Marine Drive, Gateway Of India, Juhu Beach, the ancient temple complex Banganga, Dhobi Ghat, Rajabai Tower, Elephanta Island, and the latest wonder the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.
Mumbai, City of Joy and Splendour, breathtaking, mindblowing, stunning beautiful and at the same time overcrowed and fighting against poverty and dirt. City of Superlative and Extremes.
Mumbai!!
The Megacity reaches out into the Arabian Sea like an extended palm.
It is built on 7 islands, this fact alone gives a whiff of magic. Reading their names, like Parel, Mazagaon, Mahim or Colaba, let the fascination increasing.
Doesn't it sound like a fairytale? A city formed out of islands? It reminds me to my childhood
when i was reading a story about a princess and 7 swans. These 7 swans were 7 princes who had been under a spell of a witch. I like the idea that the swan princes are somehow related to the seven islands of Mumbai.
Sometimes i even start rewriting the old fairytale mentally.
Maybe the princes never had been redeemed and out of grief they flew over the oceans and ended up in the Arabian Sea. There they turned into stone and the islands arouse out of the sea.
I like the word Mumbai, i like Bombay too though.
At times I wonder if there is any other city on this planet which has changed it's name so often as Mumbai did.
Granted, they all are related to Bombay or Mumbai..but still they are different.
Honestly the change of names was more caused by the different western emperors, who all wanted to take possession of this fabulous piece of land, which seemed to be a promise of cornucopia and prosperity.
A Portuguese writer had happened to be the first who mentioned the region as Tana-Maiambu in 15th century. Tana most probably because of the neighbour town Thane and Maiambu appears to be a refference
to Mumba- Devi, the Hindu goddess after which Mumbai got its Maharashtrian name currently.
But the Portuguese used some other term for this area as well. Bom Bahia, Good Bay. Neglecting the not quite correct grammatically form of Bom, which is masculine and referring to Bahia it should be the female Boa actually, this was the expression the English invaders adapted and hence for the western part of the world a new city was born named Bombay.
For me both names sounds thoroughly positive ,one is originated from the geographical aspect and the other one from the mythical and religious one, but still i can understand that the city was renamed to Mumbai.
The relation to religion is an important topic in India.
I've never been in Mumbai in person, at least not that way that i could recall real memories, still i was there..millions of times in my dreams and thoughts.
My Love to this City is based on knowledge i've absorbed out of books and documentaries and it grew due to what friends, Mumbaikars were telling me when i peppered them with questions.
I don't remember exactly, when it has started and actually it doesn't matter anyway.
While studying the city map i'm taking long mind walks on the roads of Mumbai. Everything seems to glister.
Even the inevitable traffic, in which everybody stuck every time. Millions of yellow/black cabs, auto rickshaws, cars, motor bikes, and bicycles are fighting for every inch of space to go ahead. Their communication skills is defined by the ability to horn. Different tunes of horns. Some harsh and loudly, some more like whining, but always insisting on the same message: Get out of my way!
The tumult seems to come out of hell but actually it's just a sign of the vitality and energy this city is filled up with to the brim. The air consists out of a cacophony of sounds. Sometimes i wonder how any living being there is still able to hear and dont suffer numbness already. They say people can get used to almost everything or maybe the Mumbaikars already did the next step in evolution. Their sense of hearing might be in more high gear or it has gained the ability to select the sounds which will be heard and forwarded to the brain.
Mumbai has so many facets..so much of culture life..so much of beauty..so much of dirt!
It is a city which takes its fascination out of its disaccord and contrasts.
Mumbai is ancient and modern, old and new,
It has a touch of British glamour from the 19th century and modern highrise buildings, but also large slums spreading haphazardly in every direction. The local commuter trains were the most packed,but it takes only a short boat ride and a few steps away from the beaten path to escape the city and be alone inside a forest.
Its the most populated metropolis on earth ...but it has beaches in the backyard.
The city parties till dawn yet prays at the daybreak.
One will find luxurous restaurants next to chai-walas and candy makers in the streets.
High technology harmonizes perfectly wonderful with century old traditions.
Everything in Mumbai, music, art, dance, religion, lifestyle is nothing but a symbol
of the love for life.
The city's dynamism narrates from its glorious past, its vibrant present and its vivid future.
Mumbai has conquered my heart and soul long time back already and all what i have ever seen, read or heard about it, i want to feel now too..with all my senses!
I am outta here.. :-)
