Mumbai Salsa: March 2009

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Mission Accomplished

Well…It’s just my third post and I am afraid I’m unable to resist it. The temptation to lead you into my life. My kitchen, to be more precise. NO. This one is not about Mumbai per se. And YES. It is about Mumbai. I don’t know how much sense I am making but at such moments of ‘high’, it doesn’t matter. Some joys cannot be contained and ought to be shared in order to avoid indigestion.

It happened last night. Since I have come to Mumbai, the FIRSTs of my life haven’t taken a break. First crush, first love, first heartbreak…naah, I am way past these things .At my age, it has got to be something more special. A sense of winning a bastion you never thought you could enter into. When something that was not your ‘cup of tea’ suddenly seems inviting! A sheer feeling of ecstasy and achievement !

It happened when my Goan roomie who usually looks after the kitchen didn’t want to cook anymore. Eating out would have been the most viable alternative had it not been for my internet. It happened when my net connection suddenly stopped working leaving me jobless for the entire evening. As they say, everything happens for a reason. I took refuge in the kitchen and had to comply with my roomie’s request of making her the Mumbai special – Puri bhaji. I am not so compliant usually but thought it would be a good way to kill time. Never mind the fact that in my history of cooking, I had never succeeded in making the simple chapattis, leave alone something like puri. But experimenting and trying my culinary skills in the kitchen was not going to be so bad, or so I thought.

And the very next hour, we were on the dining table having a sumptuous dinner. That was not the best puri-bhaji I have had. All the same, it was not bad and was much more than what I could ever expect of myself !I ended up calling my family and close friends.And yay ! My net is in order too.Happy ending of a rather boring day. I can’t say who was more happy….I or my parents. Finally, their not-so-useful ( I mind calling myself useless ) daughter is learning something. After all, it’s the Mumbai Magic !

Monday, March 30, 2009

Local Hues

“Ae door ke musafir, humko bhi saath le le…
Hum reh gaye akele “

The two men sang in a typical pity-evoking voice, one’s arms resting on the other’s shoulders, both visually handicapped. This is not an uncommon sight in a local train compartment in Mumbai. I wondered at their choice of song as I rummaged inside my bag for a coin. Yes. Everyone in a train compartment in the rush hour is a ‘musafir’ heading frantically towards their destination leaving so many things and people behind. This city is on its toes round the clock. Who has got time here? Anyway, it’s not about that. This all is a part and parcel of every mumbaikar’s daily life. I just thought it would be fascinating to write about the local trains of Mumbai and the equally interesting journeys that they offer.

I don’t know much about what travelling in a general compartment is like. But I can vouch for the enthralling world of a ladies’ compartment. I guess male readers will be more drawn towards this piece that will give them a sneak peek into the dabba they so wish to know about. After all, it’s a complete women’s world put together. Skinny women, curvy women, fair women, not-so-fair women, women in jeans, women in saris, women speaking English and women speaking in dialects that are hard to interpret. Basically, women from all walks of life brought together in a little cubicle, congested or airy depending on the time of the day you are travelling at.

Here, you can find women of all types. There are some who are dead against wasting time. You will find them engaged in knitting stuff. The other intellectual few indulge in solving crosswords and Sudoku. And there are others like me who kill their time staring at the above mentioned categories for reading in a ladies’ compartment is less rewarding than observing the different facets of life. There are a few who save all their telephonic conversations for this time. And thanks to the Indian vocal pitch, you get to know everything that’s going on in their bedrooms as well as boardrooms. Needless of saying, that makes the journey interesting! It’s not very comfortable to strain our ears to satisfy the Nosey Parkers in us. Sometimes, it can get a little embarrassing. The other day, I saw an elderly woman flinch and change her seat as the young chick sitting beside her uttered some sweet nothings to her boyfriend ( that’s purely a guess, but who else can it be ?).I also noticed the changing countenance of a woman as two other sat discussing their family problems attracting the attention of the entire compartment.

How can I miss the vendors who try their best to arouse the inherent buyer in a woman! Safety –pins to dress materials and everything in between…you can buy them in a train. Chocolates, flowers, combs, scrubbers, pens, lipsticks… and if you have the audacity to announce your size, even undies. But believe me, you can’t resist impulse buying when you see the colorful and cheap hair clips and trinkets. Didn’t I tell you? It’s a complete womens’ world. There’s enough life to be seen in the lifelines of Mumbai.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Mumbai Magic

As I complete my first year in Mumbai shortly, I feel I have grown with this city. I have learnt that our lives are intertwined. That for as long as I live here, we shall share a common life. I can say this with some authority as I have spent quite a few sleepless nights in the city that never sleeps. And the city of dreams has instilled dreams in my eyes too. In fact, it will be more appropriate to say that I stepped into city with dreams. A small town girl in search of a city that would accept her, nurture her and give her the space to spread her wings and soar high. Delhi was my first choice. But somehow, it won’t accept me in spite of all my efforts. My life changed for the better and I landed here. Mumbai took me in her arms like an unconditional mother and since then I have clung to her bosom like a child. I can feel a sense of belonging as I hear the highs and lows of her breath.

My first tryst with the city is etched in my memory for good. As I walked out of the over-crowded but magnificent Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, I had been thinking about what the city had in store for me. Will I be able to carve out a niche for myself or be lost in the crowd of millions who keep thronging the busy lanes with hundreds of dreams in their weary eyes ? Many have made it big in this city but all the same, the packed foothpaths tell the other side of the story. One who walks into this city knows not which category Mumbai will place him/her in. Yet,this city has a charm that you cannot deny. It casts its spell on you before you know and then you are its captive forever. As my cab drove past the well known Marine Drive, I was so overwhelmed by my thoughts and the city that two drops of tears rolled down my cheeks. And I realized that this was ‘the’ place for me to be. It was raining hard, the infamous rains of Mumbai; and the untamed waves were striking against the tetra -pods ferociously. Some sights have the power to evoke emotions naturally and rains have always been the harbingers of good luck to me. That lovely grey morning is something I can never forget.

Nevertheless, there is an unsafe edge to this city as well. However secure it makes me feel, there is always a strange fear. The fear that usually keeps looming over the big cities. The fear that anything can happen to anyone. Whatever happened on the 26th of November was a manifestation of that fear. I realized that it’s only an extra amount of luck that makes the difference, that prevents you from being at the wrong place at the wrong time. But then it brings you back to the basics of life-the fact that life is not forever. It teaches you to live each day as if it were the last day of your life. Not just this, Mumbai has taught me much more. I love Mumbai for all that it has bestowed on me.