This article was shared by Achyuth Sankar
The first thing you notice about this city is the dust. It hits you in the face and fills your nose with a tingling and sneeze-inducing sensation. You notice the garbage and spit littered streets, with an assortment of transportations on the roads. You notice people walking window to window at every red signal, some begging and some selling. You notice an occasional gesture of charity mixed with the predominant indifference. You see a horde of people thronging the sidewalk. You see buildings crammed into tight spots. You see haphazardly made ‘chawls’ and also posh flats and the occasional bungalow. You see big shopping malls, gaming cafes, tall and menacing buildings that reflect modern evolution. But amidst all this, you see the most unique city in the whole of India.
The train stations are the most unique parts of Mumbai, and perhaps one of the most important. The number of people travelling by trains every day, or just crossing from east to west or west to east, is too high. There are makeshift shops on the sides of the platform, where you get clothes, duplicate cosmetics, mobile phone accessories, mosquito bats, and some odd items here and there. Every station has a Jumbo King vada pav joint close by. Oh yes, vada pav is a staple in Mumbai, and so are Pani Puris and Golas. One thing you’ll surely notice is that rickshaw drivers are really honest.
Mumbai has many people, and you brush past them without stopping to see who they are, and you never know whether they’ll enter your life again or not. Maybe they’ll be very important to you later on, but you’ll never remember brushing past them during some busy day. This gives an air of eagerness to Mumbai, an air of mystery.
There is a barrier between the people here. As mentioned before, you see the occasional charity shown by people, but if by chance the eyes of the beggar and the eyes of the giver meet, I doubt there’d be any acknowledgement in either of their eyes. To the casual observer,the rolled up windowpane may be all that separates the beggar and giver, but truly, there’s a world of a difference. Everybody’s busy with their own lives. After all,everybody’s in a race against time, as if each day is reduced to half its time. Everybody’s in their own shell, and maybe they’ve lost the driving force.
There’s a dialogue from some film I remember now. If it rains, it pours. Here in Mumbai, it certainly pours. There are two sides to this story as well. You ask a guy like me, and I’d say “Deliver us from this heat,O lord”, as I whole-heartedly welcome the rains. There are many like me, who wouldn’t mind the traffic blocks. After all, heavy rains mean no school, or atleast, an excuse to get inside the class late. But there’s the other side of the story, the side told by those living in challs, with not even a proper roof. They put sheets for roofs,and often,the sheets are littered with holes, causing water to drip into their homes. They use mugs to collect the dripping water, and periodically dump the water outside. Many-a-times, it so happens that due to the low elevation, many such homes get flooded, and the inhabitants become temporarily homeless. Would they rejoice that the heat is gone, or would they weep for being kicked onto the street by nature itself?
This city is one of dreams. So many migrate here in search of a better life,a better dream. Often though, reality is much harsher, but there’s a special enduring feel here. People give themselves false inspirations and move on, living in harsh conditions but still never giving up. There’s a lot of poverty, but in a more selfish note, it has benefited me. I’ve become more humble, I’ve begun to appreciate the many things that I have that others haven’t. There’s always the rich and the poor. This is a mixed town, everybody’s a hair’s length away but there is still that small length separating all. You eventually ask yourself,who’s better off.
The true beauty of this city lies in the sea, and also in the south area to a certain extent. There’s Juhu Beach and Marine Drive. Truly, the air of the sea is different, always fresh, always welcome. In this city, where everybody’s life changes in an instant, the sea is the one place that always remains just the same. Ironically, it never lets anything in its reach remain constant. Lines in the sand, footprints, scribblings,they’ll eventually get washed away, erased. Yet, everyday, hundreds throng the beaches, lovers and loners aside, and there are many who sell food or click photos for those looking to preserve memories.. Yup, if there’s an opportunity to make cash, nobody lets go of it, not in India’s NYC.
This city never sleeps. The days are crowded, and at night, there’s always someone outside, there’s always the lone street vendor, the barking dogs. You’re never alone. This isn’t a Utopia either, but I have no view regarding the darker side, and hopefully I never will. All coins have another side. However to walk the streets in the evening, with music filling your ears, and to observe the different people throng the streets, each with a different goal….there’s always a new observation. You always see the mothers waiting for their kids’ school buses. There are always hawkers and bargainers. There’s always a group of old men huddled together around a tea stall,exchanging stories of the past, and their views of the ineffective youth.
One of the biggest feelings you experience is that of the city itself. It feels as if Mumbai’s the silent observer, always watching the lives of every citizen, watching every struggle,satisfaction,joy,strife and rage. New buildings rise every day, more people set foot into this city, but Mumbai always watches, but never utters a word. It’s got eyes everywhere. It sees the little parts that make life what it is. Mumbai sees those chance meetings I talked about earlier, but never comments. Usually if we notice a coincidence, we show some emotion like surprise or angst. But never Mumbai. It shows no emotion, it helps not the weary. It’s just there.
You may wonder after reading all this that why do i love Mumbai. Truth is I don’t have an answer. You ask any Mumbaikar, you’ll never get a proper answer. They may say that they love the fast paced life of Mumbai, or that they love the malls and comforts.. Fact is, none of these answers are satisfactory. None of them is true. Truth is nobody knows why. They just love Mumbai. I know I love Mumbai. I feel the city’s presence on the inside. I feel its gaze, its non-judgemental face. I feel it look at all of us despite knowing everything and still be expressionless. I see the people go through each day without much purpose, but I see in them the desire to find one. This city has a lot of the poor, but they too, in most cases, live in contentment. People may be indifferent to each other, but there’s always those little things that connect us all, and I’ve never seen it anywhere else but here. There’s a place for everybody,everybody’s welcome, and everybody has a chance to reach their dreams. You’re never truly alone here, you always feel the city’s gaze. You can just go to the south part,walk the Marine Drive, hang out. If you have a bad day, just put on some music, enjoy the stomach numbing street food as you gaze at the multitude of people away from their homes, engulfed in their present tasks and lives., as you feel the never-ending gaze of the city. Mumbai’s bigger than the TAJ or The Gateway of India, and Mumbai has proven its integrity before. Aamchi Mumbai indeed.
- Achyuth Sankar
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