The Mumbai Icons

My Mumbai is back to being itself, stripped of its diwali jewels, it does not look wasted or tired but rejuvinated and happy..its just being itself...without all its finery, its puts on the running shoes and is on its feet...

My journey through this city, during this transition phase, has made me ponder and wonder, all over again, about what makes this city, what ever it is...and why...but more than that, my inquisations, as I see the tourist wonder the place, have gone on to ponder on what they think of this place..what is their perception of this city, what do they want to see, when they come to see Mumbai.....and how much of these icons define Mumbai for a Mumbaikar...

1. Marine Drive: Made very famous by its references in different movies, songs, books and other literature, this place is sometimes thought of as a synonym of the city itself. Overlained by several symolic meanings, this place defines several things to several people. For a Mumbaikar living in a suburb it defines oppulance..portrayed by the people livng there, their riches, that Taj Mahal Hotel, Trident and others.....and sometimes freedom, for that is what a few famed movies tell us...Its fun to walk on the pathway there, gazing at the sea and the distant ships...to me, a walk along the sea here has somehow always meant a constant process of becoming, constant moving from being to becoming, from what is to what will be....On a glorious wintery evening, I walk along the sea, looking at the golden ball go down the sea and turn around, to see the reflection of its brightness on the highly sheening glass windows of the tall tall buildings. I see some tourists clicking away, capturing the sunset on their camera, trying to overpower that angry bolb.....uncaptured, capturing.....There is a strange sense of relief in the entier scene....a sense of calmness, a filfillment as I begin to remove me from the trance and get back to the hectic "usual" life...

For me, Marine Drive is a break from the real life, life out of Mumbai, a small dream-like place, which is no Mumbai at all.

I shall write about other Icons in the subsiquent posts...