This is about Bombay and Calcutta.
I have had an overdose of reading and discussing the banes and boons of living in the two cities. And it has left me with some surprising insights, which have actually managed to make a dent in my own steadfast beliefs.
There were four conversations with four people.
* One is a 45-year-old man who moved with home and hearth from Bangalore to Bombay (for two-and-half-years) and then to Calcutta.
He hates almost everything about Calcutta: The non-existent service at shops; horrendous traffic; the fact that his sons' classmates talk in Bengali outside class and don't listen to as much rock; the weather; the fact that drivers, carpenters, plumbers all have running stomachs at the same time...
* The second is a late-30s (maybe) man who has set up home and hearth in Bombay for the last few years after having lived in cities around the world.
He hates Bombay because people here are insular, largely uneducated (at least in things that really matter), can think of nothing apart from money (they watch the BSE ticker as though it was a World Cup match); that there is no park for his kid to play in; that travelling anywhere takes an hour-and-half each way...
* The third is a 33-year-old man who has set up home in Bombay, having lived in Calcutta and Madras.
He hates Bombay because it makes people less human in their thoughts and feelings; that 24-hour shops mean there are poor buggers returning home from unearthly hours at night; that Calcutta still has a soul no matter how dimly it still glows...
* The fourth is a 29-year-old woman looking to move to Bombay after having lived in Calcutta and London.
She loves Bombay as it lets people be; offers an amazing variety of food to eat, brands to buy, a career to follow, friends to hang out with; and problems that people face in Bombay are problems of every big city.
They all have different wants and look for them in the city they live in.
I am not sure which I swing at the moment. I guess I am yet to figure out what exactly my wants are. But yes, I am getting a little more objective about them, and a little less sentimental.
