An evening in Mumbai

Pic Credit: The Square Times

“We ache to belong to places. It is always people who make us belong. When they are gone, the place does not recognise us any more…”

I read these words somewhere and since then they have been resonating in my mind. It is true that if you want to see a place differently an interesting company does help. My latest trip to Mumbai, the Bollywood’s bastion, was revelation in this sense.

After finishing work at 10 pm on my last day in Mumbai, I could not have left without seeing the Sea. So I forgo the food at the high end hotel in Bandra and guided by an outsider-becoming Mumbaikar, I headed to Bandstand. The long 1.2 km long walking promenade along the Arabian Sea boasts to house the Czars of Indian Film Industry – Shahrukh and Salman. As darkness descended to embrace the city of glittering dreams we sat dressed in our fineries, eating roasted corn cobs and tea as the lovers of the Mumbai city went near the receding shoreline to evade prying eyes. The city hotels do not allow unmarried couples to get some moments of privacy by renting rooms to them.

Appreciating the efforts put in by the lovers to overcome the constraints put by society, we halted at our next pit stop - a watering hole called Yacht Bar. It does not discriminate on the basis of class or gender. Try its chana masala. 

High on spirits we headed towards marine drive in the ‘kali-pili’ taxi that formed one of the lifelines of this fast-paced city before Ola-Uber captured the market. Unlike their counterparts in Delhi, these drivers down the meters without argument to take you to your destination. The journey sometimes is more alluring that the destination. It might sound clichéd but holds true if you come from Delhi where pollution would not let you feel the cool breeze in your hair as you look out.

The breeze entice you to fall in love with the city where walking on the road can be a task for claustrophobic, as you feel the buildings crushing on you. But the city has a certain charm and it is on full display at the Marine Drive Boulevard, which the Mumbaikars refer to as the Queen’s necklace. The Marine Drive Boulevard is a microcosm of what Mumbai represents – it never sleeps and people cutting across class can have time worth cherishing here. The only way it is different from the maddening rush in Mumbai is that time stops here. 

Have desultory heart-to-heart conversations over a cup of tea while admiring the city’s skyline. Listening to the waves crashing at a distance wrap up the night getting a foot massage done in the wee morning hours! Only to be left with this song being played in your mind – Yunhi koi mil gaya tha, sare raah chalte chalte (I found someone just like that, while I was on my own way)….     

P.S. No selfies or photographs were clicked during this evening as a wise person once said: ‘Photos confine memory’.