The City That Never Sleeps

Friday, 11 February 2011 19:44

Whether you call it Mumbai or Bombay, the spirit of the city rises above and beyond its name, writes Ramya Sarma.

The average denizen of the big bad city that is Mumbai will be found striding out on any working day, busy trying to get from here to there without losing too much time. He or she will be headed for a destination without really bothering too much about any obstacle lying in the way, crossing streets without watching the lights, dodging traffic, hopping over dividers and fences, swerving around other pedestrians and occasionally muttering what could be a curse, a prayer or even just that age-old question: Is it Mumbai or do we still say Bombay?

For the native, Mumbai comes naturally, since the founding deity of the settlement is Mumba Devi, after whom the city was named. Her temple is still seen in the middle of the densely populated Kalbadevi district where streets are narrow, winding and full of adventure. A visit to her shrine is a must for travellers and those returning to the city alike–whenever I return to Mumbai after an extended stay elsewhere, I visit the goddess to pay my respects, as if to assure myself that I am indeed home.

The Portuguese named the city Bom Bahia, or good harbour, after an exclamation by a soldier who sailed to its shore in 1508. When the British acquired the land as a dowry from the Portuguese princess Catherine de Braganza upon her marriage to Charles II in 1661, they had a little difficulty in its pronunciation, and called it Bombay instead. That name stuck for many years, going back to the more vernacular version only in 1995, when the local government decided that it was time to throw off all vestige of the Raj.

Although vestiges of the British legacy of the spectacular Indo-Saracenic architectural style were left intact–from the main railway station, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, to the Prince of Wales Museum (now given an Indian name: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sangrahalaya), and the General Post Office–the letterheads of all functionary offices were changed. Becoming Mumbai angered a lot of people, from individuals to companies like Bombay Dyeing, for whom Bombay came more naturally.

But the spirit of the city–whether called Mumbai or Bombay–rises above and beyond its name. A visitor flying in at night can look down upon a galaxy of lights of all colours, that symbolise the many cultures and communities that have made this metropolis their home. The airport is at the edge of Asia’s largest slum development, a maze of tiny alleyways winding through shanty towns, where some of the most expensive products in the world are made for export to the West, from carpets to jewels to exquisite garments to leather goods.

Originally Mumbai was a string of seven islands that have gradually been joined by causeways and land reclamation to make one long, narrow collation of concrete structures. Often dubbed the “city of gold”, the region is a destination for millions of migrant workers, from construction labourers to would-be-actors, who come to Mumbai to find their own El Dorado. Many have no homes, spending their lives on the streets, in dark warehouses or in slum colonies, which stand in stark contrast to the luxury apartment blocks that tower overhead. The city is indeed a golden one, but only for the lucky few who have struck it rich and found super-success. It is also called the “city that never sleeps”, since the roads are rarely empty, business never stops and life is an endless circle.

The city is a study in contradictions. South Mumbai, called SoBo by the young elite, has a high snob value. This is where the original rich built their homes. These charming mansions and bungalows have now largely been demolished in favour of multi-storey apartment blocks where a single square foot of space is exorbitant to buy though rarely, if ever, available for sale. The city stretches long and narrow towards the western suburbs, noted for the Bollywood stars who live there, or towards the foothills of the Deccan plateau, where a satellite city called Navi Mumbai (New Bombay) has taken root across a creek onto the mainland. Beaches edge much of the coastline, while treacherous quicksand and sharks making some of them dangerous, others are dotted with tourists, sun-worshippers, vendors and multi-star hotels.

Perhaps the most significant of these is the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, in the district of Colaba. Situated across the road from the Gateway of India, the Taj was created by an industrialist-entrepreneur who vowed to make a structure better than anything any foreigner had ever conceived. Today, it is a landmark the world over, and often the location for celebrity visits. Mumbai residents have a soft spot for its beauty, elegance and cachet, and many of us felt personally violated when terrorists attacked it in November 2008, defiling its corridors with bullets and blood.

For many, Mumbai is synonymous with Bollywood, the world where dreams can, and often do, come true. The Hindi film industry, with its epicentre in the western suburbs of the city, is home to stars such as Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. Film City, located in the jungle-clad hills, is where stories are created and captured for audiences all over the world. The television world has its own share of star power, and has its focus not too far away in Andheri, Malad and Goregaon, beaming a new culture into homes everywhere.

Mumbai is as famous for its street food as it is for its stars. What Anthony Bourdain called the “Bombay burger” is the ubiquitous vada-pau, a heavy, rounded, spicy potato cake stuffed into soft bread and munched together with hot fried green chilli. Almost every street has its share of stalls serving up steaming plates of fragrant food, from the soya-and-chilli sauce drenched Chinese noodles to the soft white rice cakes, or idlis, eaten with sharp coconut chutney, to the crunchy bhelpuri. Zunkha-bhakar, rice pancakes eaten with a hot paste, and puri-bhaji, fried wheat pancakes with spicy potatoes, are washed down with a refreshing sweet sugarcane juice, a real treat on a hot day. Chai, half-full glasses of thick, sweet, spiced tea seals the stomach and helps digestion. And kulfi, a creamy frozen treat related closely to ice cream, demands a return trip.

The commuter train system is a symbol of modern day Mumbai. The electric-powered carriages wind their way through the heart of the city, taking hordes of professionals from home to work and back every day. Fast and exciting, this is the easiest way to get from A to B while avoiding the traffic that makes Mumbai such a nightmare to travel in. Always with something to see out of the windows of the train, there is so much happening inside too, from card games to prayer sessions and even occasional births.

Trains are where much of Mumbai’s go-getting character can be seen. A fisherwoman from the Koli community sits by the door, her ears glinting with heavy gold and her bejewelled fingers holding up a brand new, hi-tech mobile phone to her ear. An aspiring television actor learns her lines, patting her meticulous hair into place, her clothes and makeup all set to go. An executive barks orders over the phone while his fingers scuttle over the keyboard of his laptop. And, there will always be a couple staring longingly into each other’s eyes as they are pressed together in the crush of the second-class compartment.

This is the city that never sleeps, the city of gold, the city where dreams can come true. This is Mumbai. As the song goes, “Yeh hai Mumbai, meri jaan!” (this is Mumbai, my dear!)