Monday, October 20, 2008

Mumbai Meri Jaan

"Aye dil hai mushkil jeena yahan
Zara hat ke zara bach ke, yeh hai Bombay meri jaan!"

I remember visiting the then "Bombay" for the first time as a kid. The rush, the double-decker buses, the vendors, the noise.......just loved it and was amazed by it. I don't know if it was the picture that my cousins painted for me of Bombay, the nice parties that they took me to, or the cute-little apartment that they had Or just the excitement of being in a new place -- that created a mystical, romantic feel towards Bombay in my mind....but I know that the feeling strongly grew its roots in me.

Well, little did I know that I will one day experience the most lovely day of my life in this city. After many a year, I was back in Mumbai. I remember my mom and I sitting on the eleventh floor of a flat that we had rented for a couple of days. My mom told me, doesn't this song seem so apt, sitting here?
"Kahin building kahin traame, kahin motor kahin mill.
Milta hai yahan sab kuchh ik milta nahin dil..."
Well yes, the former part considering that I was marrying a Mumbai-ite the next day!
SO....adding to my enchantment towards the star-studded city, is the city where my husband was born, where I got married, where I honeymooned, where I now belonged...