Bombay's Diaries, part 3

I’m concluding the Bombay’s Diaries series with Part 3 which has another five posts on all feelings Bombay among bloggers. The posts are about a bus trip, fishes drying at Carter Road, Bombay’s real nightlife, matka and a Chennai-ite’s view on Bombay.

Anil Purohit runs a lovely blog with lots of posts on Bombay, making it tough for me to pick one. The one I’m linking to is about Anil’s trip on BEST bus route no. 496 to SEEPZ. “The conductor, a middle aged Maharastrian man, lean build, wore his uniform with the first button unbuttoned, showing white vest wet from sweating at the neck, and used his sharp voice to good effect in goading people into making space for new arrivals getting in. He looked the kind who did no one any favours nor expected any in return, and wouldn’t be bothered with socializing or getting into conversation of any sort. The kind who felt strongly about morality but wouldn’t say anything about it unless in close company.” [Full post is linked here].

Extempore takes a friend down Carter Road and tells us the meaning of “koliwada”. “Wondering what a koliwada is? Allow me. The original inhabitants of Bombay are the kolis, a community of deep-sea fishermen and a koliwada is their settlement along the shore. Mumbai, the official name of Bombay, originates from Mumbadevi, the patron goddess of the kolis, enshrined to this day in Dongri. A number of well-known areas also owe their names to the original koli versions. For example, Kolbhat is what we know and love as Colaba. :-)” [Full post, with some nice photos are linked here]

Mukta thinks comparing places to Bombay is not fair. And that Bombay is aloof, distant, yet complete. Touche. “So I don't really get belligerent when people say how much cleaner the other places are or how much warmer the neighbors. It is mostly true. I also listen quietly when people comment on how rumpled Bombay's fashion is - how tackily wearable the clothes and how impossibly practical the accessories. Fine. Sartorial elegance is a flippant virtue.” Her anger on a TV show sparks off a brilliant post on Bombay’s nightlife. No, not the party variety, but this variety. “There are plenty of people in this city who don't go to pubs or clubs. And yet, these people will vouch for Bombay's 'night life' - because 'night life' in Bombay isn't about exclusivist alcoves.” [Full post linked here]

Matka ! Remember a young Paresh Rawal debuting as “Annubhai” in “Arjun”? Yes, he was running a Matka “den”. Satish explains the intricacy that is Matka. “Matka is a form of gambling that originated in Mumbai or Bombay as it was known then. It started around the same time as the closure of the cotton exchange figures of opening and closing that used to be transmitted to India and was gambled on. It was started by a gentleman called Ratan Khatri. The way it operated was very simple.” [For more on this simple addiction, read his post linked here.]

1$ Saint, a Chennai resident, wonders what Mumbai has for him to shift base. “My family friend and I were taking a drive to drop her son off at Dhirubhai Ambani international school. I’m quite and yet to wake up completely, I’m looking out the window admiring the empty road which would soon disappear to the naked eye. Unexpectedly I have a question shot at me “So when you shifting to Mumbai?” I wonder why I was asked that question. But then I begin to answer it in my mind. What does Mumbai have that I must shift base? I go back city storming.” [For eight facts he notices and his final decision, read the full post here.]

Thanks everyone for your enthu. I will never ceased to be amazed at the different emotions this one city evokes from its denizens and from people visiting it. Here are the links to the earlier parts

Bombay's Diaries, Part 1

Bombay's Diaries, Part 2