What is Soul City?

All of us are familiar with the term “soulmate”. However, do you know about the term “soul city” or “spirit city”? Just like a soulmate, a soul city is a city that resonates with you and has captured your soul. A city or place that truly makes you feel comfortable and “at home”.

Before I tell you the story of my soul city, I would like to know which city you most resonate with?

Now, back to my story.

In my life, the only romantic story that is worth telling is my romance with a particular city. Those who know me well may have already guessed it. My romance with this city probably began when I was a small child. My mom was a huge movie buff. She was particularly fond of Hindi movies. Rajesh Khanna and Raj Kapoor were her matinee idols. She always wanted to meet them. However, due to her fragile health, she could never travel. One day, while I was combing her hair, she said, “when you grow up, you will live in Bombay”. She had said that so unexpectedly that I ignored it. She felt bit embarrassed at this outburst and quickly changed the subject. Almost 10 years after her death, what she said that evening seemed like a premonition. Perhaps, she had just blurted it or had some premonition herself.

In 2005, I travelled to Mumbai for the first time. My best friend had just got a job in Mumbai. She was living in a flat with some other girls. I invited myself because I was going through a bad breakup and wanted a mental diversion. Within a week, I got down from a train at Tilak Nagar Station.

Have you ever felt this after setting foot in an unknown city that you know the city?

It could be due to an overdose of Hindi movies that I was familiar with the city. However, I felt strangely familiar with the surroundings. I felt a strange connection to the city. 18 years later, this is the city that I proudly and lovingly call home. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that even if given a choice, I wouldn’t want to settle in any other city. This is my soul city, we are made for each other.

Why I Call Mumbai My Soul-City?

• I do not like extreme climate. I don’t like places that are too hot or too cold. Mumbai has the optimum weather conditions for me. It neither gets too hot nor too cold. Throughout the year, the temperature is bearable. However, Mumbai weather is suffering some extremities due to climate change. Nevertheless, it is better than other places.
• Even though I grew up in a cold place like Gangtok, yet I am not fond of winter. Whenever I have to wear sweaters, jackets, or any other winter garments, I feel irritated. Mumbai is a city where we never feel the need to wear winter garments. Yippeee!!!
• I love beaches. Living in Mumbai, I get the privilege to visit the beaches whenever I like. While my cousins in other cities have to travel long distance to visit a beach, I can just take a rickshaw and go to Juhu beach. Isn’t it fun?
• I love calm within chaos. I am an ambivert and get depressed in places that are too desolate. I love to be alone in a crowd. Mumbai is perfect for that. Here I can sit on my window seat alone with a cup of hot chai and watch the city run. So many cars, shops, people, and light beneath my building makes me feel safe and happy.
• I have a special love for markets but hate malls. Mumbai is a city that is full of both. I take my pick and visit various markets where I can bargain and buy things. Buying something from Bandra linking road, fashion street Colaba, or Lokhandwala market gives me immense happiness and satisfaction that I can never express in words. Those who love Mumbai, they will understand what this means.
• Mumbai local trains are often maligned. However, if you have ever lived in Mumbai, you would know how thrilling and fun local trains can be. These days, I usually travel in the first class women’s coach which is not so crowded. I love the vibe of local trains. They seem so lively, so bubbly, and so powerful. Mumbai local trains have their unique characteristic. When I was a regular traveler, I had made friends on train. People sing song, buy things, chop vegetables, crochet, read books, write movie scripts, practice dialogues for movie auditions, prepare their college presentations, check their Tinder, and God knows what else on Mumbai local trains. Just watching fellow commuters is enough time-pass for me. Once again, unless you have taken a local train, you wouldn’t be able to comprehend the fun. I agree the overpacked coaches is intimidating but trust me, once you can manage to get in, the fun begins.
• I spent most of my growing up years in Eastern India where sun sets by 5.30 pm. However, when I visited Mumbai, I was thrilled to see that Sun sets way past 7.30 pm. Getting these extra daylight was exciting for me.
• Mumbai is one of the safest city that I know of. Even in the middle of the night, I feel safe walking alone here. Unlike many cities in India and abroad, you do not feel unsafe walking alone as a girl.
• Mumbai has the best night life. I think the only other city that matches to the night life of Mumbai is New York, not even Paris or London. Mumbai is a city that literally never sleeps. Even in the middle of the night you will find a thela selling hot anda bhurji and pav. Most shops are open till 10 pm, pubs and restaurants are open till 12 am and beyond, medicine shops are open 24/7, way past midnight people take a stroll on Mumbai beaches.
• Even though this is subjective, I feel people in Mumbai are non-interfering and helpful.
• Auto rickshaw walas are honest compared to many other cities.
• Mumbai is a truly cosmopolitan city. So many communities have made this city their home. In Mumbai, you will find Parsi baugs, East Indian gaothans, and numerous chawls.
• Foreigners love to do poverty tourism in India. Their favorite destination is Dharavi, the biggest slum in Asia. However, it is interesting to note that Dharavi has an annual turnover of 1 billion US dollars. Fashion brands like Armani, Zara, H&M manufacture their items in Dharavi. A small insiders tip, you can get Armani bags (slightly defective) at Rs2000 in Dharavi. So all those Michael Korrs bags that our foreigner cousins flaunt during their India visits are probably made here in Dharavi.
• Mumbai has some of the best schools and educational institutes in the country. Therefore, I know my child can study here as long as he wishes.
• Mumbai also has some of the best private hospitals.
• Last but probably not the least, I live in a city where I have neighbors who are celebrities. You may feel that I am showing off but this is the fact. I am especially proud that cricket legend Mohinder Amarnath lives in my building. Late Sushant Singh Rajput was literally my next door neighbor for a while.

Which place we call our home depends on numerous things. We move from one city to another due to college, jobs, better opportunities and numerous other personal choices. Some people live in a place under compulsion while there are others who choose to live in a city. I consider myself blessed to have been able to live in a city that is almost tailor-made for me. This is the city that I love and have a strong connection with. Whenever I travel out of Mumbai, I start missing the city. The moment I can see the Mumbai chawls from my Flight’s window, I feel a strong sense of comfort. I am grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to live in this chaotic, crazy, funky, yet warm and cozy city. Both of us are imperfect in our own ways and with our imperfections we are made for each other.