My Life System #61: Mumbai

Except for the few years that I spent in the US, Mumbai has been home. From education (school, college and undergrad) to 30+ years of entrepreneurship (and building two proficorns) – Mumbai has been with me through all my ups and downs. I have lived in the same neighbourhood in South Mumbai for the past 50 years – with one change of apartment. The name changed along the way from Bombay, but the city did not (in a positive way). It is what has given me my happiest moments and best memories. It is, as has been variously said, the city of dreams, the city that never sleeps. Much like the only other city where I have spent maximum time – New York. Yes, the traffic moves slowly, the trains are always crowded, the construction all around seems to have shrunk the roads – all gets taken in one’s stride as this is a city of motion, constant movement, and a propelling energy. Mumbai has imparted its own character to me – like it does to most others who make it their home.

I grew up with the centrality of the BEST bus in my life. Every commute was by bus. The train became a part of life when I went for my IIT Agrawal classes to Dadar, and then during IIT days where I had a decision to make each time – Western (via Andheri) or Central (via Kanjur Marg or Vikhroli). When I started working, it was the roads and the car. The bus and train became joyrides after Abhishek was born; they were the ‘best’ way for him to show the city I loved and which was now his.

The theatres and now the multiplexes swept me away into different worlds. The restaurants whose menus I have memorised are the much-needed weekly diversions – Swati to Status, New Yorker to Cream Centre, Quattro to Spice Klub, Soam to Govinda. The 5-stars of Taj, Trident and Oberoi are where I have done innumerable meetings. The malls enchant – Atria for a short time with their food court, and then Phoenix. The never-far-away sea adds to the beauty. The airports and their various avatars through the years were the start and end points of journeys, each with a mission filled with hope and optimism. And of course, the bookstores – Strand and then Kitab Khana. On the occasional afternoon when Abhishek and I walk around the Fountain area, I am transported back to my IndiaWorld days – every street brings up a past of meetings and customers. Those were the days before Zoom and mass mobiles and inboxes; appointments had to be taken on phone and deals had to be struck in person. Mumbai gave me my first breaks.

For the past two decades, work has been at Lower Parel – what used to be the mills area of Mumbai, ripped apart by strikes. Today, it is a crowded, happening place – yet another testimony at the constant reinvention that the city undergoes. The various infra projects now will once again transform, connecting points which earlier seemed distant – just like the flyovers and the Sea Link did. It is a city of change – and even as it changes, it also changes each one of us who cannot imagine life anywhere else. Mumbai was, is, and will be part of my ‘life system’.