IN MUMBAI…
IN MUMBAI
Please bare with my knowledge of grammer and tenses.
It’s around 5.30 in the morning. I am opening door of my train compartment. Sudden fishy smell captures my nose. The particular Mumbai smell… I have come to Mumbai for an official work. I will spend four whole days in this dream city. Though before this I have visited Mumbai two times but this time I am more mature and more filmy to understand Mumbai.
So now Mumbai is about to reach.. I am seeing boards of Nai gaon, , Mira Road, Dahisar etc etc. Also seeing halogen bulbs images in the water from my train. The tall buildings, bastis, roads, rickshaws are looking so different in the early morning halogen bulbs. I can’t remember any film maker has captured beauty of mumbai’s early morning…. People are still in their houses. Borivali station comes Train stops. I have to land here. I am going through subway of Boriwali station. Oh.. this place… I can remember…. Yes.. The scene of Saaransh where Anupam Kher is beaten by some antisocial elements in riots…I am hiring auto…going to my accommodation… news papers venders are on footpath. Their job starts very early and stops late morning. What an unusual job!…Saw 4-5 guys heating on the bus that has left without them. They are looking like future Bhiku Mhatre and Chandu Nagre.
Day:1
Hire auto as I have to reach to Andheri. Now the always running and not stopping Mumbai is seen. Its around 11.45 in the morning. Everybody is running. Passing through Kandivali…more numbers of four wheelers than two wheelers. Opposite to my city.
Wandering in the streets of Goregaon…finding galis and roads which look like shown in Satya…visiting shops as I have to arrange some furniture for my work. Observing that there is no specified area for certain kind of infrastructure. Here you can find higher end multiplex and shopping mall near to small shops and small bastis. Visiting a furniture manufacturer… they are pure sellers. Greeting customers… Talking softly but also giving fight for bargaining. Also observing a christian guy wearing burmuda and short shirt. His body language and speech reminds me of Biryani (Makrand Deshpande) of Paisa Vasool.
Its 8 pm and I am stopping my auto… passing through large corridors and shops of In Orbit mall. As every major Indian city has these kinds of malls, I am not finding any strange or larger than life feeling. Thought to watch Om shanti Om, but colleague shelved the idea. As any other big city, Indian beauties are also seen in mall. Wearing designer jeans, kurtas, tops… hoped to find gals in minis as we always find in hindi films. But none of the girls was seen. May be they can be found in higher end clubs, hotels… out of my reach.
Day 2:
Hired train at 5.30 in the morning from Borivali to Mahalaxmi. Huge poster of Gangotri (Ganga-2) is seen. Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Bhumika Chawla… hindi stars.. Bhojpuri cinema is rocking… Also seeing another Bhojpuri poster “Bhojpuriya Bhaiyaa”. While sitting in local… one passenger is slipping…. Another is chewing ghutka…and I am recalling visuals of “suniye kahiye… kehte sunte baato baato me pyaar ho jaayage” the film which had beautifully captured local train life.
Afternoon…Standing on terrace of Nehru Center, Worli… watching skyscrapers around… I think this place is suitable for shooting tall building…looks like newyork…
Watching a waiter of canteen -very efficient and honest../ i talk with him…he is south indian as his accent shows.
Eating Mumbai special Vada Pao…only vada and pao… I am not habituated to it. In my city Fried vada pao is found…little different.
In night, accidentally meeting with a taxi driver. An innocent, dehati guy came from UP to earn money leaving his family behind. His appearance (phate haal kapde, sleepers) is giving idea about condition of his life. I am talking with him.. he is saying ” Kabhi paisa milta hai.. kabhi nahi. Taxi bhaade ki hai to roz 400 rupyee to bhade ke ho jaate hai. Phir traffic wale ka hafta nikal ke jo kuchh milta hai who apna…” pure innocence is seen on his face. He waited for us till 1.30 in night because… may be… he promised us or need of money was greater than his sleep and food.
People says “Mumbai ke auto aur taxi waale bahaarwalo ko bahot ulloo banate hai.” But I found none of that kind of auto or taxi driver. Perhaps I was lucky…
Going to my accomodation through taxi with that UP guy at 2.00 in night…most of the shops are close…only cars are seen…i am recalling the dialogue of Satya”Mumbai sheher…jise kabhi nind nahin aati…”
Day 3:
Reading Mumbai Mirror… glad to see an article on Ms. Nazma sayed who is cleaning masjid station everyday… just for herself. No revolutionary feeling…only doing what she wants… Bombay Times’ 13th anniversary party photos are seen. How is the world in which these people are living? Totally cut to true India. One mumbaikar is finding peace in cleaning stations while some others finding in parties….
Going for my work… huge hoardings of Goal, Mere Apne, Kucch is tara, V india’s hottest are seen. UTV is properly marketing their film Goal. Why Ekta Kapoor is spoiling hindi spellings? Kucch is tara should be Kucch is tarah…
While wandering in Andheri…seeing Yashraj Films’ logo on top of a building…One of my final destinations.
One benefit of mumbai is that here you have not to polish your shoes everyday as you are not finding dust because of its humid atmosphere. other important benefit is that opposite to my city girls are not wearing masks on scooters and you can easily see their faces.
Visiting a pub… the scene which is seen in every second hindi film… the reddish lights…bartender playing with bottles…. Surprised…a girl with cigarette in one hand and beer glass in another, sitting in center of four boys. Totally filmy scene but in real. There is painting of James Bond with Bikney girls in wash room. All people are in their own mood…. Some have come to release tension…some as a habit…some for fun…and others like us.. just for curiosity.
Day 4:
Going to airport to receive my boss. Rickshaw is stuck in traffic jam. I am watching people… nobody is worried. A Best bus comes near my rickshaw…Sonam Kapoor in poster of saawariya is seen. She was the best thing in the film… Nobody is worried in traffic jam as this might be routine for them. I think half the life of Mumbai people is spend in bus, rickshaw or train. Near a traffic signal I am trying to find people like which were shown in movie “traffic signal”.
saw a a person with huge camera which might be used for film shoot…shooting traffic on the bridge…may be shooting a documentry…
Wandering in Worli to find a shop or restautant for breakfast. None of the them is opened. Finally found a restaurant opposite chaupati… good food… want to visit beach and have feeling of “kahin door jab din dhal jaaye” but my work does not allow me…watching Haji Ali from my taxi, recalling song “piya haji ali..” of Fiza and scenes of Aan-men at work.
Competed my work.. going in auto to my destination… one girl is shouting on truck driver who has hit her scooter… am recalling the song ”yeh Mumbai sheher hadsoon ka sheher hai”…
So its 11.00 in the night… I am in Gujarat Mail again. Watching “going to sleep Mumbai” in halogen lights…the dream city of half of the Indians is going away…I am going to my city…once having thought “chal utar jaata hoon…” but again responsibilities and securities are winning against passion. Hoped to meet some of the PFC guys but time did not pemit…Anyway, now I am going to sleep… hoping to meet Mumbai soon…Bye Mumbai… keep going…
-Shailesh Limbachiya
Tags: mumbai, pfc
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Very heart warming,innocent and refreshing.Such a different interpretation on our city of dreams ‘Mumbai’
Quite nostalgic… good one Shailesh!!!
Shailesh Bhai…You missed some of the best places in Mumbai. Vile Parle, Muhammed Ali Road, Colaba Causeway…and especially the filmy circle….haha yeah It’s the Barista Coffee Day lane at Oshiwara…
I wonder how you missed the short skirted girls? Did you try Bandra Linking Road? Whenever I drive by that road, I manage to find some ;)
I mean there are thousands of places but well…better luck next time!
machchar.. i know i have seen small percentage of mumbai. this post is just for the places i have seen during my last visit to mumbai and what i thnik about those at that particular time.
Very well written post.
I have been visiting this city quite frequently, usually for 2-3 days for more then 14 years and you wrote exactly what I felt every time I entered Mumbai. You will find plenty of Bhiku Mhatres etc. in Nagpada, Grant Road’s mid-range beer bars run by Shetty people. I always smell Satya whenever I wandered in Nagpada and around. Mohd Ali Road will give you feel of 70-80s Amitabh flicks like Suhaag and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar. However, now it is almost invisible due to JJ Flyover bridge . Whenever I visit Andheri or Lokhandwala I always remember mindless action films of Sunil Shetty from early 90s. Subways have always brought back memories of Naam.
Keep writing
Very nice, very evocative look at slices of Mumbai. Always a fascinating city, but so huge and so multifaceted that it requires getting bits of it from many different people to gain a true picture. Your descriptions of your wanderings was very welcome. Thanks for posting!