March 19, 2024

Bombay baarish…

…sounds so much better than Mumbai monsoon, no?

Anyway, the free ride is on and it is a lovely rainy evening and so what better time to head to Marine Drive? The sea link bridge has heavy slow-moving traffic, despite Amul’s latest ad that says ‘no jam, only butter’. I kept my eyes peeled for a signboard that says ‘no bullock carts‘ (I agree with Dilip, I wouldn’t live anywhere else) but cannot spot it. I want to go back when it is bright and dry, though the drive over the bridge is wonderful in the rain, with the blurred glimmer of the lights.

On the BWSL

The sea is calm and grey, none of the high tide that sends the water right back to to the roads.

And at Marine Drive… (all these shots hand-held, mostly through the windshield in the pouring rain…)

Mein na rahungi, tum na rahoge, phir bhi rahengi nishaniyaan

Getting wet together

And the ghoda gadis waiting for a ride…

Waiting

I love the bits of color that pop up here and there, in all the rainy grey…

Umbrella

Gola bottles

At Marine Drive and Worli Sea Face, people are out walking, some holding on to umbrellas that want to fly away into the cool breeze, some covered partially in raincoats, and many without any cover – couples sharing an umbrella aadhe aadhe bheeg rahe thae, children running around enjoying the rain (I love such parents), groups of friends chatting loudly – it is business at usual everywhere…

Friends

I cannot think of any other city in India where people go out just to get wet in the rain. And I cannot but think again about how much I love Bombay…

Raindrops keep falling on my lens…

Raindrops on the lens

…and on the windshield…

On the windshield

I love the rains in Bombay, the clogged roads, the wet clothes, the potholes, the frogs and warts and all.

Also on Bombay baarish: Rain in the metro

8 thoughts on “Bombay baarish…

  1. You’re right, “Bombay Baarish” does sound better than “Mumbai Monsoon” 🙂 “Bambaii Baarish”, even better!

    Nice night shots. There’s something about the combination of Marine Drive, baarish, night and street lights that stirs up the romantic corner of my soul. Perhaps it’s the Bollywood effect, perhaps just the loveliness of the setting.

    🙂

  2. Almost reads like a love affair 🙂
    I love B’bay and I’m hating the fact that I ain’t there right now to enjoy the rains 🙁

    The post made me feel so nostagic 🙁

  3. Flan, didn’t notice your post was called that 🙂 yes, in bombay, the movie emotions are never far away!

    Shalini, I totally wanted to get out and get drenched in the rain – but couldn’t bear the thought of the long drive back in wet clothes 🙁

    thinking, 🙂 – call it an ode

  4. I like “Mumbai monsoons” better than “Bombay Baarish”

    And I am not too fond of the rains in Mumbai, they make life hellish for three months, what with all the water logging, late trains and traffic jams. I still remember the water flooding in my grandmother’s home every year in the eighties and nineties and they routinely had to shift all their stuff to some other place or keep everything on cots which have their heights increased by putting bricks/wood beneath the legs.

    They have now moved to a different place, but the people who stay in that house in the chawl still face those issues.

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