My work has often taken me to various parts of India and abroad, giving me the privilege of meeting many people of many different places and cultures. My recent visit to Mumbai and Pune, although not my first visit to either city, was an exciting one too, especially because of the short but sweet acquaintances I made on the way, meetings with old friends in between work, and experiences of local cuisines.
My flight to Mumbai was in the late afternoon, and when I arrived at Delhi airport I found that all flights have been halted because of heavy rains and wind in Delhi. When I went down to the scheduled gate, I found an Indigo staff patiently answering many questions from the distressed passengers. About ten days earlier, while travelling to Lucknow, I had been stranded in the same airport for about 7 hours, and had already learned the right questions to ask to figure out the situation. While doing so and asking where our particular aircraft was coming from, what was that flight number, and whether it has taken off from its earlier destination, I got into conversations with other fellow passengers. Among them was an ex-merchant navy captain with whom I ended up chatting during the wait.
We talked about flights, monsoons, work, politics, and Mumbai landings which are often scarily bumpy during rains. He told me about a time he was travelling with one of his colleagues, and as the flight badly bumped in the air close to Mumbai, his colleague had asked him to check his palm, saying, “Would you check your lifeline once? I can see that mine has shortened a little!” He was a good speaker and liked telling stories! When the boarding was finally announced, we walked towards the end of the queue and it took me a minute to realize that it had bent and continued further towards the left. I was standing at
the bend and casually said that probably the people in the queue will not mind if we just join the queue at that point as we had been standing around for quite a long time. The ex-captain wasn’t convinced about the plan, and said “Well, they probably won’t mind if you get in, but they certainly will if I do!” We walked to the end of the queue and finally boarded. His seat was 5C and mine was 13C. As I moved on to my seat I greeted him and he told me “Have a safe flight”. I laughed and said “You too”.
As expected, closer to Mumbai the flight became bumpy and jerky and my face became strained. I was sitting on the aisle and the person on my right aisle started talking to me, about what book I was reading and about its content. He was trying to get my attention off the fear. Meanwhile we had started to descend and the man sitting by the window in my row drew my attention… “M’m, nothing will happen, look you can see the city now!”
I usually book a prepaid taxi from Mumbai airport instead of Ola or Uber because the place from where one has to board the taxi is much better. I went to the counter and found another long queue in front of the counter. I was already delayed and felt tired. As I looked around, I found another counter at the prepaid taxi booth itself, right next to the other counter, with a board saying “Cabs driven by women drivers”. A solemn looking girl was sitting there at the empty counter, though the rest of the counters were crowded. I headed to that counter, paid and took the slip, thinking that I had never been driven by a woman driver and it might be nice. I went to the prepaid taxi parking where a person directed me to my taxi, which had an unmistakably male driver, chewing khoini and not looking very nice. I got into the taxi without a word and explained where I wanted to go. I was late, and I did not want to get into a conversation to figure out the reason for this mismatch of expectation.
The taxi driver turned out to be quite friendly! Once I finished making a few phone calls to my colleagues and the friend I was supposed to meet for dinner, he started chatting with me. He was from Allahabad where his wife and children stayed taking care of his mother. He had come to Mumbai more than 20 years ago because his grandfather, father and brother had come here before him, and it was expected that he would too. I asked him whether he liked it here, and he said that they have a mohalla where other villagers from Allahabad also stay and that it is like one big family, and he does feel at home except for missing his mother and wife and children. He asked me about my whereabouts and I told him.
After crossing the Sea Link, we both noticed that for a Monday evening, the Mumbai roads were surprisingly empty. It had rained, so the weather was cool and the Guru Purnima moon was out in the sky. On finding such traffic free roads, the driver was particularly ecstatic as I was the last passenger he was driving before going home. He told me “Madam, kuchh to hai ki road itna khali hai… aise Mumbai mein nahi hota hai…. Madam, aap aye aur bahaar aaya … dekhiye sab traffic signal bhi pohonchne se pahele khul raha hai!” I told him that I wish he gets empty roads too to get back home fast, and he told me “aap ka bauhat bauhat shukriya!”. We reached Colaba from the airport in 35 mins. The driver told me that I could keep his number and could call him next time I come for work, and I happily took his number. I asked him what his name was and he smiled at me and said “Madam, likh lijiye… Khan”! I thanked Khan and headed into Abode Mumbai, the hotel I was staying at.
I had never stayed in a hotel in Mumbai before, be it for work or for my PhD at TISS. This hotel was originally an old building called the Landsdowne House, and I went to the reception / lobby which was on the first floor. It was most welcoming, and looked more like a very cozy restaurant. A young man seated with a laptop received me and told me that he would attend to me in a few minutes, and that I could take a seat anywhere I liked. There were two more people who were finishing formalities with this person. I called my colleagues who had arrived a day earlier for their meetings, and they came out looking most satisfied. Once I got my room, I was told that we had been upgraded
from a simple to a grander room because they were available. The entire ambience was warm, welcoming, homely and beautiful. Added to the warmth of the staff and the rooms was a library attached to the seating area where one could hang around anytime. On one side of this lobby was a wall rack where there were small packets of Parle G biscuits stacked with a label reading “Please take”!
I learned from my colleagues that earlier that morning, for some accidental reason there was no tap water for a while, causing some inconvenience to the lodgers. To compensate, the staff had left a bottle of wine in every room with a note that said “Sorry for the inconvenience”! My colleagues were thrilled enough to leave one bottle in my room for a surprise welcome! I was already extremely charmed by then, and looked forward to a chat and dinner with my colleagues and a friend who lived nearby at Cafe Mondegar, which was a minute’s walk from the hotel. The Gateway of India was also just a couple of minutes from the hotel, and we went there to take a stroll post dinner!
The next day, we had meetings to finish in an industrial area closer to Mumbai and then headed towards Pune by road. It was a fantastic drive, especially in the monsoons. We crossed Lonavla and found numerous small waterfalls all around!
My friend had recommended a few places in Pune. One was Kayani Bakery which is a famous place for biscuits, cheese papdi, sponge cake, and many other things. It appeared that at any point of time during the day, lots of people queued up there and kept shouting names of the different things they wanted to buy. There were about ten people on the opposite side of the counter, and you were lucky if you could catch anyone’s attention! The other eatery that completely delighted us and especially me (coming from Kolkata) was Cafe Good Luck (since 1935!) where the keema fry and pao was to die for!
One day, on our way back from a meeting, we had stopped in a famous local joint which served Marathi thaali, etc. When the waiter came to take the order and we asked what the thaali menu was, he blurted out the list in a distinctly Bengali accent. It turned out that he and many others working there were Bengalis, and came to work from Ranaghat. When Bengalis meet unexpectedly in a non Bengali speaking space, they act like fish out of water that have just been put back into a pond! This was no different! Every time I travel, I do feel that the beauty of a place is not its scenery alone, but its people who make memories so pleasant with their brief interactions!
Sunny Side Up 