yeh hai Mumbai meri jaan

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 " Yeh Mumbai Sheher hadso ka shehar hai.." the song kept ringing in my mind, annoyingly clear enough as we touched down at the magnificient Chathrapathi Shivaji Maharaja International terminal.It was almost 11 pm. The lights outside shown bright and the city seemed quite active, through the flight windows. But still I was apprehensive.May be because the Mumbai I know is through Bollywoods portrayal of the dark and bloody underworld stories. In my little Gods own country , it isnt safe to travel at night is what I'm always cautioned. So , a night ride in a taxi through the not familiar Mumbaiyya sadak, that too with a young daughter, was pretty daunting to me. But my hubby dear seemed cool and so I didnt reveal my jitters either. And yes , to add fuel to it our dear BSNL sims were not working!!! We set out in a battered taxi to Andheri west , with nothing but the name of the hotel and the street to show the route.It was close to 12 am , and we were going round and round in a taxi which was coughing and puffing just like its old driver.Hubby dears , tutta phootta hindi , as he asked for directions , was not helping either. Impatience and sleep driven restlessness was mounting.In the meanwhile , the driver got down to ask around and a good samaritan who had walked out of the still well lit and crowded shopping mall , tried to find the hotel, on his google map. That didnt work either. The city was still awake and functioning , just like the metropolitan city I had flown in from.
   Finally, with some cajoling and coaxing one of the sims switched on .Google maathas sweet voice started showing us the right path and before long we were in front of the hotel in a bylane which at 12 :45 am was surprisingly busy.
  And me , the ever cautious mother of a teenager, sighed a breath of relief.. The song now ringing in my head had changed to " yeh hai bombai nagariya tu dekh babua"

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