When I came to Bombay in 1954, after passing my High School exam at 15, around this time - hey wait a minute - it was half-a-century ago man, and calls for some non-commercial writing!
 

Bombay was a city of dreams, with nice people referring to each other as Bhai or Ben, ladies first, English flavoured accent, people offering to buy friends' ticket on the pretext of getting rid of change, sharing tea in restaurants, which cost one anna. Bhajia was 2 annas, thali 8 annas, taxi 6 annas, coconut at the beach for 6 annas, post-card 3 p, local card 2 p, envelope 2 annas. Bus ticket starting from 1 anna, tram-fare uniformly 1 anna, with panels saying “Use more electricity”. The BEST showroom at Electric House had hoardings saying “Fridges available on hire”. Uncrowded local trains, buses with alphabets as numbers - A, B, C, D, E, etc.

But that was 50 years ago. Now Bombay has become Mumbai - and the city constantly reminds me that we're not a nation, but a crowd. Hospitals spilling with people, as if they were cinema houses showing a hit movie! Abroad, if there is epidemic, WHO cares - here, who cares? People have no fellow feeling, even if somebody is run over by a local or in a hit & run case - you're left to fend for yourself. Now nobody asks you to have a cup of tea at the nearby restaurant, since it costs 4-5 rupees - that amount could have treated 8-10 people to lunch! They still enquire if you've had lunch - but that is pure formality. Say “No” for a change, and see how sheepishly he disappears! People read tabloids as thrillers, they don't get moved at all. Each one thinks he is the most adept person, the other fellow a new arrival!

Laws and byelaws are being added daily, to make an extra buck for law-keepers. You can see them charging unwary citizens in broad daylight at every road junction (usually near a juicewala or vada-pao joint) and people just ignore it - “fine,” they say.

Buses have no queues, locals are spilling with crowds, yelling “agey chalo” - and the daily trudge to office puts you to risk of life and limb at Dadar, Bandra, till Borivli & beyond. You have to enter an overcrowded train somehow, to reach office at a fixed time every morning. I fail to understand how, and why, must you reach and leave at the dot in such conditions. When you head for work, you're not sure if you'll reach in a safe and sound condition, or whether you will come back home all right. How can employers expect you to work with all sincerity in this atmosphere? And once you reach office, you're constantly overcome by the fear of evening return, as you may have to face worst conditions. Female delivery you must have heard, male delivery you want to see, it's at Dadar station every minute!

During day time, you'll find people of all ages and sexes fast asleep - as if a nation in slumber - how can they be expected to reach office in fresh and active condition? I've tried different compartments - but each one turned out to be a sleeper coach. And only meek people will accommodate a fourth person - the rest consider themselves 1st class passengers, travelling 3rd class for a change!

Bombay people have had different fads at different times. Earlier, it was pencil-shaped FM transistors; everybody had it. Now, there are cells. Even third class compartment with second class passes, packed in bogies with no place to move have cells. They may not have tickets, but cells to continuously use to tell where they are and in what time will reach where. As if they are VIPs, and their movements monitored!

Rains are a threat to this metropolis, with untold miseries houses falling, upsetting schedules, trains being cancelled; hotels doing brisk business, etc. I myself was once stranded for the night and once had to knock at someone's door for refuge. Yet, the Bombayman yearns for rain. Calls it bliss, as otherwise, they may die of thirst! Still, I have never seen a person facing skywards, in a hope to gulp rain drops in the city, where disputes over taps are common.

In these 50 years, different parties and people have come to power but none has eased the water situation or overcrowding of trains. If Keep Left observed at the time of entry and exit at the compartment door, the traffic will be smooth and mishaps curtailed. Yet nobody gives it a trial.

If you can still see people happy and laughing and celebrating it is to their credit. But this actually attracts more crowds, and adds to the already worsening situation of this metropolis. City-fathers and politicians…. so much for our progress! What used to take 10 minutes now takes 30 minutes. Ask anyone.
I wish I was still in 1954.