Bombay, Bollywood and Billionaires

My hometown Bombay, renamed Mumbai is India’s commercial capital. India’s main stock market is the BSE or Bombay Stock Exchange. It is home to Bollywood, a cartel which exports “Indian” culture and values in the form of films. It is also home to many of the billionaires in the Forbes list that was released recently. So it is like New York and LA rolled into one.

Bombayites or Mumbaikars are very proud of their city. They consider it India’s #1 city. The Times of India, one of India’s oldest newspapers is based in Mumbai. It too continues to hype the city in its front pages. There are articles about how commercial real estate is more expensive than NYC.

Recently, Forbes also released a list of the “Worst Cities in the world”. Mumbai was ranked 7th in a list headed by cities like Baku, Azerbaijan. Cities like Maputo, Mozambique and Luanda, Angola were rated to be better than Mumbai. This piece of news was on page 16 of the Times of India. Page 20 also had an editorial about how the American billionaires like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates were giving away all their fortune to charitable causes. It also questioned the philanthropic endeavors of the Indian billionaires who indulge in garish displays of their wealth during parties and weddings.

The Times of India also produces movies and carries reviews of the movies it makes. Conflict of interest is an alien concept in most of South Asia. It carries vital information like how Amitabh Bachan received a Rolls Royce as a gift from a movie producer. His son received a Bentley as a gift from a politician. India’s famous cricketer, Sachin Tendular received a Ferrari as a gift, presented by former F1 great Michael Schumacher no less.

I am curious as to how and where these people drive these cars in Mumbai. Does it even prick their conscience when they consider the infrastructure of their “home” town? Instead of being part of propaganda, why not even a single person rises up and tells the truth as it is and demands something better for the people of their home-town. These are people who are considered role-models. These are people with connections. These are people who could initiate change. These are people who love Mumbai, or at least they proclaim it in the pages of the Times of India.