Ranking the world’s cities by population is a tricky business.
Strictly in terms of the census within city limits, Bombay has the largest population of just under 13 million. [via…GridSkipper]
But if you use the currently popular system of agglomerations favored by the United Nations, then the Tokyo-Yokohama-Kawasaki agglomeration is the world’s most populous city at 35 million people. But that’s not the only way to classify urban areas.
Even in this list Bombay comes at #5.
One could use this either as something to gloat about or something to be dismayed of.
Being a lifetime bombayite, I’ve always been aware of the fact that Bombay has too many people living there. One just needs to drive by Dharavi and Sion to see the mass of humanity living in not so good a condition.
The fact is that Bombay is the “land of opportunity” for the millions who come in everyday from as far as Bihar and Assam in the East to Jammu in the North and Kerala in the South.
Too many people have written too many tomes about the good and the bad of Bombay. To all those who love Bombay and are like me lifetime members of the Bombayite club, I say hooray !! And to those who find every single fault in Bombay, but still cant get away from it, I say shut up, suck up and start enjoying life. And to the doomsayers, I say, the next train leaves for Bihar from VT or Kurla Terminus. Take your pick and I will arrange for a ticket, free of cost !!
And last but not the least….to those who constantly compare Delhi to Bombay or vice versa, here is what Suketu Mehta has to say about Delhi [via…SepiaMutiny]
Many Indians, especially in the Northeast, consider it the citadel of the new Indian imperialism… Bombay and Delhi, in particular, have never quite adjusted to the fact that they share the same country. They are India’s New York and Washington, tolerating each other…