Mumbaikar – Endurance unlimited?!

Hi there,

I live in the business capital of India..Mumbai “the city that never sleeps” previously and widely known as Bombay. Mumbai lies on the western coast of India. It was a group of seven islands in the Arabian Sea which lies off the northern Konkan coast on the west of Maharashtra state in India. These seven islands which were once separated by creeks and channels were filled and bridged over the years by the inhabitants and has now taken shape as the city of dreams “Mumbai” (i call it Fool’s Paradise).The south-west monsoon winds have been kind enough but you will still sweat a lot in the humid weather.

This is a city which gives you money, fame, name and prestige – but no time to live. No time to smell the flowers on your journey. Every day people are struggling to live here, this city takes away your appetite for life by making it so difficult that you start surviving .

Mumbai locals..you cant live without them..

Any world class research on space dynamics can be proved incorrect in a packed mumbai local. No genuies of a scientist can prove how the hell so many people fit into that space! This is how a day in the life of an average mumbaikar (me) begins. Rushing through honking traffic and 4 letter words from all unknown to reach the very badly maintained (or absolutely not!) railway stations. There i have to don the avatar of Razia Sultan or you wont get into any train at all. through a 4 feet wide door there are around 100 people trying to get out and at the same time another 50 are trying to get in – and the train stops for 30 secs only! So unless i push and shove and keep shouting “sarka re” (mumbaiya for :move aside people),let the others fall or get hurt you are not going anywhere. I get in (phew) only to find in one square feet area there are around 10 people stamping on each others feet, and i feel i will suffocate and die and this is the time left for me to call up my loved ones to let them know i really loved them, but how do i get my phone, i am frozen in ice. Now i know what “moving a muscle” means .

 The huge herd of (i dont want to say anything here as i am part of it too) get out at the same time at the halt of the train and well…the best part is i dont have to do anything, i am pushed automatically out of the door.But then again i have arrived on yet another railway station, and so have thousands of others. That is the beginning of the morning walk, a 15 min walk to get out of the station among many other shoves and pushes from people who are running against time to reach their respective destinations. (They make me feel: I dont want to running so fast that forget where i want to go). The famous mumbai black and yellow cab story starts now..the cab drivers follow discipline and you have to wait in a line (of around 100 people or more at any time) for the cab to arrive, at a time only 4 people get in – Thats a shared service model of the cab business. If you are very lucky and all your stars are in a favourable position you might just get a non-shared cab but thats a rarity. And then its another 30-45 min ride in a cab whose every single part is making a different noise.These noises combined with the noise from the traffic and hawkers can make metallica go mad . And your day has not even begun.

But this is what makes the mumaikar very high on endurance, travel can make you tolerant but only living in Mumbai can make you resistant to any hardship in life. This city has taught me life like never before.

Cheers!

Saba