Dear Mumbai,
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| Marine Drive, Picture taken on July 6,2015 |
I hope this
letter finds you in the best of your spirits.
I am an Amdavadi at heart and have grown up watching Hindi cinema and this has
been written with reference to all those Bollywood movies which have always
portrayed you as the ‘city of dreams’, mahanagri (the big city),etc.
I came here on 30th June, 2015 with two bags, big dreams in eyes, anxiousness in heart and ambition in mind. I was looking for you; I asked a teenager if he knew your address, he sent me to Marine Drive. I didn’t find you in the water droplets which splashed on my face; I didn’t feel you in the embarrassment I experienced when I saw a couple making out. I thought to myself, probably that stupid boy sent me to a wrong place.
Then I asked an intelligent looking lady, could you please help me find Mumbai. She pointed towards the local trains. The first glimpse itself was daunting. (Suddenly, my love for Ahmedabad’s BRT buses was aroused.) While I was still figuring out how and when I should climb up, like a gust of wind takes away dry leaves with itself, I was pushed inside the train by the fleet-footed crowd. Before I could even realize that I got inside the train, I got flushed out on the next station. Damn, I missed you again, I couldn’t find you. I don’t know what exactly I was looking for. Perhaps, my mind was so coloured
I came here on 30th June, 2015 with two bags, big dreams in eyes, anxiousness in heart and ambition in mind. I was looking for you; I asked a teenager if he knew your address, he sent me to Marine Drive. I didn’t find you in the water droplets which splashed on my face; I didn’t feel you in the embarrassment I experienced when I saw a couple making out. I thought to myself, probably that stupid boy sent me to a wrong place.
Then I asked an intelligent looking lady, could you please help me find Mumbai. She pointed towards the local trains. The first glimpse itself was daunting. (Suddenly, my love for Ahmedabad’s BRT buses was aroused.) While I was still figuring out how and when I should climb up, like a gust of wind takes away dry leaves with itself, I was pushed inside the train by the fleet-footed crowd. Before I could even realize that I got inside the train, I got flushed out on the next station. Damn, I missed you again, I couldn’t find you. I don’t know what exactly I was looking for. Perhaps, my mind was so coloured
 |
| Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Picture taken on July 15,2015 |
by the cinema visuals, that in spite of being
so close to you, I couldn’t see you. However, I had not given up hopes yet.
I had heard a lot about Bombay vada pav, I thought I might as well try my luck there. So I boarded a kaalipeeli taxi and went to the most popular vada pav seller in the city, and asked him to make a bombai eestyle vada pav. Much to my annoyance, I found nothing in there except a deep fried alloo wada sandwiched inside a dry bun which was difficult to swallow (Believe me Bombay Vada Pav is over rated, Ahmedabad’s is much better).
I had heard a lot about Bombay vada pav, I thought I might as well try my luck there. So I boarded a kaalipeeli taxi and went to the most popular vada pav seller in the city, and asked him to make a bombai eestyle vada pav. Much to my annoyance, I found nothing in there except a deep fried alloo wada sandwiched inside a dry bun which was difficult to swallow (Believe me Bombay Vada Pav is over rated, Ahmedabad’s is much better).
However, gradually, I got busy
with my college – new faces and new challenges.
It’s been a month-and-a-half now and I don’t know whether I have met you
or not, but I am happy with the image that I have created of you. I have met a
new Mumbai while I was searching for you. This Mumbai doesn’t shout and boast, it is more humble and inclusive. Now I don’t get intimidated by
the bustling crowd around me. I am a part of this crowd too. I have acquired the
skill to climb into a local train. I have started to develop a fondness for Bombay Wada pav too; it has become my 4
pm snack now. It’s called acceptance. I have accepted you, and thanks for
accepting me.
Yours truly
Recent
Mumbaikar
Soumyata
