It has been more than 2 years now since I am living in Mumbai, but still everything seems different. The Mumbai Locals, the regular beggars, the morning chaos on the roads, all seem different day after day.
October, 2, 2011 was the day I first stepped in this city of dreams. In these 2 years, I have lived in 3 suburbs of Mumbai, namely, Mulund, Matunga and Grant Road. Being a GET(Graduate Engineer Trainee) in Larsen and Toubro Ltd, my first stop in Mumbai was the GET hostel on the so called “Dumping Road” of Mulund, where we were provided accommodation for next 11 months, before we find our new den. The hostel was very well maintained and well equipped with facilities like gym, TV, Table tennis equipments, badminton court, etc. It was a 15 floor building.
I was allocated the dual shared room on the 11th floor of the building, from where the beautiful scenery of Yogi hills was visible. I spent a good 9 months there and made beautiful relationships with people from different states who joined L&T; just as I did. A group of around 12-15 people, which included me, went to office together and came back together. We enjoyed playing games, watching cricket and football matches and going out on weekends together. The hostel stay was one the best periods of my life.
Later in the month of July, 2012, I moved out of hostel and shifted to Matunga at my uncle’s home. The stay here was way different than it was in Mulund. There was no group to hangout with, there were no lobby mates to tease one of the neighbors, there was loneliness all around. But still this city buzzed its way in my life. Everyday was a life full of hectic schedule. It was not because I had friends who were part of my daily routine, but it was because the traveling time which has increased considerably and increased was the lethargy due to it. The total traveling time in a day, when in hostel, was maximum 1 hour which increased to 3 hours a day in Matunga! Still the life moved on and I passed my days with a hope of getting back the kind of life I had in hostel. But the day once passed never returns.
Later in the early January, 2013, I got a good news. My father got transferred to Mumbai and I got a chance to be with family. Since then, I have been living here in Grant Road with my parents, enjoying the family life which I had lost way back in my college days.
But still a pinch of pain stays in my heart as I miss my hostel days. May be it was the company of people I’ve been with or may be it was the jolly environment I’ve been in. Whatever it may be. I am happy as my bowl of life is now filled with cherishing moments.