Mumbai I've arrived!!!!
Been a very long time since I last wrote something on u my lost blog. Goodness I didn’t get any reminder from the blog people to show some activity.
Let me admit this, I've been trying to trace myself down in this city. I've been trying to keep a track of the fast moving locals, back-to-back bulletins at my offices, New faces as my bosses everyday...
Putting in a lot of efforts to stay awake in those late night journeys in the locals. Making myself used to that thak thak music of a blind man's stick in the locals.
Trying to not use my raincoat, which is again not mine but borrowed from a friend, by taking shelter under the flyovers. While I walk under the flyovers, I try and not step on the people who have a home right under the flyover and right amid those TV18 cars parked there.
I was taken aback the day I stepped down from Ranakpur Express at Bandra Terminus, It all looked the same it looked on the TV. A sea of faces and that too wearing the same expression, all of them trying to run from one station to the other...
I first tried to understand the running around of people myself, but I did nt get it... I might sound dumb but I just didn't get it...So I decided I would just catch hold of one of those running across the stations. And I managed to ask this man, “Bhaiya yeh log bhaag kyun rahein hain?” And the reply was not what I had expected. "Bhaiya Kisko bolta hai ?" I ended up making a fool of myself.
So now I remember what my friend had mentioned once. Mumbai people don’t like to be called Bhaiyas. All thanks to Balasaheb, and his movement against bhaiyajis from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. And yes of course, my favorites Tamilians. I think Balasaheb's movement has been long forgotten. But yes the words still have trigger effect in them.... And it didn’t take me long to understand that.
Anyways, I tried forgetting calling anyone by that name.
So here I was trying to understand how things work at the stations. Mumbai stations are self-sustaining entities, its not that Indian stations isn’t like that. But life at these stations never seems to cease. You get Vada Pav as breakfast/lunch/dinner here. Thanks to this desi burger, I managed to save on my lunch that day.... Will write more... keep reading this space...
posted by pukhraj @ 7:58 AM
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