That comes to mind when you think of a
weekend getaway? For some, it’s a long drive to the back of the beyond where
you’re cut off from all that is new age daily life – phones, wifi, television,
internet, etc… As a matter of fact, if you’re keen and lucky enough, all that
you will get to see are trees, greenery, creepy crawlies and rain. For the
beach babies, there’s the random/quick trip to the sea and sand, even if there
is no sun. Of course, in Goa, you can choose to revisit your favourite beach or
go explore the one you’ve never been to before but meant to for so long. If
neither of these are your cup of tea, then there’s always the option of
spending a weekend at one’s ancestral family home, catching up with all and
sundry, playing cards, carom and board games and stuffing one’s face with
delicious food you’d believed wasn’t made anymore.
Now while I love doing all of the above
from time to time, I also like to switch things up and keep my life
interesting. So last weekend, when the time came for a much needed break, I
headed to Bombay. Yes, you read right. Bombay. I know that just the sight of
the word brings to mind traffic jams, hordes of crowds, less than desirable
smells and people, smog and blaring noise everywhere you turn. But despite all
of this, it was just what I needed. Even though I headed there for some work, I
got a chance to connect with family, catch up with old friends I hadn’t seen in
a while and thanks to the good graces (and employee discount) of my bestie
Shradha, check into the gorgeous JW Marriott. And no, I didn’t do an ounce of
shopping! Once I’d finished doing what I had gone there to do, I just sat back
and relaxed. I swam, ate, read, watched TV, sat two tables away from some
celebrities and chatted up some friendly foreigners in the funniest places.
First there was this French lady in the sauna who couldn’t stop laughing at the
fact that I’d come from Goa to Bombay for a break. She looked at me as if I had
lost my marbles and quipped in her gorgeous accent, “Oh mon dieu! Most people
go to Goa for ze vacances, non?!?” Then there was the Italian gentleman by the
pool who asked why I’d willingly left the land of fresh fish and beef, adding
that he missed the hotel’s signature burger and a good Spaghetti Bolognese. All
I could do was smile and drool…
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But all of this got me thinking. While
Bombay was a bit hit for me personally because it provided the bliss I had gone
seeking, it was and is a big miss for a lot of other people. The ban, for one,
seems to have left the expat population and locals too with a lot of beef (pun
intended). Like Stefano said, it’s unbelievable they’ve robbed people of that
choice when they have robbers and murderers roaming the streets freely, just
like the cattle. And now, to add insult to injury is the more recent and
shockingly preposterous storming of hotel rooms and people’s privacy in the
name of moral policing. Firstly, are the police themselves moral enough to
carry out such actions and arrests? Secondly, if people are considered adults
legally, then what they choose to do within the four walls of a room is their
prerogative as long as it’s consensual and legal. Lastly, how do you term the
goings-on in a hotel room, public indecency? By my understanding, one would
have to be doing something indecent in public to be charged and fined with such
a claim. But such is the sad state of affairs. Slowly but surely, Bombay is
beginning to lose its charm. And if whispers on the streets are to be believed,
we might be looking at a dictatorship of sorts. So where does that leave us?
Cowering and crying in the corner? Or united and demanding of the democracy our
forefathers fought for?
