Shantaram experience

abhiuday467 · Jul 25th, 2008, 11:21

Well i just wanted to know how many of u experienced the same way as shantaram experienced mumbai.

Well i am an indian and had never been to mumbai till few months back.But the experience of mumbai were shocking i have never seen so much contrast like rich and poor and so much population and so much filth all at one place and still somehow things work.
The experience of mumbai local is a thing that i will remember whole my life.
When i went to see the house of shahrukh "Mannat" the thing that shocked me the most was that there was a zhopadpatti near to his house.And then and there i thought that shahrukh struggled for so many years to get this house at such a prime location and here a poor fellow just put up a zhopadpatti and it was at more prime location with better view of sea.Then i laughed to myself that this is the most pure form of democracy where everybody gets what they want

and everybody is happy.

And while on my way back to hyderabad at mumbai airport i found this novel called shantaram and then i felt that i was not alone .Somebody had a similar experience like me.

brishti · Jul 25th, 2008, 15:01

i am obviously at a lack for any words as a response to your post.

tell me - out of curiosity [ curiosity is my present-state-of-mind ]...
what is the charminar area [ old city ] like, in your neck o the woods?

:brishti

abhiuday467 · Jul 25th, 2008, 16:42

Well to tell u frankly u hardly see slums in hyderabad plus i have not been to charminar side and thanks for telling me that its same as what i have seen in mumbai.
But few things u cant just ignore about mumbai!!! What u see is High rise building and next to it u will slums its all soo contrasting and its not just one slum im talking about there are so many and at so many places that u just cant ignore them!!! Atleast u dont see that in hyderabad.U dont see a slum next to Cyber Tower but u can find one next to World trade center in mumbai or for that matter where ever u go in mumbai expect nariman point area because if im right then they have some really hard restriction to stop slum dwellers from coming there.

Secondly have u ever boarded the mumbai local on a quite sunday at 4 pm when u would have expected the least traffic as is the case with hyderabad's local train,u dont see that in mumbai local and i am just too horrified to even imagine the scene at peak hours, i mean the morning hours when its office going time for everybody.

And as far as being in india is consider then luckily i have spent my life in foot hills of himalaya which is not that much much populated.!!!

Gametotravel · Jul 25th, 2008, 16:46

@Abjiuday467 are you comparing Hyderabad to Bombay by any chance?

brishti · Jul 25th, 2008, 18:27

you gotta have a tete tete with the grumpy ones of IM.
they'll have all them confusions [?] sorted out for you in no time.
between 0000hrs - 0200hrs, they're at their most enlightened selves.

:brishti

Aishah · Jul 25th, 2008, 18:44

Mod Note: This doesn't look like a book discussion so I am moving it into another Forum.

abhuday467 - bear in mind the Mumbai experience in Shantaram supposedly happened quite a no. of years ago - I think in the 80's. Maybe a lot of things are still much the same now. Slums are everywhere in India - not just in Mumbai. But of course, the population there is huge, hence the larger areas of them.

Bigzero · Jul 25th, 2008, 19:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhiuday467

And as far as being in india is consider then luckily i have spent my life in foot hills of himalaya which is not that much much populated.!!!

Well, that explains the Mumbai shock

I dont have an answer to your question on Shantaram experience, but all I can say is that in terms of size and congestion, Hyderabad is nowhere near Mumbai. The population of Dharavi slum in Mumbai could shame some of the so called cities in India, I have heard

capt_mahajan · Jul 25th, 2008, 19:28

err, not comparing cities, both have advantages.

But, if you talk of slums, then you have to look at the percentage of the population of a city living in them

Mumbai was at 54% in the 2001 census, ie more than half of its citizens lived in Slums.
Hyderabad was at 17.

Part of the reason is that real estate costs the earth in Mumbai in comparison, of course. Some of the slum dwellers in Mumbai may have higher incomes (in straight rupee terms) than some of the lowest middle class folk in Hyderabad.

abhiuday467 · Jul 25th, 2008, 21:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gametotravel

@Abjiuday467 are you comparing Hyderabad to Bombay by any chance?

Well boss its "abhiuday467" and not "abhjiuday467"

.The point is that u cant compare Mumbai with any other part or city of india.Thats my point of view.

abhiuday467 · Jul 25th, 2008, 21:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by capt_mahajan

err, not comparing cities, both have advantages.

But, if you talk of slums, then you have to look at the percentage of the population of a city living in them

Mumbai was at 54% in the 2001 census, ie more than half of its citizens lived in Slums.
Hyderabad was at 17.

Part of the reason is that real estate costs the earth in Mumbai in comparison, of course. Some of the slum dwellers in Mumbai may have higher incomes (in straight rupee terms) than some of the lowest middle class folk in Hyderabad.

Well Mumbai used to be center for migrant worker till economic reforms happened in India.Till that time mumbai used to attract workers from rest part of india and no other city even compared near to it.Just imagine the influx of almost 5000 people a day for almost four decade!!! This shaped up the bombay or mumbai as we see it now.Mumbai has few limits it cant grow into sea first and secondly it is surrounded by forest if im right n thats the main reason for its current state and high prices.

Dont get me wrong but after seeing the current ground reality i think there is nothing wrong when shiv sena people say that mumbai cant take in more people n migration has to stop.The city is just dying by sheer amount of people it has and we are dreaming of making it next shanghai!!!Forget it.!!!!

Larkilli · Aug 3rd, 2008, 14:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhiuday467

Well i just wanted to know how many of u experienced the same way as shantaram experienced mumbai.

well, i'm pretty much sure that not many people experienced Mumbai (or India in general) the way that Gregory David Roberts did.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhiuday467

And while on my way back to hyderabad at mumbai airport i found this novel called shantaram and then i felt that i was not alone .Somebody had a similar experience like me.

Could you describe in which way your experience was similar to the one of Shantaram's author?

Just being a curious cat again...

abhiuday467 · Aug 3rd, 2008, 15:07

ok i landed at 2 around in night and my brother came to pick me up.While on our way to his house the thing that struck me the most was the fact there was such a long line of autos along the street that i asked my brother "do they even get that much passengers???" and he replied "They will all be filled with people see tomorrow morning!!!!" and he was not wrong at all!!!!.Basically im saying that i got shocks when i 1st landed at mumbai ,i got a very very very little shock compared to what shantaram might have experienced.

Jul 25th, 2008, 11:21	#1
abhiuday467 Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: hyderabad Posts: 19	Shantaram experience Well i just wanted to know how many of u experienced the same way as shantaram experienced mumbai. Well i am an indian and had never been to mumbai till few months back.But the experience of mumbai were shocking i have never seen so much contrast like rich and poor and so much population and so much filth all at one place and still somehow things work. The experience of mumbai local is a thing that i will remember whole my life. When i went to see the house of shahrukh "Mannat" the thing that shocked me the most was that there was a zhopadpatti near to his house.And then and there i thought that shahrukh struggled for so many years to get this house at such a prime location and here a poor fellow just put up a zhopadpatti and it was at more prime location with better view of sea.Then i laughed to myself that this is the most pure form of democracy where everybody gets what they want and everybody is happy. And while on my way back to hyderabad at mumbai airport i found this novel called shantaram and then i felt that i was not alone .Somebody had a similar experience like me.

Jul 25th, 2008, 18:44	#6
Aishah She-who-must-be-obeyed! Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Jaisalmer Posts: 4,245	Mod Note: This doesn't look like a book discussion so I am moving it into another Forum. abhuday467 - bear in mind the Mumbai experience in Shantaram supposedly happened quite a no. of years ago - I think in the 80's. Maybe a lot of things are still much the same now. Slums are everywhere in India - not just in Mumbai. But of course, the population there is huge, hence the larger areas of them. __________________ "Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."

Jul 25th, 2008, 19:28	#8
capt_mahajan (in charge of navel affairs) Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: India Posts: 9,509	err, not comparing cities, both have advantages. But, if you talk of slums, then you have to look at the percentage of the population of a city living in them Mumbai was at 54% in the 2001 census, ie more than half of its citizens lived in Slums. Hyderabad was at 17. Part of the reason is that real estate costs the earth in Mumbai in comparison, of course. Some of the slum dwellers in Mumbai may have higher incomes (in straight rupee terms) than some of the lowest middle class folk in Hyderabad. __________________ . Humpty Dumpty was pushed. How do you know when push comes to shove? Indiamike moderating team ..ich bin ein oneliner

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Jul 25th, 2008, 15:01	#2
brishti just another member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: india Posts: 1,529	i am obviously at a lack for any words as a response to your post. tell me - out of curiosity [ curiosity is my present-state-of-mind ]... what is the charminar area [ old city ] like, in your neck o the woods? :brishti

Jul 25th, 2008, 16:42	#3
abhiuday467 Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: hyderabad Posts: 19	Well to tell u frankly u hardly see slums in hyderabad plus i have not been to charminar side and thanks for telling me that its same as what i have seen in mumbai. But few things u cant just ignore about mumbai!!! What u see is High rise building and next to it u will slums its all soo contrasting and its not just one slum im talking about there are so many and at so many places that u just cant ignore them!!! Atleast u dont see that in hyderabad.U dont see a slum next to Cyber Tower but u can find one next to World trade center in mumbai or for that matter where ever u go in mumbai expect nariman point area because if im right then they have some really hard restriction to stop slum dwellers from coming there. Secondly have u ever boarded the mumbai local on a quite sunday at 4 pm when u would have expected the least traffic as is the case with hyderabad's local train,u dont see that in mumbai local and i am just too horrified to even imagine the scene at peak hours, i mean the morning hours when its office going time for everybody. And as far as being in india is consider then luckily i have spent my life in foot hills of himalaya which is not that much much populated.!!!

Jul 25th, 2008, 16:46	#4
Gametotravel Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 402	@Abjiuday467 are you comparing Hyderabad to Bombay by any chance?

Jul 25th, 2008, 18:27	#5
brishti just another member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: india Posts: 1,529	you gotta have a tete tete with the grumpy ones of IM. they'll have all them confusions [?] sorted out for you in no time. between 0000hrs - 0200hrs, they're at their most enlightened selves. :brishti

Aug 3rd, 2008, 15:07	#12
abhiuday467 Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: hyderabad Posts: 19	ok i landed at 2 around in night and my brother came to pick me up.While on our way to his house the thing that struck me the most was the fact there was such a long line of autos along the street that i asked my brother "do they even get that much passengers???" and he replied "They will all be filled with people see tomorrow morning!!!!" and he was not wrong at all!!!!.Basically im saying that i got shocks when i 1st landed at mumbai ,i got a very very very little shock compared to what shantaram might have experienced.

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