What will happen if one day you have to leave the city where you have lived for almost 25 years. It’s your birthplace. Your education hub, your friend zone, and your lifeline. I had many friends whose parents got transferred from time to time.
I felt it was a great opportunity to travel and explore new places. What makes my friends upset with the idea? We learn things off by heart, when we face same thing. I completely understood (kind of) what made them upset. Today I am going to share my experience of how I shifted from one place to another or you can say how Mumbai became the U.P.
Till this time, you must have got the gist that I got transferred to Gurgaon (U.P) from Mumbai because of my work in 2005. Initially I thought that change in the environment is good personally as well as professionally. I was delighted with the idea that from now onwards I don’t have to get squeezed in the train rush or I will not have to stand in a long bus queue or there will be no traffic jams. I am going to enjoy my personal paradise. Well, it was very short-lived happiness. I had no idea the sweet dreams of mine were going to shatter. Soon I started missing Mumbai’s life. Do you know why?
There are many things we don’t like about this city, still we love it and we know that it irreplaceable. It holds special place in our heart. Here is the list why you will miss Mumbai. Street Food– After a very long induction program, I was famished and exhausted. So, I decided to enjoy some roadside delicious tasty street food. I asked my colleague about the same. She took me to a stall where chola-bhatura was served. To my disappointment, the food was not up to the mark and the Bhatura was not so hot. Also, there was no other option available at that point of time. That day I missed our hot and steamy Vada-pav, missal pav, pav-bhaji and what not which you can eat anytime, anywhere. There was only one place which was my favourite and that was Sagar Ratna restaurant.
Transport Facility.
My office was situated in Gurgaon, while I was staying with my relatives in Ghaziabad. We were looking for looking for place near my office, however, it was not possible, so I decided to travel from Ghaziabad to Gurgaon. Nowadays we can travel easily wherever we want, Thanks to development in transportation. But then, it took more than 1 hour to reach my office, so I requested my supervisor to help me out with the situation. He arranged a cab (till anand-vihar bus-stop).
To my dismay, I found that 20 min. distance was much worse than an hour of traveling. I got into the auto, from my place to anand vihar bus stop, and the auto driver was too busy stuffing more and more passengers in his auto. That day I felt that Mumbai local was much better option to travel. Atleast we have option that we will get next local in 3-5 minutes. And here, in this auto there was no hope and no option.
Birthday parties.
It was my friend’s birthday and I decided to surprise her with Cake and some chocolates. I started to look out for cake shops and I found that there was no cake shop nearby. After searching a lot, I got to know that, if you want cake, you will have to order nearby confectionary shops. Wherein in Mumbai we have monginis and birdy’s.
Days and months and years have passed by now this place has become home for me. Now at this point of time, I have got used to this place. Now this place has become home for me. Now whenever we want, we have zomatoes, swiggy, when we are not in mood to cook. Now we have ola and uber cabs for travelling.
Still, I miss the rainy season, the street side food, the beaches, and many other things.
Now whenever I read news or stories about the crimes taking place in Mumbai, I always feel that the Mumbai I know is the safest place for girls or women who travel even for late-night shifts. It was the place that even the stranger passed a smile to you and without any words you believed that everything is ok. It was a perfect example of unity in diversity. People celebrated each and every festival with enthusiasm.
Nobody ever asked whether you are Maharashtrian or Jain or Gujarati, nobody asked about anything, still, they were happy, smiling faces. Mumbai has seen many ups and downs and still, people felt safe there and they were happy to be part of Mumbai. Mumbai was not only a place but it was an emotion. I still miss Mumbai; and I still miss the spark of Mumbai.
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