Born and brought up in Mumbai, I have been a Mumbaikar at heart, no matter where I went. Whenever I returned to Mumbai after a long time, I would breathe in the sea scented, yet inevitably polluted air of Mumbai, which would hit one like a blast furnace, and instantly feel at home. Mumbaikars usually cannot imagine going away from the city and settling elsewhere. I, too, never thought I would. Until my wedding was fixed.
My fiance, now my husband, was working in Bangalore, and had declared that he had no intentions of coming back to the crushing rush of Mumbai with its sauna like weather. So I moved to Bangalore as a newlywed, but my heart yearned for Mumbai. This was more than two decades ago. Bangalore was a pretty laid back place then, and I missed the energy of Mumbai. Slowly, though, it began to get under my skin and in my veins, and I began to put down roots here.
I learnt the language - I can speak well enough to communicate with my househelp, autowallahs and the greengrocer, though the kid and the husband still laugh at my Kannada. I made new friends, learnt to appreciate the nuances of Karnataka's cuisine - all of south cuisine, actually - and learnt a lot about the natural beauty, heritage sites and history of my adopted state.
Today, Bangalore, now officially in its new avatar as Bengaluru, is what I call home, though Mumbai will never be taken out of my heart.
Happy Karnataka Rajotsava Day!
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