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The only hierarchy in Mumbai is the hierarchy of talent: Prasoon Joshi

Prasoon Joshi talks about the City of Dreams, which never fails to respect professionalism and talent

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From the town of Almora to the world of advertising and films in Mumbai, Prasoon Joshi has had a remarkable journey. The poet, writer and ad guru, who was once just a visitor to the city, has made it his home. Here’s what he had to say about his changing equation with the city...

Knowing Mumbai

I started coming to Mumbai for  work. To shoot for the ad films that I would write or I would come here for recording my songs like Silk Route’s album or Shubha Mudgal’s album Ab Ke Saawan. So both my professions — advertising and song writing – got me here often. I used to stay in Delhi and visit Mumbai for work. That was a different experience from my shifting here altogether, which happened subsequently.

My first encounter with the city

One had heard of Mumbai as the Mecca for creative people. So, I was definitely in awe of the city though I didn’t know how the city will treat you. But the thing you realise when you come to the city is that Mumbai is very professional. It is not judgmental. It embraces new challenges very fast. Later, when I thought about it, I realised that Mumbai is like this because it’s a city of dreams, it’s a migrant’s hub. When I spent some time in New York, I had a similar feeling. That city too has a similar character. People from all over the world have converged there. Similarly, people from all over the country come to Mumbai, especially creative people who come and congregate here. But still, I was just a visitor, I would go back after a few days.

Moving to Mumbai

I moved to Mumbai later when my company wanted me to shift here as the creative director at Ogilvy & Mather. I had heard that things like travelling in local trains is real tough, and that your whole day goes commuting from one place to another. I had my own inhibitions, but what I realised when I shifted here is with its woh adjust kar lenge or ho jayega attitude, it somehow makes place for people. It’s overflowing with population and people come here everyday and they get added on...where is that space coming from? I think there’s place in the heart of the city, that’s why people find place in a city that is already so populated.

Life is work

Late nights for example...Mumbai works quite late. If you come from the North, the culture of late nights doesn’t really exist. You are home by 7.30-8.30 pm, but in Mumbai you are never home before 10.30-11 pm. Since I was an advertising professional, I found out that there’s no way you can reach home before midnight. The work culture is very different. Work is life and life is work in Mumbai, which one has to get used to. That took me a little bit of time. But once you get used to it, you start enjoying it. If you love your profession and you are in Mumbai you can achieve anything.

Strength and weakness

I have written about the spirit of Mumbai in the poem Iss Baar Nahin  that I wrote for 26/11. What I feel is that the strength of Mumbai is also the very weakness of the city. To elaborate on that... The strength of the city is that Mumbai never sleeps, its never-say-die attitude. The-show-must-go-on is the philosophy of the city. But that also ends up becoming rather insensitive or indifferent. That’s what I felt and that’s what I wrote in the poem. The thought was that this time I am not going to go back to work so early, I am going to sit and think about the situation. I am going to introspect. I am going to think about what’s happening around me. That was the thought of the poem that was based on the 26/11 incident.

The strength of the city is that it bounces back, but sometimes that resilience is taken for granted. And you feel that no matter what happens... be it water clogging or people not being able to travel or a bomb blast...Mumbai will come back to work. That is taken for granted. I feel that it’s high time that we take stock of things. Yes, we are resilient and we will bounce back, but that doesn’t mean we won’t think, we won’t introspect. It doesn’t mean that we don’t want a change. It doesn’t mean that we don’t want law and order and such things in place. We want it.

The thing that I like the most about the city is the spirit of the people. I think the attitude towards women is the best you will find anywhere. You compare it with Delhi, or with any other city...Mumbai is just class apart. The way it respects professionals is amazing. Of course there are aberrations... there are bad incidences. But this city respects hardwork and professionalism.

No hierarchy here

Coming from Delhi where there is lot of hierarchy, Mumbai does not have it. The only hierarchy in Mumbai is the hierarchy of talent. The city thrives on talent. Whether in advertising or films — the way I could reach out to people or the way they reached out to me, and I could be part of some very big projects that happened only because the city respects talent. The doors are open to talent. It’s not that there is no corruption in the city, but there’s always so much hope. There are many cases where you find that talent is given priority over anything else. In many other cities, that wouldn’t be the case. Your contacts would come first or your pedigree would comes to your aid, but not in Mumbai. This is truly a dream land where dreams come true. But the only thing that I feel is – like I said earlier — the resilience is over done. And that is the reason I feel that sometimes it crosses the line and becomes insensitive. Kuch bhi ho jaye aadmi kaam karne nikal hi padta hai...that makes one think whether it being insensitive or resilient.

Some concerns...

Infrastructure is a real concern for me. The way Mumbai used to be and is now today... it’s finding it difficult to take the pressure of the population. Earlier the city was much better, be it the traffic situation of the infrastructure. Now, it seems that the city just collapses under the pressure. We need better planning for sure. This is the city that seems to be growing very slowly. I have seen Delhi or many other towns in our country, which have infrastructurally gone far ahead of Mumbai. But in spite of all that, I still prefer living in the city because of the people here and their attitude.

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