Mumbai- A palimpsest. Review on Mumbai

Life is all about a choice that one has to make between liking what you get and getting what you want. If you follow either of the ways you have to fight. In the first situation you fight with life to stay alive and in the second you fight with society to stay alive and live the life that you chose for yourself and not the people around you. And I have decided on the second one….

This review is about what I genuinely feel about the city that has embraced me and has made me tick for more than a decade.

What’s in a name Quite a lot if it’s not a rose(Mumbai not Bombay). It’s so sad but human beings are reduced to ciphers and are governed by colours. I don’t know whether my favourite colour is saffron or green. I guess it’s white, a symbol of peace. My heart bleeds not when thorns pierce it but when I realize that I am just contributing to the demography of the country(Can’t help, I am an ordinary human being)It’s an existentialist dilemma that people are in. Am I bereft of feelings, emotions? I was a self-confessed atheist until about a year ago. But deep down I was pious and believed in the divine. How else do I explain the close shave that my sister had with death on March13th. She was in Mulund at that time but she preferred to catch the bus back home. (I am referring to the bomb blast in the ladies compartment of the Karjat bound train) After this incident the part of me that was god fearing resurfaced. I actually felt happy that I wasn’t on that train. But I never know when my turn will come. Bad things don’t always happen to others they happen to us too. I was in school in 1993 when the serial blasts rocked the city and was not mature enough to realize the gravity and the aftermath of the situation.

There is a nexus between the underworld and the film industry. Terrorists have made Mumbai their haven. How does that affect the common man? That’s me. My life is going on. I am breathing. So is everybody. Murders, Rapes, violence are something that adorns the masthead and I confront it each morning over a cup of coffee. I see people feeling bad because they missed their 7.45 local. Office goers are upset because they have to work on a day when India plays a crucial match. Students are cribbing about the fact that Valentines Day celebration was banned. And I ….. Well I am contented because my workplace is just a stop away from my house and everyday is Valentines day for me.

A poet has said and I quote,

“What is this world if full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare”

This I think is the apt explanation for a city like Mumbai. Lions who are no better than Rats are ruling the city. People are just breathing…

I have a strange feeling that I am a split personality. When my pragmatic and optimistic self overshadows the dark aspect of my life I begin to look at life through rose tinted glasses.

Mumbai – truly the land of dreams. People come here to pursue their dreams and very often realize it. How can the glamour world not intrigue someone(page 3 types) It’s is the land of cricket. There exists a dichotomy here in all aspects not just haves and have-nots. I was just thinking about the crowd that unwinds itself after a hard day’s work at some dance bar or the elite congregation that waits outside prithvi theatre to catch yet another distorted Shakespearian play. I wonder whether Ganpati festival at Lalbaug is celebrated with more fervour and enthusiasm than Ramzan at mohammed ali road. Too many questions… No answers.

This is the zeitgeist of the city called Mumbai. Not to mention the food in Mumbai. Confluence of all cuisines. Vada Pav, Pav bhaji, Misal Pav, Dosa ,idli, Paani puri, burgers , Pizza, pasta, those red carts serving Indianised Chinese food, fruit plates , golas…. You name it and Mumbai has it. So many Multiplexes and discotheques around. I can have a gala time. So many ads for walk-in interviews. No dearth of jobs here. After all it is the financial capital. But people want the best. It is a dog eat dog world out here. The attitude “ I know I am the best keeps the average Mumbaikar ticking”

Right from the time of Adam , Eve and Satan good and evil have existed in tandem. There is a juxtaposition of good and evil in Mumbai too. People have their own reasons for staying here. Where else would you find a Bengali, Gujarati and tamilian traveling by the same train, at the same time risking their lives knowing fully well that another blast may take place. This cosmopolitan city has its own lingua franca better known as hinglish or Mumbaiya lingo( To use Salman Rushdies term Chutnification)

“ Bole to, “ Ask not what Mumbai can do for you ask what you can do for Mumbai( I like kennedy) I have a dream friends. ( I like Martin Luther king) A utopian dream for my city. Even though the clouds lurk beneath the city’s surface it will pour someday. Let us consider ourselves lucky because this is not Iraq just as I consider myself very lucky because my sister wasn’t on that ill-fated train. But somebody’s sister was… THIS WAS NOT MEANT TO BE A TRAVELOGUE.