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.