And they ask me why I love Mumbai
And they ask me why I love Mumbai
A week in Mumbai and life seems beautiful again. Sweltering humid heat, loads of pollution and from the IIM B greens to the center of a concrete jungle where there is so little space for anything, I am still glad to be in Mumbai.
A week in Mumbai and I already caught a play - I am not Bajirao (and what a brilliant play that is!), something that I could not do for two years in Bangalore. Not that there were no plays - just that there was no theatre culture...an overflowing number of plays so that you just cant not get a ticket, and trustable friends who do the grabbing of the ticket for you.
And then there is the local train - that beauty which lets you traverse the length of the city in a breezy speed that nothing else can equate. Happy again to be spending hours commuting (not regularly and in peak hours thankfully) - time to catch up with meditation and sleep too! And of course sitting in a ricshaw is a totally different experience, Instead of glancing suspiciously at the meter and then thinking how fast its clocking, pre fixing charges and then haggling at the time of getting down, dumb midnight charge tantrums and irritating impolite rickshaw drivers are replaced by the honest trustable Mumbai rics. Clean clear rules, no haggling. The other night I was blown out when the ric was cool with recieving 2 bucks less....reminded me of overcharging rics who would keep the change :)
Of course the final nail in the coffin is the food - loads of vadapavs, the good 'ol college canteens and cutting chais. Somehow eating on roadside at Bangalore never ever happened - 'tis not the same! Being pampered by the home food rocks as well :) Friends who have time for long chats (and dont talk about PLACEMENTS but some really interesting stuff in life), a sis with whom you can do time pass all along, and mates who pass on, not the Vault guide to investment banking but 'Values of Belonging' are the norm - is that kool or what?
And the irresistable beach, the pani puri, the double decker bus, marine drive and bargain books - the best things of the city are waiting to be re-explored..... just cant wait on them!
And then they ask me why I love Mumbai
A week in Mumbai and life seems beautiful again. Sweltering humid heat, loads of pollution and from the IIM B greens to the center of a concrete jungle where there is so little space for anything, I am still glad to be in Mumbai.
A week in Mumbai and I already caught a play - I am not Bajirao (and what a brilliant play that is!), something that I could not do for two years in Bangalore. Not that there were no plays - just that there was no theatre culture...an overflowing number of plays so that you just cant not get a ticket, and trustable friends who do the grabbing of the ticket for you.
And then there is the local train - that beauty which lets you traverse the length of the city in a breezy speed that nothing else can equate. Happy again to be spending hours commuting (not regularly and in peak hours thankfully) - time to catch up with meditation and sleep too! And of course sitting in a ricshaw is a totally different experience, Instead of glancing suspiciously at the meter and then thinking how fast its clocking, pre fixing charges and then haggling at the time of getting down, dumb midnight charge tantrums and irritating impolite rickshaw drivers are replaced by the honest trustable Mumbai rics. Clean clear rules, no haggling. The other night I was blown out when the ric was cool with recieving 2 bucks less....reminded me of overcharging rics who would keep the change :)
Of course the final nail in the coffin is the food - loads of vadapavs, the good 'ol college canteens and cutting chais. Somehow eating on roadside at Bangalore never ever happened - 'tis not the same! Being pampered by the home food rocks as well :) Friends who have time for long chats (and dont talk about PLACEMENTS but some really interesting stuff in life), a sis with whom you can do time pass all along, and mates who pass on, not the Vault guide to investment banking but 'Values of Belonging' are the norm - is that kool or what?
And the irresistable beach, the pani puri, the double decker bus, marine drive and bargain books - the best things of the city are waiting to be re-explored..... just cant wait on them!
And then they ask me why I love Mumbai
posted by The One at 9:40 PM
2 comments
