Airport Lounge musings

I am sipping a steaming cup of pre-dawn coffee in a sleepy waiting lounge. The usual hustle bustle of harried parents with toddlers, old couples, lone businessmen and singletons surround me. They are all in transit already, right here in the lounge. They are either thinking about their coming or going. They are not here, savouring this moment. Maybe, because unlike me they are not leaving a chunk of themselves behind.

Mumbai is  not a city but a spirit that becomes a part of you. Right from the horror of our roads to the in your face celebrations of life that are a 24/7 phenomenon. From the instant pick me up  of our impulsive  roadside Pani puri moments with our friends to the hanging for dear life out of a crowded train. Mumbai is a spirit where you are commanded to live loudly, brashly and unashamedly from dawn to dusk. Because Kal kisne dekha ? If there is a city that believes in second chances it is this.  Mumbai is not the city I grew up in. It’s my spirit.

My second chance is taking me far from this gyrating, pulsating cradle of human drama to the far opposite end of the nation. And the familiar tale of an aspiring entrant into a new city begins all over again.