My Heaven. My MUMBAI! Ahem, मुंबई!!!

The Bandra-Worli Sea Link - Pride of Modern Mumbai

                       People who know me know my love for Mumbai. The "city of seven islands" is my home, and for reasons too perplexing to give, my muse as well. Sometimes I even consider the city as my paramour, whereas, it may actually be the other way round. I love the whole enchilada of the metropolis, although I must admit, I absolutely cosset the areas of Colaba, Thane, Mulund, Powai, Bandra and Worli a little above the other burbs. I behave like a tourist when I visit these areas, clicking pictures when I have my camera at hand. However, I must admit, I wouldn't have realised my love for this stunning megalopolis had I not spent four years away from it in a town not even close to being as awesome as Mumbai.

                       Nevertheless, I'm more than happy that I've finally become cognizant of my affection towards MY city, my motherland, all the homesickness notwithstanding. No matter how much you write about the city, you'll always fall short of defining it. What exactly defines Mumbai? Is it the fact that it is probably Modern India's most ancient link to the West? Or that it is the commercial capital of the country? Or is it the uncanny resemblance it bears with the city of New York? May be it is the fact that it is home to more than a crore people. Wait. This is it. It is HOME.

                       Mumbai is home to more than a crore Indians, who, no matter where they hail from, have made the city their home, and blended in like sugar in milk. It is our motherland. After all, the city's name itself is an eponym derived from "Mumba" devi and "Aai" meaning "mother" in the original language of the city - Marathi. I think the fact that it incorporates the neighbouring cities of Thane and Navi Mumbai in its metropolitan region itself is a manifestation of the city's bigheartedness. And why shouldn't it be, at the end of the day, it is the middle class people from the suburbs who contribute the most to the city's "Mumbainess". A more historic justification of the same would be the city's oldest name - "Tana-Maiambu", where Tana refers to Thane and Maiambu to Mumba Devi. In fact, even archaeologists have proved, from the Pleistocene sediments they've found around Kandivali, that the city has been inhabited since the Stone Age. Where else would you find a metropolitan giant that was home even to our Neanderthal ancestors?

The Nehru Centre, Worli in the monsoon; in the foreground
is our favourite BEST bus!

                      The monsoon in the city is the event highly anticipated by all Mumbaikars. After the deadly beating the unbearable summer heat gives us, the rains are a sight for sore eyes! People rejoice as the city welcomes its old, otherwise hibernating citizens - frogs, and with them, potholes and water-logging as well!

                       Albeit car rides in the monsoon seem more like rocky boat rides, the sight of the recently washed roads is spellbinding! Even more fascinating is to look at the Sea when it welcomes the showers of rain. After all, the Sea is more or less the Lord and Master of all Mumbaikars!

                        However, it's doleful to look at what terrorism's done to the blithesome peace of the city. People don't trust strangers anymore, they're no longer gullible, all the more callous in fact. But even in their times of trials and tribulations, every time the city's come face to face with calamity - natural or human, they've stood side-by-side, transgressing all boundaries of caste and religion, showing utter disregard for the divisive politicians, and fought for the city with unparalleled dauntlessness. It is this unity that makes us different from all the other cities. We stand together like a family, fighting for its home, because that is what the city means to us. We are Mumbaikars, and this is our city, our mother, our home!