3 Ways in Which Mumbai Changed Me

It's been nine months now and it feels like Mumbai is soon going to give birth to a new me! Call it the new-city effect or anything but Mumbai has definitely been one of the most rewarding forms of introspection.

1. Gone FootLoose

Everyone becomes an explorer during the first few days in a new city. But in my case, it seems that the un-tag button has been disabled. I just can’t let go of this tag – explorer. It’s been 9 months in this city now and I still can’t say that I know it enough. The sunset on marine drive is pink sometimes and sometimes its reddish blue. I want to see all its shades.

P.S.: a 'must-do' - You would not want to miss the 45-minute ferry ride from Mumbai Alibaug. It's bliss. 

   

2. Gone Plump

While my Delhi counterparts were busy cribbing about Mumbai food, I was gaining weight! Not because the food is good here but because food is my travel muse. For me, eating has always been an important subset of travelling. Though I was always a food-lover, the transformation to a human-zomato can be ascribed to this city.

P.S.: Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye? Try Nanumal Bhojraj's Moong Dal Halwa with Rabdi, Haji Ali Centre's Fruit Cream and Theobroma's Oreo Brownie. 

3. The Shutter-Bug bit me

It's not that I turned into a photographer overnight. I was always interested in photography but somehow Mumbai gave me that extra push. Now, I enjoy clicking pictures of dinky things more than taking selfies.

I'm afraid that I'm not myself in here and I'm scared that I'm. This feeling is weird. The thought of staying outside till midnight no longer scares me; I don't know whether it should ? Though I have become more confident, I have become more conscious as well.  Life is changing in front of my eyes. It's running. I don't know whether I am keeping pace with it or not. 

When the prospect of confrontation with this new me scares me, I say to myself Mumbai sab sambhaal lega (will take care of everything).

When 'they' became 'us'

This is about Dharavi, a place crumbling under the weight of the tag ‘Asia’s largest slum’. Having done my graduation in Urban Planning, I had read a lot about Dharavi. While travelling towards it, I was thinking of the pictures I had seen of the place and things that I had heard about it. I was reminded of a headline that I had read a few years ago - ‘54% of Mumbai lives in slums’ (World Bank’s Report, 2006).  I was mentally prepared to walk through narrow dirty lanes, see make-shift cramped houses, smell garbage and talk to frowned faces.

“Yahi Hai” (This is it) confirmed a passerby. We had reached. We continued meandering further into the enclosed streets of Dharavi. Barred by the corrugated iron sheets, sun rays could no longer reach us. It almost felt like we were entering a womb – cold and dark. Probably we were in the womb of Mumbai - Dharavi, the city inside a city.

I saw children in school uniforms walking back home. Men could be seen working.  Few women were standing and talking in a cosy corner. Children could be seen playing on streets.  I could see evidence of life! Those I saw were more than just slum dwellers. Those images that I had seen, came to life. A place which has always been called by names like ‘shadow of Mumbai’ or the ‘darker side of Mumbai’ appeared to have an identity of its own.