mumbai mirror work

Whenever someone says “Mumbai”, the first thing I think about it is the chatpata bhel puri, the colourful Falooda and the rain. It’s the city where my Mother grew up; it’s also where I was born. I remember the summer vacations in Bombay, when my only agenda was to gorge on pav bhaji and go to Essel World (their butter popcorn is SO delicious!).

Now, I’m here to study, to do my Masters for the next two years and my basic agenda hasn’t changed much!

For the first time I’m away from home, away from the two people that mean the most to me in the whole wide world! And, I’m really glad that I’ve come to a place like Mumbai..the city is so welcoming and there are so many people for whom the city is home for at least some part of their lives..that one does not feel like an outsider. I’ve been here more than a week and I haven’t felt alone or homesick. Maybe it’s the new course, new life ka josh but I’d like to think that it’s the city and its people that are so endearing.

I’m in love with the Tata Institute campus; it takes me back a decade to Dehradun..the magpie robins navigating the palm fronds, the mynah that loves to run and hop on the driveway and realizes it’s better at flying, the black and blue butterfly that rests on a tree stump, a pair of mating frogs, a huge snail, the water droplets on the green grass and the leaf litter that carpets the tarmac...like my roommate P says, it’s a mini rainforest!

This weekend I went exploring with my friends, sat in a local train after a very long time, it was SO exciting; the crowd, the wooden seats, the paan stains, the smell of sweat, the sound of the train picking up speed, checking the little booklet for the next stop, the smell of samosa and chai, a train journey always heightens my senses. There is an explosion of sounds and smells and colours and I wouldn’t want to miss a thing!

We got off at Victoria Terminus, (that makes an appearance in every Bollywood movie shot in Mumbai) which is so typically British with the Union Jack carved in stone in the ceiling, the two lions guarding the entrance, it’s a majestic structure and somehow symbolic of everything Mumbai is.

We then took a bus to Gateway of India through small cobbled streets and wide tar roads, past the Reserve Bank of India and a pigeon coop to arrive at a place lined with Banyan trees with roots that look like school girl plaits and a line of Horse drawn carriages that take you along Marine Drive.  Little bubbles floated into vision as I looked at the Taj Hotel and the Gateway.  The smell of roasting bhutta, pink candy floss, chana and churmur chaat walas assaulted my senses as I tried to navigate amongst the what looked like the entire population of Mumbai that had ventured out for a fun Sunday. Next was Colaba, with the posh International brands and the roadside jewellery shop, old grandfather clocks and the kholapuris with their characteristic smell. All the smelling made us hungry and we freaked out on brownies and cheesecake at Theobroma cafe/bakery.

We then took a taxi to marine drive, with the wind in our hair and Praveen singing in the background! Just sitting and watching the Arabian Sea, the sunset, the crabs trying to escape the waves and clambering onto the slippery rocks was peaceful! There were people all around us, sitting shoulder to shoulder, one stranger to another, staring at the water, at the hazy buildings in the distance, asking questions and seeking answers...it is perhaps the water, so indefinable itself, that connects everyone who stops by.

The city is like the embroidered red ghagra-choli the little girl at the traffic signal was wearing, and I cannot wait for the mirror work to dazzle me!

Till next weekend!