The Hindu Business Line : Mumbai's myriad ways

If you've lived in Mumbai for most of your life, you will know this city as a teeming, seething metropolis, with too many people and too many things happening ...all at once.

If you've lived in Bombay — now Mumbai — for most of your life, you will know this city as a teeming seething metropolis, with too many people and too many things happening all at once. A friend of mine, who came from Kerala at the age of 19, wanted to leave almost immediately; then he decided that if he survived here for five whole years, it would be a supreme test of his manhood. Ten years later, he was still in the same PG dig in South Mumbai, and in fact, when he went away to the Gulf for what promised to be a lucrative job, he came right back to the city.

Mumbai does that to you. It gets on your nerves, but it gets in your blood. You vow you're going to slap the face of the next person who jostles you on the local train; then your heart goes out because you realise she needs the seat so she can shell peas for the dinner she will cook after a long day at work.

If you aren't careful, you can get conned at every street corner. The beggar mafia is strong and will find innovative ways to make you part with your money. A woman once came up to me at Flora Fountain, pointing to a crowd in the distance and wailing that a loved one had died and she needed money for the funeral. "Don't give it," said the cabbie, who could see the crowd clearly from his seat. "That's no funeral, that's a film shooting!"

Then there was the Australian diplomat I knew who spent a long time watching a beggar woman with a baby while he savoured a few beers. "I'd decided to give her some money on my way out of the pub," said the gentleman, who was still a newcomer to the city. Even as he emptied the last of his glass, he saw another woman take the baby and sit in the same spot. "It was like the shift changed," he said. It wasn't long before this gentleman became as hard-hearted as the rest of us Mumbaikars are reputed to be.

A city, always on the go

This is a city of a thousand different shifts — forever changing, always on the go. It's a city that forgets its history quickly, even that incredible story about how Lord William Hornby changed its face.

As international urban management consultant Chandrashekhar Prabhu reminded realtors at a recent Confederation of Indian Industry seminar, the single biggest project that transformed Bombay was the connection between Breach Candy and Worli.

"Hornby, who was the governor of Bombay till 1784, believed that Breach Candy and Worli needed to be linked," Prabhu said. "So he applied to Surat for permission and it was rejected. Then he went to the country headquarters in Calcutta and it was rejected. But he went ahead.

"Surat sent a show-cause notice; he tore it up. Calcutta sent a show-cause notice; he tore it up. Then he was given a suspension letter and he tore it up. Surat tried to dismiss him, and he tore up the dismissal letter. Surat and Calcutta then went to the Queen and she sent a fleet of seven ships to get him. By then the link was complete, inaugurated, paid for, so instead, he took seven ships back and said: `Who are you to stop me!'" And the rest, as they say, is history.

They just don't make leaders like that any more, and if there is anyone who comes close to Lord Hornby's kind of determination, it is perhaps former Public Works Minister Nitin Gadkari who went ahead with the 55-flyover plan in Mumbai even though so many people opposed him. But that's another story.

Celini's smart move

The upmarket life in Mumbai is alive and well. There is tons of tinsel to be found, and it is definitely a city that believes in the Good Life. Italy is the flavour of the month right now, and you can bet, thanks to Sonia Gandhi, that everything Italian will suddenly become fashionable. So Celini, the Italian `home-style' restaurant at Grand Hyatt (with completely non home-style prices), has just introduced its "wholesome" Sunday lunch, with Chef Franco's unlimited pastas and pizzas, accompanied by unlimited soft beverages such as smoothies, Italian coffees and a whole range of desserts from the dessert station. Check out the Tiramisu or Panna Cotta.

Celini has even thoughtfully organised a whole lot of activities to entertain kids while you dine, and for that non-home style service alone, I would pay the Rs 850 plus taxes for their Special Sunday Lunch. Most upmarket restaurants in Mumbai tend to shoo away the brats, so this is a really smart move.

The aesthetic experience is built into your dining here; the word `Celini' means `moon' and all the artwork by Sunil Gawde reflects its various phases. The restaurant showcases a wood-fired pizza oven, rotisserie and charcoal grill — all built into its show-kitchen designed by Molteni of France.

This city's cool

In certain circles, you would think Mumbaikars do nothing but party and go to good restaurants. As quizmaster Derek O'Brien says in his excellent book, The Mumbai Factfile, however: "Myth, money, accents, big dreams, midnight snack urges, there's nothing that Mumbai can't handle... The city where it can always get better or worse, packs in more twists than a regular daily soap." Yet, as Derek points out, there are simple stories to tell, and everyone has something to say.

If there is something about this city that you would like the world to know — an interesting insight, a heart-warming experience — write in. If you are a Mumbaikar, this space has been reserved for you.

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