Mumbai Musings

Ok, Enough is enough. Without a net connection at hostel, I’ve put off writing the craziness of this city as seen thru my crazy perspective. Ladies and Gentlemen, Mumbai is every romantic’s love sonnet and every paranoid’s adrenaline rush. To a management student like me it is, simply put, theory of constrains :P

First thing that catches your attention here is the people bulging out of every space that is ever available. This is far far bigger than Bangalore but every inch of the space is competed for! More like a fat lady in a corset (God! What’s with me and similes today?!) And the pulse of the city, though every 2nd rate author to 1st rate bloggers have already referred to it. I know 1.30 in the night, I will reach my destination in a crowded bus with company. A city, I might not prefer for the long haul of my life, but am super excited about the short term here!

3 weeks here already and so much we have done! When I say we, i include the gang from IIM Shillong (PGP09 Mumbai Chapter), my team from internship and my split personality (the one who works). Not a weekends has gone where we have not taken in the Mumbai heat in our efforts to discover this city. Thanks to a guy who hasn’t been to a beach ever before we’ve hit almost all the major beaches in Mumbai, including the Priyanka Chopra (my pulse picked up a notch) starrer Aksa Beach! I must say its by far the cleanest beach here in Mumbai and thankfully a lot less crowded. Ferry ride, elephant caves, the gateway, malls, chat shops, HN – check!

Food in this city, as my friend says, u can find costly or cheap but never bad. However coffee has been a bit of let down here. Until recently when i discovered, thanks to my boss, Gloria Jean’s Coffee! Staying close to Hirnanandani at IIT Powai, I’ve discovered a few pleasures that are going to pinch my purse i guess. After a few coaxing sessions to get people there, I kind of realize not everybody is crazy about a good coffee as me. So today morning I hit a new high :D On a Sunday morning, I woke up at 7, took a book to GJC and settled down with a hot steaming Cappuchino! The view from this place is awesome and I’ve been grinning ever since that!

Oh and ya, now finally for the kicker. Watched the IPL Finals live in DY Patil Stadium!! :D :D and making it hyper-awesome is the fact that CSK ARE THE CHAMPIONS! Live performances and the arrangement was gala to say the least! Although we were the minority by a great margin, somehow we managed to have our voices heard. I wanted Sachin to play and so awesomely he did. So a totally awesome result :) Though travel did bite us pretty much and I felt discriminated against for the first time by the locals, I will let it pass. Anyways this i think will be the end of the IPL as we know it. With more games being played off the field, I fear IPL will become more of a monstrosity that is loathed with a few corporate houses going broke. Only time will tell.

I have just completed 3 weeks here. 6 more to go and in a way i think i will be counting the time left. Not that I don’t like the place, but somehow I don’t feel the connect. I felt it in Bangalore. I feel it in Shillong. Here, this city, it scares me a bit. I love it much like a crush on a teacher for a 10 year old – It’s nice and exciting but you know it would not work out. Some brilliant people I have met and am learning at every turn – by mistakes or otherwise. McD.