For those who stay in India knows Mumbai is the place to be to make it big. For those who stay elsewhere this is the New York, Hollywood, Milan, Melbourne, Manchester, Bangkok of India.
Mumbai is the city to be if you want to be the next Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan because of the Indian Film Industry, which i hate it when people call it “Bollywood”.
You all must have heard a lot about Mumbai -
1. Slumdog Millionaire was shot here
2. Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts. (must read)
One of the places in Mumbai is called Dadar, (Daa-darr) which according to Google Translation, translates to Omlette in English from Indonesian. *confused look*
Dadar is the one of the most crowded places to catch a local train from. At any given moment of the day there is crowd big enough to make the biggest Thanksgiving day parade look small.
For eg.- You Come from Japan or America where you have escalators where you stand on it and it carries you to your platform, simple. Hah! We top that here in Dadar. All you have to do is stand at the entrance people will take you there comfortably.. into the wrong train.
Lets say you are in the train and you hear the announcement “Next station dadar” Gear up. Because if you cant get down in time the people getting in will enter and you reach the next station.
Let me illustrate the feeling with an example.
Eg.- When i look out of the local train and see dadar station approach I feel like a Rock star with the pool of people waiting at the station, wanting to just throw myself and be carried by my fans.. Until the train halts then I feel like King Leonidas against a million.. "No prisoners! No mercy!" its a battlefield!
This city grows on to you, you begin to love it. Marine Drive, Queens Necklace, Haji Ali etc.
Hello! I came across your blog through the Blogathon Blogroll this afternoon.
ReplyDeleteI've seen Slumdog Millionaire (who hasn't?), and I have read Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. They are two of my favorites within their respective categories, and have increased my interests in India. The relationships seem to be so rich, and everyone seems to be so full of life. Do you think the stories (the movie or the book, either one) really capture the life in Mumbai?
p.s. The omelette comment made me laugh :)
I have a friend who was in India lately and he didn't get a chance to visit Mumbai, although it was on his To Visit list. Your description of the crowds makes me realize how much of a country girl I am!! Your photos of it are beautiful! (found you from the Blogaton 2011)
ReplyDelete@tabithakristine - thank you for the comments.
ReplyDeleteShantaram comes the closest to describing mumbai. It is set in the 1980s and this city has evolved a lot since. But Gregory david roberts did a good job describing Mumbai, leopolds cafe.
Slumdog millionaire, on the other hand, is also true to a certain extent but it only focuses on the dark underbelly of Mumbai. There are good sides to this city that were only captured by Shantaram.. If you ever get a chance to come by you should, you will love the city.
@kate - thank you kate. I come from a small town 3hours away from Mumbai and I work here now. Initially I dint fit in. But thats the beauty of this city it makes you fall in love with itself. I hope your friend has a good time in India, its unfortunate he missed Mumbai on his India trip.
I think that's one of the most romantic (if you can call it that?) things about Mumbai—from what I have read, of course...that you can be a new person in the area, and that you can fall in love with the city and be swept away.
ReplyDeleteI hope to be able to visit the city one day. I am sure I would love it!
I love Bombay! I miss Bombay! I will never live in Bombay again! :(
ReplyDeleteI hate you Ahil for doing this to me! :(