Five distinctive characteristics of Mumbai !

 

1. Psst, psst, ……. Love it or hate it, this is the first difference of this city with your known domain ( that is, if you are not a Mumbaikar ) you notice. Actually, in whatever station you get down, you will be bombarded with ‘psst, psst’s ! And, mind it, this habit ( or bad-habit, whatever ) is not at all limited in the so-called lower-middle class or ‘informal’ circle. Was quite surprised while starting to heat a sample with the selivanoff reagent in our biochem test when our Biology camp coordinator, Rekha Vartak ( see Mumbai …… the OCSC experience ! ) called, “ Psst, psst, do you remember how many times are you supposed to heat it ?” !!

( Actually, I remember this long name ‘selivanoff’ only because of this incident and of the fact that it gave an attractive cherry-red coloration on heating with, … er, … probably ribose sugar. )

1. Long live juices and sherbets of Mumbai. They are tasty, they come in varieties, they are cheap, they are great when you are thirsty …… what else? oh yes, the ‘uniquely Mumbai’ juice booths are not found back home here in Bengal or Kolkata, that’s what ‘maketh’ them so special.
2. Why on earth do people root for something like ‘pav-bhaji’ is inexplicable to me. Only a round donut-size pav, glossily fried in oil, and a matar-type bhaaji, or rather curry-ish thing ( often carried over from yesterday ), and two-three sprigs of onion. Sheesh ! You’d get a full masala dosa for the price, which is a whole lot better.
3. Yes, a good thing about Mumbai is its bus-services. Hard to find a fault. Well-organized, well-disciplined, prompt. Especially when you regularly ply on buses in a certain city named Kolkata, it is literally like heaven!
4. Again, I don’t know to love it or hate it. I am talking about the unimaginable key-time rush in the suburban trains. It still gives me goose-bumps. True, the trains are damn punctual, but then, the compartments are filled even when then train comes to halt on the platform. And you have to get on, stay inside, and most importantly, get off the train by very ‘professional’ ( I mean, done with great expertise like you’ve been doing this for long! ) maneuvers.

P.S. Didn’t find a good enough title. Any suggestions are welcome!