A walk down the ‘Mumbai’ lane

Quite a long break from writing!  Have not been busy at all, I can say that I didn’t have much to write or something interesting to write on and get away with it.  But I seriously did not intend for such a long break. Again, around this time of the year, I find myself in Mumbai. This time in a different home, different locality, lesser trees, lots of buildings, 4^th floor, blue sky, birds flying and dogs barking….this is how it is!  Mumbai, now, feels like a home away from home. I always say that the reason behind my liking for Mumbai is that I find it very similar to my native place- Banaras. I know a lot of you are guffawing at this thought of mine, right now; but serious or funny, true to me.

I remember when I first visited Mumbai, it did not seem like a stranger to me. I was here for my internship, the monsoon had already taken off and it rained cats and dogs almost every day.  I landed here on a Saturday so I had a day to settle down at my sister’s. Had heard about the local trains a lot and dreaded at the thought of boarding it. Folks at home were not of any help either as every now and then I would hear someone say –“how will you go to your office, it’s so far and you are not used to the locals (local trains); besides they are not as sophisticated as the Delhi Metro, knowing you, we are quite sure that you are going to run off on the very first day.”  And I would think to myself – “was it a bad idea after all, taking an internship in Mumbai?”

Monday morning I woke up early, you can say that I did not sleep at all waiting for the dawn. Anxiety and excitement- after all it was my first day at work! Picked one of the best shirts out of the lot, dressed up, put on a little make-up, and dabbed on my favorite perfume-voila-I was ready for office! My brother -in -law was to take me to the office and get me a little acquainted with the way. Rain, a traffic mess, auto break down, humidity-I thought if there was a hell anywhere, this was it! I boarded the train with a look on my face that clearly said I can kill anyone who would dare to come in my way. It was a male coach and therefore overtly crowded. I don’t know how people breathed in there. After some 40 minutes I reached Grant Road from where I had to take a taxi to the office which was in Tardeo. First day was absolutely pleasant at work; people were friendly and very helpful. By the end of the day I had the client servicing people calling me with a nick name -“Delhi girl”, perhaps because my name has never been easy to pronounce.  Although my brother-in-law had said to inform him before I left the office so he could tell me which train I should take for home as his office was at a walking distance from Grant Road; I decided not to tell him.

As I walked out of the office, the clouds had already begun to take on the blue sky and it was quite windy. “Ah!” I thought “perfect”, though I love rain and everything about it, don’t know why I felt a little strange. May be because I was in a different city…may be because I was fully aware that I was in a different city. As soon as I started walking, asking the taxi-drivers for Grant Road ,the strange feeling was gone; almost all of them were from UP. I sat in the taxi, looked out of the window it had started to drizzle. I felt at home as if a bird had found a shelter while flying back to her nest in a storm. The sky looked serene- it was a quiet drizzle unlike Delhi’s growling rains. The wind was well-behaved too, like it wanted to serenade me in its arms and swirl me to the music of the rain drops. I was home after some 2 hours of journey. By the end of the week I was well acquainted with Mumbai, which was a mere stranger to me just a few days ago.

I am often spell-bound with the vastness of the sea and it was in Mumbai that I first witnessed anything as enormous as a sea. I was absolutely in love with the city of sea. The immensity and the profundity of the sea mesmerize me; At times it is that silent whisperer, who offers sweet nothings to your ears and on the others it is so aggressive that you will fear going near it. I wish I could just sit by the sea and stare through it for an eternity. It has given me some very precious moments…moments that still bring smile to my face when I think about them.

Another fact that I love about Mumbai is that it made me meet someone, an absolute charmer, whom I will admire for the rest of my existence. Someone who gave me cherishing moments for life, someone who made me see how beautiful life can be.  Although we had been friends since long but it was in Mumbai that I met him in person, for the first time. I met him at Andheri-West railway station, for the first time and since then there has been no looking back. The station had two entrances and I still remember how he came climbing through the stairs, as he was at the very opposite of the place I was at. It began with exchange of smiles and continues like that, still! The second time I met him is unforgettable (for me) - it is that striking. I clearly remember the crazy wind at Juhu and sweet rain at band stand, which made the gorgeous evening more gorgeous, as if they are some captured moments in my mind and I just have to flip through them. Mumbai had never looked so beautiful and charming to my eyes before. I fondly call him ‘happiness’ and when I think of it there cannot be an apt name for him than this. He is certainly amongst the foremost reasons that I keep coming back to Mumbai; that I keep coming back to ‘happiness’!

 Apparently, for me Mumbai has been the city of ‘firsts’. It has given me liberty, a sense of independence, a friend forever and that’s how Mumbai remains close to my heart and will remain like this everlastingly!