There are two kinds of people when it comes to travelling. One category who feels all the cities across the world are same and hence why waste time in travelling and city roaming. These are the ones who will never let your plans fructify and invariably spoil your vacation. There is other group which just wants to travel and travel all the time, which ultimately means city hopping only. What do you think? Are all the cities the same? Of all the places you have visited, forgetting the beaches or the monuments, did you find any difference among the cities? Well! It is hard to decide and will depend on how you view a city, as a concept.
For some, all cities are similar because after all, physically these are concrete jungles having lots and lots of people carrying on the same activities again and again. These are the areas where primarily commercial activities take place. Well organised and well regulated but everyone is busy, running around to maximize their wealth. Each city has a distinct shopping area, residential area, educational area etc. But since they are doing the similar functions, physical structure to deal with them also have huge similarities. Last two decades or so, shopping malls have come up all around the world. We all know that all malls look the same inside and outside, with similar stores, same brands and same gimmicks. Now, practically all big cities boost of high rise dwelling units (along with vast slums as well) and the metro system of mass public transport are almost similar. So why would you travel to just see a similar physical landscape, almost a photocopy of each other, as per this set of commentators.
On the other hand, the counter view is that no two cities are the same. Every city has a distinct history. After all it is a settlement, which has been around, most probably for centuries. Delhi traces its origin to the 7th century CE, Mumbai to the 14th century CE. Rome is supposed to be 28 centuries old while Varanasi is supposed to be a million year old city. (Incidentally, contrast it with Chandigarh which is just a seventy year old city). How did a particular settlement come into being, how did it survive, is the most fascinating aspect of any city. Obviously, in the process of evolution these settlements would have ordained a distinct culture, ethos, idiom of its own. There would be different survival kits for these societies to have emerged. In fact, the physical landscape mirrors this evolution of the cities. So the historical buildings, temples, minarets, statues or ruins etc. to which one gets attracted to is testimony to different histories and culture of a city.
So apparently it boils down to what your mind perceives. If you are restricting to physical similarities, most of the cities may be similar. But if you go beyond that, each city tells its own story. It will not be a bad idea to search for your city’s history (however inconsequential you may think) and its cultural milieu from the internet and see how many surprising facts will pop up.
Ashwani Mehta