INTRODUCTION
Date: June 16,2013
As I landed at the Mumbai airport and
took in the sights offered by the City of Dreams I secretly made up my
mind, that I would discover everything the city had to offer.
Two months passed and what did I manage
to discover – the long lonely hours software professionals spend in
front of computer screens, the girls dressed to thrill and as
impossible to get as they were during your IIT days, the obscene real
estate prices and the easy way in which brokers earned about half
your month's salary for a few days of work.
However, this is not the time for these
philosophical rants and I might as well proceed with my initial plan
of discovering Mumbai.
Exactly two months later on August 16,
2013 I get to know that Gaurav, a friend I had made during my
internship was in town. A quick phone call was exchanged and we
decided to meet the next day. We also wanted to meet God that day.
So, we agreed to meet at the SiddhiVinayak Temple.
As the city awoke from its slumber on
August 17, 2013 I put on my best dress and stepped out. Today was
going to be a day of many firsts. More specifically, I planned to
travel by the (in)famous Mumbai local. It is often dubbed as the lifeline of
Mumbai, and once you travel by them you won't be asking why.
In the local you get pushed, pulled,
grabbed and abused so many times that your best dress no longer
remains the best and your peace of mind is in pieces. Any
organisation offering meditation courses in Mumbai must start with
the Railway stations here.
Anyways, I got down at Dadar and after
a 10 minute walk reached our meeting point. As I called my friend, I
discovered that he was running an hour late. I leisurely had the
lunch packed for me by the cook. Finally Gaurav arrived with two of
his own friends and we proceeded towards the temple gates.
Ignoring the repeated pleas of
adjoining shopkeepers to take of our bags and shoes (in return for
buying prasad) we entered the temple gate. We took off our shoes and
bags at the temple management provided counter. As we proceeded
towards the chamber housing God, we were surrounded by devotees from
all sides. Finally, we managed to get a glimpse of God's statue and I feverishly began reciting my wishlist. After convincing myself that
my ten rupee offering would fast-track my requests we sat in the
adjoining area with the other devotees.
Everybody was staring at somebody. We
followed suit. The few minutes of staring around bore fruit and I
discovered some murtis present there. I dashed towards them and
repeated my wish list again. I suppose, more repetitions should
definitely increase the probability of a wishlist being fulfilled.
After having the mahaprasad we moved
on to our next destination, the Mahalaxmi Temple. This time the visit
was quicker. We went inside in groups of two (the other two guarding
the footwear). We climbed a few flight of stairs to reach the temple
entrance, toured the temple premises (spotting a lot of foreign
tourists on the way) and made our way back.
Having completed our religious quota of
the day, we visited the nearby market and an expo that had some
really stunning furniture on display. I mentally made a note to buy a
lot of that stuff when I would grow rich. Before saying goodbye to
Gaurav we decided to spend a few hours in the Oberoi Mall at
Goregaon.
As usual, the mall was bustling with
activity.
From sarees to spaghetti tops, sandals
to stilettos, simple to sleek, everything was visible under one roof.
The sight of people freshly decked up was quite contagious and our
first destination on entering the mall was the washroom, where we
styled our hair for a good five minutes.
We walked the length and breadth of the
mall for the next two hours. The restaurants and fast food joints
were beckoning us with dazzling lighting arrangements and hoardings
that promised mouth watering food; Louis Vuitton and Gucci stores
seemed to be aiming at two targets with one arrow, the gorgeous
models were attracting the males while the accessories they were
holding were irresistible for any women.
Above all, it was the people who caught
our attention the most. Be it the 60 year old uncle holding his much
younger wife's (?) hands and gazing romantically into her eyes
or the toddlers crying hoarse to convince their dads to buy them toys
or a young woman snatching her husband/boyfriend's purse and telling
him that she was fed up of his miserly ways or a man being told by
his wife that she couldn't live with his parents anymore. Each
incident was pretty unique and brought out a different feeling.
Smile. Tears. Sympathy. Disgust.
Finally, we got tired of watching our
possible futures and decided to fill ourselves up. Cafe Coffee Day
was our unanimous choice. It was here we spent the next few hours
before we parted ways to proceed for our homes. We began talking.
And. Observing. The troubled thoughts from our past, the dull and
monotonous present and our aspirations for the future were laid
thread bare. Meanwhile the world around us continued to amaze us. The
crowd moving in and out kept us attentive. Some with their weight.
Rest, with their gait.
No wonder, the hours breezed by us. We
left at around 8 but not before I had completed one of the most
enriching days of my Mumbai journey.
No comments:
Post a Comment