Mumbai through the Pandemic
“…we are all in this together, and what happens to one of us, affects us all.
Mumbai, a city that never sleeps, a place where you may get lost among the thousands and a place where you can find a serene place to watch the sunset by the sea.
Mumbai; a city I call home and a place I have learned to love through the chaos. While the rest of the world had begun its lockdown, India, let alone Mumbai, unfortunately, did not grasp the magnitude of this pandemic.
Traditionally, Indian households are known to self-medicate during the common cold/virus and we believed we could do the same once again. Information was vague over the news and for a city full of hustlers, there was no time to pause and pay heed to a virus we could see no signs of existence in our communities. But soon enough we were in for a rude shock, it began with a few hundred cases in March rapidly taking its course and growing over ten thousand in a span of a few months. Our beloved concoction made of turmeric, ginger, lime, and hot water had failed us, there was news about a surge in the number of deaths and Mumbai, came to a halt.
We could not leave our homes, not because we were afraid of the virus, we were most afraid of coming across our police. Armed with batons they waited at every corner to find someone that defied lockdown rules. People masked up, restricted their social interactions, and with everything closed, Mumbai felt deserted. Our streets have never been so empty, it almost felt like we stepped into a portal to a parallel universe.
Thousands of people lost their jobs, and those that lived paycheck to paycheck had to return to their home towns because Mumbai doesn’t see what’s fair, it has always been a city where survival of the fittest determines whether you make it here or not, even during a pandemic.
Those that could make it out of Mumbai in time, did so by road, rail, and flights, but the migrant laborers, couldn’t just uproot their lives overnight. Life was already so difficult and harsh to them, and with the pandemic, it only got worse. In March, with the lockdown enforced and no mode of transportation available to leave the city, we saw laborers forced to WALK back to their villages in Madhya Pradesh, that’s 800 kilometers on foot to survive something they could barely comprehend.
Some may ask, “Why didn’t they just stay?” — Well, these daily wage workers had no source of income and with almost no financial aid from the Government unlike most other developed nations, what other choice did they have. They had a higher chance of survival on their village produce but Mumbai would leave them starving.
Most of these workers reside in slums, the ones romanticized in movies like Slumdog Millionaire. But, in these areas of extreme poverty that often lack access to clean water, electricity, and public transportation, if the virus didn’t get them first, starvation would.
Fast forward to December 2020, Mumbai is back on its feet once again. A little slower than one would have expected. Businesses have started operating once again and people have resumed their jobs, although this came with heavy pay cuts and terrible working conditions. But that’s the price you pay to be a part of this city. With a daily average count of 700 cases, the spread of the virus has not slowed down, but our people have no choice but to wake up each morning, put on their masks, say a prayer, and go to work.
The curve is flattening, and we may not get there as soon as other cities or countries, but I have faith we will. This pandemic has been an eye-opener for us, apart from the need for better infrastructure, clean water, sanitation, stimulus packages, Mumbai learned a very valuable lesson, No matter how large the economic divide that prevails in this city, we are all in this together, and what happens to one of us, affects us all.
- *Disclaimer: I don’t live in Mumbai anymore, I wrote this based on a conversation with my sister. ❤
