Saturday, March 18, 2006
Mumbai
I just got back from Mumbai, India. Formerly known as Bombay, it is THE city to be in India. At least, for the Indians. I'll rather be somewhere else.
From Bollywood to gigantic banks to high technology, Mumbai has it all. It is the New York of India. A major economic powerhouse. But one that is struggling with poverty and inadequate infrastructure.
The roads are jammed and dirty. Pollution is rampant. The air stinks. You notice it the moment you get off the plane. In the spartan and somewhat umkempt airport, the air has a unmistakable odour despite the aircon.
The roads are jammed packed with cars, autos ( the 3 wheeled taxis like the tuk-tuks of Bangkok ), and taxis that seem to have been transported through a time machine from 40 years ago. Traffic congestion is horrible. Human congestion is worse.
Out in the city, beggars knock on your car windows asking for money. Dirty, scruffy, and presumably stinky children line the streets and worse, risking life and limb, mingle in the traffic looking for handouts. Most disturbing of all, rows and rows and rows of slums line the street.
Shacks and huts unfit for farm animals house the poor and their families. Unkempt, dirty children ( and adults ) relieve themselves by the roadside on the bare ground. And these are the slums that you can see. I cannot imagine the conditions of the wide expanse of slums BEHIND the scenes, away from the eyes of the public. I shudder to think of the conditions THERE.
And these are the luckier ones. At least they have a semi-permanent roof over their heads. Along other areas, the have-nots live in TENTS. Tents made of pieces of canvas or plastic. Rows upon rows of such tents. It's such a common sight that Mumbai residents don't even give them a second look. While in Singapore, some people living in tents ( nicely made commercial tents, not slipshot ones made of a piece of dirty canvas thrown over a rope ) on Changi Beach made headline news not too long ago.
And then, there are the have-nothings. These people do not even have a tent. They live in the open, under any shelter they can find. Bridges and flyovers are hotspots. They sleep, cook, eat, answer the call of nature, and presumably, pro-create in the open. It is heart wrenching to see such widespread poverty of this degree in a major city. And in a weatlhy city at that.
This is not my first trip to India, or Mumbai for that matter. The last time I was in Mumbai was maybe 2 years ago. I recall being quite disturbed. This time, I was equally disturbed. I've been to India many times. Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Agra. I've been to more Indian cities than most Indians. These are all major cities and relatively well-to-do by Indian standards. But I can never help noticing the disparity between the haves and have nots. The gap is astounding.
You stay in luxury 5 star hotels that are as good as any in the world, and yet, visible from your room window, are the neighbourhood houses that no Singaporean would consider living in. In the hotel restaurant, you eat food that cost as much as they do in Singapore, and you wonder how the average Indian could ever afford to eat here. According to Wikipedia, the average yearly income is 3100USD, or about Singapore $430 per month. How does a typical Indian afford a S$16 appertizer and S$24 main course ? In Singapore, the average Joe can afford to eat in a nice restaurant once in a while. Here, it would be a dream.
And yet, there is no shortage of Indians in there. These are the rich, and the powerful. These are those who are wealthy beyond imagination. COEs and founders of multi-billion dollar companies that have mind-boggling number of customers. In India, as in China, volumes are always mind boggling due to the huge population. Banks, telcos, insurance companies, manufacturers, all deal with a customer base that is so large that a small profit made from each customer amounts to a staggering total profit. Millions. Tens of Millions. Hundred of Millions.
But just a stone's throw from the hotel entrance, is abject poverty. Slums, beggars, children running in the streets, teenagers playing cricket ON THE ROAD, and women, yes women, working as coolies carrying bricks and earth in baskets on their heads, their saris trailing behind, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.
Each trip I make there is always preceded by a sense of dread and unwillingness. I've never like going to India. Its dirty, crowded, filled with touts and con-men who prey on the obvious and clueless foreigner, and even their airports stink. Not only literally, but also figuratively. It is completely spartan and functional. Lousy food, lousy duty free shops, dirty chairs, slow and rude service. I dread the 1 hour that I have to spend waiting for my flight to be announced.
I don't know why the government of India doesn't do something about it. They spend millions on defence, but apparently next to nothing for upkeep of the infrastructure. I've heard theories about the ineffectiveness of the government from Indians themselves, but it still astonishes me that a government would let their major cities degenerate to such a poor physical state. Some say its because of its size. Maybe, but US and Australia are even bigger, and they have excellent infrastructure. Some say its because of corruption. Maybe, but its the government's fault, no ?
I thank my lucky stars when I touch down in Singapore. If not for the awkwardness, I would have kissed the ground when I landed :-) I just know I'll have to visit India again, and I look forward to that. NOT !!!
From Bollywood to gigantic banks to high technology, Mumbai has it all. It is the New York of India. A major economic powerhouse. But one that is struggling with poverty and inadequate infrastructure.
The roads are jammed and dirty. Pollution is rampant. The air stinks. You notice it the moment you get off the plane. In the spartan and somewhat umkempt airport, the air has a unmistakable odour despite the aircon.
The roads are jammed packed with cars, autos ( the 3 wheeled taxis like the tuk-tuks of Bangkok ), and taxis that seem to have been transported through a time machine from 40 years ago. Traffic congestion is horrible. Human congestion is worse.
Out in the city, beggars knock on your car windows asking for money. Dirty, scruffy, and presumably stinky children line the streets and worse, risking life and limb, mingle in the traffic looking for handouts. Most disturbing of all, rows and rows and rows of slums line the street.
Shacks and huts unfit for farm animals house the poor and their families. Unkempt, dirty children ( and adults ) relieve themselves by the roadside on the bare ground. And these are the slums that you can see. I cannot imagine the conditions of the wide expanse of slums BEHIND the scenes, away from the eyes of the public. I shudder to think of the conditions THERE.
And these are the luckier ones. At least they have a semi-permanent roof over their heads. Along other areas, the have-nots live in TENTS. Tents made of pieces of canvas or plastic. Rows upon rows of such tents. It's such a common sight that Mumbai residents don't even give them a second look. While in Singapore, some people living in tents ( nicely made commercial tents, not slipshot ones made of a piece of dirty canvas thrown over a rope ) on Changi Beach made headline news not too long ago.
And then, there are the have-nothings. These people do not even have a tent. They live in the open, under any shelter they can find. Bridges and flyovers are hotspots. They sleep, cook, eat, answer the call of nature, and presumably, pro-create in the open. It is heart wrenching to see such widespread poverty of this degree in a major city. And in a weatlhy city at that.
This is not my first trip to India, or Mumbai for that matter. The last time I was in Mumbai was maybe 2 years ago. I recall being quite disturbed. This time, I was equally disturbed. I've been to India many times. Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Agra. I've been to more Indian cities than most Indians. These are all major cities and relatively well-to-do by Indian standards. But I can never help noticing the disparity between the haves and have nots. The gap is astounding.
You stay in luxury 5 star hotels that are as good as any in the world, and yet, visible from your room window, are the neighbourhood houses that no Singaporean would consider living in. In the hotel restaurant, you eat food that cost as much as they do in Singapore, and you wonder how the average Indian could ever afford to eat here. According to Wikipedia, the average yearly income is 3100USD, or about Singapore $430 per month. How does a typical Indian afford a S$16 appertizer and S$24 main course ? In Singapore, the average Joe can afford to eat in a nice restaurant once in a while. Here, it would be a dream.
And yet, there is no shortage of Indians in there. These are the rich, and the powerful. These are those who are wealthy beyond imagination. COEs and founders of multi-billion dollar companies that have mind-boggling number of customers. In India, as in China, volumes are always mind boggling due to the huge population. Banks, telcos, insurance companies, manufacturers, all deal with a customer base that is so large that a small profit made from each customer amounts to a staggering total profit. Millions. Tens of Millions. Hundred of Millions.
But just a stone's throw from the hotel entrance, is abject poverty. Slums, beggars, children running in the streets, teenagers playing cricket ON THE ROAD, and women, yes women, working as coolies carrying bricks and earth in baskets on their heads, their saris trailing behind, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.
Each trip I make there is always preceded by a sense of dread and unwillingness. I've never like going to India. Its dirty, crowded, filled with touts and con-men who prey on the obvious and clueless foreigner, and even their airports stink. Not only literally, but also figuratively. It is completely spartan and functional. Lousy food, lousy duty free shops, dirty chairs, slow and rude service. I dread the 1 hour that I have to spend waiting for my flight to be announced.
I don't know why the government of India doesn't do something about it. They spend millions on defence, but apparently next to nothing for upkeep of the infrastructure. I've heard theories about the ineffectiveness of the government from Indians themselves, but it still astonishes me that a government would let their major cities degenerate to such a poor physical state. Some say its because of its size. Maybe, but US and Australia are even bigger, and they have excellent infrastructure. Some say its because of corruption. Maybe, but its the government's fault, no ?
I thank my lucky stars when I touch down in Singapore. If not for the awkwardness, I would have kissed the ground when I landed :-) I just know I'll have to visit India again, and I look forward to that. NOT !!!
