Mumbai!

About two and half years ago, it seemed as if life was only interested in giving me lemons. But as I went on collecting them, little did I know that one day I'd be able to make a mean lemon cocktail!

It was around the time when I had just returned from Beirut, unwillingly. The stagnation in both professional and personal life was killing me. Everything had reached a dead-end, with no gateway in view.  I wanted to leave and go far far away, preferably abroad. Obviously, the thought of shifting to Mumbai - the so-called dream city of millions - had never even crossed my mind. It was the last place where I wanted to live. But I think destiny's list of places where I should have lived differed slightly and I landed in Mumbai in March 2014. 

Since I never really had any affection towards Mumbai, I had not an iota of interest in finding out what it had to offer me. My idea of Mumbai was only limited to its international airport from where I could fly to my real dream destinations, without ever taking into account the potential of Mumbai of becoming my dream destination one day. Naturally, when I got here, I wasn't the happiest person in the city and had plans to leave at the drop of a hat. I had cast a shield charm between Mumbai with all its glitter, liveliness and awesomeness and whatnot and myself. I was determined in never letting Mumbai cajole me.

As it turned out, I was only interested in finding the flaws of the city and well, in my defense, Mumbai did not let me down! I hated the humidity, how it royally messed up my hair, the overcrowded streets, the omnipresent noises, the smelly streets, the pollution, the roads, and everything that Mumbai was doing to me and offering me. I hated that my usual routine of going to a brand new place to discover new cultures, new languages, and new cuisines was disturbed. The challenges that Mumbai promised were not as inspiring. Arrogantly, I felt trapped in a place that offered me the luxury of being close to home, without any linguistic hurdles. I thought that once the language barrier was removed, making friends here would be super easy. Sadly, it wasn't. Despite the most familiar territory, I felt the most lonely ever, in the most crowded streets ever. This quote from 'Stag' by Tim Relf perfectly describes what I was going through: 

“I had nothing to contribute. I played no part. I was on the edge.

Different. Alone.

Everything around me, gray.

It was the same old feeling, back again.

I was in the middle of the group but I might as well have been a million miles away from these people.”

But as the days went by, (thankfully) I got frustrated with my own lack of motivation to discover the maximum city. Being an optimist, I couldn't tolerate my own cynicism towards my Mumbai life. I thought, how long can you 'choose' to be unhappy?  How long can you yearn for the things out of your reach? Clichédly, I convinced myself to live in the present and to at least give myself and Mumbai a chance to like each other. And believe me, it was one of the sanest decisions ever!

I slowly opened up to the city. It was indeed a pleasant revelation that things were not so bad after all. The reality was definitely better and different from my imagination. I was happy to slowly discover a city where contrasts happily (ahem) co-existed while experiencing the famous "Mumbai spirit" by interacting with its creators - the people.

Everyone here, irrespective of their gender, caste, and religion shares a common thread: dreams. Nobody really has time to poke a nose into your life. Coming from a quaint and laid-back city of Pune, the hustle-bustle of Mumbai was intimidating in the beginning and a major source of annoyance. But now that I am part of it, I enjoy its energy. Traveling on relatively empty local trains on weekends and leaning out of the door by literally throwing caution to the wind has become one  of my favorite weekend activities. I love how the city gives you a wide range of options when it comes to your leisure time. You have the sea, (overcrowded) beaches, street shopping, window shopping, road-side eateries and high-end restaurants, millions of dance studios, yoga classes, gyms and much more. Choose whatever you like! If you can keep yourself busy, there's no place like Mumbai.

I have found my little Beirut, little Paris and a little paradise of best South Indian food in Mumbai. So all in all its a full package!

But, contrasts make Mumbai what it is. You have high-end nightclubs, outside which you'll find the best street food joints. The most amazing part is they both are equally crowded! You can get lost in lanes of roadside shops, enjoying (or not) bargaining and the resultant happiness of finding an haute couture item at a dirt cheap price of  Rs 200-500. The skyscrapers and slums at their feet is a common site. Highways run parallel to the 'local' tracks. A Porsche and a BEST both (usually) have to stop when the light turns red! A 15 Rs. Vada-Pav is equally valuable as a 200 Rs. sandwich when you are hungry. Children begging in the scorching heat to the people in air-conditioned cars is such a common mise-en-scène that, in the end, you stop thinking about how unfair the economic divide is. I know it's sad, but it's true. Unfortunately, your sensitive mind is of no use in the city, as, if you start mulling over a plethora of inequalities around you, you won't be able to take even a step in the city.

Another interesting characteristic of Mumbai is undoubtedly the traffic. Though insane, it is an organized chaos. Once you are stuck in it, you can be sure that those one or two hours are lost forever. At the peak hours, the traffic is so slow moving that you start envying the speed at which a snail crawls. But believe it or not, these traffic jams, which are to be seen even at midnight, somehow funnily assure me of my safety. It is just the honking that I still fail to get over. Other than adding a few decibels to the noise pollution, it doesn't really do much.

But let's face it: Mumbai is not the most friendly and romantic city ever. The ruthless city life makes you wonder at times why the hell did you even come here? What did you achieve? Was it really worth all the trouble? The answers can be both, affirmative and negative and predictably depend on your perspective. Everything here is literally in your face - the poverty, the wealth, the inequality. Such openness and frankness have taught me not to judge anyone blindly. Everyone is fighting a battle unknown to you. Mumbai has a knack of giving you a clear backgrounder on everyone's situation and hence compels you to think twice before you comment on someone's appearance, their hurry to catch that bus, their grim faces and also their beautiful smile. You can be of any religion, caste, profession and may speak any language, but once you are pacing in that sea of people at CST/Dadar to catch that 6:30 pm Borivali local, all those aspects of your identity are immaterial.

The city has many personalities and you need to find out which one suits you the best. At times it resembles an old-time grandfather, who would frown upon your misdoings, scold you for your mistakes and even give you one tight slap if required. But when the time comes, would stand up for you like it's nobody's business. On some days Mumbai looks like that irritated girlfriend who is not happy at anything you do to please her. The best solution in these times is to a take a book and sit in a nearby café and let the day go by. Sometimes you'd be amazed at the indifference that the city feigns. But I kind of like this indifference as it is refreshing and non-judgemental. It teaches me to lift myself up from my deepest, shittiest moods and march on. It reiterates the fact that if you don't help yourself, no one else can.

So far Mumbai has taught me a lot of things - it has taught me to love the rains, to count my blessings, to work hard, to be myself, to believe in myself and most importantly to not lose my cool. The city hasn't been successful in cajoling me completely, but I must confess that I cannot ignore its charm anymore. I am definitely a different (and hopefully a better) person than I was when I got here for the first time. It has given me a strength to deal with the reverse cultural shocks - something that I'll always be grateful for. 

But I know that my love-hate relationship with Mumbai will end eventually. And though I hate to admit it, I am sure that I will not be happy about it...

Midnight in Mumbai on cycle!

Mumbai has the most amazing quirky things to offer.  All you need is the willingness to embrace their quirkiness.

Last week, I had an opportunity to do one of such things, which until that moment seemed impossible to me: a moonlight Mumbai cycle ride! Now you will say, why on Earth would anyone want to cycle the streets of Mumbai at midnight? Well, first of all, just for the kick of it! Secondly to check whether honking-free and traffic free roads were something known to Mumbai and lastly to breathe a somewhat pure air. I mean, come on! 

Out of sheer curiosity, my friend and I, we went half an hour before the registration time. We were greeted by a group of young girls and boys, who happened to be the organizers of the ride! I was pleasantly surprised to see that such young people were working towards making the Maximum City even more interesting. 

The idea of Mumbai Riders came to its founder, Rishi Shah, after his extensive traveling in Europe last summer. He thought it would be amazing to replicate the concept of 'cycle the city' in Mumbai to give its busy dwellers a chance to rediscover and admire the city's beauty. His idea was supported by two of his friends - Falak Parikh and Saurabh Punamiya and many more. Since December, they had successfully organized 10 rides and the one in which I participated was the 11th one.

Once all the 60 registered participants turned up and were equipped with snacks, we headed to collect our cycles. Most of us had not even thought about cycles after we left school a decade ago. So once we got the cycles, the first thing everyone did was to paddle a few meters in the adjoining lane just to confirm that they were still able to cycle! After checking the tire pressure, other technicalities of the cycle, some group photos, and a lot of selfies, we started our mission-on-wheels to enjoy the midnight ride in the city! 

The route of the ride - 22 km!

It was a perfect night to cycle. The cool breeze from the sea was shooing away the mid-March Mumbai heat. The contagious enthusiasm and the new-found passion for this eco-friendly way of discovering the city was quite something. A few stars had joined us in the sky and the car-free roads were an icing on the cake! 

After passing by the iconic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and the Gateway of India, we took our first stop at the Asiatic. I had never been on this side of the town and it felt Bollywoodish to be sitting on the steps of the Asiatic Society Library. It was a moment to say: 'Eating samosa at 12:30 am on the steps of Asiatic - check!'. 

The next pause was at the historic CST, but it was a technical halt to try to reduce the gap between the group. Well, to be frank, it didn't help, as a few of us were quite fast than the rest of the group. So, it was decided that we all meet at Haji Ali directly. 

I had never thought that the ruthless city of dreams, which is constantly bustling and throwing challenges at you every now and then can look so serene and peaceful. I almost couldn't resist loving this mad city! The moment we crossed Marine Lines flyover, the stunning beauty of the 'Queen's necklace' rendered us speechless. We didn't even want to stop and take photos (though now I think we should have). Maybe we were just so mesmerized to be on the Marin drive getting the feel of the city that stopping and taking photos would have interrupted our conversation with the city. We were engrossed in listening to what Mumbai had to tell us. I think this ride gave me the unique opportunity to see a different side of the city that I will never forget. As we were riding and bagging in small achievements of climbing up the Pedder road without getting off the cycle, it felt as if the city was smiling at us and clapping for us!

We reached Haji Ali triumphant! What an experience we had just lived! The place was filled with laughter, smiles, streetlights and a few stars! Once settled on the sidewalks, people got busy enjoying their samosas and with renewed rounds of selfies.  

I must say that our young, enthusiastic and down-to-earth, college going organizers are doing a great job. Their meticulous planning and sincerity are making the rides popular. A few glitches are there, but can be easily amended with more experience. So if you planning to visit Mumbai sometime soon or are already here, keep a lookout for the rides. They are one for the most à la mode activities these days and are sold out within a few hours!

I am definitely going for the next one to discover a new area of Mumbai and to get some more memories!