Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi. Review on Social Life in Metropolitan Cities

• Yeh  Jeevan Hai, Is Jeevan Ka

Yehi Hai, Yehi Hai Rang Roop,

Thode Gam Hai, Thodi Khushiya,

Yehi Hai Chaon Dhoop

Thus goes one of my favorite songs by Kishore da, which addresses the topic of city life or life in metros.  I am very much an urban person. I grew up in Vishakapatnam or Vizag one of those smaller cities, which is neither a city nor a small town,  but just comes in between.  Though it was not a metro, it had a very much city culture, thanks to the large number of  different communities settled there, it had a cosmopolitan air, so much that people from other parts of Andhra Pradesh my home state had an image of  Vizag being a bohemian urban place. And thanks to my IT career, I have traveled all over India. I have worked in Chennai , Hyderabad , Bhubaneswar , Delhi( actually in Noida) and soon to be shifting to Bangalore in a month’s time. Of these if you again leave out Bhubaneshwar which is again in between a city and a small town, the other places are true blue metros. Of course many Mumbaities would vehemently disagree with me on this score, arguing that Mumbai is the only true city in India, the rest are all overgrown villages. Anyway to each his own, and that is a separate topic.

So how is life in cities?

Life in cities is certainly not paradise and if you are living in one of the metros, its even more worse. Long traffic jams, rush hour traffic, people rushing around frantically, high cost of living, the loneliness it certainly seems a recipe for disaster. And considering the unplanned growth in many Indian cities, the total lack of aesthetics, none would really like to spend the last years of his/her life there.

But is life in cities really that bad?

My answer is an emphatic NO. For the simple reason that there is nothing like a perfect happy life at all. Life is full of ups and downs, and you have the sad times and good times also, and we have to take them as it is. It’s a common feature for me to read articles in newspapers moaning about the lack of social life in cities, the loneliness, the way you are a total stranger. But I ask the simple question, “If cities are so bad, why do so many people migrate to them daily?”. Of course you might answer to make a living. Ok fine, but even after their retirement, why do people choose to settle down in the city? Why not their home town or village? The answer is not very simple, but life in cities is really not that bad, wicked life portrayed in films, books and fiction.

No Social Life

One of the main criticisms leveled against the cities is that every one is a stranger and there is no bonding at all. Fine and you have a very valid point also. But that’s an aspect of city life. One of the biggest mistakes people make is to compare cities with small towns and villages. Its like comparing people living in the Arctic with those who live in the Sahara. Social life, culture, traditions are all dictated by the environment you live in.  The city in India has a completely different  environment compared to the village or small town. You cant expect that  just because you have led a relaxed life in  Gadag or  Bodinayakanur or  Nellore or  Hapur, you would have the same lifestyle in cities. India might live in villages but the cities are the engines of economic growth. For that matter take any great nation in the world it’s the cities that can propel the country’s growth forward.  And when you aspire towards that growth, one must be prepared to give up on some things. You cant have your cake and eat it also. It’s very easy to sit and write columns criticizing the cities,  but I ask those people are you willing to give up your job and go back to your beloved home town or village, where you can indulge in all those things about which you are so nostalgic about.

In fact  I object to this reasoning that people in cities don’t enjoy life. In fact we enjoy it as much as those in villages do.  I read in one of the articles on Mouthshut, that only way you can bond in cities is by going to pubs, discotheques or parties. That is a half truth, yes you do have those in cities, but hardly 2% of the city population hang out at those places. Many highlight city life by showing all those glitzy restaurants, pubs and discos, which are not a true representative of the city life. Cities in India are not just about slums and mansions, but there is a very large middle class in between.  I  cant comment about life in slums or the mansions of the rich and privileged, but  yes we who are middle class people have our own social life. Yes me might not visit our friends or relatives daily or frequently, but we keep in touch with them. We also drop in at our relatives place in cities during festivals, during occasions, during celebrations.  And at times of need, we also help out each other.  Yes you might not have  people coming and greeting you on the road, like they do in small towns and villages, but  that is because every one is absorbed in their own problems out here. The man on the street in front of you, might be thinking of his own problems, and you certainly cant expect him to come up and say “Hi” to you.

Life is nor perfect anywhere

And to those all who keep waxing nostalgically about life in small towns and villages, I ask the question, is life so picture perfect there. What about the snooping neighbors, who keep poking their noses into your personal life? What about the absolutely narrow minded attitudes of many small town people and their bigoted views?  And yes for all those who keep romanticizing the village life, don’t many people escape the villages not only for economic betterment  but also to escape the social oppression there? Whatever be the demerits of  Indian cities, they never discriminate you on the basis of caste, religion or community.  The poor Dalits who migrate to cities, might live in slums with no proper drinking water, but they have a much better life than back in their villages, where they are treated worse than animas. At least in cities no one would prohibit them from entering temples or wearing slippers nor would they have the indignity or having to drink from a separate tumbler. And neither do you have caste panchayats in cities issuing ridiculous judgments. In fact that’s the best part of city life, you can be yourself and need not follow any conditions.

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