In all the very many cities I've lived or stayed in as an adult, (joking, you can count them on one hand), I have found that a quick and easy way to get a sense of the city is to read the local papers. There are day-to-day happenings, and there are things that set the paper apart that will be surprising to everyone else. (Still better would be to read in vernacular languages, but that will have to wait.)
My local paper of choice here has been Mumbai Mirror, and has it been an eventful couple of months for the city! The south-west monsoon has been the heaviest in several years. Assembly elections are coming up. But the issue gripping the city has been the plan to raze thousands of trees in Aarey forest to make space for a Metro car shed. Local residents have turned out in the middle of the night and clashed with police - and scored, as of now, a temporary but partial victory as many trees have already been cut but the Supreme Court has stepped in.
Newspapers seem like one-way communication, but they really need not be, in the Internet age. Mirror has features where readers send in interesting photos of the city, apart from publishing a (usually currently relevant) question every day to start a conversation on social media. This is apart from traditional letters to the editor, of course. Local papers also have more freedom to go deeper into localised issues (for instance, features on how the freezing of PMC bank has hit the Sikh community in the city).
Another thing that struck me in the event listings is the popularity of theatre - in Marathi, Hindi and English. I am yet to attend any plays but this makes me very curious. Stand-up comedy also seems to be a big draw. There is also lots of celebrity gossip that I gladly skip over, but I see why people are invested.
But what I'm really trying to do is approximate this nebulous concept of the "spirit of a city". I don't know how one would define such a thing. I don't think a city is too much more than people who happened to be in the same place at the same time. Some contagious ideas and tendencies stick and are chalked up to the spirit of the city. Would Mumbaikars walk so famously fast, or crowd on trains, or recover after terror attacks, if the city wasn't the financial capital? I don't know. But any new avenue to spread positive ideas and hold powerful people accountable is a good thing.
Also, here is a Mumbai Mirror feature with vintage photographs and interviews with personalities who shaped the city, do check it out.
Awesome observations
ReplyDeleteInteresting post! Especially the point you make about newspapers not necessarily being a one-way communication and how local papers deal with issues in more detail as compared to the national media. And Mumbai Mirror, the celebrity gossip is something which is probably grist to the mill for many! I look forward to your accounts of a play that you will hopefully attend - hopefully in Hindi. An English play will typically have the 'oh-we-go-only-to-English-plays' kind of elitist audience. If you understand Marathi and manage to go for a Marathi play, all the better!
ReplyDeleteSpirit of the city... well, I'm afraid I have a different take on this, especially on this much touted ''how Mumbai has the 'irrepressible spirit' of 'bouncing back'''. Mumbai is a relentless city and I've always got the impression that overall in India's financial capital, one simply doesn't have the luxury to mourn or to grieve. This is rather sad, for Mumbaikers are human beings after all, like you and me with everyday emotions and the capacity to grieve and mourn. Yet, by and large they've always had to brush everything aside, their feelings especially, and carry on as if nothing has happened simply because the citizens of Mumbai desperately need to survive. That isn't a very healthy thing in my humble opinion.
Keep up with your blog Aparna! Look forward to the next one!
Mohan
This is really interesting. I love the title especially.
ReplyDeleteWoww a nice perspective aparna.. Good job
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