Saturday, December 24, 2011

Bomb To Bang


Its been too long a time since I updated my blog… So here goes my 2nd attempt to keep my blog alive…
 
It was around July – September 2009 when we bought our home in Bangalore. The decision to move out of Mumbai took a while for my family. First we thought of staying in Mumbai after my father retired from NABARD. So, we started home hunting in Navi Mumbai, Thane and other places but could not find a suitable house. If we did find, it was out of our budget. Then again we started talking. During the talks we were thinking of cities like Hyderabad, Chennai & Bangalore. Chennai was discarded by my brother, my mother & me. My father wanted to stay there as it was his home and we didn’t frankly because none of us liked that place. He was the minority. In such cases minority generally loses. Next came Hyderabad. This was the place where my mother was born & brought up. Much like Chennai for my father, my mother wanted to move to this city. As expected was opposed by my father, he was supported by me (well I would have supported anyone who would not want to move to a place which meant I could stay in Mumbai) my brother was in two minds. Well I don’t actually remember how, but Hyderabad was also ruled out. Next came Bangalore. This was a tough one for me as I was not able to convince my family otherwise, as they had strong arguments…. It was an overnight journey to Hyderabad, mother was somewhat ok with that, it is a 6 hour drive to Chennai so dad was happy with that. The weather was the biggest pulling factor. I tried my level best to point out negatives but had to raise the white flag due to the 3 major winners they had. 
The New Year 2010 arrived. And as usual it was sucky. It had already become a tradition. I was going to join IIPM for my MBA. One last ditched effort by me to stay in Mumbai. I told my mother and father I’ll do my MBA from Mumbai. And I was counting on this, I threw all kind of crap to reason with them, but NOOOO…. As it was all kinds of crap they flushed it without sympathy…. I know you’ll think why show sympathy to crap, but if you are thinking in such lines then you are losing the metaphor. 
Well enough of me crying to stay in Mumbai, no plan seemed to be working. My joining was from the 24th of May. So we booked the flight tickets to “Bangalore” for the 5th of May. The D-Day had come. My family was given a wonderful sendoff and we arrived in “Bangalore”. It did not sink in that I had left Mumbai and will not be going back for a long time. It felt as though I had come for a vacation….
As our home was still being constructed we were staying in a rented apartment. Our home is in the outskirts of the city and connectivity via public transport is nowhere near to how it is in Mumbai. My college is around 25 km away one way. So I wanted a bike to survive in Bangalore. Now there was some debate whether I should get a bike which was resolved by my pestering. And I got my Suzuki GS150R. The bike is a wonder. More on that maybe later. My college had started. Found some really good and close friends. It started to sink in during my first few months in college that I had moved out of Mumbai which was followed by some really long days when I felt time had stopped and also some really long nights and some…… well I don’t want to remember them….. I cannot put it words the sinking feeling I felt every time I used to relive some moments in Mumbai and come back to reality. I know I’m still crying about Mumbai, can’t help it.
I have had some good times in “Bangalore” but still felt Mumbai could have been better. My friends here always say if I talk about Mumbai, “ Abbbeyyy, Fir shuru ho gaya tera rona”. I use to laugh it off…. But I used to feel really sad and no one understood…… Time passed on and I could not do anything but adjust. The work load from college was good to take my mind off of Mumbai. The best memory of Bangalore I have is that I don’t remember what I did my last sucky new year’s eve…. A good memory of not remembering one :-P :-P
It’s been just over 18 months in Bangalore and I still have to come to terms to that fact that I have moved out of Mumbai……………..
Now some of you may feel ‘what a stupid guy, making a small “moving” so big’. To such people I cannot say anything and they should be glad they don’t have to go through this and if you have gone through such emotions and still feel the same then I really don’t have words…….. This may have been a sad, senti, useless (or any other wonderful adjective) blog for you but it is much more than that for me. Have left out so many details to make it a small one…….
Well that’s about it for now…. Really hope it won’t take me such a long time to come back with my third…….. 
Over and out.
PS: This may have been a biased blog. But it is only my opinion….

7 comments:

Anoop (Ricky) said...

Mumbai does rock buddy.. and no matter what, it is difficult for any place to replace mumbai.. Come back soon and often and lets keep our attachments to the city alive and kindled.. All the best for your MBA..

Through The Looking Glass said...

Hey Ricky... nice to hear from you... Kismat me likha hai to Mumbai wapas aaonga...Thanks... Hows you???

Sudhamshu said...

I remember having similar feelings on leaving Mumbai. It's difficult to believe that it's been 8 years since I left that place. I know how hard it is to get adjusted to a new place. You might find Bangalore a bit daunting because you don't know the city like you knew Mumbai. The friends, the favourite joints, the secret places & routes and the like. Liking a place is like getting to know more about a new friend. Spend time with them, learn about their past, find their best traits, their weaknesses and before you know it you like them just as much as any other friend you ever had; even though they are completely different.

Through The Looking Glass said...

Hmmm... I guess only time will help.

Addicted To Chaos said...

I hope you are now feeling a little more comfortable in Bangalore. We all went through this when we left Mumbai. Give it some more time, and Mumbai will only be that place you still enjoy visiting, but don't really need to live in.

You do write well man. Try to come back more often!

Through The Looking Glass said...

Hmmm... Trying to adjust... Just visited Mumbai week back and memories rushed back to me... It will take time I know but how long is the question... Will be updating my blog shortly...

Through The Looking Glass said...
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