A heavy Mumbai traffic gushes through the road and my car was stuck amidst. A very usual situation for Mumbai and I was vaguely concentrating on the happenings outside while thinking about something at office at the back of my mind. Someone knocking the door and my driver trying to politely drive him off catches my attention. A small girl it was and to my surprise there were more than many children knocking many other cars. My driver points me towards people living under the bridge.
People come to big cities for work and money, leaving peace back home and end up living on the road under the bridges. Moreover, they start begging as for some reason they couldn’t go back and let their children beg too. It becomes a network and they form a team at many places mostly close to the traffic signals. Some die during the heat and some during the cold season. You could see this scene almost in every big city in India but majorly at Mumbai and Delhi. People come for a better living to major cities and lose their lives cheaply.
Not only the situation of the downtrodden but same is the situation of middle class and upper middle class in bigger cities and to their respective living standards yet nothing better than their own native towns and tier II cities. Especially with the internet bringing worlds closer, tier II cities like Pune, Jaipur, Amritsar etc prove to be a better and safe option. People live a lavish life in these cities as compared to metropolitan cities.
Trains are a nightmare at Mumbai for new comers. Traffic and drainage systems during rainy days shall take you for a ride at Delhi. Real estate rates have become crazy at Mumbai and Bangalore. Power problems can still hold your life back at Chennai. In addition, there are risks of terrorist attacks, road accidents, pollution etc etc.
So why do people come to bigger cities? Education? Yes, partially. Education, nowa days is better in smaller towns too. The main reason is exposure. One gets exposure in terms of handling competition, pressure, big details, big money in whatever field and situation. Is exposure a good reason to stay back in big cities these days? Not anymore.
With technology and developments, everything is possible from everywhere. In fact, population from the small towns have more clarity in thought than those from the big cities.
It is time to go back to developed tier II cities and smaller towns. If they are still not developed, it is time to develop them and have a peaceful life than getting sunk into lifeless bigger cities. It is not worth anymore to lose touch with families chasing money. At the end of the day, money saved in big cities will prove to be the same or lesser than in towns and expenses tend to increase with very little peace in bigger cities.
