It’s known by many names, but most fondly call it as the city that soldiers through the night; or she who never sleeps. That’s right folks, I’m talking about Mumbai.
From the jam packed Sion traffic to the breezy stretches of the Marine drive, this city has little that one might not spot in an urban giantess that is Mumbai. With a paradox as big as the lush green Sanjay Gandhi national park sitting square in the middle of the bustling city, one might wonder what aspect of this city exhumes the infamous sparkle and charm that attracts people from over the country towards itself like iron filings do to a magnet.
In the city that was once upon a time one of the strongholds of the British empire, the archaic and grand structures of South Bombay testify to what was once a period rich enough to have impaled itself in bold letters on the timeline of Indian history.
It isn’t for naught that this city is notorious for being an insomniac, for it is the city which is driven from within.
The immense force that pushes this city to its limits is also what keeps it alive and makes its gears turn. If Mumbai was a person, she’d probably make a great motivator. The general drive displayed by the masses is immense enough to validate the common belief that this city is the temple of labour, and that to survive, you must slog – or at least die trying.
The design of this city could easily be an architectural student’s delight. What with all those grand archways, elaborate fountains and those grandiose buildings, one might easily get mesmerised by the beauty of it all.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus is also one of the world heritage buildings, perhaps visited by thousands of people everyday. Many an infamous food joint are also generously dispersed throughout the city; be it Khau galli or the Mohammed Ali road.
For a city that has a million cars and a billion two wheelers, it is in fact quite unsurprising that Mumbai has to deal with a lot of traffic on a day to day basis. To regulate traffic on a scale of a million cars per day is no teensy bit of work; it involves careful vehicular administration and active traffic regulation – both of which are the city’s important aspects born out of need. The city has been designed to function all day, everyday – with ease and grace.
It wouldn’t be wrong on my part to say that Mumbai forges an immortal connection with those who set foot in her lands. You may leave Mumbai, but Mumbai will never leave you. And that, folks, is what the connect is all about.
I think that the whole point of this blog is that the massiveness and the diversity of Mumbai can’t be constrained into mundane limitations such as words.
As someone who has been born and brought up as proud Mumbaikar, I think that the only city capable of leaving me breathless is this magical seat of dreams kissing the Arabian sea; for no city in the entire world can ever be Mumbai.
The made of great initiative by Tata motors is what inspired me to write this post. Want to get your own car in this city of dreams? Check them out!
http://madeofgreat.tatamotors.com/
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