quasiLog: Mulund Chronicles

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Mulund Chronicles

Reconstructions were everywhere. The old giving way to the new

March 2015 - Oct 2016

I was born and brought up in Mumbai. Lived in various places and all of those had an impact on who I am today. For 5 years till my 4th std I lived in a small village called Tarkhad near Vasai town. After that for about 22 years we stayed on the University of Mumbai campus at Kalina.

After my father retired, we shifted to Kandivalli and then to Goregaon. None of these places felt like home. After a few years the family shifted to Pune. I stayed on for another year trying to do a startup. When me and Percy finally started working on an idea we shifted to his house in Warje on the outskirts of Pune. We stayed there for 2 years, mostly underground.

After the startup shut I moved back in with the family. Got married and we all shifted to Kothrud, Pune. Finally a home which felt like home.

Once while visiting friends in Mumbai I visited Powai. I was to meet them at some football ground. After so many years living outside of Mumbai it all felt grand - the large buildings and the hustle and bustle. I wondered if I would ever live or work in some such grand place again...

Next year I got a job in that same grand building opposite the football ground. The Supreme Business park. The financials were still a little shaky so me and the wife shifted to an unassuming 1 bhk in the old LIC colony in Mulund East.

I stayed for amost 2 years in Mulund East. These were few of the most difficult, happening and eventful years for me. Lots of things happened...

I got to experience my favourite Mumbai monsoon in full glory. Twice. I connected with old friends. Old life. I travelled a lot to Kalyan and Pune. My mum got sick. She passed away. My daughter was born. I had a health crisis as my B12 and D3 hit near zero. I got my ACL reconstruction done which had been pending for over 6 years. I repaid my startup loan. I brought a bike with cash payment.

So much.

Mulund East is old Mumbai. Some of the buildings there were derelict and rundown. 50+ years old. There was decay everywhere. Old people. Poli-bhaji kendra's where mostly these old people got their food. It was like shifting back in time.

But Mumbai has it's charm. We felt at home. Me and the wify were finding back our feet in this city. The house was small and very old but it was still cozy. Luckily many of ours friends lived in Thane and nearby so Viviana mall was the new meeting place. Many dinners.

The Punto got used to the road from Mulund to Kalyan. Since my wife was pregnant she spent last trimester at her mothers in Kalyan. So most weekends I used to be there. On the others, we used to find our way back to Pune. I missed my mother and my little niece...

I used to get food from these very poli-bhaji kendras. One of them was run by a dude near the main chowk. He used to have chicken on some days and I used to get that. We employed an old bai who had grown up in the locality. She used to get fish - bangda, ravas, surmai, kolambi - for me and cook them in traditional style. Amazing stuff.

The office was super. We had an x-box 360, a pool table, a tt table & a mini golf course. Great time spent there. My health crisis made it extremely difficult for me to work and I thank Rishi for being patient with me. Eventually I left as I felt I did not do justice to the job at that point of time. That was the lowest point in my working career.

I shifted back to Pune to join my brother's startup. I had got very homesick after my mother's passing and I suppose I felt at home in Kothrud with the rest of the family. But this short stint in Mumbai will remain etched in memory.