Shishir was here...

I can't really place what exactly it was that created the relpulsion in me. Was it the aerial shots of a packed Dadar station or was it repeated footage in our cinema of local goons running with a butcher knife on busy streets? Or was it the bickering of local trains and the heat and sweat combo that epitomises the city? Or was it a timid awe of the huge mass of humanity that comes out on the streets during Ganesh puja? Or may be it was a little bit of everything that made me absolutely detest the idea of ever having to live here.

Mumbai...

Then there are people who can't stop swearing by the city. Where else, they argue, can you roam around the streets after a midnight movie show and still manage to find street food on the streets? Where else would you feel so "safe" despite knowing that more than 3 crore people are present from God knows which all places. World-class malls, latest fashion trends, swanky bunglows and even stylish cars that seem to swarm the roads 24 x 7, all of this "jing - bang" is the universe for many of the inhabitants of this city.

Here I am today, after exactly one year and 10 days of landing in the "maximum city"...an ex-Mumbaite!

Was it really that bad? Or am I a "convert" too now? Like the millions who've been sucked in by the comforts and pleasures of the city punctuated by its umpteen hardships and struggles. It is really strange that people who've grown up in far away places come to Mumbai and then surrender to it so completely. Many people I knew couldn't come to terms with the fact that I was actually moving out of the city. It was as if I'm denouncing the heavens and everything I'd now get would be somehow inferior to the "great city"! Some gave me that look, "I know you'd be back".

I don't think so...

Mumbai...about a year ago was nothing short of an enigma I'd grown up being scared of. After being there for a year...I am glad, it's now just another city, a damn good one though! But calling it "maximum" would be like "minimising" my journey ahead...rite ?!?!