"Love"? There are things I really love about the city and things I don't. But, whole-hearted, undying, to-die-for, unconditional kinda love? I'm not sure about that. Can I stay somewhere else? If I have to. In fact, I'd prefer some place where I can afford a house. Will I miss Bombay? Sure I will. I'll miss its places and its people.
"Never say die" attitude? Um. See, Bombay is about money. Nothing else. Its not World War 1 or 2 or 3 happening on a daily basis. Out here, time is money. You want yours. Everyone else wants theirs. The colour of money that a cabbie makes is the same as that of what an industrialist makes. Does that make them "heroes" or "survivors"? I'm not sure. They found their ways. We have to find ours.
"Spirit of the city"? Bumper sticker and nothing more. Humanity on any other day, that over the years got romanticised, got garbled and took the shape of a tag-line, a by-word to be used on every show and in every column when things go wrong.
See, here's the deal. I like all the cities I've visited. I blogged about Delhi. I've wanted to but never have blogged about Chennai and Bangalore. Both wonderful cities in their own ways. I've only been abroad all of four times. Twice to Hong Kong and once each to Colombo and Dubai. Never to Shanghai, New York, Tokyo, London, Singapore, etc. When, or if, I can, I'd love to do scenes from all these cities.
I'm sure there are enough people who came flat broke to the shores of each of those cities, and made it in life. They will tell you a tale if you wish to hear it. I'm sure they all like whats good in the city and hate whats bad.
I don't know what makes Bombay "better" or "worse" than these cities. Its all going to boil down to who you are and what you want. Out here in Bombay, we are all people on the same train/bus/car/rick/taxi going to the same stop/station/destination. Earning a living and living our lives. I don't know how that makes us better - or worse - than other travelers in other cities in India and the world.
PS - If you lived in or visited any of the cities above - or any city anywhere - I'd love to hear your views. Thanks in advance.
PPS - I just have to recap these words. They say more about this city than anyone else I've heard in recent times.
Utar Jaaye Ragon Mein Jo Toh Yeh Nasha Hai
Iski Aadat Jo Pad Gayi Toh Yeh Saza Hai
Aise Bhar De Ke Khaali Kar De
19 comments:
Hey Bombay addict ...I am waiting for your review of Hey Babby
sheesh what a washout ya. But me love this place neeways and yes a die hard fan to. Matter os perspectives yup very much. B'lore is okay, hate chennai, delhi not quite been ther yet but Mumbai will always rock For me :)
Anon - Thanks..but er..I don't think I'll be seeing the movie soon (probably on TV/DVD later)! You let me know what you think!
Red - Arre maaf karo yaar! I said na...there are things I love about the city! Why do you think I'm hooked on to it?! Lol..
hmm maafi toh nahi mil sakti but well u can make it up next time the Reds are in town.You can meet the crazy 3 and put up with us for oh maybe an hour or so or atleast till the kid rips the cushions of the couches and the hubby swigs down all d soda while Red gulps all d wine :)
hehehe laughs evilly like cruella devil and rubs hand gleefully
Red - hah! i might even take you up on that!
Yeah, you are right.But then, cricket's just this game..
since anon is waiting for the review of hey babyyy (pls forgive for incorrect no. of y's or b's) it becomes your moral duty to go and watch it and write about it...you can't displease fans :)
The only thing that I think is different in Mumbai as compared to other Indian cities is its sense of urgency. I do not find it present anywhere else in such huge proportions.
Nandan - LOL! you're three much. I will see Heyy Babyy (thanks..coincidentally I just noticed today that it has two ys in each word, its probably worked because they're saying the movie's a hit!) but not just now. Btw, if you've seen the movie, then perhaps I could abdicate my responsibility to you!
You've hit the nail on the head my friend. The sense of urgency you're talking about is - I think - because we know the value of time (=money?!), and yep, you can't find it anywhere else. That I have to agree.
wchmmm !! to this post .. your definition of addict doesn't go with the actual defi....someone who is physiologically dependent on a substance ( well here a city) ; abrupt deprivation of the substance produces withdrawal symptoms ( so do you get them when you go to Chennai , Delhi etc etc)
congrats .. your blog was featured in the HT today.
Abodh - I think you've got me there! ok, ok so there I admit it - I do love some parts of the city and well, I am dependent on it for my income and yes I do get withdrawal symptoms once in a while. But I also think that prolonged use of this drug can kill me!
If there's one Mumbaikar I truly admire it has to be you! Thanks also for noting the HT thing. (They got the URL wrong tho'!).
Oh and yes, I don't have unrequited love for Mumbai either...there are some things I hate about this city as well. No point being a fanatic about it.
Nandan - well put..I'm not a fanatic either..
Wah Wah ! The last few lines were kickass !
Thanks very much Harish.
I'm reading your log after a while and am again struck by how much I enjoy it. Got here from Mumbai matters where I was wondering if you had anything on Mumbai flyovers (was looking to link it to a blogpost on the hyd. collapse) . I didn't find it- actually got distracted reading other posts, but found a lot otherwise, to smile (the one on visit to delhi was uncanny), to reflect to even maybe allow the luxury of a regret. Maybe you should make a movie too.. like Metro huh? Make that two metros. Like in a udipi order.
Deepa - Thanks so very much for that comment! Very nice and thoughtful of you! I will try to do a piece on flyovers in Mumbai over at my other blog. Thanks..
I don't believe that you can compare cities. It's a little bit like comparing people - who's better: Sachin Tendulkar or Vladimir Putin?
Comparison about something can be made, however. Which city has a better Mass Transport system - Hong Kong or Singapore? (HK, without a doubt :)
Which city has better choice of swear words? NY or Bangalore? (Bangalore, definitely :)
I've been to NY, Shanghai, Singapore, HK, and a variety of US and Indian cities. I can comfortably say that each city has it's own character. You learn to love them for their own sake.
Aditya - agree with you. I don't quite understand how people fall in love and then go all fanatic about Bombay. The media here for one is a frequent OD'er. Thanks for the comment.
I have lived in Bombay(Mumbai?) for a bit, and wasnt much of a fan. Too many people. Too indifferent. Too much about money.
As luck would have it...life brought me to Newyork, a city much like Bombay. Different people, same deal.
AmreekanDesi - Thanks for the comment. Yeah, I've heard/read that about NY too.
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