Essence

I woke up today, commenced with my usual routine (which involved rolling over and going to bed again). And as usual I went out for a smoke and remembered something. Yesterday a good friend of mine left for his hometown. Before he left he said that he didn’t feel like leaving and Bombay was starting to feel like Bombay again. I wondered why he said that. All this time he was here, Bombay was still Bombay, what made it so special for him all of a sudden?

Bombay being one of the most crowded cities in India does share something special. It’s not the jam-packed streets or the hawkers on the road, the ever vigilant policemen, potholes or even the traffic that makes this city so “beautiful” – I quote, “It’s the people around you that make it special”. Sincerely, the memories and bonds that one holds with his or her friends makes this city so enchanting. Whether it’s a smoke shared between two guys on a sunny Sunday afternoon, a drink in a shady bar or a cup of tea from a vendor outside your college on a rainy day, it is something special that you hold onto for the rest of your life when you look back.

Friends that stick by you through your thick and thin or the ones who come to you in the middle of the night when they figure something’s wrong with you or the ones that simply show up at your door at 11 p.m. and pull you out from the safeguards of your home and throw you into a wild party. Even in college there are a few who make me look forward to catching a 6:49 a.m. Churchgate fast from Andheri  station and then spending the rest of the lectures with them and doing all sorts of retarded things… life would be miserable without them. Then there are the ones back home, the ones who are practically your family… probably the ones you have shared your fondest memories with, the ones that shape you and make you the person you are.

 

So if you are around Bombay, the city by itself isn’t something mystical, it’s the people around you who make it that interesting. Whether it’s a walk by Marine Drive or a late night stroll at Juhu beach, if you have friends these things seem to be much more than ordinary. Even through the fast-paced life that everyone in the city endures, you always have some time to take a glimpse around you and cherish the people you are sharing the cab with or taking an early morning jog or a walk to your college or the ones you go late night riding with. Remember, the city has a lot to offer if you have something you can give back. So don’t look away on a sunny day, after a long ride home, tired and weary because in all that chaotic madness and stress, you may actually find that special something.