"Normal" Mumbai

http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/aug/05sbhate.htm

This article couldnt have summed up what i feel about the whole situation.

(International Readers:Mumbai received 944 mm of rain in a single day which is close to 37 inches of rainfall flooding large regions of the city and killing over 900 people across the state as well)

ACCURATE AS ACCURATE CAN GET

What bugs me is that people keep on saying "Mumbaikar's spirit" was commendable Mumbaikars rule etc.

Agreed we did help out and what some people did does deserve recognition.

BUT LETS NOT MAKE A HUGE HUE N CRY ABOUT IT.

One question:The floods werent restricted to Mumbai alone..they occured in Satara..Sangli district as well 5 people died in far off Amravati as well.

The Koyna Dam overflowed and water HAD to be let out of the gates..raising a red alert in the villages downstream 60,000 people were evacuated in rural Maharashtra.

How self centred are we to focus our attention only on the spirit of Mumbai?

Do we mean to say that there is no spirit of Pandharpur?

Of Satara of Sangli of Koyna???

It is extremely distrubing that rather than venting out our anger constructively(and not by indulging in things "rail-roko"-stopping of Mumbai locals forcibly) we spend our time praising actions that are only acts necessary in such times.

If the same situation happens in some other city, do u think the people out there wont help out?

What is so great about our spirit?

The only thing great about this city is to act impulsively stop trains make other impulsive people's lives hell and most importantly FORGET.

Short Term Memory is something that Mumbaikar's can rightfully claim that they have patented instead of this false sense of spirit and courage in times of adversity.

Gujarat Earthquake..Tamil Nadu Tsunami..Annual Floodings in Orissa and Bengal..Cyclones near Coastal Andhra Pradesh..people live through difficult times and help each other out there is nothing UNIQUE that Mumbaikars have done.

Where we CAN differ from other people is the way in which we remember our mistakes and improve the situation once the disaster is over.

Woefully though we seem to be just like every other person in India. exploding in rage for 1 week against civic authorities mellowing down later only to become sitting ducks for future disasters