by Anupama Krishnakumar
[box]Anupama Krishnakumar has fond memories of Marine Drive in Mumbai for the little joys that it has offered her every time she has been there. Her words do all the talking in this piece. Read on.[/box]I have lived in six cities and two towns so far at different stages in my life. Each of them has been special in its own way. Yet, just as a child has her favourite toys, one of the places that continues to hold a special place in my heart is Bombay. My stay there was rather brief, spanning only a few months. All the same, it is one place that gently touched my soul with its infectious spirit.
From the day I landed there, a beautiful and unique sense of freedom encompassed my being. It’s quite indescribable, this feeling – something that’s best understood only as an experience. So many little things come rushing to my mind, when I think of Bombay. Yet, the one place that has left a lasting impression on me is Marine Drive. Even now, after all these years, if I close my eyes and try to conjure the image of Marine Drive, it springs into life with perfect ease. And I often tremble a little too when I distantly feel that serenity that accompanies the sight.
Marine Drive. Picture by Anupama Krishnakumar
Walk. When I was in Bombay, I would spend my evenings walking down the stretch, particularly during the weekends. It used to be such a liberating exercise. Tension and worries would evaporate effortlessly into thin air. And there was this certain oneness that I would feel with many people there. I would wonder, as I walked, whether in some little way, our life’s stories would have matched, at some point – a certain joyous moment or a total let-down moment, a little success or a sour failure, a strange dream or the most common Bombay experience – a slight nod of acknowledgment or a warm smile or a pleasant chit chat with a regular, co-commuter or a bad brush with a dirty crowd, all of them in the local trains. And that’s when I would catch a friendly woman in her thirties throwing a warm smile my way, perhaps to say, ‘I know what you are thinking, I wonder about it too.’ And the dreamy, contemplative me would stir out of my thought pool and flash a smile back, saving myself from a disturbing embarrassment.
Watch. I love watching people. No, I don’t stare. I observe without people knowing they are being observed. And then, I write stories. Marine Drive used to be my treasure trove of inspiring characters. And the calm waters, the gentle breeze and the colourful canvas of a sky only did all they could to nudge me on – serving me with ideas on the platter and charging my levels of imagination. Many a time, I used to carry a small notepad along with me when I went there and would scribble ideas that literally burst out of my head and then, the rest of the story would take shape as I wrote them on the reverse of wasted printed sheets on the way to work and back, sitting in the train.
Sit. I used to love sitting and watching the sea – her face – from evening to night as the golden glow of the evening would dissolve into the magical black of the night and the water, just like a docile and obedient wife would reflect the moods of the skies. The joy of simply sitting and doing nothing but looking at the sea is priceless, so is the joy of sitting and enjoying a single scoop of Baskin and Robbins’ ‘Nut Crunch’ as the breeze ruffles your hair. Oh, what then do I have to say about the joy of sitting and confessing your happiness and fears to the sea? Or about just sitting and reading a heart-warming book with the waters for company? There are no words.
I wrote this once in my scribbling pad:
“What are you, but divine magic?
So suave, so dignified, so soothing, so elegant…
I close my eyes, open my arms wide,
I speak, I confess, you smile, you listen,
And,
In the gripping power of your silence,
You absorb my fears and my happiness
And caress me with a tender breeze
Filling me with a beautiful tranquillity..
What are you, but divine magic?
So enthralling, so mesmerizing, so striking, so magnificent.
O’ dear Sea, You are true bliss!”
And that’s what makes Marine Drive a place that touches the soul. Because it gifted me with little joys every time I went there. And all the while, the breeze was always there – to soothe, to caress, to relieve, to lift the sagging spirit. Marine Drive is indeed special – it’s a romantic affair with a place for a lifetime. To borrow Jeff Buckley’s words, ‘She is a tear that hangs inside my soul forever.’ Only that she is a tear of pristine happiness.
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