Monday 10 June 2013
Aamchi Mumbai, you either love it or you hate it..-copied
Today I waited for about 30 minutes for an auto while getting drenched in the rain (my fault for not carrying an umbrella), finally got an auto, I told the driver he could pick up more passengers if he wanted as I knew how hard it was to get an auto, finally had one co-passenger who was also headed to the station and then boarded a Mumbai local train half drenched, grinding against others half soaked in rain and sweat, wondering what the real purpose of life is.
When the train was about to leave, there was one guy running like Kajol from Dilwale Dulhaniya le jayenge towards the train, so I grabbed his hand, pulling him onto the train. While I was just about to give him some 'unsolicited gyaan' about how dangerous it is to do what he did, he started thanking me like I had given him some 10,000 bucks and while making small talk with him, I realized how important it was for him to board the 9:54 fast local from Andheri and how missing that makes his day miserable. We then got down at Marine Lines and by then I had realized that we were headed in the same direction for a bit. It was still raining 'cats and men' and he knew that I wasn't the man with the 'BLUE UMBRELLA'. So, he offered me to take me along till I found a Taxi, but I was as much in a hurry as anyone can be and I told him 'Bhai sahab, 'Ab aadhe bheege insaan ko baarish se kya darr', shook hands with him and parted ways.
The city ideally should come to a STAND STILL' the way it rains here sometimes, but it doesn't. Yesterday it clocked the highest rainfall in June in the last 10 years, but Autowallahs were still running on the meter. Auto wallahs don't cheat you here like most other cities, they return the change like they should, unlike in Bangalore where they take it for granted like you are obliged to tip them. Most people who migrate from other parts of the country either go back feeling uncomfortable with the pace at which life moves here, or they NEVER go back for the generations to come. The Vada pavs and the Samosa pavs, the Usal and the Misal Pavs are pretty much the staple diet of a lot of people here, they don't need anything else, may be a cutting chai once in a while. Whether it's hot and humid as hell or it's pouring crazy, people are always on the go. People here believe in earning their livelihood under any circumstances, there is no sponging food and money off friends and relatives.
Sitting in your AC compartments and looking at the rain through the window while sipping your cutting chai, occasionally and 'cautiously' putting you head out of the window to smell the 'rain on mud' aroma can only get you to appreciate the small things in life that obviously make you happy. On the other hand when you spend a part of your life like most other Mumbaikars do, you appreciate the 'SPIRIT OF THIS CITY'. I once asked a stranger, 'Kya kaam karte hain bhai sahab', and he (at his PHILOSOPHICAL BEST) said, 'Is sheher me kaam kaun karta hai Sir, yahan pe to sab struggle karte hain bass'. When in trouble, every stranger becomes a bhayya / behenji. I have lived in other cities, but the way this city works together to turn it around when they are down and in trouble is like Djokovic playing when he's down a match point. The city has survived collapsing buildings, floods and repeated terrorist attacks, only to go back to work the very next day.
You don't come to this city to take a morning walk with a laid back attitude. Only marathon runners are welcome here, you get up in the morning and you run. It's hard to 'LIKE' this city, you either 'LOVE IT OR YOU HATE IT'.
When the train was about to leave, there was one guy running like Kajol from Dilwale Dulhaniya le jayenge towards the train, so I grabbed his hand, pulling him onto the train. While I was just about to give him some 'unsolicited gyaan' about how dangerous it is to do what he did, he started thanking me like I had given him some 10,000 bucks and while making small talk with him, I realized how important it was for him to board the 9:54 fast local from Andheri and how missing that makes his day miserable. We then got down at Marine Lines and by then I had realized that we were headed in the same direction for a bit. It was still raining 'cats and men' and he knew that I wasn't the man with the 'BLUE UMBRELLA'. So, he offered me to take me along till I found a Taxi, but I was as much in a hurry as anyone can be and I told him 'Bhai sahab, 'Ab aadhe bheege insaan ko baarish se kya darr', shook hands with him and parted ways.
The city ideally should come to a STAND STILL' the way it rains here sometimes, but it doesn't. Yesterday it clocked the highest rainfall in June in the last 10 years, but Autowallahs were still running on the meter. Auto wallahs don't cheat you here like most other cities, they return the change like they should, unlike in Bangalore where they take it for granted like you are obliged to tip them. Most people who migrate from other parts of the country either go back feeling uncomfortable with the pace at which life moves here, or they NEVER go back for the generations to come. The Vada pavs and the Samosa pavs, the Usal and the Misal Pavs are pretty much the staple diet of a lot of people here, they don't need anything else, may be a cutting chai once in a while. Whether it's hot and humid as hell or it's pouring crazy, people are always on the go. People here believe in earning their livelihood under any circumstances, there is no sponging food and money off friends and relatives.
Sitting in your AC compartments and looking at the rain through the window while sipping your cutting chai, occasionally and 'cautiously' putting you head out of the window to smell the 'rain on mud' aroma can only get you to appreciate the small things in life that obviously make you happy. On the other hand when you spend a part of your life like most other Mumbaikars do, you appreciate the 'SPIRIT OF THIS CITY'. I once asked a stranger, 'Kya kaam karte hain bhai sahab', and he (at his PHILOSOPHICAL BEST) said, 'Is sheher me kaam kaun karta hai Sir, yahan pe to sab struggle karte hain bass'. When in trouble, every stranger becomes a bhayya / behenji. I have lived in other cities, but the way this city works together to turn it around when they are down and in trouble is like Djokovic playing when he's down a match point. The city has survived collapsing buildings, floods and repeated terrorist attacks, only to go back to work the very next day.
You don't come to this city to take a morning walk with a laid back attitude. Only marathon runners are welcome here, you get up in the morning and you run. It's hard to 'LIKE' this city, you either 'LOVE IT OR YOU HATE IT'.
I'm back...
आज रवीश कुमार के कुछ ब्लॉग्स पढ़े, मन किया कि मै भी कुछ लिखू । एक ऐसी अपनी जगह हो जहा इकठ्ठा कर सकू कुछ अपनी बाते और कुछ दुसरो से सुनी हुई ...कुछ ऐसी बाते दिनको पढ़ के पुरानी यादे ताज़ा हो जाए । बहुत पहले कालेज में ब्लॉग लिखा करता था फिर पता नहीं कब इतना व्यस्त हो गया कि बंद कर दिया । देखते है इस बार कितना समय निकाल पाते है ।
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)