Day 1 - Mumbai

I am in Mumbai and it is supposed to be raining. But it isn't. To the contrary it has been hot and humid. Even the taxi driver complains that it is very hot and the rains should have been here by now.

I was informed earlier by my company that I would be staying in a 'chumri' or service apartment. I got a shock when I entered my apartment. It was a service apartment of a 4 star hotel, facing Juhu Beach. I had a hall with TV, dining space, sizeable kitchen and a double cot bedroom. A more than modest size apartment for Mumbai. The entire place was air conditioned. I never expected this. I was beaming and guess the bearer saw that. He knew he had a more than generous tip coming his way. I have one month in this apartment. In the meanwhile, I would have to look out for a house for myself.

I have the weekend off. I used the day to visit couple of my friends in Bombay. I went over to South Bombay a.k.a town-side. That place is so beautiful. Its not very crowded. Broad roads, buildings with architecture of an age gone by. Those buildings are majestic and have a towering presence. The roads and their names are like chapters and characters jumping out of a history textbook. The legacy of a historical moment (that happened at the point where you are standing) is sometimes too heavy on you that you seemed to be lost in thought. For a moment your mind shuts out the present - the cars- the buses - the people walking around you , everything and takes you back to that moment. I dont know how to describe it exactly. It was how I felt as I stood by the well and examined the bullet marks at Jalianwala Bagh.

I walked around that area and landed up outside BSE(Bombay Stock Exchange). A sight which I had commonly seen on TV, today it was right there. I grabbed a bite at Parameshwaran's sandwitch place (supposedly famous across Bombay) . It is a small shop on the road off the BSE. He makes yummy sandwitches and I know from the crowd there that he makes more money in a week than what I would make in a month. He was a Kannadiga from Bangalore. I spoke to him in the little Kannada that I knew and instantly we had a conversation going. We spoke about property and real estate prices in Bangalore and he gave a hint about his investments there. ( That only cemented my gut feeling that I would never earn as much as him :) ).

In the train back I kept thinking of what makes people come to Mumbai. Why do scores of people prefer Mumbai to other towns/ cities. I got an interesting and probably apt reply from one of my co passengers. He said,(and I quote as much in verbatim) 'Whether it is ten bucks a person earns per day or it is ten lakhs, this city has something to offer to both these kinds. And whoever comes here, get a job. It may not be what his dream job is, but this city offers employment to almost all those who come here'.

An interesting day. I am sure there are many more such days to come in the years ahead.