Mumbai! There is something different about the city

It definitely sounds cliché, heard and read a bit too often. And no wonder it was definitely the same for me as I moved into the city around 3 months back. During the initial few days the only thing I found unique/different about the city was people, lots of them, a swarming sea of people everywhere-on roads, on stations, in parks, on beaches and even outside atm’s. And the best thing was that they all were totally unaffected by the crowd as if they had bought some privacy umbrella which I didn’t had access to. I could see people barely able to find a place to stand in jam packed trains yet fully engrossed in solving a sudoko or a crossword; I could see people discussing contracts/business plans while having lunch on shared seats at a crowded restaurant; I could see the enthusiastic lovebirds sharing intimate moments on overcrowded benches at public parks. Actually there was, still is, one more thing unique about the city and that is the disgusting stinking smell that somehow reappears after every kilometre or may be even sooner.

Well the time moved on and I began to get absorbed in this Mumbai lifestyle- getting on those crowded trains, walking through those stinking patches so that I could reach my workplace, or I could catch the play at Prithvi theatre, or I could reach the Goregaon sports club to have a nice game of squash, or I could enjoy a walk along Marine Drive and gaze the golden western coast during those beautiful sunsets. Strangely enough I began to like the city.

But today, something happened that took me right back to those initial days in Mumbai making me realise that I am still a newcomer in the town. While walking back form Inorbit, in no particular hurry, I notice a stray dog in deep slumber on the busy pavement of Link Road. I decided to greet him (or may be her) and purposely made my steps much louder just as I walked passed his ears. To my surprise no reaction, not even a single muscle twitched. I could not stand such ignorance, and that too at the hands of a stray dog and I decided to make an improved effort and stamped a loud thunderous step right next to his ear, but the reaction exactly the same. Believe me this is an old habit of mine and all encounters I had had before Mumbai such an action had been enough to bring an absolutely perturbed look on the face of the dog, as if the sky has fallen and induce an immediate run for cover. At this point I realised sound energy wasn’t potent enough in this region and decided to brush his legs with a soft kick. Alas the thing moved, actually just the head and that too to the bare minimum. He looked at the culprit and forgave him concluding that the contact must have been accidental, because of the crowded nature of the pavement and went back to his preferred activity, sleeping.

That is the privacy umbrella all Mumbaikars, even the dogs seem to possess, hope I can have mine soon!