I had always wondered as a child what the big cities were like. Growing up in a small township where everyone knows everyone else generally does that to you. I had promised myself that one day I would visit all the four big metropolitan cities and see what makes them click. I must admit that travelling is my craze and I just love to be on the road.
Well, as luck would have it the first of the metro's that I got a chance to visit was New Delhi. That was kind of strange considering the fact that Calcutta (the former and in my opinion, more posh name of present day Kolkata) was barely 5 hours from my hometown. There is something about New Delhi that hits you the moment you enter that city. Maybe it's the strange feeling of being in the capital state of the country, where the future of the country takes shape day-in and day-out. When you see places like the Rajpath, the India Gate, the Parliament you are just dumbfounded by the amount of history associated with those places. You can only stare at them and imagine what would have been happening the very same place 60 years back.
Then there are places like the Chanakyapuri and the Aurangzeb Road, the Akbar Road and others which are teeming with the residences of present day political honchos and diplomats from all the Big Countries. You cant stop and imagine that these are the very same people who represent millions and millions of people of your country in the Houses of the Parliament.
A little further you go and one gets to see scores and scores of malls, world-class movie theatres and state of the art roads and of-course cars. This all reminds you of two things. First that people in Delhi are filthy rich and they dont hesitate to show off their money. Even people who just barely manage their expenses, just have to shop in the biggest of malls and move around in the costliest and not to forget the longest of cars. Secondly, it shows what a capital of a country like India should and should not be like. There is so much intermixing of good and bad in Delhi that you sometimes wonder that only God must be running this city.
If you are visiting Delhi, you have to visit the North Campus. It was here that many of the great leaders and bureaucrats of today once used to study. Also this has to be one place where you can find the hottest crowd of them all. Trust me, no one is ugly here.
At the end of it all, I would say that being in Delhi is an experience. The pace of life, the energy of the youth there, the exuberance in the culture, the vibrance of the politics and the richness of the heritage there just doesnt stop to deceive you.
So much about (by now you must've realized, considering that this post was to be about Mumbai, my favorite Metro) Delhi. The next metro that I got a chance to visit out of the Big Four was Calcutta. I had visited Calcutta once when I was about 5 months old. I hate to say this, but my memory of that visit is really very hazy. The second time I visited Calcutta was when I had to come to take a flight to a place where my career was about to start.
Let me tell you one thing about Calcutta. Most people say that change is inevitable. Well Calcutta proves that wrong. This place is in a state which makes you think if it was only yesterday that the Britishers left. All the noticeable architecture that is standing in Calcutta was built by the British folks when they reigned over this city. Coming back to the point of inevitability, the only thing that is permanent in Calcutta is Strike (or Bondh, spelt B-A-N-D-H as the Bengali chaps call it). Anyday, anytime and anywhere there will atleast be one dharna, procession or bandh happening somewhere in this city. That's what 35 years of Communist rule does to a place.
Having said it all, I still love that place to the core. What you need to learn from that place is the very fact that change is not always for the good. The people in that town stick to the basics and thrive on it. The poor are happy in their poverty as much as the rich are discontented in their affluence. That place teaches you how not to let go of your roots and still learn and explore the new world that's knocking on the doors of tomorrow. Calcutta is as much about the people that live on the streets, have discussions over a cup of tea everyday in the evening and live the life of a true blue communist as much it is about the super-rich businessmen both from the city and from the nearby sub-urbs living it up in the City of Joy. Calcutta is as much about 24 Parganas as it is about Salt Lake. It is as much about the Dum-Dum airport as it is about the Howrah station.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Mumbai - Not quite Mumbaiya : Part II
Finally, coming back to City of Dreams as I would like to call it. Mention Mumbai to a common man on the streets of India and what you get in response is this "Sapno ki nagri hai....Wahan ek rupiya ek raat main ek crore ban jaata hai" (It's a city of dreams....There, a rupee can turn into a crore overnight !). That city has been glorified to such an extent in the eyes of the common man that you just expect something out-of-the-ordinary when you visit that place. I would like to admit that I too was debilitated by the same syndrome.
A little bit of flashback first. I tried to visit Mumbai an innumerable number of times. All the while I was in awe of the city. I just had to experience the experience that was Mumbai. I just wanted to know what was about this city that had inspired so many personalitites over such a long period of time. First time I contemplated going, Mumbai was hit by the worst floods ever. The second time I thought of going it was via Goa. I had a blast in Goa for 2 days and the day before I was about to leave for Mumbai, the absolute villian in my life (read the HOD of Computer Science) calls me a million times and my parents a gazillion times looking for me. The whole point was he wanted me to pursue my internship in a place of his choice and not a place of my choice. That much for dictatorship. He even went to the extent of saying that I was not to leave town (Note : it was the semester break) without informing him. I wished I had died then and there. I had to rush back to B'lore to Meet and Greet Him and my attempt at Mumbai was ruined yet again.
So then, I was third time lucky. This time the purpose of the visit was two friends getting engaged (to each other obviously) and I could not thank them enough for choosing Mumbai as the place of that ceremony. After many ordeals, I finally landed in Mumbai (Chembur to be precise, since some people dont consider it as Mumbai). Remember that initial vibrance that I felt when I entered Delhi for the first time. Well, there was nothing of that sort happening to me this time round. I said to myself "Maybe I am tired with all the travelling, let's see how it goes".
Two things you notice about Mumbai as soon as you hit the city. First everyone seems to be in a hurry. Everyone, for some wierd reason is running and trying to overtake everyone else on the road just to meet the same person again at the next signal. Then, just as if the mad rush was not enough, they do it all over again. Second, you cant help but wait for some turns or curves in the road. All the roads are just dead straight. They just keep on going on and on and on for eternity. It's like they built one road that went right upto the sea and then they thought to themselves "Wont it be nice, if we had other roads as well....It would be easier for us to reach our homes then".
I must admit Chembur impressed me at the first glance. There was a shop available for every damn brand name that you could imagine of. The roads were nice and people although a little hurried, were helpful. We managed to find a hotel with much difficulty and just when we thought that we got ourselves a place to crash we get another shocker. The hotel seemed to be pretty much empty, but instead of letting out the room straight away the owner started inquiring about our whereabouts, just like we had entered into a police station to surrender ourselves after a gruesome crime. Finally, after much effort, we managed to convince him that we were no criminals and he let us in.
I had planned my Mumbai visit for years and years together. We had more than a day to spare and I wanted to cover almost everything that I knew of about the city. I wanted to go to the Chowpatties, the Band Stand, the Local train, the Marine Drive, the VT station and so much more. The journey to Mumbai was so tiring though that I allowed my battered spirit one night's rest and promised myself that I would do a whole lot more the next day.
Remember this about Mumbai whenever you visit that place "You will sweat no matter what". In case you are someone who sweats even in the B'lore climate then while in Mumbai, it will be a downpour, a thunderstorm. So better be prepared for the muggy and sultry conditions there. Dont get irritated by the fact that you are the only one sweating there. There are others too out there suffering the same plight as you are. Just that you wont be able to find them since they would be running all the time. And yes, that is the only cure to this problem. It's only when you are stationary that you sweat, you will NOT sweat when you are running in Mumbai. That explains one wierd behaviour of the Mumbaikars. Also if you see someone who is born and brought up in Mumbai, remember the axiom that true Mumbaikars (just like true Chennai-ites and true Kolkatans, for some God-forsaken reason) do no sweat.
A little bit of flashback first. I tried to visit Mumbai an innumerable number of times. All the while I was in awe of the city. I just had to experience the experience that was Mumbai. I just wanted to know what was about this city that had inspired so many personalitites over such a long period of time. First time I contemplated going, Mumbai was hit by the worst floods ever. The second time I thought of going it was via Goa. I had a blast in Goa for 2 days and the day before I was about to leave for Mumbai, the absolute villian in my life (read the HOD of Computer Science) calls me a million times and my parents a gazillion times looking for me. The whole point was he wanted me to pursue my internship in a place of his choice and not a place of my choice. That much for dictatorship. He even went to the extent of saying that I was not to leave town (Note : it was the semester break) without informing him. I wished I had died then and there. I had to rush back to B'lore to Meet and Greet Him and my attempt at Mumbai was ruined yet again.
So then, I was third time lucky. This time the purpose of the visit was two friends getting engaged (to each other obviously) and I could not thank them enough for choosing Mumbai as the place of that ceremony. After many ordeals, I finally landed in Mumbai (Chembur to be precise, since some people dont consider it as Mumbai). Remember that initial vibrance that I felt when I entered Delhi for the first time. Well, there was nothing of that sort happening to me this time round. I said to myself "Maybe I am tired with all the travelling, let's see how it goes".
Two things you notice about Mumbai as soon as you hit the city. First everyone seems to be in a hurry. Everyone, for some wierd reason is running and trying to overtake everyone else on the road just to meet the same person again at the next signal. Then, just as if the mad rush was not enough, they do it all over again. Second, you cant help but wait for some turns or curves in the road. All the roads are just dead straight. They just keep on going on and on and on for eternity. It's like they built one road that went right upto the sea and then they thought to themselves "Wont it be nice, if we had other roads as well....It would be easier for us to reach our homes then".
I must admit Chembur impressed me at the first glance. There was a shop available for every damn brand name that you could imagine of. The roads were nice and people although a little hurried, were helpful. We managed to find a hotel with much difficulty and just when we thought that we got ourselves a place to crash we get another shocker. The hotel seemed to be pretty much empty, but instead of letting out the room straight away the owner started inquiring about our whereabouts, just like we had entered into a police station to surrender ourselves after a gruesome crime. Finally, after much effort, we managed to convince him that we were no criminals and he let us in.
I had planned my Mumbai visit for years and years together. We had more than a day to spare and I wanted to cover almost everything that I knew of about the city. I wanted to go to the Chowpatties, the Band Stand, the Local train, the Marine Drive, the VT station and so much more. The journey to Mumbai was so tiring though that I allowed my battered spirit one night's rest and promised myself that I would do a whole lot more the next day.
Remember this about Mumbai whenever you visit that place "You will sweat no matter what". In case you are someone who sweats even in the B'lore climate then while in Mumbai, it will be a downpour, a thunderstorm. So better be prepared for the muggy and sultry conditions there. Dont get irritated by the fact that you are the only one sweating there. There are others too out there suffering the same plight as you are. Just that you wont be able to find them since they would be running all the time. And yes, that is the only cure to this problem. It's only when you are stationary that you sweat, you will NOT sweat when you are running in Mumbai. That explains one wierd behaviour of the Mumbaikars. Also if you see someone who is born and brought up in Mumbai, remember the axiom that true Mumbaikars (just like true Chennai-ites and true Kolkatans, for some God-forsaken reason) do no sweat.
Mumbai - Not quite Mumbaiya : Part III
The Mumbai sojourn was more of a nightmare for me after that. The next day, I gave in to my friend's request of checking out of the comfy hotel to check out Mumbai. So we decided to check out Band Stand for the sole reason that we had heard of that place the most number of times (not that we had some list with that kind of ordering done !!). Needless to say both of us were drenched (no it was not raining, in our own sweat) by the time we reached there. We decided to lay around in the Barista Coffee Shop and enjoy the scenic beauty. Within two minutes of us sitting there, we realized that this could not go on forever. We needed that wonderful invention called the "Air Conditioner" created solely for the down-trodden people (read pigs) like us. After some time pass and some coffee and snacks till my shirt dried off all the sweat we decided to give the Mumbai roads another shot.
So off we went and this time back to Chembur to attend that solemn engagement. All of a sudden we realized that this was supposed to be a ceremony for the civilized and not for some fauna like us. So we decided to camouflage into human beings and got ourselves some clothes (and that gentleman of a shop-owner even ironed those clothes for us). After all the camouflaging (and bathing in the Deodorant exercise) we finally ended up at the place where we ought to be. Thankfully the guys had booked an AC hall. While inside, we enjoyed ourselves watching those two close friends get engaged to each other and noticing their insurmountable smiles and happiness. All of a sudden it was time to leave and I prayed to God that the conditions outside might have improved.
Point # 2 to remember about Mumbai. If you sweat in Mumbai, the conditions never get better. They just go from bad to worse as the day progresses. So we decided to run again to save ourselves. We inquired about some place where we could have some cooling down (read Beers). To my surprise, we were greeted with a scorn that is hard to forget and the lines "YOU WANT TO DRINK NOW ??" Drinking before nightfall in Mumbai is apparently a crime. After much persuasion, we did get some leads to a million places in Mumbai where we could chill out, but no one seemed to know of one particular name of a pub (or they might have been deliberately keeping the name from us). Maybe it's taboo to talk about the pub you visit in Mumbai. We decided to go to our final destination in Mumbai which was to be the VT station. We heard that en-route we would definitely find "SOMETHING". Well, we searched hard to find that mysterious something but could not. Suddenly out of the blue I saw a sign saying "BUDWIESER" and my eyes lit up and the taxi came to a screeching halt since it was time to re-hydrate ourselves. We barged into that posh restaurant thingie and asked for Beer....Chilled please. We were greeted with another condescending scorn (I thought to myself maybe all Mumbaikars suffer from the same disease) and the manager blurted out "WE DONT SERVER LIQUOR HERE !!" reminding me of that female's statement a few hours ago.
Without giving a darn I ordered a Lime Juice. I thought, what the heck, that place had a nice AC and a good television. We might as well soak it up for sometime. After sometime when the manager started giving us looks (the ones saying, get the hell out of here) we decided it was time we went ahead, ready to commit the CRIME (of drinking) in broad daylight. We went to the only pub in Mumbai called "THE PUB". There must have been a long thought process that would ve gone into naming that pub as "THE PUB". But I have never seen a more fitting name for any place anywhere. It was actually the only pub in approximately a 15 km radius. We had some drinks there, dried our shirts, chilled our spirits and promised ourselves one final shot at getting out of this living nightmare.
Out we went to the Cafe Coffee Day right below the pub to get rid of the high with some strong Cappuccino. All this while we were roaming around the VT station not even knowing if VT was the same as CST (which was mentioned on our tickets). At the end of it all and a little more inconsequential hurdles we reached the station and dumped ourselves into our respective berths. The next thing I remember was getting up in Hyderabad. Babies dont sleep that well. Only God knows how I praised myself in my dreams for booking a 2AC ticket.
Finally, after all the non-sensical talk I would like to get down to the point. Mumbai might definitely be a city of dreams. It might definitely be a city full of energy and zest. It might be the fashion and economic capital of India. It might be the place where the richest of rich and the poorest of poor can co-exist in harmony. It might be the place where Dabbawalas operate with Sigma-6 accuracy. It might be the place where there is no dearth of human spirit. It might be a place where life runs in the top gear.
BUT that place still lacks one thing. It lacks that X-factor that makes a visitor feel welcomed to a place. It's something like, if you want to visit Mumbai, you'd better behave like a Mumbaikar and follow all the regulations that a true-blue Mumbaikar would in his day-to-day life follow. You have to run when everyone else runs. You have to eat, sleep, get up, talk and even drink when everyone else does. It makes you feel like you are not wanted in this place if you cant be one of them. That repulsive feeling is hard to get over. If you are the "I live my life....How I live my life" kind of person, then my best guess would be that Mumbai is not the place for you.
My next destination is Chennai. Though from what I've seen of it while passing by that city in a train, I am not too excited. But then, guess what. The two friends of mine (who got engaged in Mumbai) are getting married this January in Chennai. So all the patrons of this blog would have to wait until then for me to update the blog about Chennai. My dream is finally gonna come true!!
Note : I haven't stopped cursing my friend for checking-out of that hotel in Chembur that day ever since.
So off we went and this time back to Chembur to attend that solemn engagement. All of a sudden we realized that this was supposed to be a ceremony for the civilized and not for some fauna like us. So we decided to camouflage into human beings and got ourselves some clothes (and that gentleman of a shop-owner even ironed those clothes for us). After all the camouflaging (and bathing in the Deodorant exercise) we finally ended up at the place where we ought to be. Thankfully the guys had booked an AC hall. While inside, we enjoyed ourselves watching those two close friends get engaged to each other and noticing their insurmountable smiles and happiness. All of a sudden it was time to leave and I prayed to God that the conditions outside might have improved.
Point # 2 to remember about Mumbai. If you sweat in Mumbai, the conditions never get better. They just go from bad to worse as the day progresses. So we decided to run again to save ourselves. We inquired about some place where we could have some cooling down (read Beers). To my surprise, we were greeted with a scorn that is hard to forget and the lines "YOU WANT TO DRINK NOW ??" Drinking before nightfall in Mumbai is apparently a crime. After much persuasion, we did get some leads to a million places in Mumbai where we could chill out, but no one seemed to know of one particular name of a pub (or they might have been deliberately keeping the name from us). Maybe it's taboo to talk about the pub you visit in Mumbai. We decided to go to our final destination in Mumbai which was to be the VT station. We heard that en-route we would definitely find "SOMETHING". Well, we searched hard to find that mysterious something but could not. Suddenly out of the blue I saw a sign saying "BUDWIESER" and my eyes lit up and the taxi came to a screeching halt since it was time to re-hydrate ourselves. We barged into that posh restaurant thingie and asked for Beer....Chilled please. We were greeted with another condescending scorn (I thought to myself maybe all Mumbaikars suffer from the same disease) and the manager blurted out "WE DONT SERVER LIQUOR HERE !!" reminding me of that female's statement a few hours ago.
Without giving a darn I ordered a Lime Juice. I thought, what the heck, that place had a nice AC and a good television. We might as well soak it up for sometime. After sometime when the manager started giving us looks (the ones saying, get the hell out of here) we decided it was time we went ahead, ready to commit the CRIME (of drinking) in broad daylight. We went to the only pub in Mumbai called "THE PUB". There must have been a long thought process that would ve gone into naming that pub as "THE PUB". But I have never seen a more fitting name for any place anywhere. It was actually the only pub in approximately a 15 km radius. We had some drinks there, dried our shirts, chilled our spirits and promised ourselves one final shot at getting out of this living nightmare.
Out we went to the Cafe Coffee Day right below the pub to get rid of the high with some strong Cappuccino. All this while we were roaming around the VT station not even knowing if VT was the same as CST (which was mentioned on our tickets). At the end of it all and a little more inconsequential hurdles we reached the station and dumped ourselves into our respective berths. The next thing I remember was getting up in Hyderabad. Babies dont sleep that well. Only God knows how I praised myself in my dreams for booking a 2AC ticket.
Finally, after all the non-sensical talk I would like to get down to the point. Mumbai might definitely be a city of dreams. It might definitely be a city full of energy and zest. It might be the fashion and economic capital of India. It might be the place where the richest of rich and the poorest of poor can co-exist in harmony. It might be the place where Dabbawalas operate with Sigma-6 accuracy. It might be the place where there is no dearth of human spirit. It might be a place where life runs in the top gear.
BUT that place still lacks one thing. It lacks that X-factor that makes a visitor feel welcomed to a place. It's something like, if you want to visit Mumbai, you'd better behave like a Mumbaikar and follow all the regulations that a true-blue Mumbaikar would in his day-to-day life follow. You have to run when everyone else runs. You have to eat, sleep, get up, talk and even drink when everyone else does. It makes you feel like you are not wanted in this place if you cant be one of them. That repulsive feeling is hard to get over. If you are the "I live my life....How I live my life" kind of person, then my best guess would be that Mumbai is not the place for you.
My next destination is Chennai. Though from what I've seen of it while passing by that city in a train, I am not too excited. But then, guess what. The two friends of mine (who got engaged in Mumbai) are getting married this January in Chennai. So all the patrons of this blog would have to wait until then for me to update the blog about Chennai. My dream is finally gonna come true!!
Note : I haven't stopped cursing my friend for checking-out of that hotel in Chembur that day ever since.
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