Moving out of Bombay (aka Mumbai ) !!!!

Moving out of Bombay (aka Mumbai ) !!!!

Exactly 12 years ago, I set off to Hyderabad from Victoria Terminus which I still insist on calling rather than Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus after the Dot com industry bubble burst in mid 2001 to venture into a new industry which I never knew what it was and what the future holds in the Outsourcing industry. 

This was a sudden realization that I received a Job offer outside Bombay & was told to join within a week. After having lived in Bombay all my life, I always ponder over the reason on why I couldn’t stick to the maximum city .

I was in Bombay, jumping off and on Dadar Fast locals to go to college, Street shopping @ Fashion Street, watching movies after bunking college with friends at Eros, Regal, Sterling.Eating Vada Pav, Misel Pav, Pav Bhaji & Faloodha. Hanging out at Marine drive or Bandra Bandstand. It was all a great time.This city has its own charm; one which I can't express in words. 

Anyways an RCA is required, because moving to Hyderabad was a well thought decision and the gene that triggered the move still existed in me.

Now it’s been 6.5 yrs in Bangalore but I still miss Bombay and its charm in my everyday life and even after being better off always think if this was the right thing to do.

I have realized no amount of richness or success can overcome the joy of being in Bombay.

To begin with, the pace of Bombay hits you only after you have moved out of the maddening crowd, trains, buses, taxis, cars and autos and placed yourself away from it. You keep running and because everyone around you is doing the same thing, you don’t really notice or care. Have a dream, which could take you where you can never imagine, a dream only this city can make sense to. A dream which will make you feel the rush in the local trains like a body massage, the unexpected rains as a free shower or a blessing, floods as declared holidays. A dream that will get you somewhere where you get started, a dream that's a beginning and not an end. 

Here in Bangalore & so was it in Hyderabad, I feel the welcome break in speed and however the city life is very slow even now. Another thing I keep saying about Bombay is that we are ‘surviving’ in the city, not living. Bombay is fast, furious, crowded with fortunes of people, climate changes, misery on the streets, hawkers, beggars, eunuchs, prostitutes and what not. The fight for survival happens underneath your nose, happens everywhere but in Bombay happens in such a volume it's hard to ignore. The space, the speed, the weather, the pollution, the roads and the population – we survive inspite of it all!

And then to top it all, Darwin’s rule applies here more than anywhere else. “Survival of the fittest.” So you should be able to run, cross hurdles, catch on to the smallest support and hang on for life if you plan to travel by trains or buses. If by car, then knowing every pothole, some swear words and lots of patience – might, and I say might, be able to get you to your destination without an injury or two. And with this Survival of the Fittest theory being practiced by each and every individual, you will notice people becoming sharper, naturally shrewd, smarter and faster over years automatically. Do not ask Alice why she is no more innocent in this Wonderland.But still, the world is moving to this city.

Sometimes I feel the truth is that people stay back and grind themselves day in-day out because they do not get time to think in Bombay. Bombay does not afford you the time or space to sit back and think about what you are doing and why? It’s just so much easier to just keep running because what it does give you – is a new finish-line everyday. Borivali to Andheri, Andheri to Bandra ,Thane to Dadar, Dadar to Churchgate ,Thane to VT ,Vashi to VT and if the city permits – you might just get to Nariman Point..Someday. 

Till then, an office there and traveling to it – is exciting enough… hai na? ? 

A new adventure, a new friend in the local train from the Ladies Bogie J and a new route to cut the traffic awaits you every day in Bombay!!!!

There are certain places on earth, where your stay must be justified; I say Bombay is definitely one of them. A space there is either for someone who wants to go through life without thinking or for someone who has a dream that keep him up throughout.

I'm longing to go back home right now. It's weird; my friends call me crazy because I live with my family, yet call Bombay my home. I guess it is a little off-beat. I'm yet to decide where home is…Bangalore or Bombay?

Miss U Aamchi Mumbai........ :)