Whether described in best sellers or 8 oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire...the city continues to intrigue and attract.Bombay has its own beauty and elegance. Where there is shabbiness and slums on one hand....there is also the splendor of the arabian sea,beaches and promenades. One can find the foot prints of the British Era in stoned pavements,churches and buildings and also the stark modernity of today in Nariman Point and other areas. Its known for its fashion, movie industry, slums, underworld and what not. Its buzzing with life....here you can find young girls doing Rasta Shopping in Bandra and Colaba...Youngsters lounging about in cafes,pubs and discs in Andheri, Juhu etc.....Industrialists and executives rushing to their work in Nariman Point,Bandra Kurla Complex and elsewhere....Leather goods and thousands of other legal as well as illegal products being sold in Dharavi..the largest slum of Asia. Bombay has a lot of courage too....whether the 1993 Bomb Blasts...or the floods of July 2005 or serial train blasts of 2006 or recently the terror attacks of 26/11....the city has withered all of it and much more,but its remains unbent and fastidious.....the spirit of Bombay and its people have enabled it to get up everytime and rise like a phoenix.
The spirit of this magical city comes from its people who come from everywhere...it does not belong to any specific creed or state. Its an integral part of the indian nation and belongs to every indian citizen. Such people who create these differences should be arrested and tried in court for trying to create differences and unrest among the people.They should be asked why their band of goons only attack poor students from UP and Bihar who come to appear for All India Exams and where were they when the terror attacks were happening in Bombay....why Karan Johar, the film maker has to apologize for using the word "Bombay" instead of Mumbai in his movie "Wake up Sid"....why it cannot be Bombay and why it has to be Mumbai???...In America, a lot of cities were named by the countries who made their colonies there like Los Angeles, San Francisco to name a few...why havent these names changed there???....Its high time that people understand that a city is made by its people and not its name....we should be Indian first and then belong to any state not vice versa.
It says it all in the words of Sachin Tendulkar "Mumbai is for every Indian" and thats how it should be. Irrespective of whatever anyone has to say I will always love this splendid city.
Salaam Mumbai :))
