A City that never sleeps..!!

It’s a Crowded, Populated, Polluted, Noisy, Chaotic, Rich, Lively, Always-in-the-news City…

Creuset de cultures or melting pot of cultures as it is rightly called.

It’s a mix of cultures, languages, religions & castes, ideas and thoughts. It is an epitome of unity in diversity.

A city that may not boast of a state-of-the-art infrastructure unlike the other mega cities in the European or American Continent. But it for sure basks in the glory of a historic past that is seen through some of the magnificent architecture.

Welcome to Mumbai – a place where all differences converge, where cultures blend and religions unite to create one identity – Mumbaikar.. An identity that symbolizes versatility and speed. Every man in the city is different but the Mumbaikar in him is the same.

Bombay now Mumbai has a splendid history, a beautiful past that accompanies its present to build up a promising tomorrow. It encompasses all the diversities to impart one unified identity.

I sometimes wonder why is it called a city that never sleeps. You should take a CST bound train from Kalyan in the rush peak hours of a Monday morning. People jump into the train before it has halted to get in the window seats or rather sometimes even just a seat. Once you have positioned yourself, take out your newspaper. Mumbaikars can teach you how to fold a big newspaper into a small packet size. They read some headlines and gradually they feel sleepy and doze off. You are lucky even if you get for yourself a place to stand in the overcrowded train. People are hanging out of the train, some are sitting on the top. Some sleepy commuters are not bothered by the rush and the push. They catch up their forty winks no matter how much ever uncomfortable it is. There you see a city that sleeps on the next fellow commuter’s shoulders.

A local train travel is the most important lesson that each aspiring Mumbaikar has to learn. Travelling teaches you so many things. You know people, you build relations, you fight for a seat, you play cards, you sell your stuff, you like somebody and you don’t want to miss the train or else you will miss her out . ;)
You spend maybe an hour or two of your life everyday , observing people, learning new things, new trends in clothing, you end up forgetting your newspaper but you can still manage to glance through a local paper headlines from the fellow passenger reading it next to you. You can come across how abusive men can get and how women can fight like cats & dogs. What is the In-thing in college or what is the new corporate hair-do like.

The train commute is just one aspect. Running parallel as the lifeline of Mumbai is the BEST road transport service which may not be at its BEST always. But it compliments your travel when the train drops you off at the CST station and you take the bus to reach Nariman Point. It completes the learning phase in Mumbaikar’s life. It tests your patience. How long can you wait – at the bus stop for the bus of for your stop when you are in the bus but stuck in heavy traffic or maybe when your bus breaks down on the highway or a link road and a flock of around 50-70 people fight for an auto or a taxi.

Aptly titled as the Maximum City by Suketu Mehta, it is a city that lives in its extremes. Be it wealth or fame, work or game.
Everything is fair in love, war and Mumbai.

The city has been a host to a spectrum of people. It has sheltered many rags to riches stories of industrialists- Dhirubhai Ambani , the Bollywood Celebs who now glorify the Indian celluloid- Shah Rukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar who is the Face of Interntional Cricket or Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar who established the Indian Mafia or Babasaheb Ambedkar who went on to frame the Indian Constitution .

As perfectly said by James Shirley in Death the Leveller –
"There is no armour against Fate;
Death lays his icy hand on kings:
Sceptre and Crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade."

Mumbai – the city is the leveller. A city that treats everybody equal be it rich or poor, good or evil.
You want to have a breath taking view of the Queen’s Necklace – the Marine Drive. Great. Head to “AER” restaurant on the 34th Floor of Four Seasons. As you take a turn from the main road, you enter a creepy crambled narrow road that heads to the Hotel. Slums run parallel on both the sides. You get a feeling of disgust & “ Oh mya god, where am I going ??”. But that how it is. When you hand over you car keys for the valet parking, you should have a look at the repercussions of unemployment and poverty on the city. You can then elevate yourself to the 34th Floor which overlooks the slums below..

What a paradox !!!!

In the early 80s it has bustled with activites through some of its silent sleepy slum areas of Dongri. The city has seen an emerging business of drug trafficking, flesh tarde, the rise of Gangsters, the birth of Gangs, the gangwars, blood, violence, encounters, the terror of the locak goons who then grow up to be the henchmen of the Indian Mafia. The city has also seen the same Dark Mafia Men in their silver linings when Varadrajan Mudaliar aka Vardha had his famous Ganeshotsav sponsored by him every year, where thousands of people flocked to get darshan or be it Gangubai who ran a brothel but fought against the mafia and had her own child attend a school.

The city has seen it all.

The city has a plethora of shades to its name . It shows unity spirit when it is bombed by the terrorists. Enthusiastic spirit when it welcomes the Guest of Honor like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.
It has staged anti-British demonstrations in the pre-independence era as also the post independence anti-corruption marches & rallies.

The city has had the worst of the worst. But nothing really can dampen its spirit. An immortal spirit that is inherent for every Mumbaikar. It runs in his blood.
Be it floods of 26th July or the Terror attacks of 26/11.
Be it the World Cup Finals of April 2011 or the Mumbai Marathon.

Lucky I am, that I have been born and brought up in this City..Nothing Like Aamchi Mumbai….!!

Seriously..