Bombay’s strength, like New York’s, lay in its ability to absorb all comers and make them draw vitality and worth from one another, together building—and taking pride in—a cosmopolitan citadel of creativity and enterprise, optimism and goodwill. But, under the crush of a covetous political class, it grew beyond its capacity to absorb people even as more people came in. Violence and mayhem turned Bombay into a provincial town.
