My love ...I Miss You ...

You are my love n you are my desire,
Your charming face - ever as radiant as fire,
What I am today is but a part of you, know many and not a few,
What you are forever is but - 'a Diamond in the middle of the blue',

Earlier I thought you sounded like explosions,
and so do people now, even across the oceans,
Its now that we relate you to a goddess,
Known to everyone, for your financial prowess,

You are the prowess that can lend your shoulder to the poorest,
and then make him known to the world as one of the richest,
You stand for love and care, happiness and welfare, driving away despair,
Thinking about my life without you would be honestly be a nightmare,

Yes, you are the city of my dreams, the city that radiates friendly beams,
You are the city that never sleeps, the city that never weeps,
The Gateway, the commercial capital,the spirit - of a nation of billions ,
The city that's the love and desire of the hearts of sixteen-millions,

My love, you are the city that raised me up.......I miss you!
You were, and still remain, a treasure to me... Will you?
Yes ..... forever!
'Bombay meri jaan......Salaam Bombay!'

My first attempt at writing a poem in my blog...and I wanted to write about the city that I miss everyday...a city in which I was brought up!

Born in a small town named Karaikudi in TN,I had to spend the first two years of my life in Agartala - the capital of Tripura, one of the seven sisters in India's North-East.I don't remember much of Agartala city, but I do remember hearing some sweet words belonging to one of the sweetest languages I've heard off, Bengali . That's all about Agartala.....moving on to Bombay( haan doston - ' aamchi Mumbai ! ').....when I was jus two I was pushed into a nursery school where I could babble only in my mother tongue (..and that too which only my mom could understand....). It took a couple of years more for me to pick up both my mother tongue and our national language to express myself. I could learn the regional language Marathi only in my secondary ...where I chose Marathi over Sanskrit(for my luv of the people n the culture there!)

This post is exclusively for all that I n my friends (who left aamchi Mumbai and Navi Mumbai) miss.......the ONGC Colony, the KV-ONGC school, the J.H.Ambani School, the Bombay-Pune NH-4 and the Expressway with its greenary and the Ghats, the Sion-Panvel Highway, the Palm-Beach Road, the Vashi Bridge,... every node(CIDCO's CBD Belapur, Panvel, Nerul, Khargahar, Vashi, Sanpada...)and railway station(the Juinagar one being filmed in the movie 'Rhythm' ) in Navi Mumbai, ......the CST/VT Station, the Gateway, the Taj, Marine Drive, Nariman Point, the Juhu,the Chowpatty, Nehru Planetorium , the Science Centre, the SG National Park, the gardens of IIT Powaii,.......the airports at Santacruz/Sahar, the South Indian Temples in Nerul and Chembur, and .....the Suburban trains ( that sound of '.....la jaanari dheemi/tej local .....ahe' in the announcements are still earworms ), the Bhel Puris, the Vada Pavs, the Pav Bhajis, the innumerable tasty food serving hotels, .........and many more ...the list'll never end.

Special mentions : The luv, affection, industriousness, courage, resilience(who cam forget those horrible deluges, blasts and attacks..) of Mumbaikars and the inimitable speed and style with which they carry themselves...

I miss the city that pays almost half of the Nation's taxes, the city of the rich, the wealthy, the poor and the poorest. A city where slum and skyscraper stay side-by-side...the city of Bollywood...the city of technology( we wont forget the BARC n IIT)...the busiest Airport in South Asia, Seaport in India, a city that has railway belonging to two divisions(Central n Western)...the Dalal Street...

The city never stops growing...from Bombay to Mumbai, from a metro to a megacity(probably the most complex urban machinery in existence), Greater Mumbai is surrounded by many other cities(about 4 Municipal Corporations).....and ...My heartiest wishes to the upcoming Mega Landmark of modern Mumbai - The Bandra-Worli Sealink..................I jus miss you, Mumbai!

If I ever get a chance to relocate...I'll come back to you!

Here is an unknown ex-Mumbaikar saluting the spirit of Mumbai...
Salaam Bombay!