Initially I
thought about writing this post on Mumbai, then it hit me that what would I
write about Mumbai that has never been written about. So I decided to write
about my version of mumbai. From the sip of cutting chai to a bite of vada pav
to the hustling local to the never ending crowd to the refreshing and
mesmerizing marine drive. Everything about this city is so amazing. Its like
you come in this city like a stranger and in no time it make you its
own.
This city gives you exactly what you
need- LIFE! It is the
biggest inspiration in itself. Over here I've met different kinds of people
here some very good, some bad, some crazy, some difficult to understand, some
optimistic, some care free.This city has given me many things and one of the
most important things are my friends.
In spite of all this a friend of mine
can never understand the geographical complexities of Mumbai. I don't blame him
, many people get lost and never come out of this maze, we are all stuck in
it.Looking for someone,looking for ourselves in the hoardings on the Queen's
necklace , in the glitzy magazines being sold on the bylanes of this island
city,in the cinema halls,in the suburban malls.I can keep going on and
on,because this list is endless.
Distance is never an issue with us Mumbaikars. We can travel anywhere,
everywhere and in any condition. Local trains are the perfect antidote for a
lonely person. The number of Homo sapiens around you in a 7:30 Borivali local
is directly proportional to the amount of red blood cells in a human body.
Adventure sports anyone? I read somewhere on the net that on rush hours, around
14 to 16 people occupy one square meter of space on a local train. What an
understatement!
A friend of mine used to travel 60 kms everyday to
study Science in a town side college! Now that’s an art!
Why Mumbai? Why don’t people go to any other city with their baggage of
dreams? I believe that this city has a brilliant capacity to make you feel
space for everyone. It never makes you feel satisfied of what you have
achieved, you don’t have the time to sleep because someone else might be awake,
planning to grab your piece of land in this city. A neighbour of mine was
trying hard to become a Bollywood ‘hero’ since quite some time but the last
time I met him, he introduced himself as an estate agent. But then, Mumbadevi’s
office is working overtime to fulfill everyone’s dreams, some successfully,
some less.
They want to turn Mumbai into Shanghai,
they can never do that. Mumbai will remain Mumbai and
Shanghai can
never become Mumbai!
My Mumbai was not scared when some miscreants tried to hold it to ransom.
In fact, she was laughing at them. Saying,” Is this all you guys have got?” It
is not that the people of Mumbai are Superman (even if they wished they were)
to go back to work the very next day, it’s just that they had no other option.
So how do you define Mumbai? Like this – Gateway Of India, Queen’s
Necklace, Virar local, Shah Rukh Kahn, Taj, local trains, Elephanta caves,
Borivali National Park, Wankhede, Xavier’s College, Mannat, Dhobi Talao, Bandr,
Marine drive, Suburbs, Amitabh Bachchan, Juhu Beach, Nariman Point, Jehangir
Art Gallery, Dharavi, Prince of Wales, Tendulkar, Bombay, EROS, Film City, Virat
Kohli, Barista, Arabian Sea, Mithibai College, Malabar Hill, Haji Ali, Cuffe
Parade, Bombay Stock Exchange, St.Andrew’s college, Sea link, Bollywood, 26/11,
Slumdog Millionaire, vada pav, youth, fun, glitz, money, glamour, success,
dreams, failure, heartbreaks, life and much more!
Or like this……
According to official records, 18,830,884 people reside in this city! I
know Mumbai’ not the safest place in the world, they say it’s ‘the next Delhi’. Though hate to
admit it , it is the truth! Mumbai can become a better place if we strive
towards making it a better place. And in the end I just want to sum up in these
words,
“Yeh Mumbai teri bhi jaan hain , aur teri bhi jaan hain ,
toh isko apni jaan ki tarha rakh na meri jaan”
