An Introduction...

It must have been on the 101, maybe the 405- but I was on a generic LA freeway, stuck in horrible LA traffic, when I simply snapped. After all the times I had fought the grind, I just gave in. And I began to wonder, can it get worse than this? I realized that it must, and for some strange reason I wanted to see it, even get swallowed into it for a while. You might call it a perverted embrace of the ugly, the slow, the frustrating - if you can't beat it, join it as they say. And that's when I began to think about a project such as this one.

I have always enjoyed visiting different places, but never to immerse myself in the thick of crowded urban centers and dense swaths of humans. It is usually to see pretty temples, churches, beaches, harbors, mountains, and so on. But I have concluded that while these things are all wonderful (I will never turn down a nice beach), they leave me with a one-sided perspective of the world. For every good, there is bad. For all things clean, there is dirt, etc. I think you get the point - The world is not a picture perfect postcard. It is more comfortable to ignore the things that we don't like, and to hold onto what makes us happy: Perfectly understandable. I also seem to always do this - but for now I refuse to...

I don't happen to know many people who live in villages anymore; cities have more things to see and do, more jobs to fill, more people to meet than villages do. This is how many people think, and you can't blame them. In fact, the whole world is gradually urbanizing. An slow exodus of sorts...

Take India for instance. There are about 680,000 Indian villages, and 2/3 of the population still lives in a village- That's about 750 million people! But in 2001, more than 1/3 of Indian villagers depended on non-farm income for their survival. Since rural life is pretty much centered around agriculture, this tells me that people have a growing desire to move out of their village. In the next 20 years, urban dwellers will eventually make up 2/3 of the Indian population, rather than the 1/3 that now city-dwell (is that even a verb?).

And this could and probably will be the case for the rest of the world. Only so many farmers will be needed in the future, especially once companies begin to take over agricultural production and use machines instead of people. But access to better jobs is not the only reason people are moving to cities. Natural disasters like floods and droughts push people into the cities, and make a slum seem like a blessing. Dams, roads, and other development projects also force unlucky villagers off their land. At that point, there is nowhere to go but the nearest or biggest city possible.

So as you enjoy the horrible traffic and other signs of urban stress in your local city, remember that it will only get worse, not better. And this is something that should be confronted, not ignored. I hope this will help you with that...

In the end, interesting things happen in these big cities. There are plenty of people to meet, foods to eat, things to see and experience, and many stories to be told. It is a sick kind of fun, but an adrenaline rush is a guarantee, and I think it will be interesting, though not easy. I hope to entertain you with some good stories!

Please note that a seemingly negative portrayal of a place does not reflect on the entire culture or country (though it may reflect poor governance). For example, just because New Delhi is a disgusting city does not make India or Indian culture disgusting. Quite the opposite. It just lends flavor and diversity to the country. Cities don't have feelings anyway, so I'm sure there will be no love lost...

A city is like a person: Each is different in its own way, with its own character, personality, and tendencies. Some are pleasant, some are mean. Hopefully I will be able to convey to you the experiences one has when interacting with each different city and its unique personality. But it takes years to ever truly understand a person, and it is the same with a city. I will never claim to know the truth about any city. I will tell you what I see, smell, hear, and touch though, and you can make up your own mind...

Cheers and enjoy...

NICK