By William Walker.
Mumbai; city of extremes, is at once one of the wealthiest cities in the world; a beacon of innovation and fiscal dominance, and staggeringly impoverished; saturated with the destitute and the forgotten. Vast swathes of workers crowd the city seeking a morsel of some of the cities’ blustering wealth, pouring into an already suffocating transport network and finding board in the expansive array of slums that line the city.
For one of the approximately 20.5 million citizens of Mumbai the dark and destitute reaches of India’s largest metropolis will seem very distant indeed, as they begin their lives in what is being termed the world’s most expensive house.
Named “Antila” and built by India’s richest man, the price tag of the construction is around $1 billion. The 27-storey building has an impressive array of facilities, including a helipad, large library facilities, and a host of rooms that offer indulgent extravagance and excessive opulence. “It’s a modern home with an Indian heart” Mrs. Ambani gushes as pictures were released after much speculation, showing some of the houses purported magnificence. An Indian heart, perhaps, but one that is only superficial and a long way from the majority of working class Indians in the city.
Obvious and perhaps somewhat justified parallels have been drawn with the sharp contrast between the rich and the poor in a city which will now accommodate both Asia’s second largest slum and the world’s most pricey home all in the same breath. The media has been rather unkind, particularly given the climate of recession and general economic downturn.
However, Mumbai is an Alpha world city lest we forget and so to foster any sort of hope of global economic recovery it is cities like these that must continue to develop and expand, regardless of its painful demographics and the much-used images of “Slumdogs” and their difficult lives. Regardless, it is a testament to the economic force of India that such beacons of wealth and prosperity can exist, whilst millions remain in slums with only the most basic of shelter.
