A Walk Down the Memory Lane...

It’s been three years in Mumbai already. Time sure flies. What is it about Mumbai that makes me want to stay here? What can I say that hasn’t already been said about Mumbai; but I’ll make an attempt to describe what makes Mumbai special to me…

Mumbai possesses a magnetic charm that makes you fall in love with it. It has an enigmatic allure to it that is mysterious yet charismatic; vibrant yet subtle; walking alongside a bustling crowd yet it teaches you how to be independent on your own; a city of a plethora of colours; the city housing one of the biggest film industries in the country, if not the world; known as the city of dreams. But, what makes it so extraordinary to me?

When I moved to Mumbai three years ago, I didn’t really know all this; I had only heard of what a wonderful city it was. And yet, I was excited; for I was accepted into one of the most prestigious colleges of my country, the Indian Institute of Technology. It was a dream come true; writing a national wide competitive technical exam to just get into it; I didn’t want an admission anywhere else; Like it was said in a very famous book, When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it, or closer to home, by my favourite hero (another reason I was looking forward to coming to Mumbai :P) in a movie, agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho tho pure qayanat usse tumse milaneki koshish mein lag jaati hain; I landed in IIT..a place known for creating the best engineers in the country..

IIT was a world in its own. You can love it or you can hate it, but you cannot ignore it. IIT was a mixture of things and reusing a quote I have already used on my blog (guilty as charged); It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us..It made me realize my passion, my desire; who my true friends were; what living away from your family felt like. What it means when friends turn into your support systems and your substitute family members away from home. What it is to handle your own finances. What it is to just survive on your own. What it is to have infinite freedom but with equal dollops of responsibility. A place that gives you boundless opportunities to learn, improve and prepare yourself; it gives you a preview, into the world that lies ahead of you…

And then, on September 1^st, 2014, I entered that world. I graduated a month before on August 9^th, 2014. Everyone I knew was proud of me (or so I would like to think) - My parents, my sister, my relatives, my friends; I dedicate this achievement to every one of these people; even those who said I should have gone to US or joined the IT industry instead - you have only solidified my resolve to graduate with flying colours. I was excited, a happy-kind-of-nervous about entering this phase of my life- the one for which I studied all my life. Luckily, I had a break of two months to spend with my family before I joined the corporate world.

Here, I am given a chance to quench my thirst for knowledge that IIT has gifted me through its education. I hope to make the environment that we are in, a better place to live – a dream every environmental engineer hopes to achieve in the course of their lifetime. The thirst for knowledge continues.. Gynanam paramam dhyeyam..

Now, I’ll tell you why Mumbai is so special to me. I was a little girl just out of her teenage, who was always in her comfort zone, when I moved to Bombay. Mumbai is close to my heart because it helped me crack that cocoon open and become a butterfly confident enough to fly; into a woman who lives life on her terms.