Day 2

On my second day, I used the services of almost all modes of transportation that Mumbai offers to its citizens. The Red coloured Best buses add to the colour of the city. I started my day by getting onto one of the BEST buses. We took it till Borivali railway station. As I had to go to Fort, we had no  other option but to take the local train. And I was all prepared for it.

We had already avoided the rush hour from 6 in the morning till 11. So it was almost a pleasant experience in the local. I also got the concept of Fast and Slow locals. It was such a nightmarish thought when I used to think about boarding a local train, but getting face to face with it today cleared of my head all my apprehensions. It wasn't as crowded as I had imagined.

At Churchgate, I discovered that there are no auto rickshaws that ferry passengers instead there are taxis, black and yellow in colour. My excitement level shot up when I spotted a Fiat black and yellow taxi. It isn't the car you would find in Delhi, not even as taxis. What a visual delight!!

 This was about the various modes of transportation. Now coming to the city, I must admit I am still awed by the city. In fact I am in love with this city that looks so vibrant , so lively. All its tall buildings feel as if they are keeping a watch over you and nothing could go wrong. 

Today I visited the South of Mumbai. And, what traces we have of the colonial times! You get transported back in time when the Britishers had them constructed and ruled over us. You also get taken away to a more Westernized part of the city. While roaming around I could almost feel that I was in England except that the population and the environment kept reminding me of Mumbai. I saw almost all of the tourist places. Beginning with Jehangir Art Gallery, Prince of Wales museum (of which we saw only the exteriors as it had got closed by that time), we then walked down till the Gateway which was closed for the public because of some ceremony of the Indian Navy, and right in front of the Gateway stood the TajMahal hotel, that still rings the memory of terrorist strike. We then hailed a taxi and went till Nariman Point. I was and I am still mesmerised with the skyscrapers. Just so many of them! We then walked down till the Marine Drive. My dream had finally come true. I had been dying to come to Marine Drive. Although I have been to a better version in Nice, Promenade des Anglais, but this had its own charm. Walking straight till Churchgate, I realised it was time we got back home. 

On my way back, we boarded the ladies compartment of the local train. While sitting there, it seemed I had already used its services since long. The pleasant experience of city's lifeline has instilled such confidence in me, I guess I could make use of its services on my own (not so certain about the peak hours though) 

I had a beautiful day in a dynamic, electrifying and animated city. And yes I am enamoured!!

Day 1 in my dream city

I reach Borivali. The train stops for 2 minutes. We get down in time. Our relatives are waiting for us. Borivali is just like any other small station. Nothing very imposing about the station I could make out. The station was sure crowded. People were hurrying their ways to board the local trains. We came out  and I saw a stream of auto rickshaws and BEST buses right outside. We hailed an auto. The first striking thing : unlike Delhi auto wallahs, Bombay's are very sincere in using the meter. There is no haggling involved. Wow!

We head to Borivali West. On my way, another eye-catching thing is the high rising buildings everywhere. In Delhi, the region I stay majorly has bungalows, not many skyscrapers. While on the contrary, wherever my eyes roam, I see tall residential buildings. These high rises cater to the demand of rising population in the city.

And the next thing which I notice is the congestion in the city. You wouldn't feel that you have ample space to relax or stretch your arms. In South Delhi, I have been habituated to wide roads, I feel and breathe though the polluted air. The reality is different here and I am not complaining. In fact, I am still in the awe of my dream city.

Tomorrow, I would take a local train. Let's see how awe struck I remain after my first rendezvous with it.

Bombay , enfin !!!

A long secretly harboured dream comes true as I step inside the August Kranti Rajdhani that would take me to my dream destination, city of dreams and hopes : Mumbai. For me, it still remains Bombay or Bambai. 

Uncertainty loomed large over my prospect of getting ticket to Bambai nagariya. I got a ticket after so much exasperation. At last, I had a sigh of relief with the ticket in my hand. 

Rajdhani leaves at Nizammudin at almost 5 in the evening. We kept on reminiscing of our last year's Pondichery trip, around the same time of year, an all women's trip and for the same purpose. Meanwhile, we were looking forward to this one. The only missing link on this trip is Baby. It's just the two of us unlike the last one where we were three.

I am excited to explore the city. The local train that is the lifeline of the city scared me earlier but I am now eagerly waiting my first brush with it. 

I don't know how would the city receive me and how would I take it. But now that I have reached here in Bombay, I am so delighted.

Is it me or IRCTC ?

Am I confused? Or is it really confounding? Or is IRCTC itself befuddled with how to function?

Now this is what is beyond my comprehension, the whole circuitous process of booking a Tatkal ticket. It is virtually a lottery system to book a Tatkal ticket. If destiny favours you and the Lady luck is on your side, you would be on cloud nine to get it booked.

Tatkal was a service introduced to facilitate passengers to get hold of tickets at end moment if some urgency presented itself that required them to travel. I really appreciate this effort but not until I got to know that IRCTC is a bit confused or maybe I am ignorant about its operations. 

Firstly, many a times there have been changes in the days when the Tatkal service would open. Long back, it used to start operating two days before the date of journey. At present, it opens a day before. I am not opposed to this idea. However, there is a point of contention.

Today, I was actually doing a recce of sorts on the website. I need to book a ticket tomorrow for Tatkal. The time it starts working is 10 o'clock in the morning. Due to my weak and almost non functional MTS datacard, any site wouldn't open. Moreover, as I stated earlier, it all depends on how fortunate you are that day. IRCTC gets so much pressure from anxious passengers to get their tickets booked that it also gives up and chooses a certain few to be the prize (ticket) winners. 

However, I should get straight to the point now rather than beating about the bush. In the afternoon, I checked Tatkal tickets for 1st of April, which under the regulations that I am aware of should open tomorrow at 10 in the morning. To my great surprise, there were trains flashing REGRET status in the screen for 1st as well as 2nd of April as if almost deriding me and my desperation to book tickets. 

Now, my mind is perplexed after what IRCTC has done with me and this I say with greater seriousness.

I thus pray to the higher Being IRCTC, to take pity on this lesser mortal and change my fortune tomorrow so that I get a message of the ticket on my phone with flying colours. Amen!!

Shaunak advises Yudhishtira that attachment is the root cause of all grief and happiness that we experience in life. The wise and learned keep themselves extricated from the chains of any kind of bond. 

This is what I read in Mahabharata. It seems so appropriate. Is it possible in this world inhabited by humans? Since childhood we tend to create a sense of attachment with what we are fascinated and we love. But what is this thing called love? 

What is love? My mind is befuddled by this question which at first instance looks like a simple one. Whatever is this emotion, I believe, it can only be named love if it is selflessly done. The only relationship that strikes me to be selfless in the world around me appears to be that of a parent and its child. This incorruptible love showered by parents is however not all the time reciprocated by their children. 

Love can also be expressed for the God Almighty. This is what have been voiced in the ancient texts. This love is for the Supreme Being, one who created the world and thus created us. One who left us into this vast ocean of humanity to get entangled in the relationships and thereon desire us to be free of all the bonds and connections we make.

In such a contrastive setup, what am I supposed to do?? 

I know you are there

As a kid, I was too smug. My surroundings did not concern me much. I was happy and content with what I had. And yes, I thanked you all the while for making my existence so smooth. But life is not a tale of niceties. Once taken birth on this Earth, one goes through a twining and twisting trail called life. I had you as my confidante all the time confiding in you, having my private dialogues with you even if you weren't present physically. I believe you are there. And it is this belief that makes one going. During the trials of life, no matter how hard be my predicament, I always look upto you for inner peace and strength. I haven't achieved the end yet though you have furnished me with the means. 

Though no one has seen you, you are there in everyone of us. Most of the times, I am unable to recognize you within me, attribute it to my ineptitude. However, I do perceive you within the wonderful parents and siblings you have gifted me. I am really well placed in this world. A world that manifests both negative and positive, I thank you in the earnest. 

And yet when I look back, I recall a few moments when due to lack of fulfillment of my infantile wishes, I harboured a feeling of getting away from everyone. How could I have ever thought of such a thing. I guess, I am being human. It is all but natural to experience varied sentiments and emotions in one's life. I know you will always be there not only for me but for all of us. I would like to be selfish here and put my family at the top rank to get your attention. No matter how dark and grim it becomes around me, a speck of optimism remains inside telling me constantly that you are there and I want you to be...

blurred vision

What is this life that we lead? Why are we here on Earth? What is our purpose to be fulfilled during our span of life? Is every single person able to accomplish his role in the scheme of this Universe? All such questions throng my mind a few times when I feel life isn't moving as I want it to. These intangible ideas in my head meandering inside, complicate my effort to understand the meaning of life. And, after a while when I reconcile with them, these questions seem to subside somewhere deep in my consciousness, ready to sprout again at any moment of despair I get into. 

Today, as I was getting back to hostel from my sister's place, on my way, I had been drowning in the swamps of guilt on a matter so trivial that it's not worth mentioning. I was constantly thinking about how I could have done , what I did, in some other way and would have been guilt free. Consequently I was led to some other direction. I wondered how we humans are puppets in the hands of God, harking back to some episode of the Mahabharata where Krishna himself reveals how everything that happens in the world depends on his will. This distant and vague remembrance was still making rounds in my mind as I realized someone had been honking from behind and my autowala  had slowed down his auto. I asked him what was the matter. As he told me, I saw it with my eyes : a soul free body being taken for the last rites by a few men. How my eyes welled up at this sight, is still unknown to me. I didn't know who had died. Was it a child, a girl, a boy, a man or a woman? It was a moment of  facing the ultimate truth. In a split second, you don't know where your soul has left for. 

These days, everyone is in a constant struggle to achieve something. This attainment hinges on the class or strata of society you belong to. The super rich find ways to be even richer. The poor try to make their ends meet. While the middle class looks upwards to the rich class and aspires to be like them someday. Material comfort has become the only truth that everyone wants to reach. No one seems to be satisfied with what s/he has. Of what use is all this strife, this monotonous struggle to acquire that which you would only take to your grave and not with your soul?

I wonder if I can ever understand why have I taken birth.