I have a theory: you can tell
people’s socio-economic status in Mumbai by whether they are wearing shoes or
sandals.
The heavy
majority of people you see in Mumbai are wearing sandals. Folks walking down
the street, street sellers, etc. You even see guys wearing a button down and
slacks with sandals. Even though I look remotely Indian, people always seem to
know I’m a foreigner, and I secretly think it’s because I’m often the only
person around wearing shoes (and I sweat profusely in the humidity, while
Indian folks seem to lack sweat glands or something). However, the one place in
public that you see a majority of people wearing shoes is in the first class
compartment of the metro trains.
The trains
here have 4 kinds of cars: the regular, second class cars, the ladies cars, a
car for the disabled and elderly, and the first class car. Regular second class
tickets cost about 10 rupees per ride (about 15 cents). A first class ticket
costs about 50 rupees for a ride. I bought a three month 1st class
pass for 1500 rupees (about 25 dollars). That’s unlimited rides for three
months for 25 bucks. For many of Mumbai’s residents, that is too much. The
first class cars are a little less crowded, which is the most appealing thing
about it for me.
So, on the
first class cars, you pretty much only see shoes. The folks in the first class
car, like myself, are going to jobs in offices for private companies and
organizations all over the city. In offices, you see shoes. In my office, most
wear shoes, except for one dude. We have one secretary/admin type guy, who gets
paper, signs for packages, runs errands, and doesn’t really speak great
English. He wears sandals. I spoke to a few expats here, and found that this
one person who does clerical stuff and wears sandals is present in many
offices. I heard them referred to as office
boys. Boys. I also heard the term
“boy” in reference to the guys in the hostels I stayed at that cleaned rooms,
brought hot water, carried your bags, etc. A group of 30 or 40 year old men
that everyone referred to as “boy”. Maybe it is my upbringing in the United
States, with our history of racial injustice and use of the word “boy” to
denigrate an entire race, which shocks me when I hear the term. I don’t know.
You see,
Mumbai is a city of very rich and very poor. Although the middle class of India
has been increasing in numbers for several years, Mumbai is a city of shocking
disparity. A few weeks ago, I went to a very swanky bar on the roof of the 4
Seasons Hotel. It is in a very expensive part of town called Worli. The view
was astounding. You could see the entire city. What struck me most though was
that in between all the expensive high rise condo and apartment buildings, you
saw slums. Right next to a high rise, or tucked in between a couple, you see a
huge informal settlement of shacks with blue tarp for roofs. I felt like as far
as I could see, there were tall buildings and an adjoining slum right next to
it. Poverty is inescapable in Mumbai. Rich folks literally live on top of folks
who live in shacks. The slums are not somewhere else, they are along your
morning commute. On the street at night, you see tons of people sleeping on the
sidewalk. I’m not talking about the odd homeless guy. I mean like hundreds of
people sleeping on the street. You see whole families sleeping on a thin sheet
on the sidewalk.
One really
crazy thing about India is how cheap labor is here. Every one of even modest
means has a maid. Most people who are not poor have a person that comes and
cleans the house daily. Many others also have a cook. At our office, this old
woman comes every day for about an hour and simply washes our dishes after
lunch. When I first moved into my apartment, my roommate wanted to hire maid. I was skeptical, and I asked how much it
would cost. She said that for a woman to come to our apartment three times a
week for about 2 hours a day would cost 1500 rupees (25 bucks). I was shocked.
Many of
Mumbai’s wealthy have cars, but never drive them. Most have drivers. And this
is how they get by. They live on top of the slums, go down to their garage, get
driven away to work, and get driven back, constantly avoiding the poverty at
their doorstep.