Finally back home after a 3 month stint in Mumbai.
Bombay
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
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!!
3 comments:
You mean 'Lal Baaghcha Raja' :P
looks like u had lot of fun, hmmm...
to Nidhi, file ko khopche me rakha na ?
so u relished on almost all mumbai cuisines.....still moti hokar nahi aayi...??? nd yup ur post is very interesting....waiting for the next one....waiting to see it soon....!!!
Just thought of complementing your thought...so here we go....
You know you are from Mumbai when.....
1. You spend more time travelling than you stay at home.
2. 9:47 fast, means something to you.
3. u think tht delhi copied INDIA GATE frm mumbai's GATEWAY OF INDIA... :P:P
4. You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.
5. You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.
6. Amitabh Bachchans house is a landmark
7. When there's no place to breathe in the trains but there's place to play cards and sing bhajans!
8. You refer to the city as Bombay and not Mumbai.
9. You say that Pani Puri is way better than Gol Gappa's even when they're the same thing
10. Every three months you look at your street and say "Why're the digging the road again?"
11. You actually pay for your rickshaws by the meter.
12. You know what the term "video coach" stands for in the local trains...
13. "Gheun Tak" is your life ideology.
14. You aren't surprised when somebody throws a water balloon at you while you're walking on the streets during March.
15. you can only smile forgivingly about the size of any other city in the world.
16. Every time you speak Hindi in front of a Delhitite they have the WTF expression on their face.
17. When while giving directions you say "Right MARO aur wahan pe ek bridge GIREGA"
18. You have hung on to dear life at the local door.
19. When you think everyone who lives to the south(Mumbai) of you is a snob and to the north of you sucks
20. when u c movie names like "shootout at Lokhandwala" & 'Ek chalis ki last local" & don't have to ask what the name means
21. you consider the local train "empty" when you find a spot for your two feet to stand on.
22. when "chalta hai" is the most commonly used word
23. Everything to the north of Mumbai is UP-Bihar and everything below is Madras
24. if someone calls u "aap"-- u start laughing on their faces...
25. when you call the BEST bus, BST, even though BEST is painted on every single public transport bus operational in Bombay
26. It takes longer to get off from your house to the station than from one end of Mumbai to another by train.
27. Being truly alone makes you nervous.
28. Crorepati, Lakhpati, Hazarpati, Chillarpati all travel in local Trains daily-together!.
29. You have learnt how to stand in a queue
30. u treat mumbai as a country itself
31. when you actually see random people coming to help you when u have a problem
32. u want to get into the train already that is already in motion & u have 5 hands taking u in..
33. You are back to work next day after the city is bombed - Truly the spirit of Mumbai
34. When you allow complete strangers to spend the night in your house because its raining outside and half the city is submerged...
However am a delhite spent some memories in Mumbai....
Post a Comment