The Great Divide

It is said that knowledge and experience come from all directions in different forms and situations. One should be absorbent like a sponge and learn from all the experiences, whether good or bad. Journey by public transport of Mumbai teaches you the lessons of survival amid the thickly packed throngs. If one has to understand what rat race is, one can always travel by the public transport of Mumbai. I became a regular commuter of this ‘deluge’ a year ago and since then I have observed and learnt the horrid forms of rat race which can take place for a seat in a bus or a train. First class compartments of trains are known to be convenient and less crowded than the second class compartments. Unfortunately, these ‘convenient’ compartments for which we shell more money are cubbyholes where it provides seats for 13 women. Though the written instruction says “13 passengers only”, I watch an eighth woman constrict into 7-seater long seats. I commiserate with the other 7 women who lose the opportunity to sit comfortably because of this 8^th encroacher. And if this woman happens to be a plump one, the others are in for great discomfort. Therefore a delay of a single minute to get into the train and you lose the chance to be among the ‘Top 13’ or else you become a forceful intruder inviting the wrath of the seated ones. During summers, travelling in packed trains becomes intolerable. To add to the misery, first class ladies compartment is too small to bear the huge hordes of women getting in at each station. On the other hand, the gents’ compartment is relatively bigger, where men, in most cases, stand or sit comfortably. This is the first ‘divide’ I come across every day.  Also, I come across many ignorant women who mistakenly get into first class compartments, given the relatively scanty crowd. We all wish to travel comfortably, don’t we? Therefore, with an expectation of at least standing comfortably in the train, these poor women board the First Class. But the ladies of the First Class do not tolerate this ignorance and they taunt and scold these women for the ‘unpardonable crime’, until they drive them out on the next station.

What I find astonishing is the surmising power of the ‘Great Women of the First Class’. Only by looking at the ignorant women’s attire, do they understand that these women do not belong to the First Class. How a person’s dressing sense can determine his or her wealth, I wonder. There are so many people in this world, who dress and live simply, in spite of the immense wealth that they possess. Wear a simple looking dress and you are perceived as a second class traveler! What a parameter! I feel bad for these ignorant women who have to bear the criticism for no fault of theirs. I am not saying that such women should be allowed to travel freely into First Class putting up ignorance as an excuse. But I believe the other women in the train should be polite to these women while making them understand for their mistake. What does it cost to be polite? Absolutely nothing! This is the Second Divide that I observe that of being educated, well informed and civilized and on the other hand, being illiterate, ignorant and savage. The local trains are meant for everyone, for all strata, the destinations to reach are common, yet such a vast difference between its classes of travelers. I cringe at the fact that some do so well in their lives, enjoy affluence and all the comforts, while some are deprived of simple joys and necessities. Necessity of having enough wealth and education to stay in a city like Mumbai and the ability to support one’s family! Although many efforts and taxpayers’ funds are utilized into improving the level of education, it will still take many years to bridge this gap of education and ignorance.

From past one month and a half, I have been travelling to Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), the hub of trade and commerce, where head offices of big conglomerates are situated. While I travel in a bus from Kurla till BKC, I pass by huge pockets of penury and misery. The poor occupy every little space that is available and build hutments in whatever meager space that is left. My sincere salute to all BEST Bus drivers who drive on such narrow roads without losing calm and patience! If one wants to understand the thick density of population, one can find it on the roads of Kurla. Sometimes these filthy localities and slums offer catering services and food stalls. Given the nearby surroundings, it’s easy to determine the safety and hygiene of these meals. The part of my journey, where road construction is going on, I see a serpentine queue of slums, which are built using 4-5 bamboo sticks each and plastic covers serving as roofs and walls. The urchins play on the road fearlessly. These are half naked children in poor state of health and hygiene, who find joy even in their deplorable way of life. Every morning I watch this tremendous transition from the squalid streets of Kurla to the plush roads of BKC. When I witness such enormity of poverty and misery, I am reminded of the concept of ‘vicious circle’ which we were taught in Economics. Population explosion is the second stage of demographic growth where the birth rates are high and the death rates low. Such a situation prevails in developing economies like India. Population explosion leads to unemployment, which causes poverty among the masses and therefore an increase in the crime rate, which proves pernicious for the entire society.

Burgeoning population is the scenario which I observe almost every day during my train or bus journey. The observation goes like this: I wait for my train, which is to arrive in 5 minutes, or say 2 minutes (It is assumed that the trains run on time!). I am pleased to see only 5 to 6 women around me, waiting for the same train as I. I make plans to sit or stand comfortably in the train, plug in my headphones and listen to music till I reach home. Alas! While I am lost in my reverie, making such ‘hypothetical’ plans, I see a huge group of women gathered to catch the same train. I am stupefied to see such a large number of women in a mere 5-minute period. I marvel that if this is the rate of people gathering only to catch a mode of transport, how rapidly our population must be growing! Delay of trains, be it on working days or even Megablocks on Sundays, can cause near-death experience to the commuters. Dilatoriness of trains or buses during monsoons paralyses the entire city. The strain on resources which such a preponderant population must be causing is beyond imagination. As a result, no matter how well the infrastructure is developed, it still proves insufficient to meet the needs of ever growing population. We often find people expressing dismay about the Government and the authorities, for not promising efficiency in the services.

The reason for this havoc in public modes of transport is the subsidization of these services by the Government. Providing large subsidies can result into exacerbation of the economy in the long run. Though the hoi polloi rejoices over the reasonable rates of transport services, the quality of the services is questionable. In countries like the USA, travel by train maybe as expensive as flying. I have travelled in Mumbai Metro, which is a best paradigm of privatization. Fare for a single journey is as high as Rs. 30 from Ghatkopar to Andheri. Besides, it provides the services of highest class. There is no scope for people to travel ticketless in Metro. The infrastructure and security is ensured to be state-of-the-art. I imagine that if such transport network would have existed in the entire city, the train journey would have been so hassle-free!

Population and poverty are growing at rapid pace and so is urbanization. People in rural areas or smaller cities migrate to cities like Delhi or Mumbai in search of better education and job opportunities, which lead to overcrowding in cities. If we really want development of our nation as whole, it is necessary that development is concentrated in each city or state, in terms of infrastructure and job opportunities. It will only then be possible to distribute the resources fairly to all people and justice would be done to the taxpayers’ money. Secondly, it is the need of the hour to curb the population growth in our country. As per the Census, the working population of our country i.e from the age group 15-59 is high in number, which bears the brunt of all taxes. High working population would also mean high fertility rate, resulting into immense growth of population. Like China, if even India strictly implements ‘one child’ policy, we can bring down this tension. It sounds theoretical though in a country like India, where a child is considered to be God’s gift, which one should not refuse!  Similar to ration cards, where names of only up to two children are only allowed to be added, certain tax deductions or relaxation can be offered to families having one or two children. Now that ration cards are reckoned to be obsolete, this measure will induce the penny pinching working class to keep population under check. Rather than producing more children with an expectation to continue the lineage in a family, it is always a good deed to adopt orphans who are in dire need of love and care. Just imagine the bright future these children can have if they are adopted by well-to-do couples. It would be tautological to giving birth to a new life.

Primarily the attitudes of the people need to change. Merely criticizing the authorities does not help. Change should happen from within, from every household.  Governments are run by human beings after all and so we cannot expect them to be infallible.  A nation can enjoy complacency only if its citizens and the Government walk hand-in-hand playing pivotal roles towards development of the nation. The malaise of poverty and corruption can be weeded out if there is such cooperation. Only then can every individual live a secured life without much struggle, a sense of solidarity and compassion is developed, and there are smiles of contentment instead of lines of worry on every face. Though such a picture may look Utopian and difficult to achieve, we all can try to achieve reformation of mindsets, effacing out the boundaries of division and reaching closer to this Utopia. If that happens, it will truly symbolize the greatness of our nation.