Bombay
In Bombay briefly, for the first time, I really liked the city. I don’t want to say whether I liked Bombay for this reason or that, because in my mind that would reduce the whole experience. But perhaps one thing that took me by surprise represents my impression of Bombay/Mumbai.
It was a copy of Saamna, the Hindi version, on a newsstand. It had, predictably, a big Bal Thackeray picture on the front page, saying something or the other about something or the other. The attitude was, ‘This is Mumbai, you better listen to me.’
Below the picture was a small news item wondering whether a three hours long meeting in a Mumbai hotel between Yuvraj Singh and Deepika Padukone meant they were going out.
That’s right – on the front page of Saamna, with a photo of Deepika Padukone.
Google Blogs Alert for: bombayBombayBy Shivam Vij In Bombay briefly, for the first time, I really liked the city. I don’t want to say whether I liked Bombay for this reason or that, because in my mind that would reduce the whole experience. But perhaps one thing that took me by
I remember my first trip to Bombay for an interview in 1964 August. It was raining and I took a taxi from VT to a building behind Old Yacht Club, near Taj hotel. Apparently servants of the people staying in Taj used to stay in the building; it was by then a hostel for TIFR research students. It was raining all the way and when I reached the hostel, some of the workers were huddled around the stairs on the ground floor and playing ‘Barsaat mene humsmile tum.. ‘ on an old 78 RPM player. It made my day. Of the next 15 years I spent there, the first 7-8 were wonderful, learning and some research. It was a very vibrant city and cosmopolitan but Bal Thackersay and some riots against Madrasis in distant suburbs started. I do not know how it is now. Though I visited a few times after 1979, they were short stays in guest houses and no real wandering around the streets.
come back soon, there’s more to this mad city than that. Also, hook up with Balasaheb na…