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Row 3, Cell 1	Row 3, Cell 2	Row 3, Cell 3	Row 3, Cell 4
Row 4, Cell 1	Row 4, Cell 2	Row 4, Cell 3	Row 4, Cell 4

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Mumbai

Mumbai is a beautiful city, but a terrible place” ~ Architect Charles Correa
After having lived in Mumbai for almost 8 years, I completely agree with the above statement. How much ever ironic it sounds, the city of Mumbai is extremely beautiful in its own essence, yet it is a terrible place to live. It is a city of extremes. Even average middle class life in Mumbai is below acceptable levels. And yet despite that, thousands of people migrate to the city every day. It has always left a question in my mind that what is it about Mumbai that makes it a desirable destination to so many people in India. Through this brief article, I would like to take the opportunity to introduce the non-Indian audience to the magical city of Mumbai.
Mumbai is the largest city in India, a city full of dreamers and hard-laborers. A place where you will encounter stray dogs and exotic birds, artists and workers, the poor and millionaires living together in this maddening city. The city is the home of the most prolific of film industries (Bollywood), one of Asia’s biggest slums (Dharavi), and the largest tropical forest in an urban zone.

In many ways, I see a lot of similarity between New York and Mumbai, with their roles in the United States and India respectively. Mumbai is India’s financial capital, fashion powerhouse, and a center for many religious and political matters. It has some of the world’s most expensive real estate with property rates soaring sky high, some of them up to 100,000 INR/SF. A rapid growth and development has made the city a concoction of skyscrapers and malls in between the slums and shabby areas. It is also one of the most populous cities in the world with a population of 21,290,000 as of January 2012.

In the urban context, Mumbai has portrayed a very ironic image of itself. The most common image of the city and the one the world knows about is the slums. But, at the same time, the luxury developments and tall buildings due to rapid urbanization has given rise to a lot of speculation and debate about the urban sustainability and economic equality both in local and global discussions.

In terms of employment, 81% of the city’s population works in the services sector, including communications, social, and personal services. In Mexico City the service sector is around 43% and in Shanghai is around the 32%. Johannesburg, New York and Berlin see 37%, 46% and 40% employed in services, respectively. Most famous among the services produced in Mumbai is cinema. Bollywood churns out more than 900 films a year — more than any other film center (yes, Hollywood included), with many people directly and indirectly employed by this industry. Although every part of the country has its regional film industry, Bollywood continues to enthrall the nation with its winning escapist formula of complete entertainment with typical song and dance sequences (widely popular among foreign audience). Cinema in India is a phenomenon, the form of media that has the ability to create the greatest impact on the masses. Bollywood stars can attain near godlike status in India. Their faces appear in advertisements around the country. According to me there are only two things most popular in India, especially Mumbai — Bollywood and Cricket.

Hyderabad

Hyderabad, the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh is one of the fast growing urban assortments in India. It is located on the Deccan plateau which is in the southeast part of India and it is a typical inland city .Hyderabad has a semi-arid climate and an annual rain fall of 75 centimeters. The city of Hyderabad is famous for its lakes; it has about 5 lakes surrounding it. These lakes help in the water supply for the city of Hyderabad. Hyderabad has one of the most beautiful lakes with boating facilities for visitors. These places also offer sports like Para sailing, water scooter, etc. these lakes are home for many migrating birds.

Hyderabad has a population of 5.2 million inhabitance that is the quarter of the population of the state of Andhra Pradesh and it has a population growth rate of 10% a year. Other than the population Hyderabad has an uncontrolled industrial growth in and around itself. Due to the population and the industries surrounding Hyderabad the demand for water supply is very high. The water that is necessary is provided by the river Musi and the 5 lakes surrounding it these 5 lakes are

Hussain sagar

Saroornagar lake

Osman sagar

Himyat sagar

Shamirpet Lake

These lakes in Hyderabad are manmade which serve the purpose of storage and supply of water of the great city of Hyderabad. Hyderabad gets its rain in the south west monsoon period in the Indian climatic chart. Most of the rain fall occurs in the months of June to September. What these lakes do is they store this rain water so it can be utilized in the time of need. Hyderabad is known as the “city of pearls”. The city is a major hub for information technology industries as well as pharmaceutical industries, biotech industries. Due to the presence of so many people and industries the demand for water supply is more, and this demand for water supply is provided by the lakes surrounding Hyderabad. (Ramachandraiah, C. and Sheela Prasad (2004, 2003)).

The main water sources and the water suppliers for the city of Hyderabad comes from the various water projects that are surrounding it the following table will explain this

Pressure On Water Use:
Hyderabad is a large city with a huge population having many industries and a large agriculture area because of this water coming from a single source is not sufficient; this is where the lakes surrounding Hyderabad help. First we should identify the key water users who we need to supply water. The water that is supplied from these lakes is used for

Agriculture

Industries

Household

Recreation

Environmental uses

Agriculture: agriculture is essential for the production of food and to cultivate we need water. So the water that is stored in these lakes is supplied for agricultural purposes by using pipe lines but mostly in India water needed for agriculture is used from bore wells. In Hyderabad 35% of the water is supplied for agriculture.

Industries: industries play a vital role in Hyderabad and Hyderabad is a place where new industries are being built every ware .in order for these industries to run sufficient water should be supplied. These industries are located in Patancheru, Bolaram, BHEL, Hi-tech city; generally 15% of the city’s water is supplied to these areas.

Tajmahal

Taj Mahal is regarded as one of the eight wonders of the world, and some Western historians have noted that it’s architectural beauty has never been surpassed.  The Taj Mahal is the most beautiful monument built by the Mughals, the Muslim rulers of India.  Taj Mahal is built entirely of white marble.  Its stunning architectural beauty is beyond adequate description, particularly at dawn and sunset.  The Taj seems to glow in the light of the full moon.  On a foggy morning, the visitors experience the Taj Mahal as if suspended when viewed from across the Jamuna River.

A Muslim, Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his dear wife and queen built the Taj Mahal at Agra, India.  The society at the time was very productive and created a lot of success and hope for the Indians there.  When Mumtaz Mahal was still alive, she extracted four promises from the emperor:  first, that he build the Taj Mahal; second, that he should marry again; third, that he should be kind to their children; and fourth, that he visit the tomb on her death anniversary.  He kept the 1st and 2nd promises.  The construction began in 1631.  The expert craftsman from Delhi, Qannauj, Lahore, and Multan were employed. They constructed the monument over a period of twenty-two years, with employment of 20,000 workers.  The total amount spent on the beautiful and sacred monument was 32 million rupees.

The problems and issues of the Taj Mahal was very difficult back then.  Actually, it was two main issues, but they were very burdensome.  The only issue was the death of his wife and getting the beautiful monument done.  The lengthy wait and the overcoming of her death was too much for Shah Jahan, but he had promised to his loving wife that he would eventually complete the sacred monument in her name.

 

Everyone has their own favorite time to see the Taj Mahal.  Crowds will distract you from the cool, serene presence of this flawless monument.  The best way is to try arriving just as it opens or as it is about to close.  A few minutes alone in the perpetually echoing inner sanctum will reward you far more than several hours spent on a guided tour.  The sensuously curving lines of the temple of love demand to be savored without interruption, then the presence of the building itself will impart its own message.

The event has triggered being part of the wonders of the world.  It started to attract many people from other cultures because of its beauty and the mystery behind it.  It intrigues people on how one person designs a monument for his wife and tries to accomplish the promises she gave before she had died.  People wonder how that much love from one man to his wife can show that there is always hope in a relationship even after the significant other dies.

Negative events were not really triggered in this situation.  In this case, Mumtaz Mahal was in love with her husband, Shah Jahan.  She wanted to have the love continue and that is why she had given those four promises to help realize that the love can still grow strong.  The monument symbolizes the love that Shah Jahan had for his deceased wife, Mumtaz.  Mumtaz wanted this monument more than anything.  She wanted to be remembered with a monument, which symbolizes “eternal love.”

 

As a tribute to a beautiful woman and as a monument for enduring love, the Taj Mahal reveals its subtleties when one visits it without being in a hurry.  The rectangular base of the Taj Mahal is in itself symbolic of the different sides from which to view a beautiful woman.  The main gate is like a veil to a woman’s face that should be lifted delicately, gently, and without haste on the wedding night.  In my tradition, the veil is lifted gently to reveal the beauty of the bride.  As one stands inside the main gate of the Taj Mahal, his eyes are directed to an arch that frames the Taj Mahal.  The dome is made of white marble and the background works its magic colors.  The colors change at different hours of the day.  It sparkles in the moonlight when the light hits the white marble and catches the glow of the moon.  The reflections of light seem to depict the different moods of the woman.

The tombs of Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal are actually located in a shadowy burial crypt.  At ground level, in the very center of the building is the cenotaph dedicated to Mumtaz.  If you sing in the inner shrine of the monument, the notes will float upwards in a flow of music of the spheres.  This event was very influential in the time of its occurrence because looking at this building, you will see how much love there is and how strong this love stood.  It represents so much to many of the visitors on different levels.

 

It has really affected my life because I feel very proud of my Indian heritage and how I can go to my homeland and have the chance to see a monument I can be very proud of.  I’m so happy that India has one of the great wonders that I can admire and tell about to others.  I hope to gain a lot of knowledge about the Taj Mahal whenever I go there.  Just to experience it in person and to admire the beauty and artistic views would be amazing.

I think what inspired me the most was the strong love between Shah and Mumtaz.  To have such a love would make such a relationship grow and blossom solidly.  I just hope in my life that I can find the right person and experience the love and solid trust that Shah and Mumtaz had between them.

This event will be important to me in an hundred years because this is a part of my Indian backgrou