Mum-bye!!

Finally back home after a 3 month stint in Mumbai.

Bombay is generally seen as a very fast paced, tough and ruthless city but my experience was totally different…

1) I had all the time in the world (Work was pretty easy going and there were no responsibilities outside work.)

2) Life was quite relaxed( I didn’t have to travel in the much dreaded trains everyday, my office and place of stay was at a stone’s throw distance!)

3) I found it quite warm, welcoming and fun (Thanks to a great bunch of buddies I got even before I landed there)

Even otherwise, I found Mumbaites very warm, helpful and accommodating. Being a foodie, I relished various local cuisines ( right from Vada pao, Mesal pao, Medu vada, Dabeli, Kokii, Chunda, Thepla, Paatra, Bakarwadi and the very special Farsaanddd :p)

Rains being my favorite, ofcourse, adored the weather! People there prefer getting into huge raincoats and knee length plastic boots instead of umbrellas ( Though I held onto my good ol’ blue umbrella printed with tiny colourful fishes) Discovered Crocs, a very cute pair of plastic rain shoes available in rich colours with tiny holes all over.(Got a peach coloured pair for my cheeku!)

The place, like any other city, has a different dialect and way of communication which is quiet mast and tapori style…words like nafat, halkat, chamri, chirkoot are liberally used, roadside tea is called ‘Tapri ki chai’, throwing tantrums is called ‘much-much karna’ few words used often: ‘Kya re?, kuuch bhi? Bas kya? Woi toh’…infact, I had great difficulty controlling my laughter when a senior colleague in office once said in a grave, serious tone,’ Nidhi, yeh file khopche mein rakh do!!’

Got a chance to witness few local festivals…Janmashtmi is celebrated by breaking Dahi Handi by groups of men climbing onto each other to reach the height of skyscrapers where the handi is hanged, and the price if they succeed ranges in lakhs!

Enjoyed the most celebrated festival of Bombay, Ganesh Chaturthi where entire city looked like what Delhi looks during Diwali.. was lucky enough to visit “Lal Bagh ka Raja” where the biggest idol of Lord Ganesha is artfully decorated and thousands of devotees come to get their wishes fulfilled.

Oops quite a long post already…before you start yawning and fall asleep on your keyboard… will continue about my sweet n sour experiences of Mumbai in the next post, Enjoyy!!