Mumbai-Kya Bhoolon Kya Yaad Rakhoon

(I started writing this on April 14th , aaj drafts me dikha socha post kar doon, wanted it to be complete but with my writing abilities this will happen only when pigs will fly, corruption will end and I will have a waist size of 28 again:-)

I landed in Mumbai on June 5th , 2006 i.e. on 6th April I have completed 34 months of stay here in the city of unending dreams. There is a saying well begun is half done but my case was different , I was fleeced by the cab driver who took me to the hotel. He took 5 times the fare and dropped me midway. So it was not the perfect beginning .....

I came to this city all filled with enthu and hopes, I was here to join my first job that too in one of the largest corporate so the air was all filled with excitement . Now as I prepare to move out of this city I try to look back at the time spent here, everything which I will be carrying with me forever and forever......

Being a numbers guy if am to put a number for my stay here i.e give a score to it out of 10 I will give it a 6.5. The score is not for the place but it reflects my stay/experiences with the city which are more correct reflection of my behaviour and mannerism . what will you say to a guy who has gone to Juhu chowpatty once in three years , 5 times to curch gate , seen gateway of India once , had not gone to borivali till date .Three years and one visit to siddhi vinayak and one visit to shirdi (even these two were courtesy friends who pushed me) . So I lived more in a self developed cocoon...

Mumbai as a city is amazing , you don't need to be a suketu mehta to experience this , my guess is that its the only cosmopolitan in India . So many cultures & different ideologies ,sky scrapers to the slums, dabbawala to the share brokers, autowallah to the Ferrari walas, the non existing mithi river to the vast ocean, The uttar bhartiya doodh wala to the dakshin bhartiya hotelier . So many extreme ends existing and working in perfect harmony .

The city has been a great teacher for me , has taught me duniyadaari or at least tried teaching me:-) .

As a normal person with three year stint in Mumbai Should have been nostalgic but as of now am not feeling it, I might as the days near by . I am myself surprised with this numbness . When I took the decision of moving out it took me very little time in making up my mind , people who know me well will find it very hard to believe .. The only pain area are the people I have been associated here , the professional and the personal friendships which were formed and matured during the three years . I am saying this when I have been always labeled as a non peoples person or a un social types ....

I am yet to tell everybody have just shared this with very few people not that it matters to them if I stay here or go to Timbuktu. But as the wise souls say change is the most constant thing - have never understood this statement in spirit, now is the time I guess.

I started writing this on 14th and today is 16th , have already got my marching orders, will be moving sometime next week . When I first thought of writing this piece i thought of writng about my experiences with this tinsel town but the way it has progressed till now is like RGV's sholay i.e. completely without a plot. This is more or less how I feel also confused , am nor sure about the sanity of my decision , professionally its not a wise move I guess. I am already thinking of writing part II of this post after shifting ..

Thinks which I will definitely not like to remember is the maddening crowd on roads irrespective of the day and time . I have also witnessed the two of the most gruesome terror acts- serial train blasts and the recent 26/11 attack , again not very fond memories of these two acts. Paucity of space , you always feel squeezed in home , in office on road and sabse zyada on a local train .

The city as I mentioned earlier is a great teacher, I think the best I have got till date . The people here are amazing , chalte heen rahte hain yaar kabhi rukte heen nahin . Though here for 3 yrs but the lazy ass I am , was not able to explore , mere liye mumbai thee, Bandra, andheri, sion, sad very sad .Another first for me in Mumbai was the 2008 New year party in sports bar , full courtsey to my college juniors , I danced first time in my life that too from 11 to 4 am in the morning:-). Somras aapse kya kya kuch karati hai.....

Mumbai will always be a pert of this uttar bhartiya bhaiya called alok for ever and ever......