{"id":2438,"date":"2016-03-17T01:13:21","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T19:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2438"},"modified":"2016-03-17T01:13:21","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T19:43:21","slug":"mumbai-meri-jaan-kabhi-cushy-kabhie-kaam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2438","title":{"rendered":"Mumbai Meri Jaan: Kabhi Cushy, Kabhie Kaam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span class=\"dropcap\">I<\/span><\/p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">love <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/social-commentary\/mumbai-bombay-india-shivaji-maharaj-shiv-sena-thane-haji-ali-mughal-empire-tom-hanks-kala-ghoda\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mumbai<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Scratch that. I am in love with Mumbai. For the longest period of time, Mumbai has been like a raging affair that refuses to lose its charm or passion. Every time I am here, I find myself relying on cliches \u2013 yet managing to discover a new persona of this manic, schizophrenic, unpredictable beast. For me, Mumbai is like an exuberant lover dedicated to the cause of keeping the spark in our romance alive, revealing new sides of its old self every time we are together.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ever since we met, Mumbai has been a constant that keeps knocking on my door, again and again, changing shapes and morphing identity to fit into the keyhole I am looking at it through.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The city wasn\u2019t always a permanent fixture in my life. For the first 20 or so years of my life, it was an abstract idea, an alien island, a mirage that dwelt on the horizon where dreams lived and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/modern-family\/shah-rukh-khan-birthday-fan-mannat-suhana-khan\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shah Rukh Khan<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> roamed the streets. The first time I met Mumbai, I was a newly minted lawyer, a thoroughbred, well-paid corporate mule that was poised to start living the corporate dream complete with a cushy job and cushier salary. I was still wet behind the ears, a young professional who had suddenly been thrust into the heart of the gigantic aspirational beast that is corporate India. The dream \u2013 where I had the means to afford the buffet of opulence this city is known for, but had no time to enjoy any of it.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was looking at Mumbai through keyholes that were actually the glassed domes of Mumbai\u2019s fabled high-rises, tinted with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/pov\/rich-friends-broke-money-friendships\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">expensive weekends<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and highlighted by a soul-sucking grind that refused to relent. It was exhilarating. Until it wasn\u2019t. Because then, it was exhausting and numbing and terrifying and made me wonder if it was worth it.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My second encounter with Mumbai was a short while later, when I was between jobs, struggling with an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/series\/first-person\/sleeping-depression-relationship\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">existential crisis<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that only makes sense when you are in your early 20s. It was a very brief phase but extremely instructive in the sense that it revealed a side of Mumbai that can only be witnessed if you throw yourself into the true grind of the city and walk in the shoes of an average working-class Mumbaikar. <\/span>\n\n<blockquote class=\"quote--center\">It was a Mumbai that was designed to fuel a creative\u2019s fire, an accomplice that is intent on making your masterpiece happen and a storyteller who is willing to share an anecdote at every turn you take \u2013 if only you are willing to listen.<\/blockquote>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I budgeted my <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/humour\/millennials-financially-illiterate-savings-mutual-funds\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">savings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, hustled short-term jobs, and travelled by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/people\/the-seat-mafia-of-mumbai-locals\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">locals<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to the corners of the city that my novice South Mumbai self didn\u2019t even know existed. It was a brief, transient period of my life that gave me a glimpse into the struggles of surviving the Maximum City with all its grit and occasional glory. It was a picture that was starkly different from the one that I had hung on the walls of my mind while I sat in air-conditioned cubicles and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/social-commentary\/indians-overworked-work-life-balance\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cursed my job<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Without the luxury of faux sympathy and distance, the woman who sat everyday on the floor of the local weaving flowers into tiny gajras with her wrinkled, scarred hands was no longer an object of misplaced pity. She was a fellow human being struggling to make ends meet. Just like the man who slept outside the station and hoped to one day go back to his village and till his fields. I know what it sounds like \u2013 a relatively <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/pov\/half-liberal-privileged-woke-millennials\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">privileged millennial<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> equating a few days of her hardship with the generational poverty of those on the streets. Yet, I believe there was a bond, shorn of pathos.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was harsh, tough, and overwhelming. It was a version of Mumbai that helped me discover more about myself and the world around us than I could have ever hoped to find while peeping through shiny glass walls \u2013 an eye-opening reality check into my privileges that reset my priorities and redefined how I viewed and processed the world around me.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At some level, I\u2019ll always owe this city: To have given my presumed empathy the truth potion it needed.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My third and ongoing encounter with this city came under drastically different circumstances. It also happens to be my most cherished rendezvous with Mumbai, the one where I really, truly, and irrevocably fell in love with the idea of this city and everything it encompasses.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After evading multiple occasions where I could have been pulled back into the city\u2019s inescapable orbit, I finally gave in when I made it to a six-month writer\u2019s residency programme. I arrived in Mumbai again, but this time as a creative, a writer who had set out to explore the contours of her art, passion and creativity. Mumbai, the city of dreams and art and everything in between, welcomed me with open arms and revealed a facet that I had never had the fortune of encountering before.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was a Mumbai that was designed to fuel a creative\u2019s fire, an accomplice that is intent on making your masterpiece happen and a storyteller who is willing to share an anecdote at every turn you take \u2013 if only you are willing to listen.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I walked down the cobbled streets, a camera and a notepad in hand, finding new shades and new insights while walking down the familiar paths. I spent hours sitting on a corner bench in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/humour\/world-theatre-day-watch-a-play-prithvi\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prithvi<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, soaking in the energy and vibe of people who throng it for their love of art and stories. As a non-Mumbai native who did not have the benefit of shared and inherited nostalgia, this was the first time I realised the old-world charm of Mumbai\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/series\/table-for-three\/parsi-food-cuisine-bombay-foodwallah-recipe-india-navroz-mubarak-parsi-new-year\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Irani cafes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, discovering the stories that lie hidden beneath the corner table and can be found only between sips of cutting <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/grub\/teetotallers-alcohol-drinking-tea\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chai<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It was a Mumbai that I had only imagined in my wildest of fantasies, the Mumbai that made poets out of ordinary souls and compelled people to bleed on paper, as words and sketches and graffiti on the walls.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This was the first time I realised the beauty of the fabled spirit of Mumbai, the soul that has managed to retain its dazzling allure despite an exterior defaced with pain and hardships and endless struggles. This was also the first time I realised why Mumbai is the city of dreams. It is not just because it is where money and stars and industry and commerce collude. It is because Mumbai is where your dreams are allowed to breathe, to be inspired and to find expressions in ways only this city\u2019s landscape can permit.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I wonder what the next stage in our relationship will be. Will I grow weary of it? Will I keep going back to it as if returning to a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/love-and-sex\/toxic-men-relationships-dating-twilight-sex-and-the-city-edward-cullen-carrie-mr-big-pride-and-prejudice\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">toxic<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, abusive lover?<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As lyricist and film writer, puts it in an essay titled <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/Leisure\/1DZ6BubPyPNo4Wa0p0X6bK\/The-Bombay-of-a-film-writer.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe Bombay of a Film Writer\u201d<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, he often talks with his friends about leaving the city. \u201c\u2018With Skype and smartphones, we can make it work from there,\u2019 we reassure ourselves, like lovers in a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/love-and-sex\/what-is-love-relationship-long-distance-breakup\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">long-distance relationship<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This restlessness leads to the assumption that some other place, quieter and less conflicted than Bombay, will fuel creativity. But then we all know this is just a silly game. None of us is leaving Bombay and moving to a sunset-view cottage in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/humour\/humans-of-goa-party-booze\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Goa<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. That will be too neat, too honourable&#8230; Bombay by day is the city we deserve, Bombay by night is the city it deserves to be\u2026 Life is complicated; I am looking for a complicated city too.\u201d<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And I couldn\u2019t have picked a more complicated one.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first time I met Mumbai, I was looking at the city through keyholes that were actually the glassed domes of its fabled high-rises, tinted with expensive weekends. My second encounter with Mumbai was when I was between jobs. It was harsh and overwhelming \u2013 an eye-opening reality check into my privileges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":212,"featured_media":2439,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3452],"tags":[62,65,3663,19,4165,4965,80,4627,152,4966,998,4770,2644],"class_list":["post-2438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-arre","tag-arre-reads","tag-city","tag-india","tag-jobs","tag-local","tag-mumbai","tag-privilege","tag-shah-rukh-khan","tag-struggle","tag-train","tag-work","tag-writer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mumbai Meri Jaan: Kabhi Cushy, Kabhie Kaam<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The first time I met Mumbai, I was looking at the city through keyholes that were actually the glassed domes of its fabled high-rises, tinted with expensive weekends. 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It was harsh and overwhelming \u2013 an eye-opening reality check into my privileges.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Runjhun Noopur","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2438#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2438"},"author":{"name":"Runjhun Noopur","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc2d16856782f6c2834c283e7ce9c86"},"headline":"Mumbai Meri Jaan: Kabhi Cushy, Kabhie Kaam","datePublished":"2016-03-16T19:43:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2438"},"wordCount":1300,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2438#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1524138724.jpg","keywords":["arre","arre reads","City","India","jobs","Local","mumbai","Privilege","Shah Rukh Khan","struggle","Train","work","writer"],"articleSection":["Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2438","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2438","name":"Mumbai Meri Jaan: Kabhi Cushy, Kabhie Kaam","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2438#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2438#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1524138724.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-16T19:43:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc2d16856782f6c2834c283e7ce9c86"},"description":"The first time I met Mumbai, I was looking at the city through keyholes that were actually the glassed domes of its fabled high-rises, tinted with expensive weekends. My second encounter with Mumbai was when I was between jobs. It was harsh and overwhelming \u2013 an eye-opening reality check into my privileges.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2438#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2438"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2438#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1524138724.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1524138724.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2438#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mumbai Meri Jaan: Kabhi Cushy, Kabhie Kaam"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc2d16856782f6c2834c283e7ce9c86","name":"Runjhun Noopur","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1728c7835a3f17dff6d6e65f3f27aadde30d7bdcb3d11fb9da03b5534d74ce1b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1728c7835a3f17dff6d6e65f3f27aadde30d7bdcb3d11fb9da03b5534d74ce1b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1728c7835a3f17dff6d6e65f3f27aadde30d7bdcb3d11fb9da03b5534d74ce1b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Runjhun Noopur"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=212"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1524138724.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/212"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}