Mumbai – The city of dreams, the financial capital
of India, cricket hub, Bollywood destination, the city which never sleeps etc.
The day before my training, I boarded an
early morning train to Mumbai. People often go to Mumbai for accomplishing
their dreams, well, I was the one who had achieved his dream being a CMA and
then heading to Mumbai. I was excited and equally unhappy about why had the
Institute planned a long 12 days Orientation & Training Program.
I saw the sunrise from the window. I can’t even
recall when was the last time I saw the sun rising.(Every time I see a sunrise,
I try recalling the last one.) I felt it symbolized a new chapter in my life. I
had already completed my last chapter by completing CMA. I hoped like the
rising sun, the new chapter will also be a good one.
As the train passed different stations in Mumbai, I
could see locals flooded with people. The local trains also make peculiar sound
when they pass. The sound of friction between the track and the train. Even a
song was made in a Marathi movie based on this sound as a background. Mumbai gets taller every time I visit it. As a
child I was always fascinated by the tall buildings of Mumbai.
Though the
city was not new to me, the coming days were different. I had been here for
weddings, visiting relatives and as a tourist like an outsider, but the next 12
days I was going to be a part of the city. I was going to travel by locals,
BEST busses or even taxis which meant my feet had to run at the tick of the
clock.
I was just
hoping that I don’t get bored for the next 12 days. After all, I was here alone
with no friend of mine with me.
The moment I stepped down from the train, the Mumbai
climate welcomed me. To any person who lives far from the sea, the moment he puts
his foot down in this city, the humidity welcomes him. Either you work here
till you sweat or the city itself makes you sweat because of its climate.
Its Day 1 and I step out by checking the train on
M-indicator. The 9.04 Local to CST was the one I was going to commute every
day. I reached Chinchpokli praying the local to be less crowded. God blessed
me! And in 10 minutes I reach CST.
At the start of the session, on Day 1,we had about 7
persons to speak to us. Everyone congratulated us for completing the course and
not referring us as students anymore but as members or professionals ! A sudden
thought came to my mind that 21st February 2016 had changed the life
of all the participants sitting with me. I felt like (and I believe almost all
others had the same thing on their mind) the Rancho of 3 Idiots. The way he was
happy for being in the engineering college, I was happy being a CMA, with the
fresh talent of everyone turned CMA about just 10 days ago.
South Mumbai – Another thing I liked
was that our training was in South Mumbai.For others it may be just another
part of Mumbai with high real estate rates, for me it is a photogenic area.
Many of the buildings in Fort are very old which takes you to the British era.
Well, one needs to have photographer’s viewpoint to love old buildings. At
times you feel you are in Bombay and not Mumbai !
CST – As a kid, I was fascinated about visiting
CST because it is a huge railway Station and no trains went beyond this
station. The elder I grew, I was in love with the architectural style of this
building. I had clicked loads of pictures of CST whenever I got the opportunity
to. So I was happy that at least I will be able to observe it every day. And
this building looks magnificent under lights.
Anup – My post on Mumbai is incomplete without
Anup. My friend from Aurangabad settled in Mumbai and the one with whom I can travel anywhere considering his interest and adaptability.His is the one with, Vasant, plan banate hai na kahi janeka every other month . We met one evening and
roamed around. It’s always fun roaming with you AK77.
Changing times-
One cannot separate Mumbai and cricket. Football is
also a loved sport here. But times are changing. I used to go for a walk post
dinner on a ground. The very 1st night I saw a group playing Kabaddi.
They were starting after 9.30 PM. And I realized this city never sleeps. It was
on the 3rd or 4th day I saw kids playing cricket on some
small road. Even my cousin in 1st
standard and his friends used to discuss about the ongoing pro kabaddi and not
the Asia cup. Out of curiosity, I showed them a photo of Sachin Tendulkar from
my phone and asked them whether they knew him. And they recognized him. So
times have changes, but not completely! It is said a kid in Mumbai learns to hold a
bat before he learns to walk. Considering the kabaddi fever, the next
generation kids may start pulling each other’s legs!
The responsibility factor –
We as the citizens of the nation utilize its
resources but many times we are not aware about its wastages. I used to get
down at CST and it was the last station any train used to go. One day I saw a
person switching off the fans in the compartment before he got down. Watching
him, another guy switched off the buttons where he was sitting. Those guys also
had offices to reach like all others, spent 30 seconds to conserve energy. It’s
really worth appreciating. Even I got
habituated to this in the later days.
The Accent – Every other town you visit
in Maharashtra, you’ll find a different accent of Marathi. And Mumbai is no
exception to it. I could observe the ‘Mumbai accent’ while interacting with the
local people here. I also overheard some people speaking in Malvani (my mother
tongue) or Konkani while walking around the roads which is a rare sight in my
part of the state. Even my Hindi got contaminated here by referring words as
khelega not kehlunga, Karega not karunga, Ayega kya not Aar aha hai kya and
what not.
Achievers !
Six groups were formed on Day 1 for the purpose of
presentation. Ours was Group no 3. We named it Achievers! Little did we know
that we would live up to that name some day. In fact none of us was interested
in even interacting. Out of the other 7 members, I interacted with only 1 the 1st
day, Siddhesh who later turned out to be great friend . For a few days it
seemed that only the two of us were interested in presentation.
There was lot of chaos about whether it’s a GD or
presentation. Few of us assuming it’s a GD were reluctant to rehearse saying
what is the use of rehearsing in a GD
and lets be spontaneous. Ultimately it turned out to be a presentation.
And it was only then we actually started working on it.
We had a session on mock meeting, where we formed a
Achievers Infra Ltd. Which was in deep troubles and we found out solutions to
overcome them. I also recollect funny moments from it.
We were done with the presentation soon. But don’t
know why we were low on morale (‘Apna kuch bharosa nahi hai’ feeling). And on
the Presentation Day, Akriti and Pooja were unable to attend due to illness.
And already Krunali had come up with idea of a skit of Startup cofounder and a
venture capitalist ! Either that could have taken us on top or let us sink. To
frighten us, the groups who presented before us were bombarded with a series of
questions by the judges.
Our presentation was started by Krunali (Sharapova
:P), and that was the opening we wanted (calm, professional and decent) and was
followed by Siddhesh(he provided us real insights of the whole topic). Well,
the skit was something which turned out to be our USP. While me & Krunali
were performing, we realized the judges nodding in appreciation on our points.
Next came Jayesh. I don’t know why he was afraid. He performed really well.
Then came Kinjal who did overtime by coming on stage 2 times. It was Zainab’s
turn later. We all were wondering whether she will shiver as she was in the
mock meeting. But she didn’t. And while inviting to speak next, she renamed me
as saavn/savnt. I think only the group members realized it (Guys I have seen
you smiling in the video). Hahaha. That turned out to be a big joke which we
still laugh. Then after my slide, Kinjal concluded the presentation and her
last sentence was worth appreciating, ‘So anyone has any business idea?’
The moment our presentation concluded, I felt ours
was the best and someone had to outperform us to win. The ‘Challengers’ also
made a brilliant presentation which was sort of challenge to our group.
Ultimately we won it. It was a crisis situation earlier like in the mock
meeting but we finally made it to the top. Even the one who didn’t attend had a role to play. Akriti was the one
who named our Group Achievers and Pooja was the one who made a significant part
of the presentation. So overall a team effort. The presentation has led us
towards a bond of friends than just a group.
The concluding days-
At the beginning of the Orientation & Training,
we all were of the opinion, ‘When are these 12 days going to end?’ and as we
headed towards the conclusion of it we were thinking, ‘Why is this coming to an
end?’
Everyone was taking back a bunch of experience along
with him or her. We had developed nick names of a few personalities in the
training or some of their skills which I will remember. Some referred me as
Blogger or Professor; Gaurav was referred as chef as he has his bakery or the
guy with lethal combination; many were accidental CMAs as they introduced
themselves,Thomas Cook(I came to know your name after few days Shubham), Krunali (our chairperson!) as the Star
performer; Sneha Chenge as The Topper, creative artist and her desire to do something for the
institute or budding CMAs; Taresh as the sketcher(Boss you have a real talent);
Zainil(Future Blogger) as the one interested in technical questions and for his
double thumbs up; Sneha Agrawal for interviewing you and talking(no offense),
but I am sending you a bill for the photographs; Siddhesh for interest in
sports( Sachin Tendulkar fans bhai-bhai), Jasleen for her interest in
travelling and being a state level kabaddi player, Pankaj for realizing we have
a mutual friend in Aurangabad, interactions with Shailendra and Sachin and many more. I can’t recollect everyone as I am
writing it down.
The last day everyone was planning to head
somewhere with the friends they made during the 12 days. Before that we had the
presentation ceremony ! (Not ppt presentation, but the prize
distribution.) We had a special lunch on the last day. During the lunch itself,
the photo session started. I believe no one has any idea about the number of
photos and selfies taken on the last day. Everyone was seeing off each other
and having a goodbye handshake.
Well some of us planned to visit the aquarium. And
considering my interest, I was more than
delighted. Apart from gaining knowledge we were more interested in having fun
the aquarium also. The best part was the game I played with Sneha, which fish
does this resemble to and we had hilarious answers.
Later we spent some time on the Marine Drive. Me and
Siddhesh were talking about not being able to watch the ongoing match at
Wankhede whose floodlights were visible from where we were sitting. Instead, we
along with our friends, witnessed a beautiful sunset from Marine Drive. I had
started my post on 12 days journey with a sunrise and I conclude this chapter
with a sunset. This chapter has definitely been a great one. Mumbai, you’ve
been a great host, never felt like an outsider. I would end with what I wrote
on the sheet for our reactions, ‘A wonderful experience like never
before!’
