Madras to Bombay

During my school days I always wanted to visit Bombay, I also did but mostlly as a tourist. Today I am here in Bombay to spend few weeks with my dad and brother, now when I look back into those days…. the way I used to gaze at every single thing in the city with an excitement, I laugh at myself today…. Damn I have grown! Well Bombay has not changed, I have.

Madras is a land of ‘The Best Things’ – Well, everyone would say so about their land too; but Madras is always special.

Let me walk through a small comparison...

First thing I noticed entering the city, was the ambience outside the airport; it was so annoying to see so many cars, autos, buses, being clamped and congested. The road which leads to the main roads were crappy with the so called tall buildings alongside which look greyed out and the half constructed buildings drenched in rains. I was under the impression that Madras airport is the one with the least looks but I really regret for my thought “Madras is heaven”, the road which leads to the main roads into the city are huge and classy. There is nothing to complain about the view of the city from airport; it is definitely ‘Love at first sight’

In Bombay, which is a metro too, has majority of people speaking either in Marathi or Hindi or some other language and have little knowledge in English, it was so hard for a person like me who knows broken Hindi but still want the local people’s help. It is damn hard - whoever comes to Bombay should know basic Hindi at least to 20% or you will need a English to Hindi translation book or a person with you who knows both English and Hindi else you will be dumb and showing hands and suffering. Come to Madras, even the auto guys, bus drivers, conductors, flower vendor, vegetable vendor, porter, taxi drivers, restaurant guys, small road side shops and everyone in the city will guide you even if you speak in English, though not in great English but in a much understandable way… for sure language is no problem in Madras.

Festivals are amazing in Bombay, at this time; Visarjan is like the best festival one could watch and enjoy, I must admit that every state must learn from Bombay when it comes to celebrating festivals. Visarjan – immersion of Lord Ganesha on the 10^th day from the start of Vinayaka Chaturthi. 10^th day hungama is too huge; I have never seen such huge idol of Lord Ganesha in streets and people singing ‘Ganapathi bapa moriya’ in loud voices. It was fabulous with lots of colours, dance, sweets, drums and lots more.. Celebrations were throughout the night, it was splendid. Any person who comes to Bombay cannot resist this time of the year. Be it Navaratri and Diwali are back to back festivals of enjoyment, I can’t forget the music which kept rolling into my ears for straight 24 hrs. Dance and music are predominet for these people and here I see Punjabi, Gujarati, Jains, Tamils and many more mingle in one single place and tap their feet together. It was such a lovely sight to see all different cultures mingling. Hands down Bombay rules festivals. BUT sometimes there are so many mishaps while parading en route to sea for immersion, yet this happens everytime when there is a huge crowd, keeping all the negatives aside, Bombay is lovely in nights, the shops where they make hot jelebies, samosas, vada pav, oops I almost forgot pani poori, trust me, I have never tasted the most tangiest and yummiest pani poori anywhere in the world except in this place. Bombay is good for all types of eating stuff, you name it you have!! It’s right across the street.

I must also say rains in Bombay are heavenly; especially for any person who travels from Madras, not that we hardly see rain, but here its most nice, chilly, soothing and also calm. Sometimes rains are disturbing but most of the times it’s pleasant and cheerful.

Temples…. Everyone would expect me to say Mahalakshmi temple and Prabhadevi Siddivinayak temple are the best ones… (yes they are… ) however … Sriradi Sai Baba temples are THE BEST in Bombay. Even a small sriradi temple will look beautiful and neat. Speaking about Mahalakshmi temple, the road which leads to the temple is a real mess, people who come from south will surely not like the path leading to the temple. The main Mandir looks veryyyy beautiful with nice flooring and small small sweet stalls. Behind the Mandir there is a huge open space which gives the view of the Arabian sea, it is a must see sight. Breeze would take us to a different world with Mandir bells tingling along with the smell of agarpathi. Aaaaahhhh divine… the rocks behind the temple is always wet as the sea water splashes giving it an antique texture.

Next temple which I visited was Mumbadevi temple in Zaveri bazaar… yes the same place where there was a blast few weeks before my arrival… until I arrived to that temple I dint know it’s in Zaveri….OMG… I must thank GOD for bringing me home safe. My heart was beating higher and higher as I was nearing the temple, the reason is the whole of Zaveri bazaar is filled with Muslim population. I quickly got reminded of hey ram movie seeing that pace. Zaveri chowk the sickest place ever… yuckkkkkkkkk to the core… I really don’t know how they are maintaining a temple there. It is such a sensitive area; a small spark is enough to create so many probs.

On the other hand I was amazed when I went to Narashimar temple at chembur, I thought I am at Madras. The place has a huge population of tamizhs, it felt lovely to hear tamil archanai…. Waare wahh… Tamizh is beautiful. Also Murugan temple which is few streets away from Narashimar temple was much more beautiful with so many steps leading to the main sanctam. ‘Azhagu’ is the word seeing that temple.

Speaking about malls - in Bombay they are quiet good, the extravaganza is more.. but the quality and collections are all the same in every mall.. Just that there are many malls. Yet, I still feel Madras has equally best malls and the best shops. Nevertheless I love shopping for earrings in any place.

So to conclude, Chennai (yes the first time I am typing this) my gorgeous Madras is my home whatsoever is THE BEST and Mumbai, is good in its own way, just that it should look more high class for being a huge business hub for India and standing as an important metro.

I really miss living in Mumbai… I boarded the fight staring at the view of the city thinking one day I will live in this city which I treasured and enjoyed inch by inch… However........
“Sowgame endralum adhu nammura pola varuma” :)