Bombay; My Surrogate Lover

The effortless seductress

Yet another Sunday, yet another week and soon yet another month.
I feel like the shy boy-next-door in love with the girl he watches from afar every day, the girl whose routine is embedded in his being, the girl whose idea he loves and the girl, who in spite of this intimacy he knows nothing about.
Bombay is my idea of that unrequited love.

It has been a little over three months since I moved in to this city. And it has been a love-hate relationship since then.
Was it the over-rated (or not) lust towards Bombay?
Is it that every day survival here seems harder than a successful attempt at CAT?
Is it that settling here makes me feel "I have arrived"?
Is it that moving around the city makes me feel like I'm a nobody?

How can a city elicit such emotions in a human being who is used to changing addresses every two years? Further, how can the same city elicit the same cocktail of feelings in the thousands that call it home every day?
Bombay is the sultry nymph with a galore of roadside Romeo's on one side fighting for a glimpse of her affection, and a row of jilted lovers on the other side hoping to find a way back to her fluttering heart.

Bombay is such a woman. She is unapologetically, wholesomely the woman I want to be.
She is beautiful. No, not the lush greens of Kerala beauty, or the rugged arid lands of the West charm. Not the beauty that comes with the history that embodies Delhi nor the naive old school charms of Calcutta.
But Lord she is beautiful. She is beautiful beyond definition.

Bombay is strength. Her strength lies in the fierce fire she stokes in everyone's bellies. Resilience is her middle name.

Bombay is fast and impatient. And the only way to deal with this woman is to be at her pace and yet patient at the same time.

Bombay will throw her tantrums, and drive you against the wall. And the moment you're on the brink, she will win you back with a sprinkle of love here and there.

Bombay will be tirelessly on your mind, even if she is not on your tongue at all times.

Bombay will become a part of you. So innocuously innocent at first and then, even before you know it, she will have your heart and soul in her clutches, leaving you writhing and pining for more sweet surrender.

Bombay is the poster girl of effortless seduction.

Bombay is the eternal surrogate lover.