Thoughts on Mumbai from a first hand point of view

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i am forwarding these first hand thoughts on Mumbai monsoons and bomb blasts courtesy a student of the Yoga Step by Step Curse as i feel that she strikes a cord in me also with her thoughs ananda I call this the spirit of Humanity. I have experienced such Humanity so very often, from the urban population as well as the simple rural people of India, during my numerous travels to the nooks and corners of this great country. I wanted to share this article with you as I was PAINED to know that Reader’s Digest magazine had judged Mumbai as the rudest city in the world, more so as I live about 200 kms. near Mumbai and travel there so often. To rub salt into the wound, the survey rates New York – the so called crime capital of the world, about which it is said it has always been going to hell but somehow has never gotten there – as the world’s most polite city. As per Readers Digest, the people of Mumbai do not hold

the door open for someone right behind them, they don’t help a passer-by pick up a dropped newspaper or a pile of documents, and shop keepers don’t thank customers after a retail experience. Any Indian who has spent a reasonable length of time in Mumbai will be surprised by this assertion, like me. The average Mumbaite is not rude by any contemporary standard as per my experience. Yes, they trample and elbow out their way through life and local trains, but what other way is

there to get anywhere? One does not want to condone poor etiquette, but different societies use different metrics to assess manners. Many Indians are rude in the western eyes because they do not articulate their gratitude or helpfulness. But Indians express it in different forms. In fact there is a theory – not entirely credible in today’s times – about why in some societies, men do not hold the door open for women to step out first, that would be considered thoughtless because men are supposed to lead and see that there is no

danger. There are cultural differences when it comes to gestures. In many Indian homes, it is considered good hygiene to remove ones footwear before entering the house, something westerners may not be attuned to doing. A burp may be an expression of satisfaction for some, but a disgusting emission for others. Some apologize for it and others don’t. Indians abroad often display poor manners by

western outlook,but they have other sterling qualities. In India, so many thoughts are left unsaid, because we understand. In our tradition, we do not ever say ‘Thank you’ to our parents, siblings or even close friends, because traditionally feelings & emotions are not expressed in words, but by our gestures or deeds. For example, we show our respect and gratitude to elders by bowing down with folded hands or touching their feet. As for retail experience, forget ‘thank you’, we have our own ways of appreciation. A shop keeper can say ‘thank you’ by just bowing his head, a ‘Namastey’ with folded hands or just a smile, which conveys it all. The formality of saying ‘thank you’ in words, is a western tradition, brought by the British when they ruled India. When one is trying to eke out a living in a predatory city of 20 million people, etiquette, as framed by Reader’s Digest, is the last thing on anyone’s mind. Mumbai may be missing manners, but it sure has heart, which is far more important. -----------This is a meaningful article written by the Dy. Editor of Times of

India, MumbaiGroup explaining how courageously people fought 07/11 in Mumbai. Dear All,Today's Mid-Day edit begins by saying that you don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand that the chain of events starting from the Bhiwandi riots to the desecration of Meenatai's statue and what happened as an aftermath, to the serial blasts on the trains yesterday, means somebody somewhere wants Mumbaikar's to spill out on the streets andgrab each other by the throats.Incidentally, these same somebody-- the faceless outcasts that they still are-- have at least succeeded in one part of their plan. Mumbaikars have actually spilled out on to the streets.The catch here is that they have failed to succeed in the

second and most important part of their plan: that of getting Mumbaikars to grab each other by the throats. Mumbaikars spilled onto the streets-- in a collective show of the middle finger to those who proposed otherwise.I know very well that you are already aware of how Mumbai stormed onto the streets to help the injured, the stranded and soothe the injuries that were still gaping along its life line.There were capsules and capsules of streaming video that showed them offering water and refreshments to people stranded on SV Road and the Eastern and Western Express Highways.There were captures of students of Sydenham and SNDT college, who camped at Churchgate station with the sole purpose of offering a bed to those stranded at the starting node of the life line.And there was also that memorable grab of people standing patiently in front of KEM Hospital-- all in a serpentine queue, to donate blood. A

result of which has been a no-shortage syndrome, when it comes to blood at all the hospitals where the injured are being treated or are recuperating.But this is not about all that. And yet, it is about all that and more. It is about the sights I saw and the people I met with, while travelling along the Western Express Highway to Kandivali yesterday, between 7 in the evening and one in the morning.It is about that little kid and his grandfather near Dadar, who, perhaps in the absence of anybody else in the household, took to the streets with bottles of water and packets of biscuits to contribute in whatever way possible in managing the crisis. "Uncle, you must be thirsty," the kid told me while offering the bottle. A parched me drank gratefully. And I saw in those eyes no fear. So what did those terrorists think while planting the bomb? That was at least the silent way of making onestatement-- "Terror, my

foot.!"It is also about those housewives in front of a housing society near Santa Cruz, who were standing with pots of piping tea, water and God only knows what else to help those passing by. And they had this board beside them which read "Beyond Borivli, Can Stay'. I was lucky to get a cab, but there were people who were trying to make it on foot. And they needed succor. Rest. Shelter. It was raining.It is about the autorickshaw driver, who finally reached me home in the interiors of Kandivali at 1 in the morning. And refused to take the night fare, despite being legally impowered to charge extra. "Nehi saab, aaj ki baat alag hai. Aap thik thak ghar pohuj gaye, yeh hi kafi hai," he bade me goodbye at my doorstep.It is also about the dabbawala who provides me with my dinner everyday. His shop is near the Borivli station, where there was one of the biggest blasts at 6:34 in the evening. Yet, at one

o clock in the morning, the dabba was there waiting at my doorstp to be picked up. It didn't need a note. The piping hot food at such an unearthly hour said it all.The terrorists succeeded in synchronising a series of blasts that stopped the Mumbai lifeline for somewhere around seven hours. That was all that they achieved on 7/11. The trains were back on track by 1:30 in the morning and they plied all through the night. I wonder if the masterminds will consider this before planning their next attack. I would urge them to-- if this reaches any one of them-- to rethink. After all, what did a year of planning, six months of smuggling dangerousexplosives, extensive netwroking and crores achieve at theend-- arond 200 lives and just seven hours of disruption? Bus! I won't budge for that. In the deal they united more than they dreamt to rip apart. And by the way, I did not spot any member of the celebrated

Readers' Digest survey team yesterday on the roads. Or perhaps they were there - reconsidering their statement.I request whoever receives this, to forward it to as many people as possible. At least that way, we will build an opinion against these faceless faces of terrorSudip GhoshDeputy EditorMedianetTimes of India, MumbaiMobile: 098330 89647--------------------------- Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani Chairman : Yoganjali Natyalayam and ICYER Hon General Secretary, Pondicherry Yogasana Association 25, 2nd Cross,Iyyanar Nagar,

Pondicherry, South India-605 013 Tel: +91-413 - 2622902 / +91-413 -3203314/+91-413 -2241561 Website: www.icyer.com www.geocities.com/yognat2001/ananda

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