Bombay. Of course, you’re told that you should call it Mumbai but it’s always been called Mumbai in Marathi. The change of name is as if the Italians suddenly demanded that Florence be called Firenze in English. Nor does the change correspond to any popular demand – it is simply the work of hopeless and corrupt politicians who try to avoid their own misdeeds by whipping up some cheap nationalism. But Bombay or Mumbai this is a city with the wow factor. Like Hong Kong or New York it is a city of skyscrapers on the sea and we’re booked into the Four Seasons which has a rooftop bar on the 35th floor from which you can admire the view. Provided of course that one doesn’t look straight down where there is a shanty town about a mile square. From this eyrie of the rich ( the eagles fly right up to the windows) you can contemplate poverty as shocking as any on the globe. When I arrived in India I would have classified it as a poor country but now I know that by many obvious criteria ( particularly the black money salted away in Switzerland ) it is a very rich country. Its poverty is somehow willed or, at least, is the product of a lack of will. The rich have withdrawn into gated communities where one suspects that they wish that someone will come up with a final solution to the poor who they dislike, despise and distrust. In Hyderabad the most expensive apartments,situated about 25 miles outside the city, are let by a company called Aliens; their name beckoning their customers to a science fiction future or another civic status. In either case buying an apartment is a promise of escape from the present state of the country. Arundhati Roy points out that after India’s endless history of failed break away revolts the Indian middle classes have just pulled off the first successful secession in the Republic’s history.
After our day at Bombay University, Steve, Sarah and I reflect on our short road show. We certainly seem to have generated some interest, so now we must hope that the interest turns into real students. We shall see.
