A City to love....
A two lane thoroughfare that has turned into a six lane freeway jam packed with motor vehicles, motor bikes, scooters, tuk tuks, a cauldron of chaos as cars turn and squeeze their way through the traffic. Taxi's and tuk tuks, eager to get their fares to their destination as quickly as possible are by far the most aggressive, in the hope of securing a return fare.
Buildings in various states of repair and disrepair, recently painted or bearing the signs of damp and the damages caused by damp, line the streets. Newly constructed buildings with a network of bamboo scaffolding reaching to the heavens dot the landscape, modern in design and stick out like sore thumbs between makeshift shacks and older buildings.
Stores squeeze into every nook and cranny and any unclaimed land is home to shacks and teaming with those eking a living from a city that never sleeps. Vendors selling street food, tea, cigarettes and various other wares occupy the excessive spaces on the sidewalks. A sheet of industrial grade plastic spread from the top of the wall and anchored to the pavement with bricks or stones turns the sidewalk and gutter into a home fit for a family complete with picture frames and altar for the worship of various Hindu deities.
The delicate smell of spices at every meal promising to unveil their mystery. An explosion of flavors that fill the mouth, cloves, cardamom, coriander seeds, cumin, chili, garlic, turmeric, ginger and a plethora of unidentifiable flavors that complement each other lifting ordinary ingredients enhancing their taste producing a unique culinary experience. Dishes that defy imagination speak of a culture rich in diversity, complex in its nature, rich in its enjoyment of good food.
Kids in their white uniforms walking along the promenade rehearsing their exercises. Morning walkers in sports and traditional wear walk briskly along beach front in a bid to keep fit. Workers pouring out of the train station formally dressed on their way to work. Students, like students all over the world, in jeans and t-shirts, chatting, furiously texting or just ambling their way to their classes.
And I the naked observer, naked not in flesh but in soul, absorbing the sights and sounds of the city that has become an intimate part of my life, with all its idiosyncrasies, a city with the energy of 18 million souls, a city that I have come to love, MUMBAI.... ;-)
Buildings in various states of repair and disrepair, recently painted or bearing the signs of damp and the damages caused by damp, line the streets. Newly constructed buildings with a network of bamboo scaffolding reaching to the heavens dot the landscape, modern in design and stick out like sore thumbs between makeshift shacks and older buildings.
Stores squeeze into every nook and cranny and any unclaimed land is home to shacks and teaming with those eking a living from a city that never sleeps. Vendors selling street food, tea, cigarettes and various other wares occupy the excessive spaces on the sidewalks. A sheet of industrial grade plastic spread from the top of the wall and anchored to the pavement with bricks or stones turns the sidewalk and gutter into a home fit for a family complete with picture frames and altar for the worship of various Hindu deities.
The delicate smell of spices at every meal promising to unveil their mystery. An explosion of flavors that fill the mouth, cloves, cardamom, coriander seeds, cumin, chili, garlic, turmeric, ginger and a plethora of unidentifiable flavors that complement each other lifting ordinary ingredients enhancing their taste producing a unique culinary experience. Dishes that defy imagination speak of a culture rich in diversity, complex in its nature, rich in its enjoyment of good food.
Kids in their white uniforms walking along the promenade rehearsing their exercises. Morning walkers in sports and traditional wear walk briskly along beach front in a bid to keep fit. Workers pouring out of the train station formally dressed on their way to work. Students, like students all over the world, in jeans and t-shirts, chatting, furiously texting or just ambling their way to their classes.
And I the naked observer, naked not in flesh but in soul, absorbing the sights and sounds of the city that has become an intimate part of my life, with all its idiosyncrasies, a city with the energy of 18 million souls, a city that I have come to love, MUMBAI.... ;-)
Can picture it :) you must enjoy!
ReplyDeleteso blessed to share the essence of the city with you in words. i think to find the beauty of anybody and any place makes us feel the pureness of the wonder of when we were children. glad u have intimate contact with that wonder
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