Sunday, February 3, 2008

Whose Mumbai is it anyway?

We never knew that a cosmopolitan city belonged to any particular community. Mumbai's ugly face showed in yesterday's violence when Raj Thakeray's followers went on a rampage mauling several North Indians (specially Purabiyas) and went on to gut several shops in fire. Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena is taking potshots at Samjwadi Party (read Purabiyas) and vice-versa.
The city that never stops is witnessing a bandh called by Uttar Bhartiya Vikas Manch. Strange are the ways of metros.
It was a bizzare spectacle yesterday. What does it have in store for future?
Now this may lead the punjabis in Delhi to think that delhi is being undone by the Biharis. Ergo, they must be thrown out. They too will forget how dependent is Delhi on the Bihari migrants. Who will run the PCO's? Who will pull the rickshaws that provide succour to the rich ones in smeltering Delhi heat? Who will work as the security guard? They have several vocations which cannot be done with elitist notions.
It is strange what premium we give to migration just for the heck of it at times. After all, what is the shame in carrying a similar voaction in your familiar surroundings? metros are El Dorados for quite a few but not for those who are at the bottom of the pyramid. The society has given a nod to migration per se, which leads to forced migration at times. At the macro-level some work is being done on reverse migration. At the grassroot level it scores a zilch. Why cannot we stay put in our familiar surroundings with heads held high? It is paradoxical but true that we have created our own nemesis.