Mumbai unapologetically wakes you up in the morning, without offering you your customary cup of tea and with a harsh kick, pushes you out on the street with a scream: “Survive, live. And don’t come back till you have done so.”

To me this is what the “spirit” of the city has meant. But truly, its cosmopolitan nature, the presence of so many different communities that live here, the energy of this synthesis, the acumen of varied and diverse minds have all contributed to its greatness. It is a city that can become almost impersonal in its attitude and the very next second, climb over the walls of your home and sit beside you to comfort and assuage you. I have travelled fairly extensively in the world and even though there are many places I may not have visited, I can safely declare that this particular quality of the city is unique. You will not find it anywhere.

Despite its confusion, despite its high populace, despite its nagging traffic, despite its much maligned pollution, despite its so many other accepted and unaccepted ailments, when you come to Mumbai there is a strange sense of relaxation. There is a feel that you breathe easier, metaphorically, there is a lightness of being, as though the burden of some weight has been lifted. This is what gives it its character.

Technically, my first visit to Mumbai was in the mid or early 50s, when I came with my parents as guests of Mr Singhania, present J K Group Chairman, Mr Vijaypat Singhania’s father. He was a great admirer of my father’s poetry and literature. We stayed at his residence, opposite the Breach Candy Hospital, when it was not rebuilt into the present twin highrise, JK House.

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