A walk through time...

Well I don’t know whether it was the religious sentiments in me or the adventurer in me that evoked me one Saturday early morning to take a walk from Kandivali to Siddhivinayak (Prabhadevi).I got up at 3am, mom was very clear she wouldn’t allow me to get out of the house before 5:00 a.m however we ended up with a compromise and I left at 4:15a.m wrapping my shoes in a plastic bag. As I walked out of the building, it was pitch dark, the sky still waiting for the sun. The only people on the road were sleepy watchmen drooling from their chairs at the gates, milkman on their cycles and a couple of the dairy’s which seemed in full action. As I walked further, with my feet liking the cold warmth of the thick earth, especially when the stones didn’t puncture my feet, I heard the howling of dogs and some of them just passing by me. But the real adventure was yet to begin. As I walked through the narrow lane, I heard the howling of the stray dogs, although I followed the rule my father taught me to always ignore the dogs when they are howling. As I ignored the loud howls of the dogs the tempo increased, more dogs joined in, my mind waggled with the idea of shouting at the dogs or throwing stones, but the worry that these stray dogs may bite me just putting an end to my walkathon plans kept me away from trying my stunts. In a minute I was surrounded by a group of dogs howling at me, at that moment I thought the 14 injections in the stomach was now going to be a reality.Thankfully a rickshaw passed through and distracted the dogs and I managed to come on to the main road.

As I reached the main road that too just at Kandivali I was already feeling a little tired and the culprit were the stones that were pricking my feet. The walk from Kandivali to Andheri was quite boring and long the only things I saw were the chai shops making their first cuppa of tea and than throwing a cuppa of chai on the street maybe as an offering to earth. Temples still were closed and the pujari seemed to be busy doing some work. People sleeping in peace out side the pavement of small shops and just one bakery the eagle bakery which was so lit up that it seemed like a light shop. As I walked further towards jogeshwari, I bumped into a couple of the Jain monks those who travel the world on foot. Actually seeing them walking that too barefoot made me feel a little happy and I tried to increase my speed, but they overtook me in just a matter of few minutes. As I came towards jogeshwari, I saw a glimpse of dawn with the namaz prayers oozing from the mosques and many Muslim men walking in out of the mosque. 3 hours later I reached Andheri it was about 7:00a.m and I looked at the two schools both in a dilapidated condition on the left side before shoppers stop. The children rushing in from their school buses, some playing in the background took me back to my school days. The cake shops at Andheri station Mewans reminded me of the some really good cake and savories I had relished a couple of years ago when I was in college and also a very simple looking hotel near the station which me and some of my college friends had discovered while waiting for our other buddies. I still remember the joy and pleasure each of us felt that day at the end of that meal that evening for having discovered a new place.

As I reached Vile Parle those college days just flashed my memory , the hurry to reach college from the station to make it in time for the 7:00 a.m lecture time as the Prof often closed the door or made the latecomers stand outside. Me and my friends had spent countless hours bitching about this weird rule of our Prof, Cant he understand trains are never on time? The bus is not run by his father in law? Those were the days. But as I walked further I came across the smashan where Papa bid his final adieu to the world. Further down Nanavati hospital brought in mixed feelings, the place where my sister was born, the place where I had the opportunity to spend many nights and days through various medical epilogues of my parents and relatives. There were times that the hospital stays were so common that I had almost memorized the entire menu of the Nanavati canteen which was undoubtedly good. Moving further I cam across the now defunct Venue restaurant which a couple of years ago, I had been a part of its relaunch. Being my first job out of college, I still remember I feared going home post the launch party even at 11p.m. ( that’s crazy coz a year back that’s the time my events would actually begin).

Santacruz brought me memories of the vaishnav temple I used to visit so often. I still remember as a kid who loved to walk and had nothing better in life to do in a summer vacation, I used to walk from my home in Bandra to Santacruz and enjoy singing the kirtans with the kirtanyaji. Khar and the Pupils school reminded me of all those great stories Papa used to tell me about his school, about his teacher troubling him and him taking panga with the teacher, to the great dramas and art exhibitions he would organize.

As I reached Bandra I looked through that narrow lane at the end of which lay my old house. Those pictures of me leaving for school early in the mornings, to those countless tantrums I gave mom on my way home from school to persuade her to buy me something from the local store, the endless times I left my mothers hand to run and cross the road, enjoying the sight of her getting hysterical, to the countless rides on the pony at Bandstand that my grandparents took me too, those visits to almeida park or the playground next door with my bhuji(bua), the frequent visits to the Orthodontist, the unnumbered rounds to supermarket at the Petrol pump, to the countless birthdays my parents celebrated for me at Siddharth hotel just brushed my eyes. Bandra talao brought me memories of those few boating encounters I had when the boating started there, to the maha-artis I attended at the Jari Mari temple opp the Talao.

Walking further I came across the mosque which seemed beautiful with its carving. Walked across Mahim causeway which seemed very dull and deem not like the pretty site it was during the evenings when the sun was about to set it. As I walked through the road that connects causeway to Hinduja hospital I was amazed by the diversity of the street. First you come across the Muslim dargah, followed by a mosque, a Hindu temple and further a Jain derasar, So much of religious diversity in one street unbelievable. Its was over five and half hours now since I had been walking, the sun was out and was bothering me I was also getting very tired. Shivaji Park and a couple of minutes later I was at my destination Siddhivinayak. As I looked through my walk of 6 hours I felt I had walked through my life and revisited all those wonderful memories.