Boy – o – Boy Mumbai!

(adapted from my blog: itsadejavu.blogspot.com)

The long awaited freedom, which was beckoning, arrived. The freedom to wear your attitude on ur sleeves… literally (wear T-shirts with captions). The freedom to sms keeping your hand above the table and not below. Freedom from the multi cuisine (huh) of mess. Eating out anything which looks impressive on the left side of the menu & not at the right side. From prepaid mobile monthly scratch cards to humongous postpaid mobile bills (err not quite a freedom though). From where Rock music was considered a noise to where it’s a religion. Life has definitely changed…. Or shall I say the matrix has undergone a transition. Is it for the better is it for the worse, well it’s an experience worth undergoing.

Scene 1:
Welcome to the corporate world. Or should I be saying a world out of the comforts of the college life. Welcome to Mumbai….
Life has been quite fascinating and interesting everyday of my first3 months stay here.
Company has been so very kind and hospitable to `ve gifted us the luxury of staying at the posh locality at Churchgate, overlooking the Marine Drive, where every evening could see the sun sink into the Arabian Sea.
The day we moved out of the hotel Chateau Windsor……I realized, how painful its going to be to get my laundry done with clothes neatly ironed and arranged How much I was going to miss the services of the hotel room, from breakfast to dinner…..A voice inside said…
Welcome to Mumbai = mum Bai.

Scene 2:
Early mornings in Mumbai can deceive a foreigner in believing that the total population of India resides in here. The workforce who moves at the railway station makes you remember the busy ants working in tandem meticulously, one after the other. At times you wonder what their diet supplements are which gives so much of energy.
I ventured out to board the train from borivali at 8:09 am …yes don’t look astonished with the time being so precise, here everything happens to the detail. You start thinking how important 1 min is after you are left stranded on the platform with a “wrinkle free” shirt as a medal to the Herculean task of boarding the already crowded train. The medicinal Ayurvedic Oil massages of Kerala can take a back seat, these train journeys are a complete body massage & that too for “free” ….
The snake like local train starts its journey and you can hear a loud, “Ganapati bappa….moreaa”!!! Everyone prays for a second, closing their eyes before they head for their new day in office. With exuberance spilling all over them the people huddle around in the train. On my return journey in the 8:47 pm train the scenes were totally different. Technology has engulfed all and radio channels are giving Apple Corps I-Pods a run for their money. All passengers of the train are engrossed in one song or the other. The most amusing site is the women in the 1st class compartment peeling their vegetables and cutting them fine for the dinner. Whao time management anyone!!!!! Even at the end of a tiring day they are left with so much energy…
The voice calls up to me and says …..
Welcome to Mumbai = mum High!

Scene 3:
The walk after getting out of the train is the most adventurous. It reminds me of a scene from Ice Age… (Both 1 & 2) where all the animals start migrating. The long walks reminded me of the early morning run to the ASB building and “Lokaha…Samasta ha…” echoing in the mountains…reminding me that I was going to be late (again) to class. But those walks were so pleasant with cool breeze in the hair (back then I didn’t get the time to realize it but reach class)….
Back to the metro and the air gets polluted with every horn in town. It seems as if the machines have woken up early morning. At times I tend to think of the serene landscape at Planet E and the clouds floating by….this time the voice pulled my hand and whispered …..
Welcome to Mumbai = mum sigh…. :-(

Scene 4:
This city is enigmatic and at the same time. It’s difficult to realize what time it is in the evening just by looking out. The traffic on the roads is so heavy till 2:00am and it wakes up at around 6:00 am again. The exuberance in the masses be it day or night is incomparable and envious. The city throbs with youth and opportunities. The prospects, which this city opens up, are immense, with people from all walks of life excelling in their careers. The night life with pubs, disco, the concerts hosted, the cricket frenzy, the bollywood, the stock markets, the diamond merchants…there is no doubt whatsoever, this city is the mother of all cities, mother of all opportunities and mother of all dreams….no wonder the child inside me started reminiscing ..
Welcome to Mumbai = Mum I

Scene 5:
Seems like times have moved on very fast since I sat in the ASB classrooms (or was it the canteen)….. Feel as if I have been working for long now as life is in a fast lane now…appointments, meetings, postpaid bills, credit card bill payment (or the lack of it), rental accommodation, tax planning, and investments plans (ha ha ya guys it’s a joke)….
Hmmmmmmmm suddenly start missing those beautiful relaxed days of college where all you were accountable for was yourself! The fun times with night outs, sitting up and finishing the presentations given a month in advance, the camaraderie shown in sharing the “new” proxy site that could open orkut, the days when we would sit and tease the guys who had more elective classes, seldom to realize that the last quarter was going to be a hell for us!!!....
In all these moments there was joy, there was fun….Now there are newer challenges and interesting assignments, corporate life with new visiting cards and lot of enthusiasm. Life is looking interesting again.
But missing the loving professors and beautiful Planet E the voice from inside just mumbles back to me…..
Welcome to Mumbai = mum bye!

ps:this is one of my 1st posts & wud like to give the full credit for making me write to all the ppl who ve penned previous posts. Gr8 goin guys keep up the spirit! Rock !