Mumbai. Again.

Bombay, whoops, Mumbai...Mumbai is a funny kinda place. It's supposed to be home to me and when I came back here, I was fully confident that I would be met with familiarity. It would be like home coming. Like going back to a place you know.

Guess what? None of that happened.

Mumbai is possibly India's most unpredictable city. Of course, there is the obvious that stays the same: slums and high rises co-exist, the crowds press thicker with every passing day to the point that I now agree with Mr. Thackeray and his clan about Mumbai over populated, although I still do not agree with the logic of throwing non-Maharashtrians out - I would rather they hold off the unemployed and let people with definite means of livelihood enter - but of course, none of his clan reads this blog so they shall remain forever unenlightened.

What I was trying to hint at, more so, was the tenor of the city. It's..umm...you never really know how it will sink in within you when you are back no matter what you may have expected. When I first came back to Mumbai after a one year stint in Bangalore, I was stepping out of a Mumbai bound flight - I ran out to greet the city, waiting for the feeling of belonging to break all over me but slap! All I felt was the humidity fling itself on my face, the heat mocking, almost asking, "why did you come back?!?"

This time, I am back after three years in Hyderabad - I felt I never would come back to Mumbai, I thought we were done, over, broken up for good, save the occasional visit home. But here I am, feeling the humidity precipitating on me, loving the familiarity and hating how Mumbai just doesn't seem to stop to look. That hits you only when you are an outsider or have lived outside for a while. Mumbai races and races and people are always moving, people are always impatient and always on the edge.

How great can that be beyond a point, really, especially for somebody like me, who has slipped off the time track? I don't even clearly remember what day it is and I don't have clocks in the house. Why? Just...I am trying to not let the city dictate my mood.

Does it feel good to be back home then? Sure. Until its time to move on again. I am not the wandering minstrel for nothing, am I?