Mumbai: A new shattered beginning?

                      I have never been a morning person, in fact before coming to the city that is refereed to the city of dreams in India, I rarely saw the morning light before 9 or at times even 10 am. But, as any person living in Mumbai will tell you, its a city that never sleeps, and a place where people who sleep too much get no where...quite literally, as the travelling in the locals is a novelty that requires years of practice and dedication. In fact the first thing that I learnt when I came to the city was just this, travelling in the local. It is the best way to avoid the morning traffic, and the incessant rain (yes, I am one of the unlucky [or maybe lucky few[] who shifted to the city during its infamous monsoon season) and reach places which one is far removed from. I am sure that there are thousands of articles stating their experiences in the city, the local travelling, the food, the beach, marine drive, and all of that....

                 But for me, its different. For me the city is the bustling bubble of energy with a backdrop of natural beauty, that takes my breath away even when I am squashed between lord knows how many other women fighting for space to stand! Its the fact that neither the rain, nor the relentless attack of the underworld or the terrorists or a crazy drop in the stock market has been able to take away from its pulse, which beats faster and stronger with every attack, becoming a life force of its own. I love the way a person can just be themselves, in a city where numbers will never be a problem, where space to live is as hard to find as pearls in the increasing polluted sea bed.

                 As a person who has always survived in her own head even while co-existing with the world around her, I wonder just how much of the city was in me before I came here, and how much of it will always remind me of myself, the contrasts, the harsh realities, the demands, the strength to just be. The city has a beauty that comes from the merging of the old and the new, where one can see an Esplanade House standing next to a 115 storey building and still being able to charm with its grace, something that reminds me of my hometown, my beloved Calcutta. So here is my tribute (for what its worth) to one of the few cities which has made me feel so much in such a short time (5 days!!!), the industrial heart of the country with a special heart of its own... Mumbai