“Mumbai meri jaan!” There’s just something about the hustling bustling city that makes you fall undeniably in love with it. Though notoriously overcrowded, it finds space for everyone in its arms, making them feel right at home. With its unique brew of different cultures, the glitz and glam of Bollywood and thriving life, one could say the city holds the spirit of India.
But for someone coming to Mumbai for the first time, it could all be a bit too much to take in. The very thing that makes Mumbai special can also be overwhelming at first glance.
And though its name may have changed from Bombay to Mumbai, this city will forever be a feeling. Aamchi Mumbai.
On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, Twitter user @swatieyz posted a Twitter thread about the first time she fell in love with this city that never sleeps.
Remembering the time she moved to Mumbai in 2016, she began:
Ganesh chaturthi is here and I am thinking about the night in 2016 when Bombay first made me fall in love with the beautiful city that it is.
I moved to Bombay on 5th sep 2016 after spending almost 10 years in Bangalore.This was the day Ganesh festival began that year.
— RiderOnTheStorm (@swatieyz) September 12, 2018
Such an auspicious day to make the move!
She continues:
Last day of the festival, a colleague at work asked if I had visited Lal Baug Cha Raja yet. Till then I used to think that Lal Bagh ka Raja was a famous temple and didn’t know that the idol only remains for 10 days of the festival – just like our Durga Pujo.
— RiderOnTheStorm (@swatieyz) September 12, 2018
Her colleagues and boss joked that she should pay her respects to the Lal Bagh Ka Raja for her move to Mumbai:
So I tell him I haven’t and my manager also joins him and jokes saying that I made a significant move in career and changed cities and arrived in Bombay on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi and how can I not pay my respects to Lal Bagh Ka Raja!
— RiderOnTheStorm (@swatieyz) September 12, 2018
But…
But realizing that I was taking them seriously, they assured me they were only joking and that it wasn’t advisable for me to go there all alone that too last day, new to the city etc.
That was that. I return to my temp company accommodation in worli and go about my evening.— RiderOnTheStorm (@swatieyz) September 12, 2018
Until curiosity took over:
I wasn’t regular on Twitter then and had about 100 followers.
Just out of curiosity I decided to post online and ask “if it was safe to go to Lal bagh ka raja” at that hour and if I will get darshan. It was around 11 pm and had just stopped raining.— RiderOnTheStorm (@swatieyz) September 12, 2018
And Twitter didn’t disappoint. She received positive responses soon enough:
This was probably the first time twitter responded to me (🤣) and I received so many comments all saying “yes”.
So I look up the place on google map – it showed 12 mins walk from my guest house.
I changed and left.Had the most incredible darshan in flat 25 mins.
— RiderOnTheStorm (@swatieyz) September 12, 2018
She had a gala time at the festival even with limited cash in hand:
Now I only had 110 bucks on me. I bought one ladoo for 10 bucks and a photo frame of Ganesh which the seller quoted 120 bucks but I bargained and settled for 90 😁. But it was such a happy bargain that I gave him 100 instead. That photo hangs in puja ghar of my house in Calcutta.
— RiderOnTheStorm (@swatieyz) September 12, 2018
And I happily started walking back home. Clicking pictures of people on the street. I would have kept clicking but my phone died. And thanks to multiple exits of the pandal I had no clue where I had exited and how to get to my guest house from there.
It was about 1 am by then.— RiderOnTheStorm (@swatieyz) September 12, 2018
Lucky for her, help arrived at the right time:
I walked for a while and then managed to get a kaali peeli
taxi.
Told him name of the building and he said he knew where it was. Only after reaching my guesthouse, I realised I didn’t have cash to pay him. Had no cash with me in my room as well. And I told him so.— RiderOnTheStorm (@swatieyz) September 12, 2018
And then she witnessed the true spirit of Mumbai:
I suggested him to drive me to nearby atm. But this guy said it wasn’t needed. Said maybe god sent him only to help me.
He was a Muslim. But was so proud of the Ganesh festival which he told me was “jaan of mumbai”.
I offered him half of the laddoo and he happily accepted.— RiderOnTheStorm (@swatieyz) September 12, 2018
This. This right here perfectly depicts why Mumbai has such a special place in everyone’s hearts.
She ended her thread on this note:
Aamchi Mumbai, indeed.