Mumbai Diaries - The Heady Concoction

Jan 24th, 2009 and the long awaited dawn – a harbinger of a sweet sojourn to Mumbai had finally arrived. The onset of the Year of the Ox (some prefer to call it Bull – in hope of a Bull Run) enabled me to cascade official with personal leaves.

Soon the Singapore Airlines flight hissed past the tranquil and dreamy landscapes of Sahyadris bedecked with clouds lazing in the late morning benign winter sun. The air smelt familiar yet like a distant dream- a heady concoction of nostalgia and warmth of being home. My bags were making their way past the X-ray machine, then with a screech, Mr Bhatti entered this dream and concoction had a smell of tobacco in it. With perhaps a jerk in to reality – I came to the senses that Mr Bhatti – a customs officer with Mumbai Chattrapati Shivaji International Terminus – did not approve of my camera,lenses et al entering Mumbai free of cost. After a lengthy debate with intermittent perusal of the obscure rule book – Mr Bhatti (not showing the least signs of exasperation) proffered three possible alternatives – 1. Leave camera at the airport 2. Pay duty at 35.7% of value above Rs 25,000 3. Bribe Mr Bhatti a nominal fee(however hand the fee to the Hawaldar). Option 3 looked lucrative. Mr Bhatti also offered me a tip as well (free of cost) – next time travel during peak hours which means Hawaldar may not notice the heavy equipments.

Dazed – I then proceeded to the taxi counter and indicated my preference for 2 taxis. The man behind the desk looked back, found 3 pairs of eyes looking back and wondered aloud the reason for 2 taxis for three people. On showing him our wide array of baggage – the guy remarked – ‘Iska double bhi hum ek taxi mein fit karr dega’

By now you must have realized that the heady concoction was making rounds somewhere in the stratosphere. No sooner did we trundle our way towards our good old abode at Thane, that the heady concoction was getting stronger again. For a fleeting moment – a moment of insanity – did I expect the lift doors to open automatically – it was only fleeting – let me assure you that.

Anyways, the moment had finally arrived, my dad encompassed the key between his index finger and thumb and pirouetted the same. The heady concoction was stronger than ever. The house, from the initial glimpses, was dapper enough and seemed well taken care of (by the neighbour). The next big moment was setting sights at my room – which incidentally was under locks and wraps beyond the bounds of human activities. The concoction suddenly crumbled under the effects of gravity – my room was a self sustaining eco-system. Spiders,Cob-webs, bugs and other exotic creatures - I was perhaps at the bottom of the food chain. The icing on the ecosystem was a happy pigeon family – right outside my window.

As you would have imagined – next few days mostly spent towards giving the house a heavy polish. This routine was disturbed with intermittent rounds to Post Office, Banks and other sites of exquisite interest. Each of these visits would entail and warrant a blog of their own(which I would refrain from).

During the first week, also had my first touch point with the SP Jain Gang at Ritesh’s aka Professor Economics’s House Warming/ Pooja ceremony. A lunch at Rajdhani(Ghatkopar) entailed which was interspersed with banter and jokes dating back to MBA times – Ritesh and his appetite(which is admirable), Bhakti aka Bee and her driving skills, Koushik aka Cowboy and his flashy smile – and the heady concoction was getting stronger.

More in next.