Yeh hai Mumbai...meri jaan!!!

India has so many states, but if you want to see every state living together, enjoying together, and helping each other – Welcome to Mumbai! You will find each state of India here in smaller parts. Be it Orissa, Punjab, Gujarat, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, U.P., Bihar or West Bengal – there is a mini form available. Mumbai has turned out to be a migrants’ city and a commercial capital, where communities break and re-form. Still Mumbai investigates nothing (we have the example of the several scams and bomb blasts, riots and underworld killings), ruffles no one’s tempers and uncovers no roots. Amit Trivedi’s song explains Mumbai in a supreme way.

“Hui Nahi Subah, Par Roshni Hui Jaroor Hai, 

Soti Jab Duniya, Yahan Jagne Ka Dastur Hai!
Yahan Chalta Nahi Hai Koi, Bas Bhag Rahe Hain Saale, 

Aur Jo Ruk Gaya, Uska Jeena Fizul Hai!
Yeh Hawaande Chal Thok Dal!
Sapne Leke Aate Hai Yahaan Saaare, Kismat Footi Duniya Looti Haare, Kabhi Kandhon Pe Yeh Bitha de, Kabhi Tujhe Yeh Raunde!”

              MUMBAI is the city of Dream, city of joy and Bollywood. The city which never sleeps. If you look at Mumbai’s map, it looks like “A crocodile without tail”. Mumbai is the city of conflicts. This city is business-minded and no-nonsense kind of city but on the other side it also has glittering Bollywood which is full of fantasy. New-York’s Suketu Mehta calls Mumbai as “Maximum City” and Mumbai’s Amrut Gangar calls it a “Bottomless Pit”. Mumbai “is” and “is not” a safe city. Here ladies can go to home at 2am (after cocktail party) without any fear and can also get victimized for rape at 12 noon!  Here you will find millionaires (like Abdul Karim Telgi) who throw lakhs of rupees in a single night on a bar-dancer and you will also find children suffering from mal-nutrition and sleeping on streets. Here you can see crowd waiting outside “Big-B’s bunglow - Pratiksha” but no-one even bother to look at street-players doing some tricks. Mumbai has greenery in Sanjay Gandhi National park as well as it is concrete-city full of tall buildings. This city has only two seasons – summer and rain. Starting from a 6-months child to 25-years youngster to a senior citizen – everyone is a fan of Mumbai.  

           If Mumbai is abode for Bollywood then Bollywood has also given lot of love to Mumbai. Number of songs dedicated to Mumbai are much more than any other city of India. Starting from 1956, C.I.D.’s song “Aye dil, hai mushkil, jeena yahaan, jaraa hatke, jaraa bachke, yeh hai Bombay meri jaan” followed by 1957’s “Main Bombay ka babu, naam mera Anjana” from Naya Daur depicts exact situation of a Mumbaikar. 1978’s Don, Amitabh Bachchan, performs on “Yeh hai Bombay nagariya, tu dekh babuwa” and on similar tone Bappi Lahiri asks in Taxi no. 9211 – “Shola hai yaa hai bijuriya…Bombay nagariya..” If you look at the history, Mumbai has faced 1993-riots, train bomb-blasts, terrorist attack on Taj, Heavy rains and floods – so “Yeh Mumbai shaher haadso ka shaher hai…yahaan roz-roz har mod mod pe hota hai koi naa koi…haadsa”. Whatever it is, for all the migrants - "Bom bom bom bom Bombay, Bombay hum ko jam gayi". We all are proud of this colorful city because “Raat ko barah baje din nikalta hai, subah ko do baje raat hoti hai, dariya kinaro wali, filmi sitaro wali, yeh haiiiiii….aamchi Mumbai...aamchi Mumbai…”

Mumbai's Dabbawalas (A Six-sigma company)

Marine Drive - Queen's Necklace

Lalbaug Cha Raja - Visarjan

Gateway of India

Crowd to say 'Good-bye" during Balasaheb Thakarey's funeral

Bandra-Worli Sealink

Bori-bunder station (Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus - formerly Victoria Terminus)

Mumbaikars during floods and heavy rains

Mumbai traffic

Mumbai local train

Vada-Pav stall on Mumbai streets

           Yes, Mumbai is dirty, it has dinginess, it has corruption, crime rate has gone up, heavy-rush and traffic everywhere, people running for trains-buses, it has Asia’s biggest slum (Dharavi) – but I’m proud of it because Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and Bharat-ratna Lata Mangeshkar belong to Mumbai. I love Mumbai because it has Lalbaug cha Raja, Siddhivinayak and Mumbadevi temple, it has Bollywood, it has Jahangir Art Galary and Kanheri Caves. A big part of the Mumbai is alive on Vada-Pav, Anda-bhurji and Pav-bhaji. We love eating street-side pani-puri, Mewad ice-cream and Matka-kulfi. A Mumbaikar will first think of his own existence, then his family and then anyone else (if there is chance to do so). But if you are in trouble, you will find a help anytime from anyone – that’s Mumbai spirit. Mumbai’s public transport is the best in India, that’s why the local buses are called B.E.S.T. (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport). We don’t get tired of waiting for bus or the push-pull in train. Each Mumbaikar is aware of numbers like “Nau-chalis”(9.40) or “Saat-bees”(7.20) – these are train timings. There is also a conflict whether to call it MUMBAI or BOMBAY. There are two stories: the word MUMBAI has come from Mumbadevi – a goddess of tribal koli fishermen from Konkan. The word “BOMBAY” has come from Portuguese. When they came here, they used to call it “Bom Bahiya” (meaning a good gulf or bay). From that they named this island Bombaim and then it became Bombay.

Mumbai is rich, Mumbai is poor.

Mumbai is fast, Mumbai is slow.
Little bit sweet, and little bit sour,
Sometimes it's hot but not too more.
Mornings are energetic and evenings are electric.
Noons are lazy but Nights are crazy..
And any one you ask, he always say "M busy"
Dude, life in Mumbai is not so easy...!
There is lot of Masti with little bit of Maska...
Welcome to the city that can't live, without Bollywood Chaska.!
Sev puri and bhel puri are all Mumbai chaat..
Relishing it with spicy chutney is not an easy art..
From popcorn to ice-cream, all sold on cart,
Mumbai o Mumbai you're always close to my heart.!
Where local trains usually run on time,
And violently rushing for a seat is not a crime..
Here 3 PM for lunch and 12 AM to dine,
People face hardships, but still say "it's fine".!
From Mount Mary in Bandra to Mumbadevi in Town,
And ISKCON in Juhu to Haji-Ali in Mumbai's Crown,
Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati and Bengali, Everyone together celebrate Id and Diwali,
Holi is colorful and Christmas is cheerful,
Spend some time here and your life will be unforgetful.!
Billionaire to beggars, all found in this city,
Be careful dude, this place is a bit witty..,
Overall this dream-world is huge but pretty,
Mumbai o Mumbai, you're wonderful city.
Because...she is like mother to millions.
After all a mother is called,
MUM in English,
BAA in Gujarati &
AAI in Marathi.
That’s MUMBAI....

Mumbai (by Fahim Sayed)

They call it a city that never sleeps,
Dreams at large; everything in heaps
Buzzing all the time, different people different cons,
It got its roses and it got its thorns.
City of murmuring traffic and twinkling cars
The multi-millionaires, the movie stars.
We’ve got it all;
The vada-pav and the dance bars,
Crowded local trains, almost on time,
Spirit of its passengers always sublime
City where honesty is rewarded,
But bravery is crime.
Success and failure are in twilight,
City where changes happen overnight
You might be swept if caught off sight,
Got lucky, then you be on a flight
Multi-lingual, multi-religious,
City of unusual weather,
I wouldn’t be wrong; if I say,
It’s a city where country comes together,
Every city has its ups and downs and she is no different.
She gives me an identity and makes me proud.
City where I was born and city where I want to die,
My city! My Mumbai

Yeh hai Mumbai (by Alphonso)

A City where everything is possible, especially the impossible.
Where lovers first love and then marry, Where there is place for every Tom, Dick and Harry
Where telephone bills make a person ill, Where a person cannot sleep without a pill.
Where carbon-dioxide is more than oxygen, Where the road is considered to be a dustbin,
Where college canteens are full and classes empty, Where Adam teasing is also making an entry,
Where a cycle reaches faster than a car, Where everyone thinks himself to be a star,
Where sky scrapers overlook the slum, Where houses collapse as the monsoon comes,
Where people first act and then think, Where there is more water in the pen than ink,
Where the roads see-saw in monsoon, Where the beggars become rich soon,
Where the roads are levelled when the minister arrives,
Where college admission means hard cash, Where cement is frequently mixed with ash.
This is Mumbai my dear, but don’t fear, just cheer, come to Mumbai every year!