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ShareLook at our city from the air in the harsh glare of sunlight and all you will see is a sea of brown.
Brown tin roofs tucked one into the other, in unending, winding lines that cover large tracts of space. Mumbai you know then, is not really the city of gold, it is the city of rusty tin roofs.
And yet, thousands pour into Mumbai every day. Many with dreams in their eyes, looking for the rainbow that is supposed to span this city of opportunities, and hoping to find the pot of gold hidden somewhere in its midst.
So, we have people, millions of them, and houses for them of every sort, from the pigeon holes to the luxury mansions.
What we also have are the new vestiges of metropolitan living the global way. Malls. Metros and monorails, skywalks, a sea link: everything that is meant to make the city, more easy to get into and out of, and thus improve the quality of life for those who live, love, toil here.
What you don't see from the sky when you look at this wonderful city of countless many-coloured dreams is the soothing touch of green.
A bridge is needed? Then the trees around must go. A street being broadened, a skywalk coming up, a high rise replacing a chawl.... Trees seem to be offending objects to all and sundry, and while we have watched in disinterest, trees have been chopped down, and removed without leaving a trace.
Mumbai is changing. The question is, is it really for the better?
In Singapore recently, I was part of a conversation that centred round the soullessness of the city. Everything was new and spick and span, but there was no mood, nothing that spoke of a past, of humans who had given up their lives to enrich a space.
But one thing gave the place a sense of being alive. The broad roads were lined by trees whose branches formed an arch to drive under. The shade made walking a pleasure, and when it drizzled the leaves shone with joy, and the sound of rain on the leaves was a hushed voice, like a mother singing to her baby in the quiet of the night.
Every developing city, anywhere in the world, has realised the need for green. But of course those who make Mumbai what it is, seem to know different. And even as I write this, some official somewhere is probably signing a death sentence for a thousand more trees in the few green patches that have not yet been exposed to the builder's greed.
We cement our front yards for parking space, and wonder why ground water levels are falling.... We talk of rain water harvesting and ensure we do everything to let the clouds drift past without shedding their bounty.
And even though we change nothing in our attitude about what development means, and slowly wipe away the wadis and the chawls: the very things that give the city its unique character, June will come along.
And we, as a city, will wake up to Earth Day and cry loud and clear about the need to save the environment!
Shame on us! We, who do nothing to save this dying metropolis.
