Friendships, memories, love, food and knowledge, Travelling is a passion, a way of living. It will help you find a perspective of who you already are. over the years, word traveling has been divided into two categories- Mountains and beaches. Talking about India, people tend to visit Shimla and Manali, Delhi, Uttrakhand, and Mumbai the most. Now that I have recently visited Mumbai, I thought of sharing my experience of the same.
यात्री कृपा ध्यान दे, प्लेटफॉर्म नंबर 2 पर आने वाली लोकल प्लेटफॉर्म नंबर 1 पर आएगी
Running across the platforms, leaving one train and catching another, sitting and gossiping around with the dabbawalas and reaching the destination half an hour later than the expected time. All of this for a few hours of a good night's sleep in the city that never sleeps.
Mumbai. Racing against the time, looking at highs, facing the down lows, and hitting the grounds, this city of dreams has come a long way. Giving a tight hug to the outsiders and never letting them go, demands people to fall and rise every day with a new goal. Just like waves on the beach, Mumbaikars are not afraid to venture out into unknown and unchartered territory.
As soon as you set your foot on the station, the view of people rushing to catch a local is seen. Local trains are the hearts of Mumbai. In 2020, it was the first time that the wheels of the trains stopped. Otherwise, I can’t remember that even in the worst-case scenario, locals must have stopped. People are very familiar with the 1993 bomb blasts. In less than an hour of that incident, local trains were back on track. There is a film made on similar incidents named “Mumbai Meri Jaan”. It perfectly describes the effect of such incidents on people’s lives.
Whenever I think of Mumbai as a whole, I feel it is no less than a Bollywood movie. It has a history in the form of Gateway of India, Kanheri Caves, and CST, an action well described in the incidents of 26/11, romance that can openly be seen on marine drive, and drama in the everyday lives of the people. In here localities feel thrilled in smallest of things like street shopping on Bandra linking road and fashion street, having vada pav around Shivaji park and on Sundays waiting outside “Mannat” or “Jalsa” for their favorite superstars to come out and wave at them. Honestly, I would love to have a Sunday like that.
This Maya Nagri being the hub of Indian cinema that it is has given us the best of movies, and if that wasn’t enough, a 4 story building only and only dedicated to the Indian film fraternity. During my last visit to this city, I visited the National Museum of Indian Cinema. My eyes were wide open and I just stood there astonished as what they have made is beyond my imagination.
Being a movie lover, I am always curious of knowing what goes in a director’s mind and how do they manage to provide audiences with such masterpieces. All my queries came to an end after visiting this museum. It has 4 floors divided into ancient theatre, all about the “Bombay studios”, camera and sound techniques, new cinema, animations and Gandhi in movies, respectively. Even if you are not a Bollywood fan, this is a must-visit place.
Being in Mumbai and not visiting the sea? Impossible. There is a strange connection with the waves. It feels so peaceful that I would not want to go back home. Afterall Aisha from Wake Up Sid has said, “यह शहर में जहां हर वक्त सब कुछ बदलता रहता है, बस एक समुंदर ही है जो नहीं बदलता”. Probably I have the same reasons to be so attached to the sea.
All of the city is awesome. The places. The food. The culture. The language. But above everything, the people residing in here are very warm-hearted. They are empathetic and they meet you with so much grace, that at the end of the night, they end up being your people. They have so many stories to tell and even after hectic work schedules they know how to live life to the fullest.
As I write this, one song is constantly going on in my head and I think it perfectly suits the situations of the mumbaikars and even the outsiders who are looking at a new beginning in this city of magic and madness.
ज़िन्दगी ने दस्तक दी तो
दिल की सब खिड़कियाँ खुल गयी, हाँ खुल गयी
होठों पे जो जमी थी वोह
सारी खामोशियाँ घुल गयी, हाँ घुल गयी
कितने लम्हों ने मुझको जैसे हैरान किया
कितनी बातों ने दिल को आके है छू लिया
चाहतें कई है दिल में अब जगमगायी
राहतें कई है मुझसे कहेनो को आयी
पेहेचाने सारी मुसकाने सारी भरले निग़ाहों में तू...
And this made much more sense than ever.
