27th MAY, 2016
THE METRONOME/ BLOG POST 05
So it's been seven years - a bit more than that, actually - since I moved to Mumbai, kicking and screaming like any true Delhi-ite. Seven years later, I'm much closer to calling this city home than I ever thought I'd be. Mumbai has its pros and cons. What it also has, is an endless layer of mystery and intrigue, that reveals itself to you very slowly, over time, if you learn how to look.
The first song and video I created about Mumbai was seven years ago ( Welcome to the City ) and this was from the semi cynical perspective of an outsider struggling to learn the ropes of survival in a viscious professional jungle. This second song is a much more mellow take on Mumbai, from the point of view of a semi-acclimatised resident somewhat better attuned to the rhythms of the city.
NEW EXPERIENCES :
1) Shooting an entire video during a single evening's commute by public transport!
2) Possibly my first english song where the rhythm section is entirely desi percussion
Seven Years in Mumbai - the second song video - was shot by CB during the course of a single evening's commute from Versova to Colaba, ( the suburbs of Mumbai to South Bombay ) travelling by public transport - on roads below the new Mumbai Metro line, in an auto rickshaw, in the local train, in a cab. Mumbai, I must say, has some of the best public transport in India - and despite the insane crowds, its unbelieveable how totally chilled out everyone is about something like a shoot. Not one person questioned us or interrupted us in any way through the entire process - a fact which perhaps explains why Mumbai is the undisputed entertainment capital of the country.
To clarify - the kissing noises that people make here on the street are meant to be a way of addressing a stranger whose name one doesnt know - its not meant to denote a kiss at all, in Mumbai parlance! Its something that takes a bit of getting used to, as do the potholes which make the roads of Mumbai some of the worst roads in the country despite Mumbai being the financial capital of India!
SONG LYRICS/ SEVEN YEARS IN MUMBAI
Seven years living in the city
I've grown accustomed to the fact (that) it smells shitty
I wear shorts instead of pants
Share my sugar with the ants
Now the fungus on the woollens looks pretty
Seven years living in Mumbai
X X X noises from a random guy
Makes me jump, even now,
And I still don't know how
All the potholes just seem to multiply
Seven years, seven years, seven years, seven years
Living in Mumbai
Seven years living in Bombay
I don't drive much, I still lose my way
Every road I know is called
Some Link Road, I'm appalled!
But a rickshaw somewhere makes my day
Seven years living in the city
Changes you, makes you tough, makes you gritty
Changes how you syncopate,
Makes you love six by eight
Its time to celebrate with a ditty
Seven years, seven years, seven years, seven years
Living in the city