Bombay's Diaries, part 1

This was an idea I got during the big Bombay v/s Delhi debate on Dhoomk2’s blog.

Bombay evokes strong feelings among everyone, including bloggers. Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore it. So, I thought of starting a small blogroll linking up various interesting posts on Bombay all over the blogosphere. I’ve called this series “Bombay's Diaries”.

Disclaimer – I’ve picked up some posts from obvious places like desipundit and Mumbai-metroblogging, besides Dhook2’s above series. Others I’ve googled on blogger, and some others I’ve stumbled upon by plain chance (!). Errors and omissions are entirely mine.

Here’s part one consisting of ten lovely posts on the city I'm addicted to from the Indian blogosphere.

Akshay Mahajan walking through Dharavi. “Ramshackle corrugated tin, plywood, plastic, pukkah bricks, sheets of asbestos, sweat, toil, people and garbage make Dharavi, just like piles of earth, sand, clay and other materials make ant hills. It is hard to find an idle soul in Dharavi, it is a cesspool of activity, buzzing with energy and ingenuity, always fighting, always dreaming and looking to the future. It is then that I realised that the only idle soul in Dharavi was me". [more here]

Lazyreader on traveling in Bombay’s local trains – an experience bound to evoke strong feelings. “The process of traveling successfully on a train in Mumbai (Bombay) is one that requires cunning, shrewdness, strategy, agility and a killer instinct. All seats are not the same. Window seats are best, followed by middle seats and finally aisle seats. This is because, as the train fills up, crowds push down on the chap in the aisle seat, the effects of which can be felt right up to the middle seat. no matter where you are on a Mumbai Local, you still have a long way to go."[more here]

Punds swoons over Mumbai’s rains – “For some strange reason, the first rain was always supposed to be on 8th June. No particular reason. Even if it was the first drizzle, it had to be 8th June. This year the monsoons are late. When the rain pours and the cold wind blows and everything becomes wet, that is the time when you make your trip to the near-by Vada Pao stall. One of my favorite pastimes during heavy rain when going out is restricted was listening to music. The old Kishore Kumar songs are my favorite. Not many songs have been able to portray Mumbai rain with all its beauty." [more here].

Sonia Faleiro describes her ordeal in finding accommodation in Bombay “Marshalling all forces in search of flat No. 5, has led me to conclude that far from being the City of Dreams, Bombay is actually the City of (Renters) Screams. For no matter how hard you work or earn, when it comes to renting a home, you cannot but feel inadequate. You gleefully move from a one bedroom to two, then realise your three-year-old nephew couldn’t kick a ball without having it smash back into his face.” [more here]

Kaushik Ramu talks of the swarming life in Bombay in a moving post. “I belong nowhere, but Bombay gives me places I can call my own, in my own quirky ways, in a crowd of a millions. I have walked around Fort in endless, aimless patterns, in the heat of the day, in the dusking glooms, in the solemn yellow daubs of night. Where I pause, letting the eye linger on high Victorian friezes, I sense the heart of this large amoeboid form , and its throbbing, bustling beats.” [more here]

The Atticus Diaries has a wonderful post on his conversation with a cab driver from Santa Cruz to Churchgate “We share a strange kinship – I and these skilled jockeys of black-and-yellow warhorse Fiats! We have left families far behind – a loving mother in Chennai, kids in Bulandshar, parents in Jharkand, a nine-year old daughter in Varanasi, love in Bangalore… And here in Mumbai, we ride the streets in search of a brighter tomorrow where our suns will rise on togetherness and love.” [more here]

Govindraj Ethiraj gets stuck on the Western Express Highway and coins the term “sequential jam phenomenon”. "You return to Bombay, after more than a month outside and hope that life is a wee bit simpler. In the city in specific and country in general. After all, the term developing nation ought to mean development. Actually, it only gets worse. I now have a term that defines the attempt to move from point A to point B: its called the sequential jam phenomenon. And I suggest you factor this into your calculations." [more here].

Dilip D’Souza walks around to discover villages in Bombay, and finds Chimbai. And Ramdas. “From Chimbai, the small Bandra fishing village where Ramdas lives, to Dadar is easily 5-6 km. That Ramdas biked that distance and back, twice a day with large loads, impressed me greatly. Chimbai is known as an old fishing village. By now, it is just another part of Bandra, if a more crowded and downscale part of this upscale suburb. But even so, you'll find women every day, sitting on either side of the lane through Chimbai, calling out from behind little makeshift tables piled high with fresh, dripping, aromatic fish.” [more here]

Vazu the terrible has an unnerving experience on a wet day, only to discover there is honour among thieves. “Mumbai is one hellava place. You will find the most stunning of all experiences. Some things that make you think, "Is this place for real ?". I started recounting all my experiences only after I left Mumbai…. In all this hungama (chaos), I realised that I dint even know the name of the friend-in-misery. The city seemed to me like one big karma wheel throwing your karma back at you.” [more here]

Evenstar finds co-passengers pushing hankies to their noses as they pass Mahim Creek. “Between Mahim & Bandra lies a place for Mumbai to clear its bowels and sins, depending which side you are on. Mahim Creek, popularly known as 'Bandra ki Khadi" lies between Bandra & Mahim. In the train, conversations become hushed, handkerchiefs are promptly put over noses, and most smiles disppear on days the odour is too strong. And then Mumbai begins dumping its secrets into the murky waters.” [More here]