Vantage point




Tuesday, April 11, 2006

A Sneaky Kinda Love

I have no clue when Bombay sneaked up on me and made me fall in love with it.

Like all Puneris, I used to hate Bombay because it was overcrowded, sweaty, dirty, hectic and big. I still hate the crowds, the sweat, the dirtiness, the hecticity(yes, i'll patent the word!) and bigness. And yet I love Bombay. I have no clue when I fell in love with the city. There was no active seduction, no wooing, not even a definitive takraar-to-pyaar song like Bollywood movies. And yet somehow I now find myself completely attached to this city.

I realise how much I miss Bombay when I am away from the city for more than 2-3 days. I don't know what I miss exactly. But when I am back, every few minutes, my love is reaffirmed. I break into a bessotted grin when the rickshawwallah returns me a 1 rupee coin when the fare is 49 and I have given him a 50 rupees note. The grin reappears at every such "typically-bombay" moment.

I will be leaving this city for good in July. And I'll miss it for sure. Because I share with it a sneaky kind of love.