Musings of a Musafir- part 2- Mumbai

Continued from part 1-

In a few hours I was at Bhiwandi. I asked a few people and took a bus to Borivali (Thanx to Bollywood movies, I knew the names of at least half of the places in Mumbai). Next stop was Vijay’s place in Andheri. I had never met him before, but knew him for quite some time now. (Thanx to infy blogs). I decided to hop an auto and Vijay was guiding me to his place. Also, on sms support was my friend Mr. PF(pavementfrued) who fled the city when he got to know I was coming (jiske liye usey main kabhi maaf nahi karoonga:@..he he). But he is this perfect marathi google maps, giving me directions and options etc, while he was having fun in the Kerala backwaters ;)..grrrr..Anyway, finally I reached Vijay’s place, and it was like homecoming. In an alien city of this mammoth size, they made me feel completely at home.

Time for lunch and I was treated sumptuous ghar ka khana. Yummy South Indian meal. Vijay’s mom made sure that I eat properly. That’s the thing with Moms; they find such pleasure in feeding kidsJ.

Now Vijay was very keen on watching MNIK, and that kind of surprised me. He is a true KJo-SRK basher and leaves no chances to taunt me for my liking of that kind of cinema. But then he was curious as to how the film garnered some 100 crores in 3 days etc. And though I wasn’t very keen but I had to live up to my reputation of being able to watch Kjo-kajol stuff any number of times. So I agreed. Another reason was there weren’t any good movies around.

Now mumbai would have like 100s of malls, so it’s not difficult to find a movie show at any point of time. We zeroed in at Oberoi mall. But then I found one reason not to love Mumbai. The ticket prices-280 bucks for one ticket, that too on weekday. I almost had a heart attack. Man! I can watch 3 such movies in PVR Chandigarh. Bakwas. A little mall hopping followed. Went to this book shop –crossword (or was it landmark, don’t remember exactly). I like the warmth of a bookstore. Just being there makes me feel better. And for next one hour we discussed some stupid, some serious things and ultimately leading to thoughts of introspection. Time well spent chatting aimlessly with an equally chatter-box friend. A confused me, a friend who takes immense pleasure in pulling my leg and thousands of books around, make for very interesting conversations. And yes, NOM to Mumbai girls- But if this mall was anything to go by I would say Girls are way better in Chandigarh. lol. Anyday;)

Anyway I knew there are chances that I might get killed by anti-srk brigade. Luckily they didn’t show up, but Vijay didn’t spare me and finally I could not justify MNIK and my good review. A little more mall hopping and we went straight to Juhu beach.

Now after my first beach darshan in Valsad I guess I have started developing a liking for beaches. But this was not the “quiet” kind of beach. This was minikumbh mela.lol. It was full as far as I could see. There were people all around, lost in their own doings, lovers cozying around, families with kids, people from all walks of life. Our chit-chat continued, along with chai-shai and snacks. We sat on the beach and played with sand. I used to play with mitti a lot as a kid, and even eat a lot of it.lol.:) I made a small stupid structure and then thought that waves would wash it away. The filmi keeda bite again I wanted to walk in the waters. No Ikatara type feelings here. Wake up Nitin, I told myself. But since it was dark and I could not see the murkier waters so I decided to feel the waves, bare feet. That’s the thing with movies. They romanticize the idea of a beach so much. I found it underwhelming but still good. Vijay stayed away and continued with his praise for Chennai beaches. (Chennai tourism deptt should hire him)Chennai is this, chennai is that and I tried to counter-attack with horror- stories of chennai-suffered souls. After walking for good one mile or so, with sand in my feet and breeze on my face, we decided to have a good dose of junk food. That’s the beauty when you are out in a new city, you can have lotsa junk.lol. We headed back home and nonstop bakwas continued till late night. Nothing like time well spent with a friendJ

Wake up and smell the coffee, this phrase was perhaps coined for filter coffee it seems. I haven’t had much filter coffee in life, but got an “instant” liking for this one. So, I gulped down two full cups. Wonderful. And after a good dose of yummy, crisp and light dosas, it was good bye time after an immensely memorable stay with some very gracious folks.

Next stop was my college friend Roy. BEST is the best thing to commute in Mumbai, I guess. So, I took a bus from Bandra to Vashi and what all places in between. I wanted to take that double Decker bus (again my filmi curiosity) but I couldn’t find any. Met Roy after some 3 yrs and he hasn’t changed much since college, and we still talk the same things..Went to Mcd, ate junk, and bitched a lot, lol. He bought a jeans, we went back to his place, and chatted along esp about the real estate prices in Mumbai. Through the window, as far as I could see there were buildings, skyrises. Lazed around a bit, called up Mr. PF and cursed him;) and when Roy was back I asked him if we could visit gateway of India and stuff. My point was-“Main wapas ja ke kya kahoonga, ki maine Gateway bhi nahi dekha”..lol. so despite a time crunch, we headed to Gateway of India and the area around Taj etc. Roy the ever jugaadu dude made sure that my luggage was in place and we reached GOI. Since the GOI is almost in another city so the only option was, yes u guessed it right, to take a local.

 

Now the one thing that I was totally scared of in Mumbai was the local trains. Don’t know why. Local trains are like the lifeline of Mumbai. Thousands of people use them daily. I was really amazed to see the super quick self ticket dispensing system in place. You just have to be inside a local to actually believe that one train can accommodate 1000 people in one dabba at a time. And to this Roy casually pointed out-“Aaj bheed jyada nahi hai”. I almost fainted. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not against crowd- I believe in Geetism- “Log kehte hain mumbai bada crowded hai, arre crowded matlab kya, khud bheed ka hissa hain aur problem bhi khud hi ko hai”. But filminess aside, that is perhaps the biggest problem of Mumbai- a city with overflowing population and limited resources. In fact any number of resources would be less because of the sheer size of population.

Jai ho! After 45 minutes of journey and surviving my “local scare” effortlessly we reached CST.CST is an architectural wonder in itself. Almost all the areas felt familiar because of Hindi films. The area around the iconic Taj hotel has that vintage feel, very royal very posh. Foreigners flock this place .Its two notches more elegant than say CP at Delhi. GOI is good, nothing great about it. But standing in front of Taj was an overwhelming feeling. All those 26/11 images flashed in my mind. But then as they say, Mumbai moved on. Do they even have an option not to! I mean in a city of this size, time moves very fast. Resilient by the circumstances I would say.

It was time to rush back and was forced to take a taxi when the local train actually ditched by a few minutes. Again took this shahid kapoor/JWM avatar and hopped a taxi with Roy only to reach the station just in time. And haan, the taxi costed 350 bucks, but thanks to a super fast sardarji, mamaged to reach on time!

As soon as I settled in the train the entire journey flashed like a film before my eyes. Like the sand struck on my feet in Juhu beach, Mumbai refused to go outta mind. May be I’ll come back, maybe I ll not. And me settling down here?, i guess never. Mumbai, as it has been shown in hundreds of movies, is not that bad after all. Its not that larger than life either. I agree, two days are never enough to judge a mammoth city like this. These thoughts are merely what I felt in the city. I have been to metros like Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad etc. But Mumbai is like mother of them all, at least in expanse. The city is both expansive and expensive. I really liked a few things though, e.g. the meter system in auto. Hassle free- you pay for the distance you travel. Simple. In some cities the autowallas will rape your pockets for such distances.(Chandigarh is one example and though I haven’t been to Chennai, but I have heard enough horror stories of auto wallas robbing gullible people.).Then there are the BEST buses.

Mumbai remains an enigma. The larger than life images are somewhat faded now.

Though I didn’t get a chance to see the Mumbai of Aamir or the Bombay of slumdog(not that I was very keen to) I still feel- Mumbai ek pagal kar dene wala sheher hai.. Too big for dreams to be lost, too large hearted to accommodate all..

Also, sadly, I didn’t find any movie director who would cast me in a movie, despite the fact that I am ready to do anything (yeah, only if the script demands).:D..lol..sigh..May be next time..;)

PS: If you are from mumbai and felt i was too skewed in my perspective..NOM..Dont rush to kill me, I have alreday fled the city;).