India, through Mumbai

India looks so close from Mumbai! The first picture that comes to my mind, when I think about this city of cities, is how, people arrive at it’s doorstep, armed with virtually nothing, and carve out their long standing dreams at the heart of this city and what amazes me truly about Mumbai is that, it never fails to deliver. The potential, the indestructible spirit that Mumbai has always held and the virtually unputdownable enthusiasm is what has made Mumbai what it is today.

The bustling city is an enviable melting pot of cultures, practices, religions and dreams- the economic powerhouse of modern India. Mumbai is one city in India that can spark off your imagination sky high and fuel your ambitions; it can be this city of dreams. Anyone from sight seeing dwellers into the money making machine is welcome and not discriminated against.

Talking about Mumbai and how different it is from other cities, such as Delhi, is owing to the diversity that Mumbai holds up its skin. One thing I noticed about Mumbai that sets this city apart from other Indian states is, people don’t look for a Marathi surname, and they value your work instead of your Marathi-speaking credentials. Mumbai doesn’t dwell on useless issues of provincial details. The open mindedness of the unique work culture has made Mumbai what it is today, ‘The Financial capital of India’.

Mumbai lives through its transportation system. Traveling by train gives a stranger a first hand idea about lives of the people in Mumbai. For them, local trains are a lifeline. Without these trains, life in Mumbai becomes crippled. Everyday, half of Mumbai's population commutes from far-flung suburbs to downtown offices, banks, factories and mills for a living.

Forty percent of India's taxes come from this city alone, and half of India's international trade passes through its splendid natural harbor. In fact Mumbai is the very soul of human enterprise. At the city's Stock Exchange, millionaires and paupers are made overnight, and the sidewalks are crowded with vendors hawking everything from ballpoint pens to second hand mixies. Nearly thirteen million people live here - wealthy industrialists, flashy film stars, internationally acclaimed artists, workers, teachers and clerks - all existing cheek by jowl in soaring skyscrapers and sprawling slums.

Being the city of Bollywood, Mumbai allures thousands of aspirant actors and artists from all over the country. Experience its dazzling nightlife in bars, lounges, pubs, discotheques and beaches. Uncover the spiritual side of the magnificent city in its places of worship. Parks, gardens, museums, shopping malls, amusement parks, beaches and lakes define the charisma of this economic hub.

Mumbai, the biggest metropolis of India, is a city that virtually never sleeps. In this city of dreams, life never appears dull or boring, especially due to the presence of its interminable chaos and action.

As shobha de puts it in an article on Mumbai, being her home, “Its Mumbai, the city which stands tall, head high in the face of all adversity, whose resilience is egged on by a never-say-die spirit in the wake of floods and fire and fanatics who plague the streets in the name of religion and creed. But whose children reach out to assist each other in turbulent times. It is the city that churns out the Ambanis and the rags-to-riches stories, one a piece in every street. It is the city whose naked ambition is to become another Shanghai or Singapore is a talisman force by itself, not deterred by the size of its children or the destructive pride of its leaders. It is the city that gave the world Vada-Pav and six sigma rated lunch delivery services pioneered by the Dabbawallah's guild that is making the nation proud and putting Fed-Ex to shame. It is the city that houses some of your favorite people. It is the city that is beyond the rat race, a battle-ground for warriors where even a silent spectator watches history as it happens.”

malls

Malls – the call of the decade

Man behaves in a particular way responding to the environment he is in. he follows the rules that are laid out in front him by the society and culture. At a much immediate environment for example, in a posh restaurant, only a class or a type of people are invited, who have the code of conduct engraved in their body language, way of speaking as well as dressing. These are responses to the expectations from the society. Similarly in a military set up, a restricted behavior, presentable uniform, controlled verbal communication and a certain mannerism is acceptable.

A built environment can influence human behavior in two ways. The environment itself becomes a setting in which man is required to behave accordingly or the society spells out the rules of behavior.

Shopping malls are a recent development in the metropolitan cities of India, corresponding to the rise of suburbia and therefore associated with suburban sprawl, creating a so called “mall culture”.

The term “big box” given to the malls explains the large stand alone store that specializes in a single line of products. Coming up of malls has transformed the retail culture in India. From people from all classes of the society coming together on to the street, bargaining, carrying bag and baggage to smart, and clean shopping in a controlled formal environment of a mall.

Street shops are sporadic. You can have a luxurious shop and next to it a stand that sells popcorn. The user has to freedom of circulation and no behavioral restriction. He forms his own personal space and freely interacts with the sellers on a one to one relationship. As Michael shmarak puts it “Mayberry effect is when shoppers feel a closer connection to the merchants of a smaller, quainter atmosphere as opposed to the congestion in the malls.”

In the process of bringing the western culture closer, modernization has lead to changes in the pattern of our society. The established notions of the Indian cultural society are changing. The mall or a glass box with a strong organizational pattern forces a certain kind of movement and behavior. The established pathways distribute the users all over the place forcing an even exposure. The atrium creates an interaction zone as an indianized version of a verandah.The brand establishments are designed for self service, responding to the new do it yourself attitude, encouraging the buyer to get involved in the whole process of purchase, from seeing to choosing to buying. No more is the customer honored as he is in a street shop.

Malls evidently demand a code of conduct. A salesman dressed in his branded uniform demands respect as given to the brand he is representing. The signages and the pathways take away the freedom of the shopper leading them in cues and rows.

Modernization and influences form elsewhere has changed the behavior of otherwise free and ‘anti rules’ Indians. Once within a glass box, even a villager tends to walk in a certain way, talk in a certain way and certainly shop in the way he is expected to. He forgets the place where he belongs or the culture that is engraved in him. As the environment is defined, the user departs from his personal space to be overpowered by the built environment has brought himself into.

The built environment as influenced by the west encourages aculturalization, forcing its users to adapt to the uniform, defined and established rules of organization, circulation and human interaction.

Currently, the mall culture is thriving to survive. The malls are empty with no life and activity. People are no more overwhelmed by the way these function or seem from the outside. The users are searching for the freedom and choices that street fairs offer. These malls have to be a part of the existing Indian context to flourish. They have to transform their concept in accordance to the existing shopping interfaces in the Indian market. Currently the High Street Epping is crying out for activity and life, and what we are doing in response is to expand the centre with vast areas of open air car parking, instead of reinventing the centre to better integrate with the street. Malls have to respond to the behavior of its users and not try and change them. Perhaps this is the case where the big box is not the problem, but the manner in which it is laid out, designed and integrated into its context is.