Mumbai is often regarded as India's Capital
of Hope. Often wondering why this is so, I made a fruitful trip down to the
busy city, solving most of my queries.
Mumbai consists of seven islands, joined by
land reclamation. Many Indians, especially those from the rural areas, regard Mumbai
as their paradise, since they could find work relatively easily here, as
compared to their homelands.
Being the pillar for revenue collection, Mumbai's
economic growth has far outperformed the other cities. In fact, its’ per capita
(head) production of goods and services is about three times greater than that
of Delhi - India's second most prosperous city. Despite the economic boom, Mumbai
gives me an astonishing image of deterioration when I first stepped into the
city.
The ostentatiously dignified imperial
buildings, erected by the British, are so overly populated that they look as if
they are toppling over any minute. There are the 1950s kind of black and yellow
taxis, which appeared as if brutally thrashed, lining up like ants trails,
clotting up the small avenues. Amidst the dins of traffic jams, stood the
oppressed-looking buildings of Benetton outlets, foreign car dealerships,
croissant-serving outlets and so on.
Though unemployment is not a significant
problem in Mumbai, housing is. A visit in Dharavi, a slum area in Mumbai will
help clarify our imagination. The Mumbaiites' so called "houses" are
actually movable shacks, built from unwanted bits of tarpaulin, tin and
cardboard. There are so many of them that a maze of alleys emerged, passable
only when I walked sideways like a crab between them. Curious about the living
conditions, I wondered around the maze, meeting groups of scantily clad kids
and hungry, stray dogs. Popping my inquisitive head into one of the small huts,
I was totally amazed by their living conditions. Estimating about twelve or
more Mumbaiites living in each hut, these two-storey houses are usually
partitioned by rough platforms with ceilings no higher than five feet from the
ground. Furthermore, `these shacks look absolutely bare -- no furniture and I
deduced that the inhabitants eat and sleep on the ground.
In spite of the poor living conditions,
many Indians still hope to migrate to Mumbai. Interviewing a few of the
newcomers, a majority of them said that they came to Mumbai to find jobs. There
are some who regard Mumbai as buoyant floats, saving them from natural
disasters and tyrannies in their homelands.
Make a summary of not more than 120 words,
describing the emergence of paper money used widely today.
Buying things today is so simple. Just
enter a shop, say a book store, choose the desired book and pay for it. Long ago,
before the invention of money, how did people trade?
The most primitive way of exchange should
be the barter trade. In this form of transaction, people used goods to exchange
for the things that they had in mind. For instance, if person A wanted a book
and he had a spare goat, he must look for someone who had the exact opposite,
that is, that someone, say person B, must have a spare book of person A's
choice and is also in need of a goat. Having found such a person, the problem
does not end here. A big goat may worth not only one book, hence person B may
have to offer person A something else, say five chickens. However, he runs the
risk of person A rejecting the offer as he may not need the chickens. The above
example clearly illustrates the inefficiency of barter trading.
Many years later, the cumbersome barter
trade finally gave way to the monetary form of exchange when the idea of money
was invented. In the early days, almost anything could qualify as money: beads,
shells and even fishing hooks. Then in a region near Turkey, gold coins were
used as money. In the beginning, each coin had a different denomination. It was
only later, in about 700 BC, that Gyges, the king of Lydia, standardized the
value of each coin and even printed his name on the coins.
Monetary means of transaction at first beat
the traditional barter trade. However, as time went by, the thought of carrying
a ponderous pouch of coins for shopping appeared not only troublesome but
thieves attracting. Hence, the Greek and Roman traders who bought goods from
people faraway cities, invented checks to solve the problem. Not only are paper
checks easy to carry around, they discouraged robbery as these checks can only
be used by the person whose name is printed on the notes. Following this idea,
banks later issued notes in exchange for gold deposited with them. These bank
notes can then be used as cash. Finally, governments of today adopted the idea
and began to print paper money, backed by gold for the country's use.
Today, besides enjoying the convenience of
using paper notes as the mode of exchange, technology has led man to invent
other means of transaction too like the credit and cash cards.
Make a summary of not more than 120 words,
describing the various means of transportation.
The means of transportation has changed and
improved over many centuries. Long ago, during the times of the kings and
knights, animals such as horses, buffaloes and camels were used by man for
transportation purposes. These animals no doubt did save man from traveling by
foot, they took a long time to complete the journeys, especially when
transporting goods.
In 1825, George Stephenson's opening of the
first railway marked a significant progress in the history of transportation.
Railways were in popular demand because they could carry more people and loads.
More importantly, they ran faster than animals. Railways improved the
communication networks and hence, imports and exports of goods and people
traveling out of their towns or even countries to work were made possible.
Unfortunately, since the invention of motor vehicles, the popularity of
railways has declined.
Motor vehicles were first invented in the
eighteenth century. These vehicles were preferred by many people as they do not
run on tracks and hence do not have fixed routes. Travelers can then plan their
own routes to suit their convenience. This is especially so when the
destinations are places like small towns or remote areas. In these places, few
or even none of the trains ever reach them; so traveling by the motor vehicle
would solve this problem. Over many years of modifications, the motor vehicle
is now one of the most commonly used means of transportation. Today, we travel
in cars, taxis, buses, lorries or vans almost every day.
Another form of transportation is by water.
It may be the slowest but definitely the cheapest form of bulk transportation.
Though over the centuries of innovations, water transportation has improved
from the ancient wind dependent yachts to the modern motor driven ships,
journeys by water are still characterized by the dangers and unpredictability
of meeting natural disasters like the storms.
The evolution of world transportation has
reached its pinnacle with the invention of airplanes. Transportation by planes
is the easiest and fastest. Planes gliding smoothly in the air, are not
obstructed by seas, hills, buildings and so on. Though convenient, this means
of transport is the most expensive. Despite the popular demand, the
transportation network of the planes is still not a balanced and complete one
till today. Developed countries tend to make use of air transportation more frequently
than the less developed ones as they do more exporting and importing of goods
and also have more people traveling to and fro their countries. Hence, the
networks in these developed countries are denser.
