Mumbai Moods

It was four in the morning and a bloody cold at that. I dug my hands deep into the pockets while I watched my friend Ronak gazing out into the night through the open portal of a railway window. Cold air swept in but I think it did not bother him, though I was freezing. In few minutes we would be reachingBombay(sorry… Mumbai), it was still a long way off to I.I.T. Powaii, where we were headed, to take part in its cultural fest Mood Indigo. Though the college itself held the allure, Mood Indigo was the largest cultural fest inAsia.

 

Soon enough, the train came to a halt and we reached Dadar. We didn’t know at that time that it was going to be a long, long morning ahead.

 

I had a first hand experience in trying to catch a Mumbai Local that morning. I must say that we were a large troupe, bunch of 80 something boys trying to get a stand inside the already jam packed train. The probability was extremely high that someone would get left behind as the train picks up instant speed after a half a minute halt. I was by no means getting near to catching it, my heart was filled with trepidation- people were trying to get inside all at once and the bulky and stoutly built were succeeding in getting inside pushing us weaklings further back. The train started. It felt like the end of the world for me and I pushed and pushed till I managed to get inside. I sighed a relief. I was inside though 7 of our members could not make it- it horrified my already weak heart to no end and I speculated doomsday. But of course others laughed me off and told me that they would catch the next train. They indeed did.

 

At Kanjurmarg (Kaju Badam!!) we took a rickshaw to I.I.T., Powaii. One thing about I.I.T. – it is huge; it is built like those colony housings that had in bounty, trees and natural beauty and amongst them they had those largish auditoriums and playgrounds, academic buildings and swimming pools. I was awed and a bit jealous at the prospects of the students studying here. Though that feeling did not last long as other thoughts began to fill my mind- like the ones WHEN THE HELL WOULD WE GET ACCOMODATION?!!

 

Uncouth, dirty, stinking and having germs fester in our mouth- we set camp outside the Student Activity Centre, hitting pavements and the parked two-wheelers. Some were listening to music, some reading books and others just taking in the beautiful scenery around (read: ogling at beautiful girls in short skirts, the campus had them in bounty all the four days of the fest). It would be three to four hours before we may set eyes on our room in Hostel 1. Our hopes were splashed with cold water when we finally reached there. Frugal, austere and teeming with big, fat, and blood red ants- eight people were supposed to reside where the room was tailored for two- there were so many people who had come to visit the fest. (A huge row erupted when some of us wanted to get the money back and check in a hotel, I being a miser wasn’t gung-ho to shift places, though I must say that the place was extremely cramped.)

 

After we have washed ourselves pretty clean with the kit they have provided us (which had things ranging from face washes to lip balms, anti-mosquito bites to Neem packs for face- of course we later stuffed them into our bags for later use back home), we went out to do a little bit of sight-seeing as we had that day off. But reaching the destination spot- in this case the Juhu beach proved out to be an arduous task- involving switching over multiple buses & bearing the brunt of angry and piqued out conductors as we were an unruly lot, though the passengers were quite helpful, answering our incessant questions regarding how to get to Juhu the best possible way. By the time we reached Juhu, we were famished. Though the warm but quite soothing air and the picnic-like atmosphere put wings to my heart, setting it to soar with joy and wonder as I gaped at the happy and gay conglomeration of my fellow human-beings. We ate Chaats and Pani Puris and Chana Zors and lot more. We photographed each other, dug our toes deep into the sand and gazed at the far-off city line. It was good times indeed.

 

Later that day, when it was time to return most of my friends opted to take a rickshaw back to the campus as they were extremely tired. But I have spent quite a lot that day and Kushal (one of the guys who were left behind in the morning) and Yash were ready to have a bit of adventure. So we set of in the Local- at this time brimming with Human Crowd back from work. After the train journey, we had the occasion to sit in one of those Double-Decker Buses you see in Movies (Harry Potter!) and Mumbai. I must say that at one time in the distant past, Vadodara too boasted of such buses but later they were phased out- besides I was then too young to have had enjoyed the experience. I wanted the front seat but the seat was taken by an illicit couple (read: G.F. and B.F.). They had difficulty getting their hands off each other; they desperately wanted to kiss but under the scanner of the fellow passengers, they tried to restrain themselves. Between squinting at the world from eagle-view and ogling at the drooling couple- I had great time. But I hadn’t slept the last night- so it would be horse shit if I said that I wasn’t tired. I was relatively lucky that day; I got to sleep on the spongy bed beside the crawling mosquitoes!! We applied to our skin- large dabs of Good-Night (anti-bite) and were asleep in no time at all.

 

It was the first day of Mood I!! People had come in hordes to take part in this large cultural fest. At every nook and cranny of the campus- there were shows, entertainment zones, adventurous events and competitions. The deco looked sparse though I don’t think they could have helped it as the campus was huge. They have called in international expert to do the graffiti work and the result was excellent. We would have been baffled and quite confused regarding what to see and what not to and would have subsequently goofed up, missing the interesting parts had we not had an itinerary of the entire event. Samarth and I had a Debate to reach to that morning. Though my digestive tract was purring and groaning from bouts of indigestion, I was optimistic that we would perform well. Maybe I must say I was overtly optimistic but hell, I can’t see the future- I wasn’t the one who could have foreseen what predicament we were bound to suffer. In the Lecture Hall Complex, they were registering people for the Jamming session (Samarth told me that in Jam you have to be humorous with words and the time span was a minute), he really wanted to get into it while I decided to give it a shot- of course we had no clue what we were getting into.

So, all charged up we set along with other contenders, ready to give them a stiff competition. But we still didn’t know what a Jamming Session exactly was, so when I asked my neighbor had he participated in a Jam before, he was baffled for a minute. His eyes were telling it all- You are participating in an event without having a slightest clue what exactly it is?!! How was I supposed to know what a Jam is- I had debates, group discussions, elocutions and extempore in my school- but I hadn’t heard of thisJam. The amiable guy explained it to me in great detail- how you jammed others and spoke instead of them if you find a grammatical error or find the stuff a little boring or if your opponent started late. There were different variants in different schools and colleges.

 

So we watched the first session- it was fun. I thought that it was halwa, I could do that. I stepped forward to the second round, but I was extra man. In the third round I and Samarth grabbed our hot seats before someone else could take our places. I did think after the session and I still maintain it now had it been a nice and clean topic delving in politics or the day-to-day issues faced by an Indian citizen, I might have been able to speak something but double whammy of topics concerning Sex- I was tight-lipped. Granted that I was new at Jam, I still think had it been otherwise I might have eked out of that session. Call me a Gujarati hypocritical or anything you may like, I blush when I have to talk about a kiss, let alone speak about Sex. I may be rustic, small town boy and old fashioned, but I wasn’t feeling it right in my gut. The girl next to me went on and on and on- I was bloody shocked. I and Samarth had our mouths tight shut throughout our turn- people may have laughed at us for being so stupid, Jam master tried to make light of the situation and tried to get us a chance to speak, I didn’t feel like speaking while Samarth did try to stroke his fins- but failed. As soon as the session ended, we alighted from the Seminar Hall, trying to save face. We sucked, we sucked pretty bad throughout the round.

 

Our self confidence was undermined. We were in no condition to go for a Debate- but we did. Of course, as the time clashed- the competition was almost over- still they gave us a chance to speak.

 

You may say I am writing in defense, but I did win my share of trophies in inter and intra- school level, inter-collegiate level debates- but that day I was lousy. I did it badly; I blame no one but me for my damnable performance. You see, though I may be well-versed in English (that opinion is totally subjective, you may form your own opinion from the prose), I cannot speak that fluently- as the language that I normally speak is Hindi. You may say I have to try to consciously speak English- it is not in my sub-conscious like Hindi. I wasn’t exactly in a right mindset to think and so I crashed. I jeered and mocked myself the whole day- my ego was terribly hurt. But there was so much going around, the international festival to attend to, famous plays to see!! I told myself to screw the past and immerse myself in the event and get a great experience out Mood I.

 

Over the next three days I did exactly that- and I did have a joyful experience. Remarkable plays –‘Dinner with friends’ and ‘Bade Miyan Diwane’, international artists playing spectacular piece of music, celebrities coming in like water (I saw Shaktimaan!!!!!!) and hip-hop and naach-gaana. There even was an interactive session with Shobha De. It of course makes an impression on mind to see the celebrity in flesh-and-blood, for all what you have seen them is on the television screen or in the newspaper.

The overall experience was extremely good. If you haven’t visited Mood Indigo before, do book your tickets for the next year- you would love the experience.

Mumbai, its people and Mood I do leave an impression on mind, forget the ants, forget the cramped settings and forget the looooooong hike that you have to go through every time you are in campus- you are bound to have some serious entertainment. Don’t give me red- give me Indigo, Mood Indigo.

(P.S.:- I wrapped off the whole trip in Rs. 860, plus the accommodation and ticket expenses Rs. 1500. Beat that Hardik Toke!!)