Mumbai Nagri(k)

Image via Enchanting Challenge

A day in the life of India, the initiative of TOI, has a sub-title which reads 'celebrate a circus called India!' This celebration of wackiness is very prominent in our city of dreams.

Mumbai is a circus and we’re the jokers whose tricks, at times, are not even funny!

One day of keen observation and you know how different each one is and how diverse they make this metropolis. The most absurd things happen right before your eyes and all you do is giggle it out and move on!

On 27th June, I was heading to college, walking on Marine Drive. I saw a well-shirted man plucking flowers from a mogra bush near the station exit. And I wondered, “Dude, are you going to make a gajra out of this?”

“How petty people can get,” I exclaim.

But somewhere at the back of your mind you do remember that sometime as a kid or during an impromptu proposal, you’ve plucked flowers as well.

Never mind that! Talking about something I’ve personally not tried and hopefully never will; spitting. Be it your saliva, phlegm or the pan residue, it’s the yuckiest thing you get to see, even in the so-called sophisticated city of Mumbai.

Vendors spit their pan on freshly painted building walls and commuters just take the liberty to use the tracks for this purpose.

Oh! This reminds me that railway tracks have a dual purpose. One of being spitted and shitted on and the other of serving as a trash can for billions of Mumbaiites.

Also the law of the land states that it’s a shame to not be able to give correct directions to helpless new comers. Even a pedestrian, living miles away, is expected to direct you to the right destination; though the popular culture here is to ask shopkeepers, policemen and watchmen for directions.

If you’re misguided, you look back and speak ill about the person or probably even blurt out swear words.

But what’s special about Mumbai is that even in our hectic schedules; during times when we run to catch a moving train or walk straight to cashier to withdraw money, we take some time out to notice others and in little ways connect with them and their habits.

There are many things that we do differently and yet so many things that we don’t do differently. The life of Mumbai is difficult to explain. So just sit back and celebrate a circus called... Mumbai! :)