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Where do I go now?

Sometimes, in Mumbai, people giving directions is similar to people offering water to a drowning man. Sweet gesture and just as useful.

I’m outside Churchgate station. A woman walks past me. She looks like she’s not from here…for one thing, she’s wearing pretty shoes in the rain, in the train. And the poor thing is carrying a delicate, paisley-printed umbrella which will get bent out of shape the next time it pours.

She looks about, worried and confused. I think of asking her whether she’s lost. Before I can do that, though, she hails a man and asks him whether he knows a particular building.

The man, who until now, was languidly chewing paan suddenly springs to life, as if he knows the answer to a million dollar question.

He excitedly turns back and points to a cluster of yellow, brown, pallid heights of concrete. “You see that building there, madam…take a right from there!”, he exclaims happily.

The woman, obviously, doesn’t see ‘that’ building! She sees a million, small, tall, low, high, broad, narrow, swanky, mouldy buildings to take a right from.

“Umm…which building, sir?”, she asks hesitantly.

“That one, that one!”, he wags his finger even more excitedly.

“Ah! Okay”, she says.

I know she hasn’t understood. So, as she walks away, I tell her she could accompany me since I’m going that way any way.

We walk. Minutes later, we take a right turn from ‘that’ building…you know, the one that’s so easy to spot, given all the empty space we have.

Comments

Anonymous said…
hahahaha ... btw ... which movie did you eventually saw ?
Mukta Raut said…
oh, i saw several...the proposal, brothers bloom, jashan...
Anonymous said…
and which one you liked ??
Mukta Raut said…
brothers bloom i'm very impressed with!

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