Adieu but not Goodbye!

I’ve honestly re-written this post more times than I could remember. Even though I’ve known that I’d be leaving Mumbai pretty soon for about a month and a half now, it really hasn’t struck me until now how badly I am going to miss this place. I thought I was gonna be fine, I mean this isn’t the first time I’ve had to say goodbye to a city but again, I haven’t lived there as long as I did here. But is that all? Is time what makes the difference?

 If I open the imaginary photobook that I keep in my head and look at some of the photographs from the past 11 years, they comprise of some of the best memories of my whole life. Mumbai was the city where I found my life partner, some of my closest friends , amazing neighbours who have turned into extended family now and much more my son came into the world in this city. It is the place where I have grown in life, witnessed freedom in sense, wherein I discovered myself, and much more, first place after my hometown that I grew comfortable in my skin. It is always the place which forced me to grow continuously.  

As I write this, I am in my room, my house, a place that I have called home for past 8 years. I will curse this city for the traffic, humidity, crowd and constant hustle. But it is this dichotomy that I find alluring. This city can be brutal, leave you behind if you don’t learn but at the same time offers you so much that it is unlike any other city in the world. The sea, amazing walks on marine drive, beaches always gave the respite that I needed. These are some of the things that are on the top of my mind as I write this but there is so much more. I feel like a baby being abandoned, an umbilical cord chopped off.

It’s curious how just as with people, once you’ve seen a city at its worst you tend to develop a newfound connection to it. And as someone who’s seen the resilience of the city during the various times, incidents , situations , I have developed  a great respect and appreciation for the people of Mumbai as well. And I think no matter where my journey takes me in future, I’ll always carry the Mumbai spirit, the city of dreams along with me.

But of course, a city is only as good as the people you’re gonna remember it by. And I have to say that I’ve met some of the most incredible people ever in Mumbai, whose friendship, guidance & wisdom is something that I’m gonna cherish forever. I’ve seen my fair share of douches too, but hey, that’s supposed to happen, statistically speaking at least. I can name a few here- Dr (Major) Bishwadeep Paul & His wife Deep, always there as friend & guide for us; Nita Kambli and Vishwanand Kambli whose house my son came to call as his second home and had his 2nd breakfast everyday; their children Aniket kambli & Janvi ( Ani & Janju to my son) who treated my son like a prince and were there everytime we needed help or wanted to make ourselves feel young ;  Mohini who came to us during covid and stayed with us for 3 years helping us raise Manu and doing her graduation in same time ; Preeti , my son’s first teacher who would travel 3 hrs each day just to spend 2 hours with son; #AMNaik his first school which has made him grounded; My In- Laws who came to us everytime we wanted. I also met Sachin Deshpande , Divya Arathi Madiazhagan , Navneeth Prasanna Kumar , Radhika Saraf , Romil L. , Sriram Erramilli , Jasmeet Singh , Varun Chopra Gunjan Chopra who have turned into some on my closest friends and confidants. Without them, I would probably have struggled far more and far in depth! They have been there at the lowest ebb and helped me come out of it!

I realize that goodbyes can be pretty hard, but not if I think that this is not a goodbye after all. And I know I’ll come back to Mumbai , for some period as a guest and god willing , back to re acquaint myself with this city as a part of the crowd. For the past few weekends, unconsciously I have been visiting all my old hangouts, trying to live all what I did in 12 years in single digit days, getting carried away by my sense of nostalgia. Even today as I write this, the fact that this is my last post from Mumbai makes me choked up!

To a city I will always call home, Amchi Mumbai!

Dear Hyderabad , I dream that you will turn into such an integral part of our life that Mumbai has been. Looking forward to making memories with you!