Salaam Mumbai

Thanks to Kamalji who has kindled in me all the fond memories of a great city I am writing this post. Already in my response to his post in this forum titled 'the Mumbai I knew' I have mentioned two reasons for my salutes to the great city. They are the spontaneous response by mumbaikars in the midst of serial bomb blasts to queue up to daonte blood for their fellow mumbaikars and the humanitarian help and support they gave to each other during the ' terrible tuesday' in July 2005 when the whole city was deluged with floods. It is more than three decades now I have lived in this great city. Anyone who has lived here will not like to leave unless forced by circumstances. One Britisher who was living in our neighbourhood praised the city for its weather. To quote him " after having lived in big cities of the world like London, Paris etc. where the climate can go to extremes, the Mumbai climate is moderate. We have all four seasons in the city.".

Mumbai skyline has changed alot. Where once only few sky scrapers were dotting, the skyline now is filled with many more. Thanks to a construction boom many multi storied posh apartment buildings have sprung up. This has greatly eased the accommodation problem which was acute when I came to Mumbai. At that time I heard a story that a person was getting drowned and the passer by asked him his house address so that he would bring help. But, once he got the address he ran to that place leaving behind the victim. Such was the accommodation problem. Many people were living in what are called chawls giving 'pagadi' a kind of deposit which will be adjusted against the rent. But, when the building boom started these people were given lump sum to vacate and later were given an apartment which rose in the same place. I know that many people got benefitted by this. There is a grandoise scheme by Govt. to construct multi-storied buildings to house the slum dwllers and in many places already they have come.

The essential things that make Mumbai a comfortable living place compared to other cities are water, electricity and public transportation. Thanks to heavy mansoon and British connecting five big lakes to supply water the water supply is good. Similarly, thanks to Tata electric power station in Trombay the electricity supply is much better with few power cuts.

Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra and maharshtrians are great people. They are highly patriotic, religious and tolerent people. I think Mumbai is the most cosmopolitan city in India and it is due to the hospitality and accommodative nature of maharashtrians. I have many maharashtraian friends and although I cannot talk fluently in marathi I can follow their conversations. Due to the influence of my maharashtraian friends I have watched number of marathi dramas at shivaji mandir in Dadar. Marathi dramas are not known much to outsiders. But, I can tell you that they are highly advanced in stories, acting etc. There is a place called Chabildas Hall in Dadar west where ameture dramatists stage their dramas without any backdrops, make-ups etc. There is no stage also and people sit down to watch the dramas. The quality of these dramas are as good as any professional dramas.

continued....

Whenever I used to go to Chennai and other cities, people used to look at me with awe the moment I said I have come from Mumbai. In my village people used to think that in Mumbai I go for parties and enjoy. This was because in movies they used to portray like that. Once when I visited the village I was surprised to see a 'Ladies'club where girls were playing tennis. I was also shocked to see them smoking and drinking alcohol. They just wanted to copy the Mumbai culture they told me. But, in Mumbai the life was different. First of all, with fast paced life there was no time to indulge in parties etc. Secondly, middle class people could not afford to also. At the same time I did enjoy myself by attending many cultural programmes at the famous Shanmukananda Hall in Matunga. They used to be a big get together of south indians in Mumbai.

Being a movie buff I have watched number of Hollywood and Bollywood movies. At one time along with my friends I used to hop from one theater to another. The 70 mm movies which were introduced at that time was a big novelty and I still remember having watched movies like Dr. Zhivago, Makenna's gold, Camelot and others at Strand, metro, Eros, New Excelsior and other theaters. Dr. Zhivago was the first 70 mm movie that I watched and I still remember the scene in the movie when a train enters the station platform. It was as if a real train had entered the theater.

Getting jobs in Mumbai was easier in those days and I have heard that the Parsi employers used to come to V.T to receive prospective employees from south. This was because people from south used to accept the salaries offered and put hard work worth much more than the salaries. Anyone who came to Mumbai not only survived but flourished also. My mother used to attribute this to Godess Mahalakshmi whose temple near Haji Ali is a visit must place. The Siddhi Vinayak temple at Prabhadevi has become a regular worshipping place for me. First time I heard from my friends I immediately visited since I was told that the temple was being frequented by famous Bollywood stars. But, I did not find anyone from Bollywood and I found great peace and happiness after visiting the temple although I had to stand in mile long queues especially on Tuesdays.

I can go on and on talking about the great city and my life in it. I would like to say only that let all the Thakareys of the world join together and force me to leave the city, I am not going to budge. Jeena yahaan marna yahaan for me. Salaam Mumbai!

Hi Geetha,

You seem to be a hardcore Mumbaikar like me. I am born and brought up in this city and love my city, it rocks, the only city where you see a busy street even past mid-night. The only city where you can be sure you will have a stomach full meal past 2 in the morning (burji pav atleast!). Mumbai has its malls, multiplexes, towers, fast life, it also has Dharavi, Dongri, Behrampada with half of its population struggling for its identity. The city where the rich and the very poor can survive, the city where a spinster can live merrily, a don can hatch his plots without fear, a struggler can hope to be a star one day sleeping on the benches of Nariman Point, a beggar with 1BHK flat in MHADA colonies, it can happen only in Mumbai. Mumbai rocks!!!

Originally Posted by malspie

Hi Geetha,

You seem to be a hardcore Mumbaikar like me. I am born and brought up in this city and love my city, it rocks, the only city where you see a busy street even past mid-night. The only city where you can be sure you will have a stomach full meal past 2 in the morning (burji pav atleast!). Mumbai has its malls, multiplexes, towers, fast life, it also has Dharavi, Dongri, Behrampada with half of its population struggling for its identity. The city where the rich and the very poor can survive, the city where a spinster can live merrily, a don can hatch his plots without fear, a struggler can hope to be a star one day sleeping on the benches of Nariman Point, a beggar with 1BHK flat in MHADA colonies, it can happen only in Mumbai. Mumbai rocks!!!

Hi, malspie

Yes, I am a hardcore Mumbaikar and I enjoy my every moment of living here. Whenever I visit my home town I feel a longing to be in Mumbai and return immediately. You have brought out Mumbai's developmnts beautifully in few words. To be more precise for about ten years I lived in Thane which is for all practical purposes an extension of Mumbai city. You may be knowing about the famous Chandrasekar the CEO of Thane who beautified Thane beyond recognitions. He even put an ad. in papers giving a photo of Thane which looked like an international city. Ofcourse, Navi Mumbai is developing into a big modern city. The railway stations at Vashi, Sanpada, Juinagar etc. are mini airports with better cleanliness and looks. It is nice to share the details about the great city with you. Thanks for your F.B.

Regards,

Geetha Iyer

Where is Kamalji?. He asked me to write this blog and he has not read it and posted his comments. Kamalji, I am waiting to read your valuable comments.

Removed and explained below.

Oops! Just noticed you were waiting for Kamalji's comments. Sorry to disappoint you friend. I put up my comment by mistake, but will erase it right away and keep it saved. I will post it after Kamalji's comment is up. :)

Originally Posted by ojaantrik

Oops! Just noticed you were waiting for Kamalji's comments. Sorry to disappoint you friend. I put up my comment by mistake, but will erase it right away and keep it saved. I will post it after Kamalji's comment is up. :)

Dear ojaantrik,

Please go ahead and post your comments. I posted asking for Kamalji's comments as no one else was posting and it is he who gave me the idea to post this thread. I don't know whether he is busy or he does not want to post his comment. I was also skeptical in posting this as very recently his thread ' the mumbai I knew' had come.

Regards,

Geetha Iyer

Originally Posted by Geetha Iyer

Dear ojaantrik,

Please go ahead and post your comments. I posted asking for Kamalji's comments as no one else was posting and it is he who gave me the idea to post this thread. I don't know whether he is busy or he does not want to post his comment. I was also skeptical in posting this as very recently his thread ' the mumbai I knew' had come.

Regards,

Geetha Iyer

I am not a Mumbaikar by any stretch of imagination. However, I have loved the city every time I visited it. I have lived mostly in Kolkata and Delhi. I never liked Delhi. In fact I dislike it rather strongly. I feel comfortable in Kolkata, despite many problems that affect your daily life. But each time I go to Mumbai, I ask myself, why on earth didn't I have an opportunity to settle in this wonderful city. It's the best city in India, or at least in the parts of the country I am familiar with. And yes, it is a most cultured place, where you can watch Naseeruddin Shah acting on the stage.

Originally Posted by ojaantrik

I am not a Mumbaikar by any stretch of imagination. However, I have loved the city every time I visited it. I have lived mostly in Kolkata and Delhi. I never liked Delhi. In fact I dislike it rather strongly. I feel comfortable in Kolkata, despite many problems that affect your daily life. But each time I go to Mumbai, I ask myself, why on earth didn't I have an opportunity to settle in this wonderful city. It's the best city in India, or at least in the parts of the country I am familiar with. And yes, it is a most cultured place, where you can watch Naseeruddin Shah acting on the stage.

Dear ojaantrik,

Thanks for posting your nice comments. Yes, in Mumbai we have lot of cultural activities. We have the famous Prithvi Theaters run by Shashi Kapoor and his wife where they stage high quality dramas. We have Ravindra Natya Mandir in Prabhadevi where drama troops from Karnataka come and stage their cultural programs. We have Fine arts society in Chembur where many Tamil dramas by S.V.Sekar and others have been staged. Drama troops from kerala visit Mumbai and I have seen few of their dramas. Even Michael jackson has given his performance in Andheri years back. During the ten days of Ganesh Chathurthi the whole city will be buzzing with several local cultural programs. As malspie madam has said Mumbai rocks.

Love,

Geetha Iyer