Working late in B’bay has a different charm altogether. I used to work in SEEPZ, the ugly complex in Andheri(E) where everyone slaved, right from diamond exporters to software programmers. The gates close at 12 am and then open only at 6 am. In case anyone planned to work late, they HAD to make sure they were out before 12 am. Else the night would be spent at the office. Many were the nights when I scampered out a couple of minutes before 12. These extreme cases not withstanding, going home late was fun. The temperature would be a lot cooler and people would be out on the streets, as they always are, in this city. You casually walk out, hail an autorickshaw, settle into the gaudy interiors and coloured lights and listen to whatever music he chooses to play. Never did I ask the guy to stop the music, only to change the track sometimes. No matter how cheesy the track, it fitted just fine. So much so that there are certain songs I have a fondness for that I have never heard anywhere out of an autorickshaw.
The city would be quieter, the temperature cooler and as I ambled along, I would wonder at this miracle called Bombay. A city that never slept, a city that had lights winking all day and all night, a city sold out on everyday drama, romance and music, a city favoured by eunuchs, streetwalkers and pavement dwellers. A city with zealous housewives, skillful milkmen and unfortunate pickpockets. A city that surged again and again, in the face of floods, epidemics and fire. A city like none other, a city that supported so many people in so many ways that it was impossible to recount. A city with immense patience for the unemployed, the hungry and the slow. A city that killed, one that protected, a mother in so many ways. Attractive in the wildest way possible, Bombay can only be loved or hated, never ignored. The opening lines from Cannery Row very well apply to Bombay.
lalunadiosa says:
A city that helped raise you….me….and millions of others!!!!
August 17, 2005 — 3:16 pm
Lakshmi says:
Probably more than a million..:-)
August 18, 2005 — 11:21 am
Lakshmi says:
oops, you said millions.. my bad!
August 18, 2005 — 11:21 am
lalunadiosa says:
would like to know the exact figure someday!!!!
August 18, 2005 — 11:24 am
on9thheaven says:
a city that is safe ! i dunno if basrya is on your friends list but he was mugged in blore i think – awful experience. i don’t think this would happen in amchi mumbai.
i miss bombay too *sigh*
August 17, 2005 — 3:59 pm
Lakshmi says:
Oh! That must have been awful. I am sure people are mugged in B’bay too…maybe we don’t hear of them or maybe the incidents have reduced.
August 18, 2005 — 11:23 am
thefirstidiot says:
Ahem….its home
August 17, 2005 — 8:10 pm
Lakshmi says:
Home, heart, soul….:-)
August 18, 2005 — 11:24 am
jayasankarvs says:
Most cabbies in Bombay (and elsewhere) play this Rafi hits, sung by somebody. The cassette statrts with Aaj Mausam Bada Beimaan Hai,and has songs like Tujhko Pukare Mere Geet Re..
August 17, 2005 — 10:00 pm
Lakshmi says:
🙂
Yeah, most Hindi film hit songs have been covered by some unknown or the other and you always hear it first in a cabbie!
August 18, 2005 — 11:25 am
athiran says:
bombay is supposed to be the city of luck. its a place with raashi they say. however i find it too fast, too loud, too noisy, and too much of a mess that i had to run back everytime i was there. u could chck my journal and see the number of times i did that.
August 18, 2005 — 12:41 am
Lakshmi says:
It’s fast, loud, dirty, noisy… and yet that’s where the charm is. Don’t mind me, I am too much in love and besides, I have been away for more than a year…
August 18, 2005 — 11:25 am
arunshanbhag says:
bombay is Mumbai, after Mumba-devi a form of Durga, the fierce Goddess.
She creates and destroys
tender, loving and kind and equally ruthless to her enemies.
She is love and lust
She is the Goddess!
and so is Mumbai!
August 18, 2005 — 6:27 am
Lakshmi says:
I guess all that remains to be said is… MERA BOMBAY MAHAAN!
:-))
Or should it be ‘Meri Bombay Mahaan’?
*stumped*
August 18, 2005 — 11:26 am
arunshanbhag says:
or simply,
mumbai meri jaan ?
any travel plans?
August 18, 2005 — 11:53 am
Lakshmi says:
Hopefully, some time soon.
August 19, 2005 — 11:33 am
rameshs says:
nostalgia
I remember SEEPZ fondly too…though I enjoyed a better life there, I guess.
I worked at Citicorp Overseas (then COSL) in SDF V around ’98 and but for a few bad
months, I was a regular on either the 5:30 COSL bus or would surreptitiously
sneak in in to the 6:30 CITIL bus (nachi used to be around too)
There used to be some implicit acceptance of COSL guys in the CITIL buses ( I guess because there was no seat contention – there always were lot of seats left ).
On the rare occasions when I did have to burn the company’s midnight oil,
I remember a few times having to slant and slide my bike ( kinda like
the ol’ uncles of the 70’s starting their trusty Chetaks’ ) below the
horizontal security barrier that for some reason never worked after
11 p.m !
Riding the bike at night in Bombay is pure bliss . Part of the pleasure
is generated by the extreme contrast with what one faces while riding to
work in the morning. No blazing heat,no pesky rickshaws, no BEST bullies,
no hideous eunuchs at signals ( I am surprised at how u mentioned them
in a positive light in ur article, locks !!)
It is almost as if all the irritants are magically excised by some
invisible force working after 8 p.m. The night drive from outside SEEPZ
with all the greenery up until L&T used to feel like a gentle massage
for sore monitor-weary eyes. The lake opposite Shipping corpn would appear
beautiful (as the proliferating weeds and hyacinths would be invisible at night)
and one could perceive a clear drop of about 5 degrees in the temp.
Hiranandani was just coming up and while the roads were good and paved, they
were yet to be ravaged by the noveau riche and their cars that would descend
on them in a couple of years. A few random cows would amble dreamily outside
the IIT Y-Point gate. LBS would be a breeze too with hardly any vehicles at all
and most of the neon street lights active through the night.
Truly one heck of a rejuvenating ride 🙂
regards
Ramesh
p.s- there is something about riding a bike that can never be captured while
driving a car , sun roof, moon roof, convertible notwithstanding…:-)
August 18, 2005 — 1:15 pm
Lakshmi says:
Re: nostalgia
Once a biker, always a biker…:-)
I didn’t know that you were acquainted with Nachi.
About eunuchs, even though they have scared me with their loud behaviour and aggressive actions, I feel a lot of sympathy for them. Always have…
August 19, 2005 — 11:35 am
rameshs says:
Re: nostalgia
arre ! bhool gaya kya ? I got linked to your blog thru Nachi only na ? 🙂
cheers
ramesh
August 19, 2005 — 2:08 pm
rileen says:
Bombay has always been a favourite place of mine, but it’s hard to imagine it as paradise on earth as you sometimes make it seem 🙂
August 19, 2005 — 2:28 am
Lakshmi says:
It is a eulogy and one coming from a homesick Bombayite… what did you expect, Rileen…:-)
August 19, 2005 — 11:35 am
nithya says:
thats one place i guess everyone can love and hate at the same time..
August 19, 2005 — 6:44 am
Lakshmi says:
Very true.
August 19, 2005 — 11:36 am