Category Archives: india
Safe and Warm in the City of Mumbai
Call me Pollyanna if you must, but I believe that people are generally good until proven otherwise. However, it’s very difficult to stick to this truism in many places around the world, especially the very large metro areas. It’s not that people are not good there, it’s just that we see very few demonstrations of it.
Either its a New York City where you are invisible – just one of the multitudes lost in the crowds, or it’s Los Angeles where again you are invisible – in the vast expanse of neighborhoods. Actually, I take that back, in NYC, sometimes you are not invisible but you wish you were, because someone else was rude to you just now…:)
I do see a difference in some of the southern US cities, and I see a difference in smaller towns, wherever they may be.
Not that it’s a small town by any account, but that brings me to Mumbai. I’ve compared its similiarities to NYC in another post but there are a couple of major differences.
Safe and Warm in the City of Mumbai!
For one, in Mumbai, people are warm to others. You may be a stranger or you may be a lifer, whatever the case may be, you are rarely invisible, and it’s even rarer to encounter rude behavior. People generally have a ‘live and let live’ attitude, and they are helpful when you need help. This is why I enjoy taking my visiting friends and showing them around the city. The weather may be unbearable in summer, but its people are not!
Here’s another quality that may surprise you. Notwithstanding all the stories you hear about the Mafia underworld of Mumbai, this is a safe city. It is said that a woman alone can take a taxi at 2 am in the morning and feel safe about reaching her destination problem-free. I have never done that before. But I could, without being overly concerned, since I have heard about Mumbai’s safety so many times from so many different people. I can’t say I’d do the same in New Delhi! And I won’t even feel that comfortable doing so in Bangalore or Hyderabad.
People in Mumbai - Monsoon Sunday at Gateway of India
Now that I’ve been here for a few months, I really believe in these qualities of Mumbai – people are generally nice to you, and it is known to be a safe city for ordinary people. I say this while acknowledging but ignoring some very special cases such as 26/11 and even the most recent bomb blasts that occurred just a few days ago . I relegate those to terrible acts of terrorism by a small fringe element – people essentially not from Bombay but seeking to destroy its very essence.
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So, back to the premise that people here are basically good-natured and warm. What I wonder though is, why is this the case?
Is it simply endemic to the region, i.e., are people from Maharashtra just built this way?
Or, rather, is it because Mumbai is a melting pot of so many different cultures from around the country (and world) that it has become that way?
I really don’t know the answer, but would sure love to hear others’ theories about this. Please, enlighten me!
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Photo 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joezach/90248788/ {{cc-by-2.0}}
Photo 2: Sandhya – June 2011
The Great, BIG Indian Wedding Spectacle
Weddings are really huge in India – no matter which way you look at them – their sheer scope, size, budget, variety…
To see how huge, all you have to look at are the proliferation of everything bridal.
Bridal shows, bridal trousseau’s, bridal jewels, and so on.
Wedding planners have become mandatory appendages to every wedding.
After all, each wedding has multiple events.
And each occasion has an unique theme which is carried out in everything from decor to food.
And typically, thousands of guests. So, wedding planners are no longer a luxury, they are a necessity.
Wait! What am I saying? I forget this is India I am talking about, so I simply cannot generalize like this! Let me rewind a bit. I am talking specifically about weddings of the upper classes, and especially those based in the large metros of India.
So, within these classes, with money flowing freely (much almost exclusively in the form of cash that you can touch and feel), weddings are celebrated exuberantly and ostentatiously, the Indian way. Naturally.
The show opens with the wedding invitations. Some are as large as a book. Elaborately created by professional designers. Using hand-made paper, hand-painted or hand-printed. Hand-delivered with sweets, a silver memento or even a designer sari. So, when it starts with a bang like this (i.e. setting the expectations), you can imagine that it has to end with a bigger bang. A much bigger bang! Enough to keep guests talking for weeks, if not months.
The hospitality industry simply thrives during wedding seasons. Grand halls and ballrooms, five-star hotels and up-market restaurants – they all do well. Orchids have become passe when it comes to flowers. Now, people are on the lookout for what exotic flowers can be imported from Singapore or Europe…preferably something rare, that no one has used before. !
Being unique is the name of the game. We are talking Unique with a capital U. God forbid that any concept or design from a previous wedding be reused!
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Want to see the diversity and variety that exists in Indian weddings? These are just a couple of the quick finds of Indian wedding planner websites. Here’s a wedding planner’s website so you can comprehend the range of choices of types of weddings possible. And check out this array of very exclusive wedding plans. These are for destination weddings in Goa, Rajathan, Kerala and the like. What amazing settings!
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Speaking of settings (you know, like in the movies), here’s a rather unique and interesting phenomenon. Bollywood stars also do well during wedding season. They are ‘invited’ – basically, paid to meet, greet and mingle with guests!
At a recent high society elite wedding, several stars were on hand as “guests”. They are also paid (much more, obviously) to perform for the guests.
Shah Rukh Khan himself was the star attraction at a recent wedding celebration. The draw was his dance performance for the wedding guests!
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With all the attention on him and the other mingling stars, one wonders if anyone paid attention to the real stars of the wedding. The bride and groom.
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And, can you imagine Brad Pitt dancing at someone’s wedding in the U.S. for a fee? Wow!
Time to start a new trend, Hollywood…this time by copying Bollywood. What say you, Brad?
I think it’s a rather neat idea because you can always use the proceeds for one of your favorite causes.
If you decide it’s something worth pursuing, how about a bet with me that your first gig will be to perform at an Indian wedding? 🙂
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Offerings By McKay Savage from Chennai, India [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Brad Pitt By Maggie from Palm Springs, United States (Brad) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Mandap By Taxman (Taxman) (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 