Monday 8 June 2009

London Vs Mumbai


              I have been staying in London for the past few months now, And have stayed in Mumbai, my city, for 22 years so there may be times when i would get a little biased for Mumbai, but trust me il try to be very fair. And i will be cause there is no much difference between the 2 cities. they are alike, almost like twin sisters ( Mind you, i never quite understood why city is feminine..he he)

             Lets start with the weather. Both cities are equally disgusting when it comes to weather. In rainy season Mumbai could have scored over London as it rains in Mumbai only for 4 months, unlike London which is known to be notorious about rains. U can never trust the sunshine or the clouds. What makes Mumbai as bad as London is the super infrastructure. Cause we know what we get when it rains, floods and Kichad..And damn I cant stop from getting my clothes dirty from Mud. When its summer, London is not very hot.Its a very pleasant weather here but the sunshine..aahh..it pinches you. Its only here I realised that wearing glayers ( read gaagle) in summer is not style here, its a necessity. the shine is so bright and straight in ur eyes, can make u blind ( not in the literal sense). Winter..wow the only weather a lil better in both cities thou London is comparatively cooler. so guys see, alot of similarities.

              And you know what they say Mumbai is a place where the whole of India comes for jobs and make it dirty.Guys, In London the whole of Europe comes to make it dirty. People from all the European Union come here for jobs. They like Mumbai make the city crowded and dirty. In both cities, lifeline is trains. You cant live without them.Both are large cities.Both are linear and both are financial capitals.Both have traffic problems.
London scores some points on the infrastructure and organization of the city. Its so well organised and informative. You can never get lost in this city.Its amazing that in such a big city you can travel miles without knowing any place.though it loses some points cause of racial problems.Not that it has only racial problems, it also suffer from a problem called Asians..he he.You know how we are. he he

              Both cities have slums..yeah,trust me..just that in London the slums are not jhopdas on roads but big houses. and u would see the outsiders, not just desis who come here on projects but even others. and when I mean outsiders I actually wana include Indians,Pakistanis,bangladeshis,sri lankans,polish,hungarians etc etc stay in big houses, 10- 12 ppl in 1 house. I was surprised to see but thats how it is. its just an advanced version of slums.

                Mumbai though scores points cause of the people. A city that never sleeps. A city where women can travel safely even in the last local. A city that comes on streets to fight any natural calamity. A city that awakes at 3 30 and sleeps at late midnight.its the people there who make Mumbai what it is.
Both cities are so similar yet so different..

I am still to decide which is better.. your thoughts???

28 comments:

  1. Agree with u Kapil...but u cant compare the two cities...they r certain points good abt London, n some things good about Mumbai...but being a Mumbaikar, its natural for all of us to love Mumbai. I think u shud ask non-Mumbaikars abt London Vs Mumbai.

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  2. very informative
    looking forward to more hindi terms
    n by the end of it i thot the post shuda been named mumbai meri jaan :P
    but the biggest drawback abt london is dat u dont get bhel puri n vada pav on the streets :P

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  3. hey kapil i thoroughly njoyed reading ur blog... but dude let me tell u "nothin like aamchi mumbai"!!!!!! though i haven't been abroad but 4 sure mumbai's d best...whether it b travellin in 2nd class in mumbai locals(which i dont do... u knw dat!!!), eatin vada pav road side(again which i dont do), njoyin d rains n gettin drenched,n number of festivals comin up every month!!!!
    so now its all on u whether MUMBAI is better or london....... i will go 4 a MUMBAIKAR anyday!!!!!!!

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    1. That is the problem, not been abroad. I was in high spirits when I left for London (for first time), thought India is rising and finally we have arrived. And being from Mumbai I felt as though I was getting into a known territory as London was just another great city. I was proved completely wrong.

      After landing in London I felt that someone had literally slapped me on my face (a very hard slap). London was so good, neat, organized, well maintained and one of the best infrastructure I have ever seen. I finally came to know how our politicians have been cheating us. Mumbai is a shithole.

      Staying in London was even more fun. Easily the most friendly place I have ever been to. In fact a heaven that we all Mumbaikars can only dream of but never get.

      Wish I was born there, pray to God never to be born in India again.

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    2. True, I agree. There is no comparison. I am a Mumbaikar. I have been to Paris, not London. Staying there for a while, I realised it is way ahead then Mumbai.

      Cleanliness:
      Paris: Super clean. You will definitely find cigarattes on road, but its way way cleaner than Mumbai. People definitely used dustbins to throw the garbage and overall the city is sparkling clean.
      Mumbai: Dirty and filthy. Some area you pass through literally stinks. And there are some areas which are clean. But overall there is a sense of disgust travelling through the city. You will hardly find any garbage bins and people have fun littering around in the city and spitting around.

      Infrastructure:
      Paris: Woah, no comparison. Well planned city. Well aligned buildings running parallel to the roads making the city look beautiful and big sidewalks/footpaths for making the city pedestrian friendly. Walking is fun in this city.
      Mumbai: Ugly mostly. There is no sense of architecture in most of the buildings, even the modern ones. Buildings come up in haywire manner and never are aligned to each other or run parallel to the roads. I don't understand, why they are so randomly placed. Mostly you find dilapidated buildings all around you which is an ugly sight. Footpaths are mostly missing. If you do find footpaths, you will find them tall and difficult to get on, plus they are very narrow. Footpaths are broken, or covered with rubble, debris, have open or broken manholes sometimes and are mostly covered by Hawkers. So there is no space to walk on whatever little footpaths we have. City is not at all organised and there is no sense of town planning. Mumbai is a nightmare for pedestrians.

      Roads:
      Paris: Awesome roads made of single material. Why am I mentioning made of single material, I will explain later. So amazing smooth roads with hardly any uneven surfaces or potholes. The roads have lanes and signs and you also find cycling lanes. People follow lane driving and follow traffic signals. The stopping lines, etc are well marked and people very much follow it.
      Mumbai: Broken uneven roads mostly. On the same patch of road, you will find a patch of cement, asphalt and paver blocks, which makes the roads look ugly, makes driving difficult and dangerous for bikers. You never realise looking at the road as to what area is for driving or walking. (walking because we dont have footpaths, hence we walk on road.)
      There are no lanes or markings on the road, people have no sense of driving, breaking signals is considered cool. Only 5% roads here are good

      Overall: Paris is a civilised place. Mumbai lacks that. There is a segment of people who are super rich here in Mumbai and are sophisticated. But I have seen such people breaking the rules must. You are right, Mumbai is a shithole. The honest taxpayers are cheated big time.

      Bonus - Crossing the roads:
      Paris: Zebra crossings are found everywhere. You can use them safely. Traffic halts if you want to cross the road.
      Mumbai: Zebra crossings are mostly non-existent. And if you find one by chance. Don't try using it. You run a risk of getting run-over. I have been through that. Crossing roads in Mumbai is like a war.

      River:
      Paris: Crystal clear water having boating facilities
      Mumbai: Our river is filthy, polluted and is a gutter literally.

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  4. Hey nikita when u haven't seen london then u hav all the right's to say mumbai is the best,but when u come and stay in an organised life style then i doubt u would say mumbai is the best.....

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  5. I HAVE BEEN STAYING IN LONDON SINCE FROM LAST 2YRS, BUT I FEEL THAT MUMBAI IS THE BEST PLACE TO LIVE. LONDON SUCKS..

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  6. Hey kapil, nice topic and post too even i have stayed in both the cities, would agree to your views totally but again as mumbaikar will go for mumbai with the hope that it will have more better organized infrastructure in amchi Mumbai one day :)

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  7. Nice posts!! though late to comment but read your posts now!! very nice...keep writing!! :)

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  8. u must b jokin men..........london is far better city then mumbai
    mumbai shud b compared with dhaka, karachi, kabul

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    1. Clearly you aren't Indian and haven't read the article properly...
      What about Karachi??? He..he...

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  9. @ Iftkhar : I am sure you have never stayed in Mumbai. I speak from the experience of staying in both cities for long time

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  10. i lived my whole life in mumbai .. its just has been an year in london and believe me guys .. i find no comparision between london and mumbai .. i am just in love with this city .. though i am far from my parents but i never feel it . LOVE YOU LONDON .. this city never treats you like an outsider. and really i don want to go back to mumbai and really don mean tht mumbai is bad.

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    1. Agree with you. Only fools would say mumbai is better. I was literally f****d when I landed in London.

      India is sleeping, world has left us far behind.

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  11. Mumbai is the best.... London is shit ... me staying in london just bcoz of money reason .. nahi tho baba aamchi mumbai aamchi mumbai ...Jai Maharastra

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  12. Good one....!!
    how do u feel about London now... now that its been such a long time there....
    whats ur opinion about the city now... :)

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    1. I moved to California USA 2 years back after a short 6 month stay in mumbai

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  13. you people are proud your own country,love your own city and feel more stay.but one thing you should know between this two cities can't campare. In mumbai u can find million of slums, drain and waste product on the road. Mumbai is in the list of world most dirty cities and unsafe women.

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  15. Mumbai is better. Kapil, you haven't shared anything about the cost of living in both the cities. Mumbai is far better in this case. Ys.. London is much more developed than Mumbai at this time. But surely, Mumbai will be more in next 15 years.

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  16. Aah! In short, London is Mumbai on steroids. And yeah, I love my city ;)

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  17. Very cool subject, loads of arguments can be discussed. I was born and raised in Mumbai and lived there for 24 years before moving to London 2 years ago. Both cities are different and both have their positives and negetives but what matters is the how much the postives score over the negetives and what kind of lifestyle a person wants. Based on my experiences and my time spent in both the cities I say Mumbai rocks but London is way way better than Mumbai in many aspects.

    1) Talking about food - There are no fast food joints, chatt and vada pav, pav bhaji stalls in every suburb of the city like in Mumbai, but if you really miss that food in London, there are restaurants in London like Dishoom, Sarvana Bhavan and places like Hounslow which can satisfy those taste buds. Agreed these restaurants are limited in number and it takes a fair amount travel for me to reach these places but again transport in London is very convinient.

    2) London is a very well planned city with good infrastructure. It is clean and well maintained by the government. However all these cost of maintainence is bourne by the tax payer and we do pay a handsome amount of tax here. Compare the tax rates, cost of living and income / salary levels and you will find out the difference. The difference is fair though because what the government charges is given back to the public in the form of a infrastcuture. The tube system is one of the best in the world however it cant be compared to the local trains of mumbai because of the massive massive difference in population. we are talking about 22,900 people per Sq km in Mumbai versus 5,285 people in London. Having a car is becoming a necessity in Mumbai where as people living in London dont really need one ( especially Singles or DINK's ) because the public transport is so convinient.
    A point I would make is if it rains in London like it rains in Mumbai during the monsoon season, there is no way London's drainage system can handle it, the whole city would be sunk in floods.

    3) Weather is very inconsistent in London,it can rain anytime, become gloomy and dull and foggy , but the sunny days in summer - fall are simply awesome ( May to lets say Aug ). Its nice to have the sun till 10pm. Being from Mumbai I definitely miss the sunshine especially the Mumbai winter weather when its lovely and pleasant.

    4) Culture wise I think London and Mumbai have similarities and their own differences. The differences are the same one would find between Indian culture and Western Culture. Mumbai and london both have a strong nightlife too.

    At this point I would rate London better than Mumbai but I seriously wish both cities improve on their weaknesses, specially Mumbai with the government and curroption.
    I love both the Cities and but it really boils down to What you want in Life, What you believe in, How much you can let go and compromise.

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  18. mumbai is feeding almost more then 1 and half crores of peoples and serving india and world and contributing the indian economy and world's economy....what is the contribution of london doing for erupe ... European Union countries like italy,greec,ukrain are not able to manage there expense ,don't know how they gona manage there economy...latest reports says the 45 % student is not able to return the loan they got for studies...and there is no family life,domestic violence is increasing like they are illiterate....there is no family values ..churches are converted to bear bar or pubs bcoz they don't have money to maintain these buildings..they are dependent on imports only....they are intelligent making money only by giving visas to rich people of india ... if you have 2 crores and ready to invest in govt bond and want to do business then they ready to give you everything...why they are not self dependent on there on public am not criticizing them ..m saying they should improve on these parameter ..come to mumbai if you have talent you will be super rich ..for london you need only money...not latent....its a big difference..no racism...you are welcome ..just come we will have meal and work for you...the total population of uk is almost 2 crores and same in mumbai.....london is feeding only 80 lacs of people...and how much is dependent on govt funds?..domestic violence ..in every 30 sec there is cal to police station regarding this....there is no sport from govt towards the victims of domestic violence....specially ladies and childrens ....divorce ratio....in india if a woman has been beaten by there husband there are so much back up...from brother side .father ,friends,police ,ngos........am not criticizing am just mentioning it ..there are lots of negative points in mumbai also ..we are working on it..we are improving on infrastructure..fighting with corruption.. .....slums in growing economy is possibility as its emerging markets ...but in the developing countries like uk where they have got all the things like utility,faster transportation far earlier then india..people those are depending on govt funds as they don't have work is like a crime for the countries which are rich......average age of both cities are almost same..only thing we are enjoying more traditionally as well as moderation....we are more socialy then them..india is self dependent ...every one is using the same technologies like wi fi..internet ..good mobile phones.... peoples of mumbai knows more languages then those of london's people ....mrathi,punjabi,gujrati.hindi,o my god english also......but the people of uk ?.......english english...am talking about the majority of people not ...there are lots of point which needed to improve..they have to learn from each other....thats the only way they can be improved.....thanks..india..






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    1. Come on man! What sort of bullshit are you writing. There is absolutely no comparison London and Mumbai. London is way ahead in almost all the aspects. Look at the infrastructure of London and then consider the crumbling infrastructure of Mumbai. The roads are ridden with potholes every monsoon!

      Now lets consider the education aspect. London has many world class institutions such as UCL, KCL and Imperial College, whereas Mumbai has nothing to showcase in these aspects, apart from IIT Bombay, which has a 200 something ranking.

      And what are the family values you are talking about? Lets just stop being hypocritical and focus on the hundreds of social evils prevalent in our country.Just look at the number of rapes which happen everyday! And then we have the guts to talk about moral values which only exist superficially.

      Lets appreciate the government and the people of London for making it a world class city which they can be proud of! And lets not live in a fools paradise to think that Mumbai is better!

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  19. London is the financial capital of world and it is of little use comparing it with Mumbai. To be very precise, London is miles ahead of Mumbai on every front.

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  20. Comparing London with Mumbai is pointless. Firstly, where did you find slums in London? :D Poor houses aren't slums. It's more lack of maintenance in the Desi areas. Secondly, even I am from India and never faced racism yet. I believe if you're nice to people and respect their believes they will respect you. Infact people in England are way much more nicer, mind it I am an Indian and Muslim too. In Mumbai you can find a lot of racism. Hindu-Muslim-Christian- Sikh, Marathi- Non Marathi, Open- OBC- Dalits etc.

    London is the financial capital, lots of opportunities if taken well. History is vast and so much to explore.

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  21. A twat comparing London to that shithole of hell on universe.

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