Mumbai meri jaan.........

Finally I thought of my blog.I have just been simply lazy lately and given the fact that I have rediscovered the joys of napping only to be interrupted by food and an episode of Scrubs here and there,blogging was the last thing I was thinking about.

I sometimes feel I shouldn’t be making my life public for people to read but the other day someone told me that “blogging is not making my life public its about making my opinion public” so I am back.

Lots have been happening which have to go on my blog.

First of all Bombay happened………my best friends mandy(mandrila) and beda(bedannita) have shifted there some time now so crashing in with them for a few days was always an option,plus I had never been to Bombay before so things kinda fell into place n I went there for a week.

Mumbai to me was just a name of a city in some corner of the country I had never been to, and like most non-mumbaikars I also perceived it as being an unsafe place given the horrific train blasts(7/11)………and to add to that the grim picture that bollywood gives us of mafias or should I say “bhai”s patrons of india’s underworld who sit in every random “galli” ruling the city at gunpoint. All I knew of Mumbai was that it has Asia’s largest slum “Dharavi” in the heart of the city, marine drive, the Juhu beach and the famous “vadapao” and “gola”.

But the week that I spent there gave me the bigger and the more real picture.The city is an enigma and its people a mystery. Not even for a moment did I feel like an outsider there, it all felt so mine.From the auto-wala to the random shopkeeper,from the stranger who sat next to me in the local train to the street vendors in Bandra……….i had this weird sense of belonging,something that I didn’t have even for Kolkata.

Four days passed in four seconds and my friends crammed in all that they could of Mumbai into me. The best part was late night outings on marine drive, we were out there for hours staring at the sea and the occasional “sutta” added to the soul searching.The distant lights from the skyscrapers were like a bevy of watchful eyes seemed to keep a track of the reckless impulsive bunch that we were.One thing remains though…… I still don’t know how the queen’s necklace looks in broad daylight L

Then came the shopping……..street shopping,every girl’s favourite pastime when the bucks are a little low. I was amazed at the kind of stuff that these street vendors had,they could give brands a run for their money.We spent hours on Link road,Hill road and the streets near the Colaba Causeway till we dropped.Its just the one thing that girls never get tired of.I also thought that the average mumbaikar was better dressed than people in other metros,everybody seemed to know what’s in vogue .I am obviously broke after all the mindless shopping,I even got stuff that I would probably never ever use, i guess I was on some kind of an eclectic high.

And finally all the nice people I met in Mumbai,it would never be the same without you guys. Mandy,Beda,Khyati and all the lovely friends that you have.Mandy simply because she’s my my best friend, all those silly reasons that we keep giggling endlessly at,all the gossip that we share and her delicious sandwiches!! I think the time we took to end up making them with the olives and garnishing(ahem!) and that we were too exhausted to actually eat them made it all the more crazy.

Not forgetting my buddy Abhishek dude you rock!! I actually sat through those horrible movies “Kidnap” and “Drona” because I was with you.The bus ride back to Bangalore was fun because of your crappy and crazy sense of humour. Hoping tht you end up getting that “hot chic” that you have always been looking for ;-)

And lastly Mumbai has “something” that I have and will always crave for but can never have. Fate denies us our most wanted things :-(