I have written about Mumbai on previous occasions, I have compared my hometown with the city, I have argued about which is the better city of the two to live in, I have expressed my opinion about the Anti-North Indian sentiments brewing in the city.
But now, I have relaxed. I no longer feel anxious, feel alien. I feel comfortable. I have realised there is no point in debating Mumbai - Delhi anymore. Each city has a character, a personality, a spirit of its own, and a place of its own in my heart. I have realised there is no longer any point in fighting the daily travel rigour, the pollution, the crowd, the dirt, the stink of fish... It is all a part of me now. I am immune.
In fact I have grown comfortable here. No matter what, it is my city now. It has started to feel familiar. The sights and sounds and smells. The people, the streets, the food... the beaches and the skies. The humid weather and the joke of a winter season. I feel comforted, travelling on the same roads, day in and day out... everything now seems part of my routine. I have started to recognise people and places. Roads and buildings. I have started making associations with them all at some or the other level, good or bad. I have started to enjoy being part of the hustle-bustle. I feel lost when I am away. I never thought I would feel this way but I miss Mumbai when I am not there.
I love the anonymity of the place. I am alone, independent. And I love it. I feel like dancing in the rains forever. I feel like walking the streets alone at night. I see the sun setting over the horizon, and I feel like entering into the ocean, into the welcoming arms of the waves, to be carried over to the horizon, and set with the sun into the sea.
