Living life on the edge, scrambling for a toehold on trains, snaking one’s way through traffic snarls, fighting to find a roof over one’s head all combine to make Mumbai the city that never sleeps, and Mumbaikars the people who die younger than others in the rest of the country reads the article in TOI.
A study has found that the average Mumbaikar is likely to die at least seven years before other Indians and about 12 years before people living in the rest of Maharashtra. Shocking isn’t it? When I visited Mumbai few days back, I saw how the place keeps evolving and taking a better shape day by day. Today, the Mumbai airport looks really outstanding; travel through the sea link at dusk is stunning experience. During my stay in
Bombay in early 2005 & 06, I really enjoyed the local train travel from Borivalli to Santacruz for work in the morning hours…one can image the crowd. The kala katta & vada pav at the Juhu beach, shopping at Inorbit, Raghuleela, Borivali market, Bandra link road, the plush roads of south Mumbai, Worli sea-face, marine lines, Gandhi Market at Matunga, the long journey from Belapur to Sion, Asha, my super maid, the tailor in Kandivali, walnut truffle at Monginis and so on… really unforgettable. Mumbai certainly creates that feel good factor despite the hush & push and more lately the threat & fear for safety.Those two years of my life remain unforgettable in very many ways. I love Mumbai and its lifestyle, but once again setting up a home in Mumbai will be a big No from me. Why? The tension that one needs to take seems too high. I can lead a similar or even a far better life style here in Chennai with comparatively lesser anxiety. After all its important to maintain that 120/80!
Now the charms of Mumbai look great to me as long as I am a seldom traveller. The fact remains that that the crude death rate (CDR) in Mumbai is 7.3 per 1,000 people, higher than the overall death rate of 5.6 for urban areas in Maharashtra.
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