I clearly remember the day when our train reached Mumbai.It was 26th June 2011. We all stepped down at Andheri station and looked here and there to get a gist of this city that people fondly call as MayaNagri. A swarm of people was rushing here and there, oblivious to our presence. We came out of the station to stand in a queue to get an auto. Yes, I repeat that. A queue for an auto. Now this was a new sight for us. A policeman was guiding this whole process of assembly line autos coming from nowhere and gulping in passengers. One such auto readily took me and my friend to the guest house that had been allotted by Deloitte to us.Ofcourse, this incident was an exception. We realised later on, that its easier to get a girl to bed on your first date than to get an auto in Mumbai despite of being omnipresent and even omnipotent,in some situations.
After the autowala threw us at our destination and charged us by looking at the most important innovation in the history of mankind after Graham Bell's telephone, The METER. Trust me, that's a gadget that comes with a halo not at the back but in front of it, literally. This gadget comes with a sheet which has some conversions done through a strangely applied formula that might even put the 'IMDB formula' to shame. When every citizen thinks that he knows the sheet by heart now, (as he has gone through all the permutations and combinations while travelling his side of the city), the sheet replaces itself with a fresh one. The numbers have increased and the autowala grins at you with a victorious smile. You pay him and go on with your job. And again ofcourse, this was a parallel universe I was talking about where you have managed to get an auto.
So now, back to my story.What all happened after we reached our guest house, I will have to fast forward that because truly speaking, I don't remember much of it either. All that I can remember seems like a set of visuals moving back and forth on a picasa album. This is what the city does to you. It makes you forget about your past and epitomize the oft repeated phrase 'Live your present'. The never-ending heavenly rains, bustling local trains,vada pav and pav-bhaji, the night clubs,Bandra Bandstand,good looking women,BEST buses,ferry across the sea, malai kulfi at chowpatty, the frustration when it takes an hour to move a distance of just 100 meters, and when you forget completely about that frustration the moment you set your foot on Marine Drive, the Western Express highway, piles of flats on top of each other, slums cramped up in places you never thought existed, the joy of spotting a star walking past you, watching a movie with an audience full of movie lovers like you, entering the Taj Mahal Hotel as if you owned it even though all you would do is take a piss and come out (or if you can afford something from the menu that starts with a Rs.400 tea exclusive of taxes), potholes in which you can take a holy dip......this film reel can never end. But the most important thing in that reel which I missed, which is true about every city, is its people. The friends that you make in a place you are new to, decides if you are actually going to like that place or not. Without some good company, I believe, even a Las Vegas or a Hawaii would appear boring. And fortunately,I found one hell of a company here! With my short stint of 8 months in Mumbai nearing its end,it would be hard to forget anyone that I met over here.
Now before this memoir or whatever you want to call it, runs out of steam and starts sounding like the article that Konkana's character writes in the climax of 'Wake up Sid', It would be wise to stop typing and just enjoy the beautiful Arabian sea in front of me.A person sitting alone with his laptop on Marine Drive and typing, with a plethora of passionate couples around him busy smooching each other,isn't exactly a sight that you would normally expect. But then, this is Bombay for you.
After the autowala threw us at our destination and charged us by looking at the most important innovation in the history of mankind after Graham Bell's telephone, The METER. Trust me, that's a gadget that comes with a halo not at the back but in front of it, literally. This gadget comes with a sheet which has some conversions done through a strangely applied formula that might even put the 'IMDB formula' to shame. When every citizen thinks that he knows the sheet by heart now, (as he has gone through all the permutations and combinations while travelling his side of the city), the sheet replaces itself with a fresh one. The numbers have increased and the autowala grins at you with a victorious smile. You pay him and go on with your job. And again ofcourse, this was a parallel universe I was talking about where you have managed to get an auto.
So now, back to my story.What all happened after we reached our guest house, I will have to fast forward that because truly speaking, I don't remember much of it either. All that I can remember seems like a set of visuals moving back and forth on a picasa album. This is what the city does to you. It makes you forget about your past and epitomize the oft repeated phrase 'Live your present'. The never-ending heavenly rains, bustling local trains,vada pav and pav-bhaji, the night clubs,Bandra Bandstand,good looking women,BEST buses,ferry across the sea, malai kulfi at chowpatty, the frustration when it takes an hour to move a distance of just 100 meters, and when you forget completely about that frustration the moment you set your foot on Marine Drive, the Western Express highway, piles of flats on top of each other, slums cramped up in places you never thought existed, the joy of spotting a star walking past you, watching a movie with an audience full of movie lovers like you, entering the Taj Mahal Hotel as if you owned it even though all you would do is take a piss and come out (or if you can afford something from the menu that starts with a Rs.400 tea exclusive of taxes), potholes in which you can take a holy dip......this film reel can never end. But the most important thing in that reel which I missed, which is true about every city, is its people. The friends that you make in a place you are new to, decides if you are actually going to like that place or not. Without some good company, I believe, even a Las Vegas or a Hawaii would appear boring. And fortunately,I found one hell of a company here! With my short stint of 8 months in Mumbai nearing its end,it would be hard to forget anyone that I met over here.
No comments:
Post a Comment