Mumbai re-visited

Date: 23-01-2010 Place: Mumbai

The City finally arrives , the distant tall buildings and the slums ornamenting the sides of the road are Mumbai's way to greet anyone who comes her way. A sudden wave of pungent air grips my nostrils, nearly making my eyes water and making me realize that the pleasant air of Bangalore has indeed made me a little soft for the city where I was brought up. The initial sounds come as blows to my poor ears that have now got accustomed to the tranquility of my home in Bangalore. Screeching tyres, Blaring horns, flashing headlights and I feel lost. Lost in my own city, How the hell is this possible...I must be tired, nothing more, this is how I dismiss all this. But it ain't that easy.

I catch a rickshaw which thankfully in Mumbai abides by an instrument called the Fare Meter, unlike Bangalore where it is nothing but a visual tool to trap unsuspecting new-comers.It has been almost 3 months since I left Mumbai, and I have kinda missed the chaos abundant here.

Pot-holed roads, overflowing drainage, Havaldars taking in bribes, Over-crowded trains, red Best buses (which have been pleading for retirement now); this is Mumbai and I feel nothing less than proud of having been brought up the Mumbai way. But there is a strange thing with bangalore, the more I detest it, the more I get entangled in it by means of people, places or incidents. There are plenty of each of them which will make me remember this city for a long time to come.

As I am still thinking over all this stuff, the rickshaw driver asks me "Bhau, Kuthe gheu, Left ki right"(meaning should I take a right or left?). I answer "Right ghya ani doosrya building chya gate samor thambva"(Take a right and stop in front of the second building). I have reached home. The one place where it doesn't matter whether its Bangalore or Mumbai.

I leave the contemplation for a better day, as there are better things awaiting just 20 feet above.

9 months ago...The day it all began...

Inbox(1) showed my Gmail Inbox...I absent-mindedly clicked it...AC invites you to join it's rolls from 27th November 2009, read the mail. A few phone calls and I left for the college. I then realised that I had misplaced my original Offer Letter and my mind raced towards the possibile ramifications that this could have. Nevertheless with "I-will-find-my-way-out-of-this-as-well" attitude I reached college and as it had always been,I negotiated my way out of this situation as well.

I was walking with Chandresh and Aparna on my out of the college and I blurted out that may be we will get Bangalore or Chennai as our centre as I had a strong feeling of that happening. As soon as my words reached their ears, voices of protest filled the air. I caught my mind contemplating on whether I should have told that or not.But I dismissed this as an unnecessary exercise by my mind.

What flustered me and somehow disappointed me was the strength of feelings which everyone around me had mustered at the thought of leaving Mumbai. I, on the other hand, never thought that emotionally. Indifference was surely a way of life. People raved about mumbai, swore on its culture, claimed that how difficult it would become to live wihtout things that made mumbai 'MUMBAI' . For me this was simply an opportunity, to start writing on the slate all over again, to start a journey leaving behind all the luggage from the previous one. However my admiration for Mumbai was never any less than their Nostalgia.

A few days later...CST Station...Destination: Bengaluru
The train took off...and so did our lives in a direction which was yet to be unravelled and comprehended...

But we have come a long way since then. And everyone has managed to make something out of these 9 months. The people around me have surprised me quite a lot. Their various interpretations and implementation of this period has been an intriguing affair.
It is these 9 months and the experiences so far that have prompted me to start a blog...which is named aptly as The Bengaluru Diaries...