Thursday, November 27, 2008

Mumbai meri jaan…

 

“Aye dil hai mushkil jeena yahaan

Zara hatke , zara bachke

Yeh hai Bombay meri jaan…”

 

                     After seeing my city of dreams burn all through the night, I thought I would write something thoughtful. Something to condemn the horrific killings, the Government apathy and something that would make us stronger. But then, why write about something that has already haunted us for the whole day. I simply went back to my favorite places in Mumbai…

Gateway03.jpg

The Gateway of India at Dusk..

 

 

Taj_Mahal_Palace_Hotel_at_night

The Taj Palace at night

 

 

CST Large

The Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Railway Terminus… formerly Victoria Terminus.

 

 

BMC large

The Bombay Municipal Headquarters.

 

 

Asiatc Library large

The Asiatic Library

 

FloraFountain

The Flora Fountain, Fort.

 

india_mumbai_marine_drive

The Marine Drive.

 

BEST

The Rajabai Clock tower and a BEST Bus.

 

fort

Fort, Mumbai

 

The Mount Mary's Feast by WatchinDworldGoBy.

The Mount Mary’s feast, Bandra.

 

hajiali

Haji Ali – Mumbai’s most revered.

 

haji ali qawwali

A Qawalli session at the Haji Ali.

 

Siddhivinayak_Temple

Siddhivinayak Temple, Mumbai’s Presiding Deity.

 

nariman-night

Nariman Point, Mumbai’s financial hub.

 

bridgeworlishutternut6qi01cn.jpg

The Bandra – Worli Sea Link.

 

 

 

 

And Finally… two things that’ll make a Mumbaikar Smile…

 

vada pav

Vada Pav

 

trains

The Mumbai Local.. !!!

 

 

 

And One last.. for the Famed  Mumbai Spirit !!

 

Photo 2006-760

This man is braving the deluge to deliver the Bharat gas canisters in a flooded slum area of Mumbai. This alone should sum up what I mean…

 

I can’t go on anymore.. 

13 Grumblings:

Sikander Fayyaz Khan said...

What a beautiful city, and very rightly put as city of dreams.. I hope these petty flames won't engulf the dreams of Mumbaikars... My best wished for the city and its dwellers. I hope and pray to Almighty that it never has to face any terror again. Amen.

The Ancient Mariner said...

The whole of india is with you mumbai! we love you as much as your own dwellers do! you are the crown jewell of selfsufficient and self reliant india. we love you.

- A brother from Calcutta

Ayyappan said...

@Sikander
True... true.. I pray.. I hope everything comes back to normal...
Amen.

@Anky
Thank you! She is indeed our Crown.
Mumbai, I love you too..!

Unknown said...

why don't you put this same piece in Blurred bounderies?

Ayyappan said...

@Ankan
I think that I should come up with something more different for LOCout.

Anonymous said...

even though Ive never been to Bombay, I can picture an extremely beautiful city in my mind with these photographs...I hope the terrorists rot in hell...God Bless Bombay!

Akash... said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Akash... said...

Mumbai is beautiful...

But it's about time that people stopped closing their eyes and claiming about "the mumbai spirit". I laud them for the fact that they go to work the very next day, that life returns to normalcy again, but if they've closed their eyes the very next day, well I'd say they have already been defeated.

It has happened before and is happening again. But what has been done in between is blurred, isn't it? International agencies and relevant people have been talking about how India closes it's eyes when such things happen. Well, this doesn't and shouldn't work this way. If you have the famed spirit then go on roads and take up this matter with the government/authorities. Ask for being frisked, and demand more security. Just going to work the next day doesn't help you. It just proves that you "have to" work and nothing more than that.

Remember, this is not against a place or people. All I am trying to say is, that unless the masses do anything/something, nothing is going to happen. Like the past has shown, another bomb blast and again people would go for work the next day. There has to be a solution and it has to come from the people. And I can't think of any place other than Mumbai for that.

Don't give examples. We have all heard a lot about the spirit of Mumbai. But think if people have done anything about such blasts or are they planning to? If they are (Which we'll know in a few days), then I am happy and this so called spirit needs to be appreciated, otherwise it's just another city which is forced not to stop it's work, whatever may happen. And believe me, there is nothing special about that.

Ayyappan said...

@Usman
True.. the city is beautiful.. Come here, I'll show you around!! :P

Ayyappan said...

@Akash
Going back to work the next day after a blast is not the Mumbai Spirit. He can't do anything else. It is a feeling of resignation.. and nothing more!! Pick up pieces and go back to work...
But I have a different opinion of being frisked everywhere..! I know it sounds stupid.. but I just don't want to be frisked everywhere. I just want to lead a normal life, between the blasts..

Ayyappan said...

@Akash
I agree with you. The fact that Mumbai bounces back to Work the next day does not mean that Mumbaikar is resilient. All the talk about the Mumbai Spirit is a lame excuse by the politicians to mask their ineffectiveness. For it makes an ideal speech, Terror cannot stop Mumbai... blah blah...but the reality is that the Mumbaikar also has to feed himself between the blasts. And like you said, it's just another city that is forced not to stop it's work..
For me, the spirit of the city is in the Bambaiyya Language. The life in trains, railway stations.. the craze for Cricket. The way Bombay stops when Sachin dazzles... the perennial hurry of the Mumbaikar.... the way people stood upto the 26th July floods..
I mean, the city came together to fight the floods.. but this was beyond the common man...

And when you say that Mumbai is defeated "when the life returns to normalcy" again.. you're right. The Common Man has resigned to his fate. It's the same all over India. People have stopped expecting... as I said before.. pick up the pieces and move ahead.. the apathy would prevail...

Akash... said...

Read this too: http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/dec/03mumterror-the-heartbeat-of-a-wounded-city-that-will-bleed-but-will-not-bend.htm :)

The spirit of India. Proud to be an Indian. :)

ketki said...

Wow! yaar... superb hai!