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LEAVING HOME AND COMING HOME



The sounds of taxis calling out to you. The constant nudging of people rushing to work. The mysterious woman that announces the train destinations every second of every day. That's the city i'm coming from. Or leaving.

I'm flying down to Delhi today. (or have flown and reached by the time i get to put this post up!). Going from the city that has been my home for the last 2 years to the city that has been my home since i can remember, has been surreal. I have loved Mumbai with my whole heart, one it stole 2 years ago, when i trotted the taxi ridden paths trying to grasp the ins and outs of the fastest city in India. Every time someone mentioned Bombay, I'd feel this innate sense of pride at the idea of it being my home. I felt like i belonged. I felt like nothing is impossible here.

Every time I'd return from a trip away, the taxi ride back from the airport would overwhelm me and give me the sense of coming home. I'd stare at the South Mumbai skyline, in all its spectacular glory from the back seat of the taxi cab. I'd be happy to meet everyone, hear the street noises and see people still out at a late hour.



However this time seems different. I don't feel the same sense of emotion and attachment. I'd feel broken once i come back. The noises that i loved once, have started annoying me now. The freedom seems too much and the speed catches me off guard. I think it's just the series of lows (something i talked briefly about here) that i have faced for the past one month that's making me talk like this. Who knows.

I think after a while, this city just gets you down and maybe you have to go out there and find out what you loved about it from the start. Or maybe, like the feelings i am getting now, you'd just have to let this one go and find another to keep. Or maybe you just need a break. Distance makes the heart grow fonder. Right? I'm in the midst of trying to rekindle my relationship with this city and in the process of it all am being guiltily dreaming about something else.



So hey Mumbai, I'm kinda going through a rough patch and i'm not sure what's going on. Be kind to me this time, ok? And i do love you, you know, deep down....somewhere i do. I shall try to search for the excitement that i felt 2 years ago.

Any of you feeling the city blues?

(also it's my birthday today! :D) 
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Comments

  1. Unknown19 August 2013 at 11:25

    Yes. The city at times feels alien. And cold.
    But at such times I think of the people in it :)

    Smile pretty one :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mana26 August 2013 at 11:38

      True. That is largely what's holding me still and providing comfort :) Some great people i have met here!

      Delete

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