The City I Live In, The City Of Angels...
Anyone who talks about the resilience of Bombay should realize that the term is passe... Frankly, now the only way left to define the soul or pathos of the slum city is the Belligerence of Mumbai...
The anger, the irritation is palpable, on the streets, the offices and perhaps in the worst way of them all, the trains... One tends to wonder what exactly it is that the world at large is so pissed off about... Perhaps the traveller from Virar is pissed off that he has to live half-way to Ahmedabad and then travel all the way to town... Travel for about 2 hours each way, put in 10 gruelling hours and travel back...
The traveller from Virar is also pissed at the traveller from Goregaon... After all, he saves 40 minutes, doesn't he? While the Goregaon guy is just pissed off that he has to live in some place with the word 'gaon' in it... Which makes him doubly mad at the people who live in Santa Cruz... Not only are they 30 minutes closer to town, but also live in an anglicized sounding place...
The rage comes out on the roads and in the trains... Everyone is ALWAYS pissed off... And the heat does nothing to help, either... Just adds to the sweat, which adds to the sickening smell...
In the middle of all the dirt, sweat, heat, grime... You suddenly look up to see a man whom you immediately label 'Rapist!' in your mind... He is bearded, has pock-marks and a huge ugly wart... You gingerly sit in his rickshaw (Murphy's Law-He's the only one who'll agree to drive you)... You try to avoid his gaze.. Just mumble directions - 'Aage se right le ligiye', 'Bas yahi pe uttar digiye'... And then, he looks at you, smiles (In your mind, the smile is lecherous), and says , 'Madam, paise mat do... Mahine mein ek baar hi customer milta hai jiski boli itne mithi hai... Aap chilate ya chidte nahi ho... Rehne do, paise chod dijiye...' And drives off...
Bombay is the only place you can be pissed off, annoyed, hate the world at large and justify labelling an innocent man a rapist and have the same man make you feel like a worm and at the same time, make your day...
The anger, the irritation is palpable, on the streets, the offices and perhaps in the worst way of them all, the trains... One tends to wonder what exactly it is that the world at large is so pissed off about... Perhaps the traveller from Virar is pissed off that he has to live half-way to Ahmedabad and then travel all the way to town... Travel for about 2 hours each way, put in 10 gruelling hours and travel back...
The traveller from Virar is also pissed at the traveller from Goregaon... After all, he saves 40 minutes, doesn't he? While the Goregaon guy is just pissed off that he has to live in some place with the word 'gaon' in it... Which makes him doubly mad at the people who live in Santa Cruz... Not only are they 30 minutes closer to town, but also live in an anglicized sounding place...
The rage comes out on the roads and in the trains... Everyone is ALWAYS pissed off... And the heat does nothing to help, either... Just adds to the sweat, which adds to the sickening smell...
In the middle of all the dirt, sweat, heat, grime... You suddenly look up to see a man whom you immediately label 'Rapist!' in your mind... He is bearded, has pock-marks and a huge ugly wart... You gingerly sit in his rickshaw (Murphy's Law-He's the only one who'll agree to drive you)... You try to avoid his gaze.. Just mumble directions - 'Aage se right le ligiye', 'Bas yahi pe uttar digiye'... And then, he looks at you, smiles (In your mind, the smile is lecherous), and says , 'Madam, paise mat do... Mahine mein ek baar hi customer milta hai jiski boli itne mithi hai... Aap chilate ya chidte nahi ho... Rehne do, paise chod dijiye...' And drives off...
Bombay is the only place you can be pissed off, annoyed, hate the world at large and justify labelling an innocent man a rapist and have the same man make you feel like a worm and at the same time, make your day...
posted by Ruth at 11:27 AM
1 Comments:
I loved this post! Why are you not writing anymore? Start writing again! :)
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