So we’ve all written, read, seen or been a part of Mumbai. We know Mumbai for Dhobi Ghaat, for Gateway of India, for Taj and Trident and for Nariman Point. We also identify it with commerce, trade and money. But how many times do we reflect upon the masculinity of Mumbai?
Yes, Mumbai is a man and its fast, strong and sturdy life makes all of its inhabitants masculine. So here I am, technically a female Mumbaikar but emotionally a very boisterous individual.
My encounters with the Man have been ever since childhood. I grew up brushing against men and women in the buses of Mumbai. I got nudged and pushed in the crowd at major markets. I ran on the railway platform to get to my compartment before the train left. But besides all this, there have been a lot of individual experiences which shaped me into my male self.
As a child, I accompanied my dad to a lot of places he went to. He was speed walker. So as much as I hated it, I had to walk super fast to keep pace with him; and soon I got into the habit of automatically brisk walking.
Looking back, this unconscious training has helped me a lot to stay on time. In spite of having an envious public transport system here, there is no escape from delays; and also from walking. Occasionally to often, there are lack of rickshaws and taxis on the street. Sometimes, the drivers say a straight right ‘No’ to ply you to your destination.
In such cases, it is best to forget the daintiness of a woman and march-past like a soldier heading to war!
To be very honest, I have also taken pride in overtaking strangers on the road during my self-proclaimed sessions of racing.
That apart, I have learned to be technology-friendly, taken interest in speeding cars and developed a liking for male scents; in this transitional process of going from a Miss Misfit to Mister Right.
I’ve also learned to ignore roadside Romeos who perform a plethora of stunts ranging from intentionally brushing past you to whistling to singing Godforsaken songs to ogling at you for prolonged periods of time.
This of course was an outcome of personal experience and immunity building, rather than the learning obtained from parents and peers.
In Mumbai you have women working in all male dominated professions. Also, a lot more women are being educated in management and engineering studies, which were previously thought of as being a man’s terrain. As a matter of fact, the class I am studying in has two times the number of female students than male students.
I’m sure other women in Mumbai also share the same raucousness that I do. This city tends to do that to women. It makes them strong and self sufficing people.
It’s not like it throws a lot of hurdles and hardships in your face, all at once. It’s more like it gradually trains you to face the reality; the selfishness, the rat race, the deadlines and the targets.
It keeps you from being the damsel in distress. And if you are one, you can blame only Bollywood, and not Mumbai, for putting you in that spot.
Bollywood, another thing Mumbai takes a lot of pride in, is the only fantasy, the only ‘escape from reality’ that the city provides its people. The rest is just Mumbai, the big male boss of Mumbaikars.
