Mumbai to Shanghai

We are all waiting for the day when Mumbai will become Shanghai. The government has been talking about this at every meeting. Mumbai intellectuals have been recommending better habits to citizens to make the city cleaner. A company of thinkers has drawn out an elaborate plan with enormous investment suggestions to make this happen.

Most of us have never been to Shanghai. Some years back my idea of Shanghai was only of being a centre of sleaze in China. However many of the Mumbai wellwishers have become convinced that Shanghai is the way to be. Roads have been dug up at all place. Hills are being cut and our ladies have started dressing differently. The municipality has set up signboards everywhere encouraging us to bear with them to enjoy Shanghai in the near future.

But when people are charged up they forget simple basics. For example, why create all this hassle to daily life and spend so much money when things could be done so easily. Turning Mumbai into Shanghai could be achieved so much more easily just by changing the name of the city. We have done this earlier so many times (Bombay to Mumbai, Madras to Chennai, Calcutta to Kolkata etc). So why have we forgotten this simple route now? We can achieve our desired goals. The Chinese given the current brotherly attitude towards India, will not bother to claim this city as theirs. This way, we can have all the great cities in India. Chennai can become Sydney, Calcutta can become New York and Delhi can become London. The americans have adopted this strategy long back. All the major cities like London, Toledo etc are there in the US. You even have a Delhi and a Bombay. And look how that country has done economically and politically. So as always lets use our heads and take the easy route.