The day after Tomorrow

Bluedart is renowned to be very reliable in delivering stuff. So today at 3 pm it was a surprise to have not got a mail from the Operations Desk yet regarding my expected courier. At 3:30 I finally decided that it’s time to enquire and sure enough 10 minutes later I had the ticket in hand, with the train scheduled for tomorrow night. At first awed by the sheer size, density and the pace of life at Mumbai it now feels that I have been here for ages.

Of all the cities I have been (and it would be futile to sit down and start making a list) there has been something about Mumbai that sets it apart. There are many places to talk of – Bandstand, Lonawala, Fuel, HN, HRC, Elephanta, South Bombay, Juhu, Malls, Vashi etc. to name a few and countless experiences to remember and recollect – WC matches at Convo Hall, the last locals, EAD, the MBA party, Impact Day, chocolate truffles, IMG nightouts etc. But perhaps the fondest memories that remain are those of the night walks in the rains. And this is a thing that I have now started to grasp, of how one can find the greatest joy in the smallest and simplest of things, the fact that it’s all in the mind. It would be hard to find another place which holds something for everyone. The city holds an amazing capacity to provide equal quantities of joy to all of its residents, irrespective of the amount of cash at their disposal.

As the time to leave approaches the amount of ‘lasts’ are beginning to burden me. From the ‘last time I am meeting this person’ to the ‘last time I am getting my clothes washed at the laundry’, with many others in between. Tonight is going to be the ‘last’ night here, followed tomorrow by the ‘last’ day in office, involving many ‘last’ meetings, and then a ‘last’ visit to room 228 at ‘The Lady of The Lake’ at IITB (which now feels like the third home, after home and IITR), ‘last’ tum tum ride, some more ‘last’ meetings, ‘last dinner’, a ‘last’ auto ride to LTT station, a ‘last’ look at Mumbai at midnight and the next day be no more.

There is a touch of excitement at homecoming, a tinge of sadness on leaving, a sense of gratification on the stay, a reminiscent of the memoirs, and a feeling of hope, that maybe this won’t be the last.