The sultry summers and the non existent Winter,
The rush everyone is in they neglect the moments to savour,
Mumbai I have hated you.
The waterlogged monsoons,
To the clayey aftermath,
I have hated you.
And now that the time has come to leave,
I know not why, my heart now sinks.
The good times all flash in front of my eyes;
From the happy sidewalks of Powai,
To the quiet and quaint weekends at Ballard Bunder,
To the picturesque roads of nearby ghats
To the dreamy night roads of Marine drive,
The late night bike rides through Aarey or the early morning for that perfect shot.
Somewhere amidst the hatred,
I have grown fond of you,
Have let you grow on me,
And the line between hatred and love is now bleak.
Mumbai you will be missed.
Why so much for Mumbai? Because the name in itself holds the key to a mythological story which deals with a demon named Mumb the protector goddess Ambadevi and an act of kindness following repentance!! Well but one story which goes around.
The other being reincarnation of Parvati to learn the virtue of perseverance and concentration from the fishermen, who have ample amounts of these virtues.
Well so let us delve into the stories!
As per legends, there was an ancient demon Mumb, who through persistent worship of Lord Brahma gained a boon through which he was rendered almost invincible! Now Mumb with this newfound power grew arrogant and ruthless and as he was next to invincible, he started harassing the people of Mumbai! The plight was taken to Lord Vishnu who then along with Lord Brahma went to Lord Shiva to find a solution to this problem. Shiva suggested that each of the Trinity should shed some divine lustrum from their bodies and then this was combined to create Goddess Amba who could defeat Mumb.
What followed were a series of devastating and extreme battles and in the end Mumb was defeated.
As she was about to send Mumb to Patal Loka, Mumb requested her to spare her life and that he will worship her as Mumb-aai, aai in Marathi means mother, so in essence the mother of Mumb or the one who defeated Mumb, and pledged to be a just and shed his arrogance!!
This the battlefield came to be known as Mumb-aai and finally in 1995 it regained its original name back from the Portuguese name of Bombaim (good bay).
The next time you travel to this extraordinary city, a city which literally never sleeps, remember this amazing story behind the name!!!