Learning from Mumbai

Source: The Hindu


THE OTHER HALF



PEOPLE living in this great metropolis of Mumbai are
angry and sad. Not just because seven serial blasts
that ripped through Mumbai's lifeline, the suburban
train network, killed 186 people and injured over
700 on Tuesday, July 11. Not because the daily
tension and discomfort of commuting on packed trains
will be that much worse now — with the added
component of fear. Not because in times of need we
are always left to fend for ourselves with the State
either absconding or held up elsewhere. Not because
people in other cities are celebrating our
"resilience" and "spirit" without knowing the first
thing about the daily challenges that the majority
of Mumbaikars face and overcome.

Impossible conditions


No, none of these reasons makes us sad and angry
although some may annoy us. We are sad because
despite petitions and protests, we still have to
continue to travel each day like cattle instead of
human beings. Because no one, but no one, is
bothered about the impossible conditions in which
the majority of us live, or the fact that because
housing is not available within easy reach of where
we work we must commute long hours and impossible
distances in trains packed with three times the
number of people than their capacity.

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