i took a break from my routine life in chennai and visited mumbai,the place which of late is being identified with terror but is still the good old childhood place for me.
its been close to 4 yrs i havent been to b'bay.i had a long pending visit and i decided to jus make it this time.after getting down at the chatrapatti shivaji airport,i was a bit careful.there were a chain of auto rickshaws just outside the arrival terminal but my experience here in chennai made me skeptical.so i jus called up my frnd and asked him if it wud be good to trust those guys arnd.after all these fone calls and stuffs,i jus got into an auto and told him"uncle!!mujhe thakur village jana hain".and that was it then.i was into the roads of mumbai.
dunno wht,but this city has got a charm that u cant find newhere else.i have lived for some good amt of time in both these cities ...so u can actually trust wht i m saying.thakur village is the place whr my frnd is put up.the school which i attended was in place called thakur copmplex which is jus like opp thakur village.as it was early hours in the morning,traffic wasnt that much a problem.so i could get a fair glimpse of this city.those frequent movement of my eye balls to the meter in the rickshaw can well suggest how bad auto experience in chennai was.
the place looked not exactly as it was 4yrs ago.there were some changes...or perhaps i had jus forgotten everything.i somehow managed my way into the thakur village and there i was.as this was my first outing alone,every succesful thing i did was a great morale booster for me.yes!!found my way frm the airport to my frnds house.the weather was pleasing.was as if it was welcoming someone returning home after a long time.rang the doorbell.and i met my frnd there.it felt soo great.very nice you know.i jus refreshed myself and we started calling up our frnds to find out when we can possibly meet them.as it was a very short trip i had planned,i wanted to make sure i'd visit everyone if possible.
where and when was decided and at abt 11.00 we were at the coffee shop.met a good old frnd of mine.we shared and talked abt so many things over the coffee.a lot of interesting things came up.recollecting memories of the past,talking abt our present and curious abt our future was wht we did until there wasn nothing left that could come up the straw.my frnd had actually bunked his coll and was speaking abt wht fun it is in doing that.i felt out of the group for that few minutes.u knw wht i m talking abt!!we jus roamed abt the place for some time and decided to get back home.we decide to spend the evening watching a good movie.mumbai was stung by the ghajini mania and so we thgt we could give it a watch.it was a good movie.we returned home for dinner.menu was punjabi.and i liked it very much.my frnds mom cooks really well.all the 3 days i stayed there,i retired very late in the nite....past midnite.so thats something very different for me.i m bascially the "early to bed,early to rise" fella.
later that nite,we went down and had some sweet pan.that was the perfect way to end the day.next morning was sunday and i was soo geared up for i was to meet some more frnds that day.i did.and it was amazingly awesome.beleive me,i had some really great times out there.after coming to chennai,i wasnt able to keep in touch wid all my classmates in mumbai.i did meet a few of my frnds whom i m speaking to, literally after 4 yrs.how gr8 it was.cheers!!.with frnds arnd,time really flies.and how true it was.it was late noon when we said bye,take care,good luck and stuffs.i cudnt waste ne single second.coz i had plans for going to town i.e churchgate for shopping and jus walk along the beautiful marine drive and also look at the taj.
we went to borivali and boarded a churchgate fast.there are very few places which actually stick to the description they give and mumbai is one of them.so a churchgate fast is really fast.local trains are the lifeline of the city and all u cud afford in one of these trains is 1 sq.ft of luxury.but since it was a sunday,it wasnt that crowded.i travelled all along the distance hanging near the edge of the train compartment.it was great.an amazing experience.got down at churchgate.walked outside and straight to the fashion street which is the shopping hub and u can find everything frm safety pins to platinum.i got something which i found interesting.i still hadnt eaten a wada-pav which remains the best street food in the city and something i crave for very much.i finally got my hands on one of them.every single bite i had,the wow was getting even more louder and expressive.we then went to marine drive and jus sat thr for some while looking at the endless sea."before we turn poets,lets go"i said.
we clicked a few pics and headed straight to the taj.the gateway was under renovation and the immediate area outside the taj was cordoned.took some pics here too.walked all the way back to th churchgate station.on the way i found i good tee and i got that.it said"i love mumbai".i knew i had to get one for me.after buying all this,we head back to the station and catch a borivali fast.the story of hanging near the edge still continued.
the beautiful breeze hit me with some interesting thoughts..how active the city is..how vibrant the place looks.its definitely got something which is not there newhere else.we down got at the borivali station and i had some more wada-pavs.i knew i wudnt get them here in chennai.so i wanted to have till i get sick of them.by the time v reached home,it was 9.00...i wanted to meet another good frnd of mine.so i went up to his place.he stays pretty close to he school i was in.so we just thgt we'd visit the school campus too.the school looked same except for some minor changes.but it still rocked as a campus.talking abt loads of things,we were jus strolling arnd...we then headed to a kulfi parlour and i had some great kesar pista kulfis.there were simply the best.thers one more thing called dabelis which u get there and are something i used to live upon during my days in that city.so i jus asked my frnd if i cud find one in that locality.his yes made me reallly happy....some sort of feeling which u get after u r done wid ur checklist or something.i had those mouth watering dabelis followed by pani puris and dahi papdi.
i knw whts going thru ur mind.u mus be finding me a real foodie.cmon,mumbai street food will provide neone a great gastronomical journey.i had soo much that the proportion of 70% water and the rest food wud ve swapped places.we then found a park nearby and sat there talking and talking and talking.i was past midnite then."bye bye" followed and i went back home.i never really expected the sunday to go this rocking.thnx to evryone who gave me such a beautiful experience.monday morning was like different.my flight was at 11.00.so i had to start by 9.00.so all my time today morning was spent in packing and stuffs.it was truly a great experience for me.something i never expected.something that has made me feel really different and great.
be it the autowalllas,the stay at my frnds place,the trip to south mumbai,meeting all my frnds......everything was soo soo amazing and fantastic.i cudnt have asked for more.my frnd dropped me at the airport.i hugged him.i called up all my frnds to say goodbye.it was a trip of a kind.i m fortunate to have some great frnds up there.hope the coming times will only strengthen our relationship.as for the city,its the city.i'd nevr love any place more than this.its got the charm.its got the atmosphere.mumbai rocks.please god!!i sincerely pray to you.please dont let this city suffer any more attacks or disasters.this is such a great place,a place where there is life everywhere everytime.
this trip has only increased my love for this city and i hope to see her back soon.before i get all emotional,i ll quickly say
hugs
balaji
