Mumbai

Never in my wildest dreams I thought that Mumbai will almost become my virtual second home. I first time visited this amazing city in 1996 with my family. It was vacation trip to my uncle's place who used to stay in a Mumbai sub-urb called Borivili. After that i visited Mumbai for the second time in August 2011 i.e. after fifteen years for a placement trip as a part of the placement team since I am doing my MBA. I visited the City of Dreams once again in the month of November 2011 as a part of the placement team again. And now once again I am sitting in Mumbai writing this blog from my office as I am doing my 5 months Summer Internship. This is the third time I am coming to Mumbai in a span of less than one year.

The city in one word according to me is INFECTIOUS. It surely deserves the tag of "The never-say-die city", "City of Dreams". I have been working here for the past three and a half months and i have already come to the groove of things here. They say Mumbai is hectic, unaffordable, dirty, over-populated. I surely second them but then I have learn to look beyond it. It is the City of Opportunities. There is a different kind of energy in this city and its never too late in this city. I have been to places in and around the city for my work as well as a tourist and I have to admit that I am completely in love with this city. This is the city which actually taught me the value of money.

My uncle now stays in a place called Kalyan which is also a sub-urb. Since I am here for only 5 months I decided to put up with my uncle and his family. My uncle's family consists of my uncle, my aunt, my cousin brother and his wife. Incidentaly all four of them works and I am now the fifth member of their family.

I am working with a private financial firm and I am in the sales and distribution department. My office is located in Jogeshwari which is located in West Mumbai. The most important thing about Mumbai is its local trains. They are the spine of this city. The local train network in Mumbai runs through the city and is divided into three zones: The Western line, The Central line and The Harbour line.

I have come towards the end of my internship and its hard to believe that 5months have passed so fast. I feel like i still haven't seen many things in this city but then i am confident that one day I'll come back and work in this amazing city. I have not yet finished with Mumbai. I'll miss waking up early to catch the 7:50 Kalyan starting local for Dadar and from there taking the 8:59 train for Jogeshwari where my office is. I'll miss spending the weekends at Kandivili with Pratik and Namrata and sitting at the Marine Drive late into the night after an awesome dinner of Rumali Roti and Chicken Bhuna at Bade-Miyaan. I will miss beer parties with Pratik and Namrata at their home. I'll miss going back home by Vidharbha Express with my brother not taking into account the risk of being fined as local train passengers are not allowed to travel in express trains without a valid pass. I'll also miss the breakfasts that include either idli-mendu vada or bhurji-pav.

But then every good things come to an end to make avenues for better things. I am looking forward to go back to Kolkata, to my family and friends and make a career for myself. Looking forward to "Maa ka hath ka khana"..:)