I had always wanted to write about Mumbai, the obvious reason being all good famous writers write about Mumbai. However Mumbai as a subject turned out to be very difficult for me, the main reason being I was not able to find any good headline for Mumbai .And so I started searching for an appropriate headline for whatever I was planning to write about Mumbai somewhere last year (2007). And this search saw lot of good ideas being lost in the mist of time. Anyway some of the headings which I thought of where:
Sleepless in Mumbai : This topic was inspired by one of my friends in Seattle who had made her orkut profile as Sleepless in Seattle . Well, I had this peculiar problem of sleep eluding me in Mumbai .There used to be time I used to be awake till 2:00 am and then when I realized that the problem is becoming too much , I started going on nightly walks through the bylanes of Borivali . Long walks on the road divider armed with a umbrella to protect self against unexpected rains as well as curious dogs. When my roomie started cribbing about my night walks, I was forced to cut down on this simple inexpensive hobby.
Of Love and Longing in Mumbai: This was a very catchy topic with a lot of commercial value considering the way bollywood love-stories had fared recently on the box-office .I am a person who can go and go and go and go and go and go and go and go on writing about Love as a subject. But then the experience of Longing is something with which I am not very familiar with.
Of Calm and Content In Mumbai: This topic came to my mind when I was going through the book Shantaram by Gregory Roberts. I got hold of the book during my 2008 India visit. And the author was telling about his serene peaceful sleep in his hut in a Mumbai slum. At that time, i recalled one incident which happened in Mumbai Local Trains. Mumbai Local trains are famous/notorious for the huge mass of human race who board it daily from suburbs to reach their work places. For a person visiting Mumbai , this is an experience which he should not miss and for a person who lives in Mumbai , this is one experience which he would love to miss.
Anyway coming to Mumbai and the day, after a 18 hr flight and 2 hr sleep, I was roaming around Mumbai covered in a mist of jet lag with famous Mumbai rains giving me a steady company. At about 8:30 in the morning, I pushed myself into a local compartment loaded with a huge bag on my back ( courtesy Santi’s consignment ). As expected , at the next station one of the person standing behind me started cribbing about my bag and as I resorted to my once familiar tactic of ignoring such bickering on locals , a person standing in front of me appreciating my strategic ignorance, gave one of that illuminating smiles about which I had read a lot in Santaram. And as I smiled back to that unknown person who I will not be meeting ever in my life again I had this feeling of serenity and calmness pervading me, the same peace which one experiences when being surrounded by familiar ones. For a moment I was surprised on how I, with less than 8 hrs in the hot humid climes of Mumbai, can be at so much peace inside a crowded local train in Mumbai
Sleepless in Mumbai : This topic was inspired by one of my friends in Seattle who had made her orkut profile as Sleepless in Seattle . Well, I had this peculiar problem of sleep eluding me in Mumbai .There used to be time I used to be awake till 2:00 am and then when I realized that the problem is becoming too much , I started going on nightly walks through the bylanes of Borivali . Long walks on the road divider armed with a umbrella to protect self against unexpected rains as well as curious dogs. When my roomie started cribbing about my night walks, I was forced to cut down on this simple inexpensive hobby.
Of Love and Longing in Mumbai: This was a very catchy topic with a lot of commercial value considering the way bollywood love-stories had fared recently on the box-office .I am a person who can go and go and go and go and go and go and go and go on writing about Love as a subject. But then the experience of Longing is something with which I am not very familiar with.
Of Calm and Content In Mumbai: This topic came to my mind when I was going through the book Shantaram by Gregory Roberts. I got hold of the book during my 2008 India visit. And the author was telling about his serene peaceful sleep in his hut in a Mumbai slum. At that time, i recalled one incident which happened in Mumbai Local Trains. Mumbai Local trains are famous/notorious for the huge mass of human race who board it daily from suburbs to reach their work places. For a person visiting Mumbai , this is an experience which he should not miss and for a person who lives in Mumbai , this is one experience which he would love to miss.
Anyway coming to Mumbai and the day, after a 18 hr flight and 2 hr sleep, I was roaming around Mumbai covered in a mist of jet lag with famous Mumbai rains giving me a steady company. At about 8:30 in the morning, I pushed myself into a local compartment loaded with a huge bag on my back ( courtesy Santi’s consignment ). As expected , at the next station one of the person standing behind me started cribbing about my bag and as I resorted to my once familiar tactic of ignoring such bickering on locals , a person standing in front of me appreciating my strategic ignorance, gave one of that illuminating smiles about which I had read a lot in Santaram. And as I smiled back to that unknown person who I will not be meeting ever in my life again I had this feeling of serenity and calmness pervading me, the same peace which one experiences when being surrounded by familiar ones. For a moment I was surprised on how I, with less than 8 hrs in the hot humid climes of Mumbai, can be at so much peace inside a crowded local train in Mumbai
