Skip to main content

LOVING A NEW CITY #02


DO AS THE LOCALS DO

Sights, sounds, smells, and taste—everything feels different to the touch in a new city. The language might stop you in your tracks and the sincerity of people amaze you. Moving to a new city is all about adapting, about cracking that language barrier even if you sound like an alien, and about believing that this will be your home for the foreseeable future.

When i first moved to Mumbai, starry eyed, things were drastically different. The sounds were louder than what i was used to, the food laden with spice, and the city did not believe in the idea of sleeping at night. I loved it all! The local trains were a city in itself, housing a different language and a different subculture. Two days, and I was walking and talking (sometimes cussing!) like someone who'd been hopping off fast trains her whole life. I pretended. I stood in line and pretended like i knew what i was doing. And slowly i did actually know.

I memorized all the routes, going over each passing visual in my head. I'd walk the usual routes, chat up grocery store owners and on the way discover small quaint places that could be my regular hangouts. It might not be much, but the best way to know a city, is to know the everyday life. Wake up when the city wakes up, eat what the city eats, hang out at the regular jaunts, and fall asleep in the wee hours of the morning just when everyone back home is waking up. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for taking the time to comment, I appreciate each one. Blogger doesn't give automatic notifications for replies. So please check the notify me button or check back to read the replies!

Popular posts from this blog

FOR ONE | BANANA NUTELLA PANCAKES

*Ahem* Disclaimer: I am not addicted to Nutella. Yes, i may use it in all my recipes! And well…yes i do talk about it almost every other day. And i do really really like it. I still believe i am not addicted. So, there! I love recipes that yield one serving. Living on my own has enlightened me about the fact that there is no shame in asking the price of a single tomato or a few onions. And while all the recipes online come with family sized portions, i love when i can figure out the correct proportions to satisfy my lonesome hungry tummy.  I was in food heaven when i had tried these pancakes in Thailand. Did i mention I'd eat this every day? And thus, on a bored and sunny day, when i had not much to do but give my cat company, i decided to revisit the good ol' vacation days!  First attempt: Pancake utter fail. (Note: Never ever try and make pancakes on a burning hot stove. Just don't.) Second attempt: Hold on till i go devour these! ( Thanks to mother...
3 comments
Read more

LOVING A NEW CITY #01

FIND FRIENDS.  Moving to a new city is substantially less scary when you have a friend along. Obviously, it does not take away the frustrating running around, but it does make things a whole lot easier. You'd want a friend when a broker calls you at a random hour to a random location, you'd need someone when your house floods because someone left the tap on and you'd especially need someone when you just want to laugh at a funny-annoying situation. It could be that one friend that moves in with you, or just someone you met at work..try and keep people closer when you're in a new city. I moved to Bombay along with a lot of other students from my batch. With everyone as lost as i was, it was easier to navigate things. I could not imagine getting used to the city on my own. I'd probably slip down the station stairs and no one would notice. (a long running inside joke with my first friend in Bombay!). So thank you those few first friends in Bombay and in Del...
Post a Comment
Read more

A SILENT SCREAM

It's not easy to talk about something you aren't even sure exists. It's also not easy to talk about something that makes you different from others and in so many ways almost identical to them.  Sweaty palms, that sinking feeling in your heart, the panic that rises in your stomach and the fear that things will always go wrong no matter what. There isn't one name to this problem. I'm not really beating about the bush, nor am i wanting to name it outright. I've been through depression before. It could be the same this time, or completely different. i can't snap out of it. No matter how hard i try and no matter how many times i tell myself its going to be okay. It's like a living being that sits in my stomach and waits and waits.  I panic. I scream in my head sometimes and i just want to sit in absolute silence on most days.  I cope through it through food and through long spells of couch therapy. It's not really coping i guess…more li...
3 comments
Read more