A lot of buzz about the Mumbai spirits going on in the papers and from every politicians and news channel people now. It happens everytime a blast takes place in Mumbai, probably the terrorists favourite playground to showcase their talent on what they have been taught in their homelands . They do it with the same dedication like Diggy Raja trying to prop Rahul Gandhi and derail every anti corruption law to be framed.
Every tom dick and harry is speaking about the Mumbai spirit .Now are all the mumbaites drunk on the Mumbai or Bombay spirits always ? Some still call it Bombay. I have heard about a certain heady Gin- Bombay Sapphire though, this is not that i presume.
Well it certainly is a city that is intoxicating because for a small towner like me, i can never understand how so many people can fit in so little space You just wonder where so much people will fit in..And believe me a Mumbaikar will never like to settle in a small city or for that matter any city with a bigger house with rooms big enough so as when you swing your arms you don’t end up hitting your partner. I can vouch for it as my wifey was one of the species before marriage and was definitely high on that stuff. There was a lot of those spirits in her blood stream, the effects of which are now slowly wearing off now after all these years.
I have visited Mumbai many times at various stages in my life for short periods and each time you are surprised as an outsider . Lot of things can happen only in Mumbai and that too maybe because all are drunk on Mumbai spirit .
I am sharing a few observations based on the first hand experience of an outsider like me:
You can never understand how the local train platform fills up in 3 mins to the brim after you have not boarded the previous train as it was full and the next one was due in 3 mins.
People help you with directions even though you don’t speak their mother tongue and are busy a lot , No this is not a taunt to the chennaites.
People go to sleep in train standing with one hand on their briefcase and one hand on the overhead support and miraculously wake up just before their station turns up. This i have seen so many times and am sure a study must be done on the sleep patterns of the mumbaikar just like the study done on the dabbawallas.
Bars are called Permit rooms and found every nook and corner , none of the permit rooms are empty after evenings and During early days when some fun and frolic was allowed, The Gujju and Marwadi businessmen who obviously had big assed wives covering their head with pallu 24/7 back home would shower obscene amounts on gyrating young things with a 2 inch makeup and whose dancing would make Sunny Deols steps look respectable. And believe me the Girl would never take off a single item of clothing from herself.
In other parts of the world mostly west the poor girl would have to moonwalk like Michael Jackson on the vertical pole stripping off all her stuff even to earn a fraction of their counterparts in Mumbai.
The city never sleeps as you find the local trains crowded at 12.00 Am in the midnight.
Everybody adds a bhai or bhaiyya when speaking with strangers, particularly pretty young gals when they obviously don’t want to make friends with you as they already have plenty of attention from their boyfriends.
There is no legitimate way you can earn money in this planet to buy a flat in central Mumbai.
Half of the Mumbaites do not have access to toilets, Probably they like to do it admiring nature in places like beaches and the railway tracks .
All Mumbaikars are crazy about the film stars , but probably not devoted enough to build temples and fight amongst themselves like the Andhraites and the tamilians. Amitabhs house is a major tourist spot to be pointed out by the tourist operators.
The Famous Hanging gardens aren’t hanging maybe it appears so for them.
And so the list goes on and on. Its a magic world out there where stories of quick fortunes accumulated and lost makes the rounds.
what is this that makes the Mumbaikar different from others???
Is it the glamour? Is it the weather? Whats that thing which makes million struggle to settle in that city and continue to do so inspite of having so limited space and resources and braving so many bombs , floods and Raj Thackeray?
Its been a mystery, this Mumbai Spirits and one hard question to answer .
No comments:
Post a Comment