Aamchi Mumbai!

I was greeted by four commandos with AK47 when I got down from the taxi @ Bandra East, Mumbai. What a privilege, isn’t it?

I was transferred from Chennai to Mumbai and that was my first visit to the city.

After 24 hours of travel from Chennai, got down at the Railway Station in the morning and took one Singh’s taxi to our guest house in Bandra.

Little did I know that the apartment in which our guest house was situated was right next to Bal Thackeray’s house. Now, you can read the first line again and make sense out of it.

What a city it was and is.

The speed with which people move and work is phenomenal. It catches with you. Or should I say engulfs you or better still sucks you in. At first, I didn’t like the smell of the city. But after few days, I couldn’t notice it.

I liked the food. That’s a lie. I loved the food.

The lady who served me lunch in a tiffin box at office came in the evening after 6 to our office complex with a lot of goodies and knocked at our doors and shouted “batata wada, puran poli hai, stairs ke pass” [meaning batata wada, puran poli are available, near the stairs]. Some days we got samosa, sabudhana wada etc. After a day’s hard work, we used to be exhausted and this was just what we wanted.

It was such an easy task to get into and out of a suburban train. You don’t have to put any effort. I mean it.

More than anything else, I liked the business climate. #Business was happening. You cannot crib about it. No one had any time to waste. Clients give you an appointment for a meeting only if they are serious.

What I learnt from my days in Mumbai is this: #SPEED.

Speed matters.

Had I spent few years in Mumbai, I would have become a more rounded personality.

Here’s wishing #Mumbai & #mumbaites a quick recovery from #Covid19. It is in their blood to fight this out. Wish Mumbai shows the way for the rest of India to get back to “business as usual”.

Happy Recovering!!