Zainab Bawa’s Blog

27/06/05

 

It was raining heavily. I was feeling down today. I decided to go to Marine Drive . Marine Drive – that space which offers relief and respite from the self as well as from the city and the rest of the world. I don’t know what it is about the space – whether it is the sea, the openness, the atmosphere – which offers succour to everyone who comes here.

 

It was raining heavily. I walked over from CCI to Marine Plaza and then crossed onto the promenade. The sea water was dark, grey and dirty. The sea was threatening to be violent.

 

People were sitting on the wall. I began to wonder whether the character of a space changes with seasons. I also thought about hawkers and whether they would be there today. Would they be doing dhanda amidst the rains? Shah Rukh was there. He was looking like a drenched pigeon. But he was his usual self, trying to impress people with his innocence and street-smart-attitude and getting them to buy tea from him. The atmosphere seemed more relaxed today. The MCGM surveillance van was not around. An enterprising man had set up a tava and some live coals and he was roasting corn on the promenade. People on the promenade were enjoying tea and roasted corn.

 

Then there were some of the joggers. The chic lady with her dog running before her was there. She was unstoppable. I am curious about her. I need to chat with her sometime. She is an enigma – in her shorts and T-shirt, she adds something distinct to the character of the promenade, just like every individual does to this wonderful space.

 

People were largely crowded around at the Land’s End . In between, the spaces were sparsely filled. Some “senior citizens” were on their usual walk. Perhaps this space is critical in their everyday lives – a space which is their own time to bond with their own tribe.

 

Burkha -clad women were also quite prominent on the promenade. I wonder whether this space has any relationship with their lives in terms of freedom, space and sexuality.

 

Today I came to the promenade not to watch and observe, but because I was feeling down. I simply wanted to walk, walk and continue walking in a space of timelessness. My heart was down and so was my mind. Unable to soothe myself, I resorted to a practice which I have seen people indulge in on the promenade, particularly the ‘executive types’. I took out my mobile phone and began surfing through my phone book, chatting up with people I hadn’t spoken to in a while. I walked up and down and chatted over the phone. At the end of my conversations, I began to feel much better, as if life were back in action and things seemed more on the brighter side!

 

I once again reached land’s end. This time, as I walked back, rains came on suddenly and people sitting on the wall at one point, just got up with fright and shock. As I walked ahead, I noticed young girls with their raincoats on, enjoying the rains and the openness of the space. In the rains, people come to Marine Drive with an agenda – to enjoy the monsoons of Mumbai!

 

“Aching hearts

Seething minds

Perturbed souls

Restless, busy bodies!

Marine Drive

A space where life meets life

The sea

A soothing mother

An uncaring entity

A silent friend!

And the horizon,

Out there, in the distance

Thoughts – horizon – the sea

Thoughts and thinking

The coming of nearness from a distance

Marine Drive!

A space in a city!”

 

Cheers!

 

 

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