Why Mumbai? Why not?

On the gritty surface, I cannot think of a more inappropriate venue for the event. Mumbai is the most hyper-capitalist, fast-paced city in India, and in fact, much of South Asia. It is a grimier version of the "Bladerunner" megapolis, only with fewer skyscrapers and no replicants in sight. The World Social Forum, by contrast, is an annual gathering of NGOs, progressive activists, and campaigners against neo-empire. WSF was originally set up to create sustainable development through people-centred and self-reliant progress, as opposed to neo-liberal globalisation. In particular, it was set up as an alternative to the Davos World Economic Forum, IMF, World Bank and the WTO. WSF is not anti-globalisation (as critics would say), but rather it is for more sustainable and humane globalisation. It stands for Participatory Economics (Michael Albert's "Parecon"), not Exploitative Business. Logically, any city can host and benefit from this event. But a city where hotel rooms can run as high as $800 a night seems an odd host for the 2004 meet.

Mumbai is a sprawling city and traffic is the spider-web at its centre. To get from Point A to B can take upwards of two hours. During that journey, I have a lot of time to take in the surroundings. There are some very obvious signs of Transnational Corporations' (TNC) deep reach into the city's commerce centre. From Sansui ("Born in Japan") to Phillips, HSBC to Citibank, Gold Flake to Nescafe ("Jagao, Pilao"), all the big international brands are competing for billboard space. Alongside them, and complicating the narrative of "rapacious" TNCs, are hundreds of Indian or Indian-TNC partnership brands: Orange Cell ("Roam Like Home"), Tata, Four Square Cigarette ("Bombay's #1 brand"), Birla ("Whitest White Cement"), and Style Spa. In a city that is the stronghold of the right-wing Shiv Sena, there are also some business signs proclaiming secular unity. There is "Maharashtra Haj Committee Welcomes Haj Pilgrims", an airline ad that forms the peace symbol and BPL cell phone ads that feature conspicuously Muslim (topi, beard) and Hindu men (tilak) together.

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Most fascinating of all is the crazy jigsaw of small entrepreneurs. Similar to Hernando De Soto's "Other Path" parallel economies, there are hundreds of small businesses mushrooming on the roadside. There are Kebab Corners (usually run by Muslims) that also sell Chinese food and have a poster of Subhas Bose as their mascot, bathroom fitting stores that call themselves "Wet Concepts," Hotel Babul that sternly warns "Liquor, etc. not allowed," and everywhere are tiny shacks and shops selling Internet, ISD, STD, Fax, Copy, Colour Copy, Photo-- all under one roof. The most unusual sight was the bread van I passed early in the morning. This was the same three-wheel van I remember from my Dhaka youth, but in the Mumbai 2004 version, the bright sign proclaims: "Mother's Pride (TM)" and then offers a plethora of non-bread products: Chakki Ata, Pure Ghee, Spices, Papad, Basmati Rice, Pickles, Pulses, and Besan. And for those in a rush, the side of the van also offers "Online Shopping: emotherspride.com". Whether anyone would ever buy 40 Rupees of spices off the Internet is a different question, but some fanatical entrepreneurial zeal clearly runs through the Mumbai heartline.

So what does business-obsessed Mumbai think of the WSF? For the most part, the city seems oblivious to this major event. For one thing, the WSF is being held in Goregaon, which is on the edge of the city. For another, the city is currently abuzz with Salman Rushdie sightings. Everywhere he goes on his first trip back in a decade, shopping, partying, canoodling, there are sightings of girlfriend Padma Lakshmi to report back on. Then there is Rekha inaugurating the Femina Bridal Show, Jane Fonda performing monologues and the war-glorifying, big-budget blockbuster "LOC Kargill". On the political front, there are big splashy announcements of the Bush-Vajpayee agreement on sharing of nuclear/space technology. And in case I get lulled into dreams of secular utopia, the Maharashtra government just announced a ban on James Laine's book "Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India." All this front-page news has meant that the WSF events have been pushed back to the Metro section, in a page incongruously called "Spicy City". Unlike Porto Allegre or Florence, Bombay is a huge city and it is possible for a major event with thousands of delegates to take place without causing much of a ripple.

Mumbai was chosen as the location through a complicated series of internal negotiations. For a few years, activists have been pointing out that the WSF can hardly claim "World" in its title if it keeps being held in Brazil and Europe. Asia and Africa needed to be represented, and soon. As a nation that already has serious designs on a UN Security Council Seat, and now, through the Bush-Vajpayee dé

tente, may emerge as the second player after Israel in the US security axis, India is already an emerging superpower. Although the WSF participants don't necessarily cheer on some of these other developments, India's international clout very easily translated to the WSF location negotiations. Trivandaram in Kerala and Kolkata in West Bengal were more logical choices, since both have leftist governments that are more sympathetic to the WSF. But a complicated set of issues, including logistics and possible rivalry between the two cities made Mumbai the ultimate choice.

Mumbai is an odd choice, but in the end it may not be a bad one. The juxtaposition of Mumbai's aggressive capitalism against WSF's people-centered globalisation is jarring. It would certainly make more sense to have the event in a city that is a showcase for the alternative economic models WSF espouses. At the same time, there is a more interesting challenge at Mumbai WSF '04. If even this fast-paced, commerce-obsessed city can be convinced to pause for a moment and consider something new, that will be a major victory. After all, the hardy activists converged at the WSF may want to go beyond just preaching to the converted.

Naeem Mohaiemen is Editor of SHOBAK.Org