Cities as cultural hubs

Cities bring together people from many regions. They share spaces, so they also share culture, languages, customs, food and festivals. The result is a mixture.

The chapter's favourite example is a snack: vaḍā pāv, a famous Mumbai snack. It is a Maharashtrian-style potato dumpling (the vaḍā) inside a pāv (a bread roll).

Look where its parts come from:

• the pāv (pāo, bread): brought by the Portuguese;
• the potato: also brought by the Portuguese;
• the cooking and spices: Maharashtrian.

Why did it catch on? It is easy to make, easy to carry and easy to eat, so it became very popular with workers in Mumbai's textile mills.

So one snack holds a trade history, a local cooking tradition and the daily life of a working city.

Kolkata was once the capital of British-ruled India. It still has the Indian Museum and the Victoria Memorial from that time.

Kolkata is just as famous for Durga Puja. In 2021, Kolkata's Durga Puja was added to UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Cities also build places for culture:

• cultural centres;
• libraries;
• museums;
• sports stadiums;
• spaces for national and international events.

For example, the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalay in New Delhi is a museum that tells the story of India's prime ministers and their contributions to national development. People from all walks of life visit it.

Places like these give people new experiences, and let them meet, make friends and build networks. That is a big part of what cities are for.