People walking along the road and crossing the zebra crossing all seem to be walking with a purpose. They seem to have a spring in their walk by and large. Very Unlike the Delhiite who waddles or saunters or simply drags his feet.
People leave their shoes under their work stations, change into their walking shoes and head for home. In the morning they practically dress up in the office.
Folks eat breakfast in office. It's their morning togetherness before beginning the day.
Folks buy breakfast on their way to work from street side vendors and bring it to workplace in their tiffins.
It's a regular practice not a one off day of indulgence.
It can rain anytime with no predictability on either the strength or the length of the time of the downpour.
The city does not stop just because it's raining.
The city does not stop just because it is flooded. It only pauses.
In any case traffic only crawls in the best of times.
Auto drivers are generally polite. They do travel by the meter without an exchange of argument, depending on the time of the day. It's all a matter of demand and supply at the pickup point.
The meter does rule. Auto drivers return change of Rs 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 7 or 7 or 8 or 9. They don't crib about it and try to make an extra few bucks in the name of chutta nahi hai.
By and large they wish you back with an exchange of greeting.
Well all is not really fair. You do have a few autos with their meters rigged. For a regular Rs 37 bucks can end up being Rs 40 on the same route at a shorter distance and lesser time. Yes it does happen. Sometimes it's only Rs 34 or Rs 35. It sets the mind wondering.
Wish I had made notes of the conversations with the auto driver and the ola cab. It's an insight into life you have seen and not seen, heard about it or not, known about it or not known about it. It's all good because the conversation will end without a baggage at the destination.
The security guards that frisk you before entering the metro are not used to being wished a good morning or a thank you. No wonder their return of the greeting is a little delayed but they do turn around and wish you back though you have passed them by.
The office building security guards are pretty polite about requesting to see your I card.
The residence building guards respond to your good mornings and good evenings with equal enthusiasm. 3 fortnights down the line. It's the reverse. They wish me instead of me wishing them just in case I miss - if I am lost in my own world or am occupied on the phone.
It's like creating a new world of familiarity around you of people wishing you a good morning and a good evening or a good night. It's kind of immaterial. What's material is the smile that it brings on the face without any deliberation even if it is artificial and we might not know each other's name ever.
Ladies selling breakfast on the pavements of Mumbai from 8.00 am is a fairly common sight. They are all neatly dressed with well oiled hair and yes they do wear flowers in their hair. If it's raining there is an umbrella at hand and the hand is that of a gentleman.
Umbrella? Yup you always need to carry one on you. It's like a walk in the city with your phone in one hand and an umbrella in the other.
Don't mind getting your shoes wet ?
Keep waking in the rain. The street turns into an ankle deep fast flowing river. Now that your leather shoes are soaked in water you will mind it and there is nothing you can do about it as the passing by double decker bus sprays water all over your trousers upto knee high. Squish squish is a sound remembered from childhood rainy days. Cut to : Why not drenched upto your waist ? Well you know buses can't really drive very fast in this city. Leather shoes soaked in rain water muck don't dry overnight and there is no sunshine. If you are lucky to see the sun don't make the mistake of drying them in the sun. You need to dry them with newspaper lots of newspaper.
Keep marching onwards.
There is no sense of panic till the time you can make it to the 6.22 pm fast local to wherever and that's how you figure out that this city is not tuned into the system clock or the sun or the moon or the rain or the shine. It's tuned into to the digital clock of the Mumbai suburban railway and the Indian railways only recovers 36% of the the operational costs from the passengers. So for all of you who thought this was a city driven by capitalism. It's socialism that's powering the entire city daily all the way through the heart and back.
Ever seen a road on a map that simply ends. Of course you have. But have you seen a road simply end because there is no place to go on land.
Well that's Bombay for you.
And when the sun does come out, You can smell it through the entire city. I always thought that's dead fish. Of course it's dead fish ! damn it ! but we are drying them so that they did not die in vain.
As a kid staying outside the municipal limits of Lucknow - It used to be an event going to town.
At age 43 in Mumbai. "I am going to town" is also kind of an event.
The great divide still exists.
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