Trip to Mumbai- Looking West!

I just returned back from a week long trip to Mumbai. This trip was in a sense completely different from all my previous trips to the city. Either the city had changed, or I was seeing things this time which I missed earlier. Mumbai this time looked more of Bombay. It seemed, everyone there was trying to 'look' like west, trying to 'pretend' like west, trying to 'become' like them.

The man at the ticket window didnt understand which place is CST. When I told him VT, he understood. In the whole of Cantonment region, I didnt find a vada paav seller or a tea stall. Vada paav and tea were something I found every 100 mts in the city. The street market at Colaba, for some reason named cause way. The common term for it has always been 'pattri bazaar'. It took me sometime to figure out what cause way meant. Every second person in the train seemed to be plugged into some music device.

One hoarding near Kurla station station read "learn Hi-Fi English in 30 days". I wondered what the term Hi-Fi meant. And why would this term be so attractive. Isn't learning English attractive enough. I guess not anymore. I'm not sure what exactly they meant by it, but I assume 'Hi-Fi' meant learning all the slangs and also the accent to speak with. The language to me seems to be less important than showing off through it.

I visited a senior IAS officer who lives near Churchgate. My idea was to just go and see him. He took some time to actually believe that someone had come to visit him just like that, no agenda at all. He asked me twice in what way he could help me. And I had to tell him, I was not there for any help. I just happened to be in the area, so I visited him. The good part is, that soon he became comfortable and our planned 30 min meeting went over 2 hours which included a nice lunch too. I guess he too was glad to meet someone who just dropped in "bilkul aise hi".

One morning, I walked in this Tanishq store at Churchgate with my cousin and aunt. A lady who was already there, was complaining about the air conditioner not working. It really pissed me off. Why would one need an a/c in morning. It wasn't hot at all.

So am I judging all these people? What am I complaining about? After all everyone has a right to choose the way they want to. Thats how freedom is defined. well yes ! I guess I'm only saying that this time I felt so much out of place. Mumbai always seemed great to me. I always felt at home in the crowded local. But this time I felt lost. And I guess it showed all over my face. I was more the usual quiet this time.

The part of the trip which I really enjoyed was the sea. I was visiting my uncle at the naval hospital in south Mumbai. This hospital is next to the sea. I loved the time i spent sitting in the hospital grounds, looking at the sea and the ships anchored. This part of the sea, lies of east of Mumbai. So I had the opportunity to see the sun rising from the sea. The reflection of the rays from water was so much, that one could not see the ships anchored.

On my way back, in the train there was this blind man singing and begging. His was the sweetest voice I had ever heard in my life. He was singing some old hindi film song, a sad song. And the way he sang, made it all the more sad. When he approached our column of seats, people stopped talking, and listened to him. The good thing about him was he was walking very slow. So he would spent a good amount of time at each column and then move to the next one. I somehow felt, he had faith in his ability to sing. And he did really sing well. Not only me, but others also felt compelled to give him something. It was something I had not witnessed ever in my life. Such a sweet voice and lovely singing. It seemed I was getting back into my world. My world of ordinary men, of ordinary moments of happiness, of appreciating small incidents happening in my life. I missed them so much in Mumbai this time.

What is India- part II

This is my second post on the same question, What is India? Who is an Indian? What do I mean when I say "Im proud to be an Indian"?

Today in the Gandhi course, Pranav raised this issue and we had some discussion on it. Though in the end the discussion became a bit aggressive (mainly because of me, dont know what I get aggressive), but the question is still unresolved in my mind. Who am I? What is being Indian?

Prior to 1947, everyone on this part of the world was Indian (or hindustani). Then there was a power struggle and some bad politics was placed, which resulted in modern India and modern Pakistan. Does that change the identity of the people living in it? All of a sudden people in a village became Pakistanis, while half a mile towards east, their friends and relatives continued to be Indians. And in this decision, they had no role to play. If tomorrow say India was to get divided again into India 1 and India 2, then what will I be? Will I still be an Indian? What identity will I give to my children.

This is difficult for me to imagine, but I'm sure it's a real question to the people two generations back who faced partition. This question is also relevant to those living on either side of LOC in Kashmir.

Does our identity come from the 'name' of the land we live in, we were born in, our ancestors belong to? Do we identify ourselves with the land or the 'name' of the land? Do we identify ourselves to land or the people? Am I born in the land called India or am I born in a family, in a society which consists of people. Will I still relate to India the land, if the people change (say we go to Europe and Europeans come here)?

These questions are still unanswered in my mind, and the more I think on it the more aggressive I get. I dont know why.

But if someone was to ask me how to identify Indians, or what is distinct about Indians, then the closest answer I can think of is, Indianess is a way one relates to land. In this region of the world, I feel there is a distinct way of relating to land, of the way one sees land (matr bhoomi). This definition of course does not hold true for those of us who live in cities. But I feel, one who is born in a village, who lives in a village, who does farming, for him there is a distinct relation with land. And this relation is the same in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Nepal, Bhutan etc. But as I said this is the closest answer I could think of, and its not fully accurate. Im still looking for a better definition of what an Indian is.