In the beginning, Mumbai was a set of islands with largely fishermen and a few ports for trading ships to halt for rest and supplies. As traffic on the western coast increased - both in terms of volume and in terms of the multinational stakeholders - the benefits of the natural harbour that Mumbai offered were appreciated. This triggered development of trading activity - both physical structures like warehouses and factories for assembling goods and service hubs involving agents, traders, logistics providers, etc. The wealth generated was invested into housing, recreational structures and newer economic ventures like textiles. Land was reclaimed from the sea and the islands were fused into a single land mass. Populations kept rising. The markets spawned the rise of banking and financial services, stock markets, commodities trading, etc. Each of these entities brought in more and more people from different parts of the country. Savvy businessmen with surplus funds started investing in films. The elite patronised cricket clubs and gymkhanas. Culture, sports, wada pavs, temples, mosques, churches, malls, bowling alleys, etc all happened. The city started bursting on its seams every year - the trains became more and more crowded; the roads more and more jammed; the houses more and more scarce and expensive; the air more and more dirty. It continues even today.
A complex evolving (or devolving?) human system that originated from a few islands. Even today, Mumbai is still evolving, still emerging. The city stretches out northwards to Surat, eastwards to Nashik, southwards to Pune. Like this societies around the world are in constant transition.
There are a plethora of sciences which study human phenomena. There is surfeit of data, research, observations, viewpoints, insights, comments, stories, narratives that document human systems in transition.
This blog adds to the clutter. I make no claims that I will provide perspectives that cut through everything. It is rather a journal of my own growth and a metric of success would be writing posts contradicting myself (or points I may have made in earlier posts). If that happens, I shall consider myself has having moved ahead in life.
To know a bit of my background, here. I also do armchair commentary on life universe and everything. Plus I tramp around
> a metric of success would be writing posts contradicting myself
ReplyDeleteReally? During my b-school days we used to play a game like that. Who can talk on both the pros and cons of any topic. Never knew it would be such an evolving experience.