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.
9 comments:
Wonderful.. i felt so happy reading this post, dear. And i can almost hear myself saying all this in some time.. ^_^
We're home.. arent we, adi? :)
Hugs,
Ashen
@lekha... u bet we are!! :) welcome to mumbai!
acceptance... indulgence... adoration. you've crossed all three stages. although after our chat today, i think you missed rohit more than you missed mumbai. anyway, brilliantly written post. like a lot of things, could so totally relate to the last para. the point where the sea meets the horizon is enchanting :)
p.s. are we, and so many of us,living double lives? we're so different.. yet so similar.
please keep writing!
i so envy you right now!! :$
we all find our comfort zones....sometime or another...im glad u seem to have found yours
Nice post.I think its time for us to think as an Indian then one living in Mumbai or Delhi.Its so eary to divide people but very difficult to get people together to take India to a new level.Hope we are able to contributing to emerging India and not thinking about place we live in.
Do visit my blog
http://views-point.blogspot.com
I hope you like it
Salil
been in both of them and many others...and each has a unique charm to it...i miss the morning jogs on juhu beach though...sigh!!!
seher.. dont be...grass is always greener on teh other side. when in delhi i miss mumbai, when in mumbai i miss delhi... its an unending affair. so just make peace with where u r and dont yearn too much for somewhere else :)
yashika... io think the last para was quite morbid!! one feels so lost and lonely sometimes, the anonimity and "dont-care" attitude of teh people makes you wanna do exactly that... become anonymous by sacrificing yourself to teh sea.
affy: yeah kinda... so fars o good.
though in my heart i knwo i wanna finally live and die in delhi.
sahil: i agree, thanks for visiting sahil!
mystique... u know how it is... when u have something at your disposal, you take it for granted.. and when u dont, u miss it! jogger's park is practically next door but i donyt bother going there now... while when im away, i wish to spend my evenings there or at bandstand!! :)
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