Mumbai Rocks

For a die-hard Bangalorean to even admit to loving another place itself is quite a change in life. Mumbai rocks and the rest of what I write here explains why

Exactness: Mumbaikars are fantastic when they give directions to you. If they don't know, they are quick to admit it. They don't like wasting their time and yours too. While I was on my way to CST from Andheri early in the morning on 16th Jan, I was apprehensive that I may be a little off. I asked this middle aged man sitting next to me on the train, how much time it would take to reach CST from whatever station he'd just got on from. He replied, "17 minutes!" And we were there at CST about 8 seconds beyond 17 minutes from that instant! Salut! Similarly when I was to reach my friend's place from Andheri station, I mentioned the apartment complex name to a paanwala just outside the station. He gave me the precise location and said that I should take about 7 minutes to walk to that place. If you think this is incredible, just get out of Andheri station on the east side and ask the 1st shop on your left after getting down the rail bridge for Amboli crossing!

Efficiency: When my pal took a walk down Marine Drive on the 15th as late as 7 pm, the workers were just putting up barriers to keep the pedestrians off the road on the 17th. On 17th, within an hour of me finishing the race, they began to dismantle the finish line setup and associated barriers! By about 4 pm you could be forgiven for thinking that nothing had happened around Azad Maidan. It takes a certain mindset to have such efficiency. Adjustment: Maybe it's the large population constrained to live within such a limited area or maybe they are just plain nice, but Mumbaikars are vastly accommodating. You step on someone's toes in the train, they will look at you with an understanding, "Yeah we know that you are barely able to stand" kind of look and that's the end of it. No abuses, no glaring even. The inherent rudeness, which is pervasive in, say, Delhi is missing and is welcome.

Food: The Mangaloreans or derivatives of communities from that part of India (coastal Karnataka), control most of the restaurant business here and I am obviously pleased at being able to order my food in Kannada. And there's no "Where are you from? ?" kind of questions or enquiries of well being from the people you deal with. There's tacit acknowledgement of the fact that they can speak your language and that's it, period. I love these people! The quality of food is consistent across establishments regardless of whether they are in Andheri or Bandra or Nariman Point. As cases in point, check out Laxmi Prasanna (Andheri East) or Balaji (Bandra) or Status (Nariman Point). The ambience changes owing to surrounding environs and quality of clientele, but the quality of food is almost interchangeable.

Drink: Absolut Vodka is available in multiple places at approx $ 5/60 ml which is cheaper than in Delhi and I didn't find a single person who was tottering on the road or making a loud affair of himself/herself being inebriated in Mumbai. It may due to the ubiquity of drink or again, the people themselves, Mumbaikars handle themselves responsibly with their liquor!
Traffic: How many times have you seen a driver explain to another why he was honking and the "honked at" driver acknowledging the reason and moving on!? My auto driver explained to the car driver in front that he was honking to ensure that the reversing car didn't touch the auto and the car driver said that, that was the reason he also reacted and stopped backing up! Amazing! Some Mumbaikars also jump signals like the rest of countrymen. But the percentage of those who abide patiently by the rules overwhelms the violating minority.

Helpfulness: People in Mumbai have a general briskness about life and are more than willing to help other people. On the morning of the marathon, I had bought tickets to Churchgate to get to Azad Maidan, but some good natured woman who correctly deduced by my attire that I was on my way to that place, promptly suggested that I take the Central line to CST rather than the Western line to Churchgate as Azad Maidan is bang in front of CST.

Sea: The seaface in Mumbai is an absolute delight to walk along. Only Pondicherry has a similar (albeit shorter) walk.

All said and done, if Mumbai didn't have the humidity, I would gladly shift to Mumbai for some part of my life. But for now, namma ooru Bangalore will do.