The other day Bhagya called me for my appointment and came to meet me at my office. While settling down and starting her laptop for presentation, she mentioned about the difficulty she faced searching my office. (Thank god my colleague had gone out for a meeting! Shiv Sena Bhavan is ` the’ landmark of my office and he being a loyal shiv sainik,( like many others ) cannot accept that anyone staying in Mumbai does not know where Shiv Sena Bhavan is ! )
` Am still new to the city - just six months ; but trust me, Mumbai is not what I had heard and thought of’ Bhagya.
She was quick to read a big question mark on my surprised face and continued,` I was told traffic in Mumbai is very bad but I didn’t find it any different than Chennai or Bangalore where I have spent my life so far.’
Well, I being a pakka Mumbaikar born, brought up and staying in Mumbai for all my life so far, have no idea about traffic in other cities and hence, no comments to pass. What surprised me most and made me think and share this with you is her other comment.
` I thought there would be much more fun staying here with lot of interaction with neighbors , especially Diwali , Holi would be a lot of fun, but here nobody seems to care ; my neighbors don’t even seem to note my very existence forget any interaction . We had a better life in Bangalore then ‘ vented out Bhagya.
I wondered what would have given Bhagya such a romantic picture of Mumbai. Being a non-Maharashtrian she surely wouldn’t have read P.L. Deshpande’s `Batatyachi Chaal’; even Sai Paranjpe’s movies that depicted such a social life are long forgotten. Lot of changes have taken place; when people shifted from chawls to towers, they discarded everything – even relationships. We try to show our modernity and trendiness by wearing `being human’ t-shirt but do we understand the message ? Do we behave like one ? Our humanity and feelings are restricted to feeding dogs on the road. Such a public demonstration is a part of mod life style.
I was reminded of last week’s insidence. My childhood friend lost her mother last week so I had gone to meet her. While my friend came to open the door for me, her very next door neighbor happened to step out of her house and seeing my friend, casually asked my friend why she had so many visitors the previous day. Four years back when I lost my aunt suddenly in a road accident, none of my cousin’s neighbors bothered to ask. Are we so engrossed in our personal life ? or are we trying to run away from the reality ? or is everyone being too egoist and personal?
I could not tell Bhagya that her neighbors not taking note of her very existence is not because she is not a mumbaikar ( had she been she surely would not have had such expectations. It’s so down market and intruding, you know! We are extreeeeemely privacy conscious. ) but because it’s the part of Mumbai’s life style and culture – the modern elite culture!
Ye hai bambai meri jaan.
By the way, that reminds me of one Urdu sher – truly applicable to the mod mumbaikar :
जहॉं में मै ना मानता कभी एहसान किसी का
अगर मेरे कंधों ने मेरी लाश उठाई होती !
खूप छान लिहितेस ग! आज आयुष्यच आपण इतके जलद बनवलेय की घडाळ्याच्या पुढे धावण्यातच आयुष्य संपून जाते. पैशापाठी धावताना आयुष्य कधी संपले पत्ता लागत नाही. आपण जे केले त्याचे समर्थन करून स्वतःचे समाधान करून घ्यायचे.
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