I checked my watch.
Oops its Wednsday….
And it is 23:30 hrs!
O my God..
I changed my clothes and rushed to the Legendary St Maichael Church.
I went there and did what I wanted and had to do.
Then I noticed, as usual, people “walking” in kneeling position down to the front.
I wanted try it out and see what it feels like.
So I started the 200 hundred feet “walk” what later seemed like journey of a life time.
I finished 25% easily. Then my knees started hurting like hell… like I can’t move forward..
Its impossible; I thought of giving up.
But I decided.. giving up a small thing like this will amount to giving up on your passions.
Without standing up, I sat in Vajrasan for a few seconds and resumed my “journey”.
After sevaral “breaks” and “walks”, it looked like I was close.
I looked back to see how much percentage I had covered. Oh, it is 50% only.
So equal or more amount of pain is remaining.
Finally I made it.
On my way back I checked my watch.
Oops again.. Its past 12 midnight, 28th Feb.
I called up Tenzing and said, “I need to meet you urgently. Come immediately.”
Perplexed at my phone call at this odd time Tenzing said, “But I am at home”.
Then I said, “I don’t care, I want you immediately at office.. Bole to happy birhtday”.
I aksed how and with whom he was celebrating.
He said “girlfriend no 1 to 7… coz seven is the lucky number”.
February has been full of birthdays and parties. Well, every day in this year has been a celebration since beginning which satrted with a BIG BANG.
I walked past the bustling Mahim railway station.
I found a chaiwalla with his bicycle.
I picked up my favorite coffee in a disposable cup.
Then I saw a passing local train at this odd hour, which you find every one and half minutes.
This took me back to a memories of the past.
No hour is an odd hour for Amchi Mumbai. Mumbai never sleeps, I love the way it is!
Mumbai recovers from a disaster any magnitude, within hours.
And Mahim, one of the most happening places – both good and bad; ordinary and extraordinary.
Life in its fullest contrast.
On this side of the railway track, you have one of the world’s costliest areas with plush and tall buildings.
You pay Rs 40 thousand a month for to rent an slightly above-average size flat.
And this average is smaller than that of similar flats in other Indian cities.
Small b’Coz Mumbai iland can grow only vertically.
On the other hand there is Asia’s biggest slum Dharavi (next only to the wolrd’s biggest one in Brazil), on the other side of the railway track.
What an asset for India’s financial capital (a city that generates the country’s 40% revenue) to take pride in!
One and half years ago Mahim was the worst hit place in the parallel bomb attacks on local trains, which is India’s worst ever terrorist attacks.
That day happened to be Guru Purnima. I was about to board the one of the seven ill fated trains that was blasted in the next station.
Some how I postponed my trip for a few minutes on the pretext of work.
When I went to the station, I found it sealed by the police.
Workers were bringing out a few corpses wrapped in white cloth.
I assumed that it was a routine train accident and decided to catch a cab/bus to Vile Parle, where the function was happening.
When I went to the Lady Jumshedji Road, there was a chaos everywhere, which I assumed as the routine Mumbai traffic.
Actually I did’nt notice it untill a gentleman asked me “Kya hua? Log idhar udhar kyon bhag rahe hain?”.
That is when I noticed something is wrong and found out that bombs blasts happened.
No cabbie was ready to come or is already engaged.
All the buses were fully packed as Mumbai’s life line – local trains on the Western Railways had stopped.
ZZZZZZZZZ sleep time… have to stop the story abruptly. Phir break ke baad milenge