who can do it is the present CM, Mr Chavan. Wish him all the best. In the meantime, since I do not have any access to him(Mr Chavan),can anyone of my 55 facebook friends tell him to launch a ‘Scrub Clean Mumbai’ on the lines of Pulse Polio campaign with full public participation and support from corporates/NGOs to clean every nook and corner of Mumbai by lifting the garbage lying everywhere. The sight looks aesthetically ugly, ethically reprehensible and morally degrading. This project would be far more enriching for the common residents of Mumbai than the glamorous photo opportunity that Mumbai marathon provides. Can Mr Chavan launch this campaign on 2nd October after doing solid ground work – spread over four weekends of October. Mumbai will be a more livable city if he can pull off this simple, low cost but high impact initiative. I propose to write to him separately. I am leaving for Delhi on 24th-preponed from the earlier scheduled departure on 28th. Two visits I had planned could not materialise -to Visit Binod Bhaiyya & Sharda Bhabhi and Ravindra Rai. No more long post on facebook. Please pardon me for breaking the rules of facebook. Since I did not know how to give link blog to facebook and still wanted to share my thoughts, I took this anti-social route on the popular social media.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 05:40:14 +0000
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