Bombay Blues

Each time I visit Bombay, fashionably known as Mumbai, I find myself struggling with the mixed feelings I have about the place. With the passing of each year, I’ve grown a bit - different to what I was and the way I saw and valued life. And much to my chagrin, so has the city…

This city, where I was born and spend most of my formative years in, still welcomes me with open arms whenever I return – but I do not find myself resting easy, as I used to. The place still feels familiar, but so much has changed – at so many levels.

Bombay has always had a multiple personality – much like most of us. It’s brash, busy, business-like exterior masks a heart of gold and the same time; the gilded façade covers an inner brutality. For India, Bombay is simultaneously Steel and Silk – the steel pillars that hold up the country’s economy and the silk garment, which gives it the style and glamour. You cannot choose one of these personas – you get them both – for it is this duality that defines it. There is only one choice - love it or hate it.

As someone born into this duality, I find it fairly easy to accept and have usually cautioned people planning to visit Bombay – that they choose their friends, guides and companions with caution. This is because for a visitor, his/her experience of Bombay will depend completely on the person who takes them around. And not surprisingly, I’ve received feedback ranging from ‘what a dump’ to ‘absolutely fantastic’.

Hmmm - I’m digressing here…

I brought up the multiple personality of Bombay, to help articulate that although at several levels I connect with the place - there are some levels of disconnect. And disturbingly, the levels of disconnect have only increased with the passing of time. A lot of it can be traced back to familiar names, faces and places. On each of my visits back, I’ve found fewer names that I grew up with, fewer faces that I played cricket with, fewer anchors that held my childhood years in place. The open grounds now host shopping malls; the quaint houses and even the 2-3 storey buildings have now been replaced by high rises; dual carriage way roads now stand where the tree-lined lanes used to be. The playground where I used to engage in many sporting conquests is now filled with the strangely familiar faces - the children of people who’ve accompanied me previously.

This time around, I finally realised that although I’ll always think of Bombay as ‘home’, the levels of disconnect will only keep increasing and so I decided to create some new memories of the old Bombay, and in that process help me connect to the new Bombay. Rekindled the magic by re-experiencing – Gateway, Taj, Kala Ghoda, Churchgate, Eros, beer at Leopold, bhel puri, paani puri, vada pav, ice gola, Siddhi Vinayak, Mahalakshmi, Haji Ali, Mahim Church, Heera Panna Juice Centre, Kala Nagar, National Park, Aarey Milk Colony, Juhu beach, Nariyal Paani, Rajdhani, Firangi Paani, Olive, Yoko’s, Marine Drive, Cream Centre, New Yorkers, Kotimbir Wadi and Sabudana wada at Prakash, grilled sandwich at Vile Parle station road, Alphonso mangoes with Malai ice-cream at Naturals, Sea-rock & Land’s end, Khar danda, Gujarati Thali, Irani chai, Jehangir Art Gallery, Nehru Planetarium, Walkeshwar…

And now I know that when I return again to Bombay, it will be like meeting an old friend – we’ll have plenty of differences, but enough in common to sit a while and laugh over old times. I guess I’m ready to call ‘amchi Mumbai’ - ‘meri jaan’ again.