There’s a certain simplicity to Mumbai. It’s a conflicting mix between simple pleasures, hard lessons learned, and a complete lack of any regulation whatsoever. I’m fairly sure that if one was able to convert the internet into physical form, the result would be very much like this city. If you spend too long trying to make sense of it all, you’ll miss some change happening somewhere… and before you know it, you’re left behind.
It’s cliche to talk about the extreme poverty mixed with the ultra rich. Too common to mention the border-line criminally insane driving practices. Boring to write down the fact that there isn’t a single square foot of space that isn’t currently being occupied by a family of 20 (By the way, the Mr and Mrs Gupta and the children say hello from my bathroom).
I’d rather talk about childhood innocence. It’s everywhere here. It’s in the faces of the children playing cricket in the streets. It’s witnessed in the smile of the child thats playing with a tire below a freeway overpass. It’s a feeling that stands tall over the many faces of adversity and negativity. There’s a lot more to complain about than to praise, but somehow, people just don’t let it show. I admire that. And as a western white devil, it’s something that I know I will never be able to understand. All I can do is show respect, and try my best to remember everything I see.
There are certain universal truths. Friendship will always be one of them. The feeling of friendship saturates this place like the humidity in the air. But there’s something about Mumbai…the friendship isn’t covered up by material things, trivial problems, and “Oh my god can you believe what she was wearing” bullshit. Everything is a little less refined, more raw….innocent.