Nothing captures, more beautifully, the idiosyncrasy of Mumbai than the song
"E Dil mushkil jeena yahaan... zaraa haske zara bach ke .. Yeh hai Mumbai Meri Jaan".
The lyrics transcend anything a person can experience in an entire lifetime living in mumbai. Though written in the 60s when mumbai was more about mills, trams and burgeoning lower middle class rather than swanky malls,never ending discos and constipated affluence, its as relevant as it was then. More so now since Mumbai is fighting for an identity of its own. Nothing better to remind it what Mumbai is all about.
Mumbai since long has been the financial capital of India. Its the place where business barons, seated in the costliest office spaces in the world at Nariman Point, hold multi-million deals and shape the Indian economy. Its here that the galaxy of Bollywood superstars go about creating a parallel universe of sorts daily. Its here that the rich and famous like to hang out and get an approval of their status in society. But this is the glamorized aspect of the city.
Mumbai is not just about all glamour. Thank GOD! its not. Otherwise it wouldnt have been the good old Mumbai .. "Meri Jaan". So begins my journey of exploring Mumbai through the eyes of a person as passionate about Mumbai as anything else.
Having lived all my life in Mumbai, i still romanticize about living in the Mumbai of the 60's. Just like the song above, I wonder how would it have been like living in the Mumbai during the British.( Probably influenced more by the tales from my grand father and father about their early days in Mumbai). The Mumbai uncrowded, undisturbed and importantly uncomplicated. A Mumbai untouched by the vagaries of these times, times when the winds of globalization hadn't even touched its shores.
When you felt down and out, was the long stroll along "Marine Drive" even more soothing than it is today? The conversation that you had with the sea all along and the sea as omnipresent as ever listening to every word and acknowledging every question with a wave striking the embankment.
Did time fly even more faster when you sat facing the sea along with a loved one? Was the time spent with family on chowpatty beach more enjoyable than todays family vacation in singapore?
Life was a struggle even then. But was life more purposeful then than its today with all the complications that we have added to out lives? Did the simple joys of life back then still outclass the "expensive" joys we treat ourselves with?
Was traveling in the Mumbai local train any less riskier than its now? Were the roads as bad as they are now? Were the rains more enjoyable then? Were festivals revered back then rather than commercialized like now?
And most importantly were the people back then any different than the people of this generation?
The answer to all these questions cant be answered unless i land a Time Machine for myself. Until then i can do what i CAN do! DREAM SOME MORE!!!
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