Yesterday I was reading ‘Anne Frank - Diary of a young girl’, when my sister entered the room;
Sis: Hey!
Me: Hey…
Sis: What are you reading?
Me: Anne Frank’s diary..
Sis: Oh! How can you…read someone’s diary? You should be ashamed of yourself. And that too just because she’s frank? You musn’t take advantage of that.
Me: Holy shit! *banging head against wall*
I guess it runs in the family…the whacko sense of humor…;)
cheers!
We’ve heard journos on TV talk endlessly about the ‘Spirit of Mumbai’. Does it really exist though? Or are we just living a lie? Sure, it sounds like a nice concept. But how real is it?
In any city, after 8 blasts people would definitely come forward to help each other. Isn’t that what any human being would do? Then why do we label it as the spirit of Mumbai? We’re endorsing humanity as something unique to Mumbai. Probably because we mumbaikars want to feel important. And news channels have exploited this to their benefit.
People get back to work despite bomb blasts and other tragedies, not because they want to defy anyone or prove a point. They do it because they need their days pay. Paapi pet ka sawaal hai. Mumbai gets back on its feet only because there are families to be fed. We don’t work against all odds. There’s nothing spectacular about our spirit. It just helps us feel better about ourselves. We temporarily forget the impact of these trying situations and bask in the glory of our new found spirit.
That is why when Mumbai is listed as one of the rudest cities, it comes as a shock. But it is hardly surprising, when people here have forgotten to smile. If you happen to knock into someone, you’re met with a rude glare. Abusing has become a way of life. The bus conductor snaps at you if you don’t have change. The rickshawala fights for an extra 2 rupees. People quarrel over getting a seat in the train…We are obviously and blatantly a rude city. That, however, is quite reasonable considering that ours is one of the busiest cities in the world.
Instead of pretending to be nice, it would be better if we acknowledge our rudeness.
Yes. We don’t believe in deliberate politeness. We don’t believe in forced ‘thank-yous’ and ‘excuse-mes’. We are hostile. We are ignorant. We believe in ‘jaane-do’ and ‘chalta hai’. We are human. The spirit of Mumbai is not about fighting back, it’s about surviving. There is only one spirit of Mumbai – Truly Bindaas.
