So another day ..another milestone ..another week .
Friday evening came slowly ..almsot crept into the room silently until I looked outside the window and saw that the sun had receded into a grey fog announcing the arrival of yet another weekend .
Not in Delhi . Not this one though .
Bright and Early tommorrow - I shall be home.
Bombay ..Mumbai ..call it what you like . Shakespeare would argue that a rose by another name ..need I complete the rest ?
5 years outside the only place I'd ever known ..the only friends I'd ever hung out with ..the only family I had . 5 years , 4 cities and Home is a pretty fluid concept.
From Apt 27 on 16th and 13th in Gainesville - to Brandywine - To Atlanta and now my hotel room in Delhi . Home is where the heart is ....
And where the heart is ..is a dusty traffic congested street in north mumbai where theres no room to walk ..where all people stand as equals ..some first amongst equals ..where life grabs you by the wrist and spins you around ..where dreams , fortunes and lives are created and broken to an orchestra of car honks , cell phone rings , cat calls and super zhankar beat resounding rickshaws driven by sharp gel sporting rickshawallas who wear top gun sunglasses and carry plastic combs .
Where Household servants are more political and diplomatic than the worst coalitions India has seen , where your baniya is your best friend and you need an appointment to talk to your dhobi.
Words like " boss" , "sidey" , "tp" , "niklis" and "Lukka" need no introduction .
..chai cutting is not only necessary but is also a way of life . Ganne ka raas and Nimbu Pani with masala are as relished as IMFL . Where you can actually go to a 5 star hotel and order bhel puri ...while your chinese gadi wala takes orders from movie stars on his cell phone after he parks his brand new mercedes.
I always said you need to be lucky to live in Bombay .
To take the 8.30 fast from Andheri, eat vada pav at the station for breakfast , buy accesories in the train , exchange a few hot words with bhajiwalas , listen to nasal renditions of "Dekha hai Pehli Baar " from attitude yielding tots , arm wrestle with people while getting out ..and when you do get out you are one of a million others flooding the floors ...whose only identity is ambition and a days worth of work ..only dreams to chase ..24 hours to chase them in and not a second to spare .
Anyone who is impervious to the magic and charm of Bombay needs to be at Churchgate Station on Monday Morning at 9 am . Some would say its maddness ..I would say its a Date with Destiny .
Like all cities , Bombay has weathered its fair share of change and growth .
But no matter how many Malls, Red Lounges and Imax;s come up .. Bombay for me ..will always
be about the Dhansaak at Irani Restaurants,Biryani at Bade Miyas,Falooda at Badshah ,Cheese Pakoras at Cafe Naaz when it was open ,Opera House,Metro , Paan and Kulfi at chowpatty and Kanda Bhajiyas in the rains with coffee flavored energy at Arey Milk Colony.
Mohammad Ali road at Eid ,Mount Mary Fair in Bandra , Govinda in Girgaon , Ganpati at Juhu and Dassera at Shivaji Park .
A city like every other throbbing metropolis yet with a soul unlike another.
Where you become a part of the flow ebbing in its veins . Where tears , smiles , sweat all mix in one cocktail of an experience .
A never say never , Carpe Diem , Die another Day , one in a million experience that you will love ...or you will hate ..but you most definately wont forget .
New York may have Tiffany's ...but we are pretty happy with the Queens Necklace.
Salaam Bombay !
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