Kanishka is back!This time with another eye-opener....Do we ever sit back and ponder on what it takes ,to leave our homeland in search of better opportunities.The big question is, how long and to what extent will it continue?...Is it not like unknowingly contributing to the wreck of our own homeland?...
Migration to cities or for that matter to any place other than your homeland. Sometimes I think it is something beyond my abilities to comprehend and it is the field of sociologists but then most of my opinions have arisen out of my need to understand happenings specially if they have come to deal with either my family or my own life. Today there is a situation where my younger sister and my brother would probably never come back to Bihar. Not because they want it this way but because of the lack of opportunities.I love it when I imagine the good life they have in Delhi and Mumbai but the struggles and the sacrifices that come with it pains me.
The questions that have been bugging me are:
1)Is it right for me or for that matter anyone to migrate too far from his place of birth in search of a better life?
2)What decides the composition of a large city?
3)How to deal with the consequences of the migration?
Let me deal with each one of them one by one.
People migrate because:
1)They are in search of better jobs in other places.
2)They are in search of a better standard of life in terms of lifestyle, amenities, opportunities for growth and entertainment. In general because the level of life is more efficient.
3)The matrimonial ties.
4)A few of them also because they would like to settle in a new place just to get the experience of living there for some time.
The first two reasons put together I believe would sum up most of the cases. Looking for greener pastures is the most common cause. It is right too to most extent. Most of the jobs are concentrated in the cities so it is natural for people to shift towards urban areas for them. The only thing left in the villages is agriculture and some supportive services. As the level of education increases people will naturally move towards more jobs.
Industries too tend to come up around cities and in the labour class it is specially people from poor states like ours who are more concentrated.
It is due to the steady decline in the number and quality of earning avenues available in the homeland that is forcing the labour class as well as the white collar jobs to move out. I don't think migration would have been so high in our state had we had opportunities for education, industries, services, IT, agriculture or any thing leading to higher employment.
It is for this reason that there are numerous people from our state who are doing well in all areas but alas not in the state that is theirs by birth. Biharis are present in great numbers in all areas of bigger metros as well as farmlands and tea gardens along with the industries of more prosperous states. It can easily be said that they would be happy to come back at least the blue collared job holders and the labour class if given opportunities here.
People higher up in the economic and social hierarchy would take more efforts. It is because they are there because of the second reason. Their resources can be utilized here too but it is the quality of the life that they get there that matters. A better life, great amenities and the lure of living in a megaplois, who wouldn't want it?
What are the factors that decide the composition of a large city?
A large city would certainly been have a small one someday. It is large today because it presented better opportunities for habitation and life in general and grew with time. It generally grows first from the people of neighboring areas who start moving in because of the social, cultural and topographical factors. Then people from more far off places move in to cash in on the happenings. The city grows and sets up a cycle of demand and growth. The number of such cities and opportunities in the neighborhood also determines the growth pattern.
The present scenario presents a situation which is similar in almost all the cities of our country. From Delhi to Mumbai and from Kolkata to Chennai. Earlier it was the situation only in these cities. Today my smaller city Patna too is not immune. Old structures are being pulled down for apartment complexes, glitzy malls, office complexes and the cities are expanding like never before. The demography too is undergoing a sea change.
If a city developed earlier it was the inhabitants of the city along with those of the neighboring areas who moved up. Today it is a total amalgam. People do not think twice about moving to an entirely new city in search of better jobs and opportunities. This cultured has created a cosmopolitan group of people in most of the cities. It is also leading to a problem faced in most of the places today.
New inhabitants of a city often have no emotional quotionent for the city and feel no sense of ownership towards it leading to lack of civil duties and sense. People treat cities like their temporary residences and would be happier to relocate to a place promising a better life. It is also because of the similarity that the cities are taking because of the development. Rows and rows of the apartment complexes, condominiums, malls are good but get boring and the city tends to loose its character when the same markets, food and kind of life is available everywhere.
The "outsiders" tag that is given to migrants to all the cities today has some substance. Though it has been used as a political weapon more often, there is some logic when it is said that new settlers in a city do not give as much to the city as they take from it. They believe that the money they pay for the facilities is more than enough. A city needs care, a sense of belonging and civil duty towards it.
To give an example we can consider Delhi. It has always been known as a city that has been home to people from all communities and regions. The rising crime graph can to some extent be attributed to the complete sense of alienation that the migrants feel for the city.
Migrants who are rich do not care because they are too busy enjoying there life and proving to the world that they have arrived. They also like to believe that it is not their city and the bad things that are happening are due to local cultures and people until the truth hits home. The poor feel more deprived and lack even the slightest bit of belonging because they are often subjugated and do not identify themselves with the life of development seen around them.
It is not just the migrants. The local population that has been left out or sidelined by the development and influx of migrants have a sense of resentment against the system at large.
The recent Aarushi murder case showed the attitude of the naïve police in investigating the murder of a girl belonging to an upper middle class girl with whose life the police had difficulty relating to.
It is leading to a situation where people of all cultures live in a place and thrive. It is good but not at he cost that we are paying for it. In the bargain the cities are loosing theirs particular character and the citizens theirs. Accepted that the cities provide a standard of life much better than the towns but what is the point of it all when you do not feel at home? Just as the famous dialogue puts it, "what is the point of living if you don't feel alive?"
The cut throat competition to get ahead and let your other people know that you have arrived in the world with the material acquisitions has let to a culture where we have all the amenities but the time and life to enjoy the fruits of our labour.
It has also led to the eroding of one thing which the backbone of our lives till some time ago, "The great Indian family". Family was something we took for granted. No matter what happened at the end of the day we could come back home. I loved the dialogue with which the movie "lage raho munnabhai" opened. It was a telling commentary on our times. The festival times that we had in the family are getting reduced to adjustments and sms greetings. What a pity!
Am I sounding like a nostalgic country bug?
Maybe but I certainly feel we are in the stage of development where the urge to get ahead, up and forwards is surmounting a lot of other worthier things in life.
Is there a solution to it all? Well it isn't a solution after all but it is something I will certainly like to follow.
Migration is good and unavoidable in the age of globalization, bpo's, Bangalore, IT, young India's aspirations, India's middle class and the phase of development we are passing through. But there has to be a balance. Migration of the poor in hordes is certainly not proper as it leads to a list of problems. If it has to be it has to be curtailed and need based specially in a country like ours where the cultures and people change with every few hundred kilometers. Migration of the employable youth too should be checked with multicentric growth and not just developments in certain limited cities, or states for that matter. And it should start right at the level of establishment of schools and colleges. Why would anybody like to be called an "outsider" if he gets the opportunities and avenues in his heartland?
Some pooling and flow of talent and opportunities is necessary in a country like ours but not like the present.
I for one would like to stay here, no matter what. After all good, bad or ugly this is my place!
