LIFE IN BIG CITIES
India has many metropolitan cities. Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore, etc. are some of them. But 80 per cent of our population lives in villages. A person from rural area may find himself lost in a big city. Life in a city looks attractive and glamorous. People are progressive. They are constantly keeping themselves abreast with the developments in the world and even the government takes care to see that our big cities develop like other big cities in the world. This is a correct attitude as it would make India modern and any foreigner coming to this land would no more think that we are a country of only snake charmers and elephants, as was the impression in the West until a few years ago.
Cities provide job opportunities to people and we find thousands of villagers moving to cities to get employment. However, one finds that in comparison village life is more peaceful. In cities most people live like strangers. A city dweller works from morning till night. Distances are long and to keep up any appointment in a big city is difficult. People get stuck in traffic jams and have to also stand for long hours waiting for bus to arrive. Buses are fully packed with people and there is a lot of harassment. People become aggressive. Each man feels the need to satisfy his own need for comfort at the cost of others.
Facilities are limited everywhere and there are too many people to avail of them. This causes trouble at railway stations, hospitals, trains, at cinema theaters, in buses and at petrol pumps. Man has become materialistic and selfish in a big city. Nature is neglected and even if one wants to go near nature mother, he cannot. Pollution makes the air thick and city dwellers suffer from respiratory trouble.
A man of city is a product of his artificial surrounding. He becomes insensitive to the needs of his fellow men. One cannot blame him because everyman has to look after his own family and has no the time to look after his neighbour. Children get neglected because both their parents work and have long office hours.
Despite all these factors, city still attracts us as it promises a life of action and progress. There are unlimited opportunities. Anyone can grab opportunities and improve his lot, if wants to.