Joyous Road

Over the past few weeks, I have been repeatedly asked why I walk from Churchgate station to and fro my office, or why I always to prefer to meet my friends on Marine Drive. My simple answer - "I like this road!" If one stands at the flyover near Marine Lines station, the view along both ends of this sweeping stretch of concrete is breathtaking. On the one end is the tall and varying skyline of Nariman Point, with the shorter, more uniform apartments of Navy Nagar further beyond. Closer to the flyover are the cute and pleasing curves of the Art Deco buildings. Walking towards Charni Road, the sea constantly in view and inviting me to get lost, sometimes in deeply personal memories and fantasies, and at other times in thoughts of the wider world beyond, various gymkhanas with their cricket matches and other going-ons come into sight. All the while Chowpatty gets bigger and clearer, and the Malabar Hill always beckons - looking crowded, yet green and peaceful. I remember that occasionally whenever we were going home from my dad's office years ago, the neon signs displayed in front of the buildings in Malabar Hill used to fascinate me. I still like watching them at night :)

Marine Drive signifies all that I love about Bombay - the hustle and bustle, the shining lights, the never-ending stream of people, the personal space that still exists despite the crowds, ruthless commerce managing to produce things of such beauty and even grandeur and the sea lapping the city's shores and inviting its inhabitants to think big. There is much that's wrong with Bombay, and I don't want to gloss over these shortcomings. But walking along Marine Drive, everything seems right. And I fall in love with Bombay all over again :)