It was about 7am when I first set foot in mY new apartment. The owner gave me the keys and left without a single word or smile. In a new environment a smile would have made all the difference, but this is Mumbai not wonderland. Here people had no time to dream or pause for a moment and admire the flow of life around them. Back in Kerala I did that a lot and it kept me in my parents house long enough before I could get a job.
Granny would have told me to put my right leg inside the door first, I have always wondered why Hindus consider the right side of the body to be superior to the left. It was not just about the legs granny would have made me kneel at the door and pray to lord ganesh for his blessings. Thinking about granny I went inside and forgot to check which leg I put in first.
The apartment had a lot of natural light and air flow entries AKA holes. Set aside the dirty walls ,broken furnitures, leaky shower, no curtains and no bed my new home was perfect. The right side window offered an astounding view of a big wall filled with nude Bollywood posters. The appartment was on the second floor of the building. Looking out the window I found clothes hung up to dry on wires which connected the two near by buildings. Then I took a deep breath and quickly regretted it. It was almost 7.30am and i had no idea how to get to my new office. I started unpacking. It was no big chore, I only had two bags with me and all of them filled with clothes. The rest would arrive only few weeks after. The front window was actually a door which opens into a balcony. I wanted to look into it but didn't. The left side of my apartment was also an unexplored territory. I had no time to do sight seeing and was hungry as a horse. Then I remembered the packet Amma gave me when I left home. I found it in the bottom layer of my hand bag and like a child opening a present I tore away the plastic wrappings and took out the dosha and sambhar inside and swallowed it like a crocodile. It was really satisfying. Then like most of the Indians I threw out the plastic wrapping and the newspaper with which it was covered, carelessly through the window.
"Oye" said a voice from down below
Down I looked and saw a man looking back at me with a 'who the hell threw that on me' expression. I quickly pulled my head in. In a place as hostile as this, enemies are easy to make and friends are hard to come by. One wrong look and you could get your eyes poked out. I remembered what my friend told me about andheri and dharavi where people get shot all the time.The stories of Bombay underworld filled my head and I stood there thinking about Davood Ibrahim and Chotta Rajan for no reason. Then in a flash I came back to earth. It was time to do what I came here for, my new job.
