Friday 28 December 2012

The Mumbai Salsa

"Ready to go?", my mom asked looking at me.
No. I am scared. I am scared that something bad will happen. What if there is no such hotel as we have booked. What if its not decent. What if I get lost? What if....
"Yes. Ready", I said pasting a reassuring smile on my face. I wish I would feel as confident as I was portraying myself.
Seven days in Mumbai. An all girls trip. Phew.

"Four of us in one coach and six in another. You are in the four wala coach Gelato", Charvi said smiling mischeviosly, clearly knowing the effect it will have on me.
And undoubtedly, she got it.
"Oh. No. We will be alone. No. I will stick with the six. Please...", I start hyperventilating.

Well, it  was just the start of my hyperventilating at every small thing, and all my friends grabbing that opportunity to tease me.
The train journey and the next day went smoothly, and it was the first evening in Bombay.
It was six in the evening, and as usual, I was scared. Rest 7 had left(I am sure they were testing me and deliberately left me ), and it was   just Surbhi, me  and Vishakha.
Finally we got one, and we were just near the hotel when Surbhi got the call about the dinner.

"Yeah, we'll bring the dinner. Dont worry", I heard her talking on the phone.
My heart rate accelerated, and nearly jumped out when I heard Surbhi say to the autodriver "Bhaiya, koi acha dhaba par leke jaane ka?". While she was talking to him, I didn't know what to do. Laugh on her wannabe-mumbaikar-style or be scared due to the fact that its dark and we are alone in a new city.
I took out my cutter(yes, yes, I agree I am paranoid) and told Surbhi in hushed tones "If something bad happens, I am going to  first kill you with this".

On coming back( sahi -salaamat), I was greeted with a big hug from Anushka, "Oh Geet! Are you okay. You must be worried sick", she said with an amused expression.
"No. No. I was the brave on, it was Surbhi who was shivering, but I kept saying to her it'll be okay", I added sarcastically.
"Seriously Geet?", a shocked Divya asked.
"Yeah Right. She had the cutter open, ready to use the whole time", Surbhi said.
"Oh. I thought...I was just imagining Geet as the brave one...." Divya said laughing and everybody joined in, discussing how impossible that would be.
 If looks could kill.

The subsequent days went by smoothly. We went to bandra, pali hill, (hoping to catch a glimpse of any movie star(=Ranbeer Kapoor) or any other tv star(=karan kundra); typical delhi girls!), mannat(dont tell me you dont know who's house it is- Anushka would have killed me if I don't mention Mannat :P), bandstand, juhu, versova beach( where we saw only dogs and crows fighting for ulte-white-mare-hue-jheenge), haji ali, linking road, colaba, ferry from India Gate, and the Colaba police station( Ayushi's phone got stolen-had to add this).

But the best was the time we spent on the marine drive, eating our subways, quietly( there was not a moment  where you would see 10 girls sitting quietly:P),legs dangling with just the sea and us. Beautiful it was.
And sitting there I realized that as days had passed, I had shed some of my fear and learnt to sit back and relax. That nothing bad is going to happen, not thinking about the  million possiblities of something wrong.

Sitting there with the cool wind kissing my hair, I realized that  Mumbai has taught me to enjoy every moment, taking one step at a time, living in the now.
Every place that we went to, every bite of pizzas and pastas, every auto ride, every taxi ride, every small fight( what do you think- 10 girls and no fights-are you kidding me?), every second, every moment was the highlight of the trip which helped me realize that if I keep my mouth(rather, my pessimist mind) shut, I 'll be better able to enjoy. Better able to acknowledge the fact that a trip like this maybe my last chance to live a carefree life, to learn to be independent, to enjoy the view without thinking about the hundred wrong things reverberating in my mind, to take my Leap of Faith.


P.S. Anushka, Ayushi, Charvi, Divya, Gunjan, Surbhi, Vasudha, Vishakha and Vishesha: Thankyou for really listening to my million -wrong- things and my lame jokes.
P.P.S. I was thinking of giving the title as Bitchy and Catty (rather Ayushi's hindi version) but then thought against it- bordering on vulgarity:P

7 comments:

  1. awsum it is!!..i relived each n evry moment spent wid u all while reading ds blog..
    p.s-gud dt u mention d epic cutter episode :P:P

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    Replies
    1. vasudha I had to mention it!
      thankyou so much:)
      am glad I could bring out the memories:*

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  2. You know you've had a fantastic trip when your friend blogs about it it and it makes you feel all mushy and gooey from inside. Well done Geet, I loved every bit.

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  3. Although this was a very compact version, see if you can give a more detailed account, something like a travelogue. Because every place we visited, we collected a thousand memories. :)

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  4. knowing u so well i cud imagine each of ur reactions in all the accounts u mentioned...sounds like an effin awesome trip:D:D

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