A city that can barely sleep

Its been a couple of weeks since our government cleared the decks for what it refers to as a nightlife experiment allowing eateries shops and theatres in malls and mill compounds to stay open at all hours If you havent heard of it yet I predict the launch of a bigbudget marketing campaign any day nowThis sounds like a great idea on paper obviously because it allows our ministers to talk about how Bombay is a vibrant city that never sleeps There are obviously some people who will benefit too the ones who step out of the airport at 3 am perhaps or those who stumble out of bars at 130 am At the risk of sounding like a party pooper though I wish the government would pay a little more attention to how Bombay manages when the sun is still outIts hard to look at this city with a dispassionate eye and declare that things function efficiently during our regular working hours Think of what a firsttime visitor must go through from the minute he or she steps off a bus train or airplane and begins the excruciating task of getting somewhere using any form of public transport Think of the seemingly simple act of finding a rickshaw or cab taking a local train at 9 am or getting a bus from one end of the city to the other These are things all 24x7 vibrant cities the world over take for granted Ask yourself if anyone in Bombay canMaybe the problem lies with how we think a city that never sleeps ought to be like or how we evaluate the pros and cons of belonging to such a city Yes there will always be some people grateful for the opportunity to find a meal in the wee hours but anyone who has lived here long enough will know that you can always eat at any hour of the night if you know where to look There have always been eateries of all kinds open to those who have the capacity to pay the right kind of bribe Ask anyone familiar with Juhu for proofThere is also something to be said for silence and the benefits of living in a place that offers us some The World Health Organization has tracked noise levels for over a decade and recently described noise pollution as an underestimated threat that contributed not just to hearing loss but also to dementia cardiovascular disease stress and high blood pressure pegging the monetary cost at over 58 billion for Europe alone If one accepts the easily verifiable fact that India is a lot noisier than Europe can ever be one can only imagine what millions of us have been forced to deal with for years for no fault of our own In this city that rarely allows us to escape the cacophony of daylight we have introduced a nightlife experimentA few years ago the Tourist Board of Finland launched a marketing campaign called Silence Please treating silence as a resource that could be promoted like their countrys clean water or wild produce The campaign was based on their premise that the experience of silence would be something that people would one day be prepared to pay for I like to compare that train of thought with what we choose to market What message are we trying to send when we talk about coastal roads for more automobiles allnight theatres or eateries for those who choose to eat instead of sleepThe government of Maharashtra probably means well and businesses that choose to invest in resources may or may not benefit financially from these changes It would still be nice to think about the millions who engage with Bombay by dawn rather than the hundreds who step out at duskThis experiment is great for people who have the luxury of stepping out at 2 am for masala dosa or those desperate to watch the latest sequel to Star Wars at 4 am For the rest of us those are usually the hours spent on recovery when we try and forget what we have been through and try our best to gather strength for the struggle that begins anew the next morning It is only when governments start to focus on basics like infrastructure public transport and public health that we can turn into a 24x7 city that matters Until then these moves can only be regarded as exercises in public relationsWhen he isnt ranting about all things Mumbai Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet He tweets lindsaypereira Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paperCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates