My alarm clock went off at 4am , I put some clothes on and headed out . Caught the 5.15am train and headed to Marine Drive . I would love to write more about the journey but that’s not my subject . As I stepped out of the station , I could hear the water calling out to me . The waves splashing against the rocks , the sound of the sea itself dragged me towards it .
But mind you , I still hadn’t had my subject in mind , until I was pushed by the wind , leading me directly to the pavement , where I stood , staring at the sea . I knew I wasn’t alone but for some reason , I felt like a bird and could fly as high as I wanted to , I just stood there , drowning in my thoughts until my bubble burst and became aware of my surroundings.
Even though it was only around 6.30am , I could see people , really well dressed , like they were at a party and came there straight and had spent the night there . There were some musicians too , who seemed like they’d been jamming through the night as well . There was also the police constantly patrolling and making sure everything was fine and no chaos or mischief took place . After half an hour or so , came the runners , running like they were lost in their thoughts , some with a determination of losing weight and some just fitness freaks .
People meditating , even though they were sitting quite far away from me , I could understand their breathing pattern and rhythm . The cyclists speeding through and the laughter club of the oldies was truly a delightful sight.
As time passed , I could see some landscape photographers working on their creative images and some sketch artists with some amazing work strolling around trying to find more customers . There were also few drunk men , shouting and yelling which almost seemed like they were fighting a war in their head .
I looked up at the sky , it was gloomy and cloudy but yet what a happy day . The hawks and crows flying around with their wings spread , owners taking their dogs for a walk which became a conversation starter as many young adults and children ran towards the dogs to play with them . One scene caught my eye , which was of a father carrying his child on his shoulders and singing an old Hindi song , “Rukh Jana Nahin Tu Kabhi Har Ke”, the sight was really mesmerizing , emotional and heart-warming . At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to hear the sound of the leaves rustling but I closed my eyes and paid attention to the few trees planted along marine drive and finally , I did here them rustle , it was truly satisfying .
That was only one side , facing the sea , the other side faces the road . The road had a very majestic feeling to it , cars zoomed on it , but yet I couldn’t hear a thing , probably cause it was pretty early in the morning and that there were hardly any cars on the road and apparently it gets really noisy on weekdays and later in the evening . The other things that were noticeable were the flood lights of the Wankhede stadium and panning left , there were some buildings and hotels with exceptional architecture , though some of them were hardly maintained with the outer coating of the buildings peeling off due to the humidity and the sea . The Air India building had their windows placed exactly how it looks on the airplanes , small , square-ish and plenty . Further down were many other hotels and a theatre as well , which finally ended with the farthest point of the drive where a ton of photographs were being clicked of models , of tourists and many other enthusiasts like myself .
Marine Drive , overall , to me , is a kind of place I would go to release some stress and spend some time , in deep thought, staring at the sea , contemplating life , having philosophical conversations and small jam sessions to clear the mind and find peace . Be it any time of the day , if one sits staring at the sea , I automatically start to feel really filmy . Marine Drive also showed me that Mumbai is truly the city of dreams and the irony that the city never sleeps.
- Nikhil Pires