Mumbai Ahoy

I now have a legitimate Mumbai pin code as my address proof. Given how attached I am to the country's capital, most of my friends and family had greeted my announcement of relocation with much scepticism and disbelief. My first 2 weeks have been better than expected. One does not live in a place as cramped as one had braced for and there is enough greenery around one's nest to stay continously reminded of Delhi. "Reverse traffic" ensures a smooth ride to work and a tolerable ride back. However, the much touted "everyday professionalism" in Mumbai is pure fiction. Sample all that one has been subjected to in the first 2 weeks:

- The Meru cab failed to land up TWICE! The missus was instructed to ask for directions herself since it was she who was keen to reach the annointed destination. On another instance she was persuaded by a cab driver to cover the remaining leg of her journey in an auto-rickshaw since it was presumably beneath his dignity to be caught in traffic in the suburbs (or " 'burbs " as some pretentitious folks refer to it).

- Our maid never lands up on time. On day-1 she landed up an hour later than scheduled. Its now down to 15-20 minutes with a follow- up phone call every alternate day. Ditto for the painter, electrician, appliances delivery folks etc. (there is our efficent carpenter who is remarkably punctual but any praise directed at him draws sniggers around parochialism since he hails from a place called Behrampur in Orissa)

- An electrician tried to con me into paying installation charges (when I had a deal for free installation) and promptly retreated when I showed him the bill. The trophy though goes out to the guy from the Internet Service Provider who summoned me back home (when he had landed up 45 minutes before schedule) since it was his birthday and he was getting delayed! I obliged only to be kept waiting since he was busy receiving birthday wish calls from his numerous girlfriends. My patience ran out in 10 minutes and I showed him the door.

- Auto-rickshaw & cab drivers alike jump traffic signals with elan. I do not mention BEST buses because they do not even acknowledge the existence of signals so they are perhaps unaware they are jumping them.

None of this would shock any of us in any part of the country. And that's my point. When it comes to efficiency or work ethic, Mumbai is no different from any other part of the country. It could be periodic degeneration over time though scores of locals insist we are just having a run of poor luck and things are indeed much better. If that be the case, be prepared for a volte-face blog post sometime soon.

One stark change from the past is that most taxi drivers invariably claim to be from Maharashtra. More power to MNS!