It hurts to see this happen to India's Gateway..
I have particularly never blogged on a social issue. At some level may be I have belonged to the class of Indians who believe in what was once a famous movie dialogue - " If we take care of ourselves, the world ll take care of itself"... But, this November 26th incident on Mumbai has hit me somewhere.Though I have not been a Mumbaikar, the spirit of Mumbai is something that has always been a "shot of positive energy" for me even when I think of it. The dabbawala system which has attracted even Harvard Business school to do a research on this business model is not something I can forget. That, business is the lifeblood of Mumbai and that Mumbai is a city which has made so many write their own rags-to-riches story is something that gives me a good feeling about this city.
Those very roads connecting the CST Terminal, The Taj, The Oberoi, the Nariman house and the famous Marine Drive that were targetted in the attacks yesterday, are roads I have walked through at three really weird stages of my life.
(There have been many visits in between.. but the ones I list here, I ll never forget.)
One - When I was 8 years old(4th standard). I was visiting my aunt who lives in Mumbai(she was in Colaba then) and I was with my grandfather on that day, who had been in Mumbai for a very long time before coming to Chennai. Even after 15 years of not being in Mumbai he remembered the exact order of stations from CST to Dadar. I was looking at this in awe and even at the age of 8, when I had no clue of what "Positive energy" actually means it was nice to be in a station of like that. We walked it up from CST to Gateway of India and I do not exactly remember what was running in my mind then. I only remember getting awed by looking at The Taj.
Two - This was in September 2006. I had gone to visit my aunt for durga puja in Mumbai. I was just into my 3rd month in my first workplace and I was not feeling good at all - personally and professionally. With a lump in my throat that I could not swallow, I went all on my own to CST from Powai trying to find some kinda solace by being in a place where grief is not noticeable because we are made to feel too small to worry about something to even feel depressed. (Exactly the same with New York...). Travelling in Mumbai did make me feel better.
Third - This was in January 2008. This was the first and the ONLY time I actually had the chance to visit the Taj. It was a really good b-school's interview and I went there again driven by some hope, some heaviness, some uncertainity and some nostalgia. I was dressed in formals and as I got down at CST and walked along the road leading to the Taj, there was something that was making me feel better. I still do not know what it is. I went to Taj with a hesitation. I was really thinking someone would stop me because I was not "classy" enough to be there. It was a silly feeling. Nevertheless, as I went inside I realized that the Taj is more than what anyone can actually imagine when seen from outside. I felt lucky to be invited to a place as grand as that. After my interview, as I was returning, I remember seeing some of the best books I have read being sold on the pavement. 1984, Animal farm, Wuthering Heights.... Seeing these was making me feel good in a weird way. I had the Rs 5 Vada paav and Rs 5 sugarcane juice and was in bliss. I returned to CST and as I was waiting for the local, I was time and again reminded of my previous trips to Mumbai.
Mumbai has been a place which I have visited when I have been in some of my weirdest mind states and as I have suffciently belaboured here, just being in this city has always made me feel better and less depressed. Studying Financial Engineering now makes me feel even closer to this financial capital of India and to see that city take this beating makes me feel really bad. I join the thousands of others who are angered, frustrated and feeling helpless, to pray for relief for those families who would be mourning the loss of their loved ones.
I believe that it is too hard to break the spirit of Mumbai and even driving a bullet right through its heart will not deprive it of its oxygen.
I miss Mumbai ......
