Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Salaam Mumbai

The famous Hindi song "... yeh hai bambai meri jaan" says the city has everything except a heart. Dhirubhai Ambani took strong exception to the song. He said Mumbai gave him opportunity when he looked for it. "It gave me courage when I faced challenges ... I came to Mumbai and worked with a chair, table and a phone and the city has made me today the king of an empire worth crores ... how can anyone say Mumbai has no heart?" Unwieldy growth of population seems to have made Mumbai what it is today. Something needs to be done not only to limit its growth but also to decentralise the city before it is too late.

K.P. Subramanian,
Chennai

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For one who has lived in Mumbai for several years, the Reader's Digest survey finding Mumbai the rudest city in the world came as a shock. Mumbai is perhaps one of the few Indian cities where a neighbour comes to your help when you are in distress. It is one city in which linguistic communities live in perfect harmony. Nowhere else will you find a Maharashtrian or Gujarati vendor speaking in Tamil to Tamilians.

M. Ravindra Narayanan,
Tiruvannamalai, T.N.

* * *

During the 1993 bomb blasts, the blood banks in Mumbai were almost dry. When the authorities appealed for blood, people cutting across all sections stood in long queues to donate it. A Mumbaikar rises to the occasion in the face of adversity.

V. Sankaranarayanan,
Chennai

* * *

What an irony! A city in India, where people are taught right from childhood, to stand up and wish elders, where children grow up hearing stories highlighting values is termed "least courteous" while a city in the U.S. where students address teachers by their names is rated as the "most courteous."

V.S. Hariharan,
Chennai

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The behaviour of a people belonging to an Indian city, and their general etiquette cannot be evaluated by Western parameters. Mumbaikars have won accolades from the rest of India for their excellent cosmopolitan spirit. Rudeness is something one comes across all over the world.

T.S. Pattabhi Raman,
Coimbatore

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Mumbai is perhaps our only city where people queue up to board buses. It is difficult to think of a Mumbai without queues and discipline. The people of Mumbai are more polite than those of many other cities.

R.P. Rammohan,
Hyderabad

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On my recent visit to Mumbai, my sister decided to take me around the city in an electric train. When the train arrived, people rushed in and I felt that a huge current had swept me on board. Seeing me fall on top of people, a young girl offered to hold my bag so that I could hold on to the bar. On getting down, I realised I did not have my bag. When I gave up all hopes of finding it and headed for the exit, I saw the girl waiting for me with a smile. This is Mumbai, the home of Tendulkar, I thought.

Indira Kakati,
Guwahati

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Salaam Mumbai

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