‘Aye dil hai mushkil, jeena yahan
jara hat ke jara bach ke, yeh hai bombay meri jaan’
I lived in this city for 22 years before I left for grad school. There are lots of things in this city that annoy me.... the crowd ... the lack of lanes sense in the traffic ... etc ... but there are many more things I enjoy about this city called BOMBAY and then renamed MUMBAI. I love them both.
Though I am a Keralite by heritage … by birth I am a Mumbaiker. I was born to this city (and to my parents … poor guys didn’t know what they were in for) on what is called Janamstrami in Mumbai. Janmastrami is Krishna’s birthday apparently and therefore I got the name ‘Rohini’ for Rohini Nakstrtram (for though my parents were Christian they didn’t know better probably). Now 35 years later I celebrated my birthday again in this city. Well I was not in Mumbai but closer than I have been since my last birthday in 1999 which I celebrated here.
I got into an autorikshaw last week and I saw the glee on my son’s face as we rode in this crazy vehicle! I realized how much I had missed Mumbai. To top it all it is in the season that I love. (like I hate …like I love). Crazy rains have let down and there is a downpour every 5 minutes. It literally seems like the heavens open up and throw down buckets of water and then close up! I love it (like I hate it). Crazy rains remind me of first day at school, travelling in local trains as the rain hits your face and eventually gets you wet and autorikshaw’s bringing out these curtains that are supposed to protect you from the rain while they whiz past the traffic. I love it! (like I hate it … like I love it)
I love the familiar places … Dadar … Goregoan … Vashi … Borivali and of course Bandra. I love that none of these names cause me to feel uncomfortable (like the unfamiliarity of Bangalore). I love that I am willing to venture into unknown areas and not be afraid that I will get lost … that I don’t need to pull out my GPS to direct me back home.
I love that the autoriskhaw charges me Rs. 19 and when I give Rs 20 … he actually gives me Re1 back. I love it that I pay Rs. 7 for a bus ticket and the conductor looks at my son and says ‘He’s not 3 yet right … well he rides for free!’ Love it!
I love that there is a local train at 11:17 and the next one is at 11:23. Love it!
I love it that people are friendly and willing to give you directions no matter which language you ask them in.
I love my mom’s flat that reminds me of our old place in Bandra. Our Bandra house overlooked an Arabian sea creek that everyone who came from Kerala swore smelt like dead fish. To me it just smelt like Home… Love it!
Suresh does not understand my deep down love for Mumbai. But he does agree that everyone who comes from Mumbai has a spell cast on them that makes them love this city. He once took a flight from Bangalore to Mumbai. As he sat in the bus that took him from the aircraft to the terminal he overheard a conversation.
First man: ‘Went to Bangalore for business’
Second man: ‘Oh ok’
First man: ‘Yaar but there is nothing like Amchi Mumbai’
Second man nods his head vigorously in agreement.
As sweat beads accumulated on Suresh’s forehead from the heat that had not subsided even at 8 pm in the evening and as he dreamt of cool Bangalore, he shook his head and thought ‘My wife would totally agree with you’.
jara hat ke jara bach ke, yeh hai bombay meri jaan
Love it like I hate it
jara hat ke jara bach ke, yeh hai bombay meri jaan’
I lived in this city for 22 years before I left for grad school. There are lots of things in this city that annoy me.... the crowd ... the lack of lanes sense in the traffic ... etc ... but there are many more things I enjoy about this city called BOMBAY and then renamed MUMBAI. I love them both.
Though I am a Keralite by heritage … by birth I am a Mumbaiker. I was born to this city (and to my parents … poor guys didn’t know what they were in for) on what is called Janamstrami in Mumbai. Janmastrami is Krishna’s birthday apparently and therefore I got the name ‘Rohini’ for Rohini Nakstrtram (for though my parents were Christian they didn’t know better probably). Now 35 years later I celebrated my birthday again in this city. Well I was not in Mumbai but closer than I have been since my last birthday in 1999 which I celebrated here.
I got into an autorikshaw last week and I saw the glee on my son’s face as we rode in this crazy vehicle! I realized how much I had missed Mumbai. To top it all it is in the season that I love. (like I hate …like I love). Crazy rains have let down and there is a downpour every 5 minutes. It literally seems like the heavens open up and throw down buckets of water and then close up! I love it (like I hate it). Crazy rains remind me of first day at school, travelling in local trains as the rain hits your face and eventually gets you wet and autorikshaw’s bringing out these curtains that are supposed to protect you from the rain while they whiz past the traffic. I love it! (like I hate it … like I love it)
I love the familiar places … Dadar … Goregoan … Vashi … Borivali and of course Bandra. I love that none of these names cause me to feel uncomfortable (like the unfamiliarity of Bangalore). I love that I am willing to venture into unknown areas and not be afraid that I will get lost … that I don’t need to pull out my GPS to direct me back home.
I love that the autoriskhaw charges me Rs. 19 and when I give Rs 20 … he actually gives me Re1 back. I love it that I pay Rs. 7 for a bus ticket and the conductor looks at my son and says ‘He’s not 3 yet right … well he rides for free!’ Love it!
I love that there is a local train at 11:17 and the next one is at 11:23. Love it!
I love it that people are friendly and willing to give you directions no matter which language you ask them in.
I love my mom’s flat that reminds me of our old place in Bandra. Our Bandra house overlooked an Arabian sea creek that everyone who came from Kerala swore smelt like dead fish. To me it just smelt like Home… Love it!
Suresh does not understand my deep down love for Mumbai. But he does agree that everyone who comes from Mumbai has a spell cast on them that makes them love this city. He once took a flight from Bangalore to Mumbai. As he sat in the bus that took him from the aircraft to the terminal he overheard a conversation.
First man: ‘Went to Bangalore for business’
Second man: ‘Oh ok’
First man: ‘Yaar but there is nothing like Amchi Mumbai’
Second man nods his head vigorously in agreement.
As sweat beads accumulated on Suresh’s forehead from the heat that had not subsided even at 8 pm in the evening and as he dreamt of cool Bangalore, he shook his head and thought ‘My wife would totally agree with you’.
jara hat ke jara bach ke, yeh hai bombay meri jaan
Love it like I hate it
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