One year and four months. I have been to this city numerous times before. A city, I used to come only to visit during my summer or winter vacations, turned into my home almost a year back. More than a year back. I always wanted to live here, the city used to reach out to me without any reason. It became a magnet and I was the metal in this journey. Almost a year back, I didn’t have any friends. The few people I knew were from the social media circuit. Not that there were friends, but yes I used to know. School, college friends were too far engrossed in their lives and I was too much in my dream world to be in touch with them. Life became hectic for me to take notice of what is happening around.

I came to Bombay (no harm to anyone’s feelings but I prefer calling Mumbai as Bombay) because I wanted to be a journalist. Life got busy, I got engrossed in work. And I forgot why of all the cities I came to Bombay.

It was always in the back of my mind that if ever there was a place in this world where I wanted to be it is Bombay. I loved the city, the rains, the small hills and I fell in love with the sea – the lifeline of the city (not really the trains). Met some quite intriguing people, started loving the front seat and forgot my moments dreaming seating in the back seat. Every day when I used to return home, my favourite part used to be sitting in the balcony, staring at the hills far away, listening to the mad sound created by the uncomplaining, unending cars passing by, the aimless focused people on the road. And I was happy. If Bombay was a guy, I would have married him. But the question was would Bombay have married me?

What is it about the city that made me fall in love with it? The traffic? The people? The history? The sea? The hills? Or was it my mind? Maybe it is the crazy rains, or maybe it is the city, which lets you be what you want to be. Bombay is one such city that takes you in his arms and gives you unconditional love. It is rough, trust me. There are days when you just feel like running away from the mad crowd of Bombay. But what happens next is that you burst out loud and Bombay listens to you, makes you believe you are not alone. Life is crazy but what is life without a little bit of drama.

There are days when you get scared in Bombay but you love the city so much that you just don’t want to leave it and go away. It is like Hotel California – You can check out any time you like but you can never leave.

Just go out, take a bike ride, travel all over the city and you will realize all of a sudden that you are smiling. A silent smile. Bombay is like a guy who will stare straight into your eyes and will know that you are smiling silently but won’t do anything about it. Because Bombay lets you be what you are and Bombay loves you exactly the way you are.

It is harsh. It will push you to a corner. It will make you cry till you say – Why me? But you know why Bombay makes you do all that? Because it is those moments which brings the best out of you and Bombay wants you to be the best. It is the dream city. It lets you dream big and if you follow the unknown path that Bombay has designed for you, you will achieve it.

I was a complaining, lost and tired soul. Then suddenly Bombay calmed me down. I met some really nice people. Someone taught me to stop complaining, some taught me to stop saying “I don’t” and some taught me to live my life.

It is the people you meet in Bombay, which makes your life full. Where I used to live before, I had everything with me yet I was alone. And here I don’t have anything; I am craving to have more, yet I am satisfied. Bombay gives you a wonderful satisfaction. Bombay presents you things that you love, which you desired of but somewhere it also teaches you that you don’t really want those things to live happily ever after. All you want from Bombay is to let those things be the way they are, no more no less.

For some, they might say it is the same with every city. But that is not the case. It is only in Bombay that you can sit all alone, silently at any hour of the day and people will just not bother you. Am sure if in any other city, you stopped breathing, you will run away and go and stay in some other place where you can breathe. But people don’t stop breathing even if Bombay creates a vacuum around you; you just simply learn to live in that vacuum, only to find the beauty in staying in that vacuum. But honestly, Bombay loves its people so much that it never leaves you void.

I love Bombay because it is the only place in the world where I wait patiently for the monsoon, monsoons which really tests your patience. For in Bombay only you will get to meet strangers in the train, fight with them and make them your friends. For in Bombay’s mad traffic only you learn to dream and live big. For Bombay is the place which gave me Norah Jones, Sachin Tendulkar, and some amazing friends. Bombay makes you live life freely and independently.

It has been quite some time when I last wrote a blog post. It is going to be two months now that I had written the last post and I, sincerely, don’t have any excuse for not writing. I have come across so many people, who even in their busy, and mind you, damn busy schedule manage to keep writing, not one or two posts but almost 350+ posts a year. And they aren’t paid for that! It is the passion that drives them. Not that my desire of writing is any less, just am a bit too comfortable in my lazy zone.

Having said all that, I have been real busy and a lot of things have been keeping me busy. No matter how much I work, I always find 24 hours too short for a day. Again it is the mind. However, there has been are few interesting things that has been keeping me busy – My job, my dreams, desire, and life in my favourite city.

So when I made a visit to this particular place, where I have visited more than five times in this month by now, I decided to type down my MCA diaries. Now take my blog to be my diary and this post to be one of those pages!

MCA Diary – September 26, 2012

 

By now I have gulped the Expressway route to Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and literally I found it tiring to visit that place. Yes it is true, the area always gave me an elevated feeling of – “look I am in an up-market area,” but more than that I still believe BKC should had been a place for Formula One rather than some NCR area. And Hamilton’s visit just proved my point.

Anyways, I hadn’t decided to visit BKC today. More particularly MCA aka Mumbai Cricket Association. Being a cricket journalist is no fun, if you don’t make these frequent visits to MCA (be it BKA or Wankhede) and CCI (grandeur). So after starting my day’s work, around 9:30 AM when my colleague called that I should come as there was someone to handle my work at office, I was like – “okay let’s do this.”

 

I got ready and as I was getting ready, the idea of travelling in a train bugged me. I had a good-night’s sleep and I didn’t want to destroy my rested body to get tired of the journey. And the idea of travelling via Dharavi and crossing all that stupid traffic irritated me. I had only one option, travel via Kurla and this was a route that I was yet to perceive.

Anyways, I prepared myself and left for the interview that me and my colleague had long planned for (as we wanted to get done with it).

I left and was lucky enough to find a kind rickshaw that at the first approach didn’t refuse to travel. And finally I was on my way, via a new route, to MCA.

As I was approaching MCA, I realized, am yet to know many parts of my city well. And this I realized so late as I found myself to reach within fifteen minutes, which previously used to take at least half an hour. Yes, very funny.

As I entered, this time, the welcome was far different than the first time. When I had gone for the first time, like a lost kid, I found myself being blocked by three security guards – “Tumi Sir ko phone karo, wohi ake apko leke jayenge.” And my reaction used to be – “Kya re? Mera interview lega kya woh?”

Anyways, a lot changed in one month. The guards know me well and as soon as I approached, not three, but five of them saluted. Being a humble human being, I saluted back in my own style. (Yes I am humble :->)

I didn’t had to mention who I came to meet and funny part I didn’t even realize the guards already knew whom I went to meet. Before I could sit at the lobby and have a glass of water, I found myself being escorted to the practice ground, facing few of the famous Mumbai cricketers. They clearly seem to had finished with their practice session, however, I have no idea, whether out of boredom or “I am just chilling”, they were roaming near the nets.

 

Slowly they wrapped up and the person-of-honour had appeared, however, he had other plans of keeping us waiting. I didn’t mind as long as I could admire the field, the empty gallery, antique structure and some occasional hi-hellos.

The interview got over in no time, without we realizing that none of the replies worth it. He kept us waiting, finally he came, he saw, he fooled and left. (Not literally).

 

While leaving we found some television commercial being shot. My eyes even found an Albie Morkel look-alike. But sadly it wasn’t the real.

However, this visit has been a totally different from the first and even the last time I visited. I always used to take out sometime to check the picture on the wall, pictures of Ranjitsinhji, early days of Mumbai cricket, etc. And moreover, the recognition that I have acquired in such a short time. The salutes make me feel good but more than that it’s cricket and the fun of visiting one of the finest cricketing academies.

 P.S. My favourite is still Brabourne!