मुंबई का माप
I think I like experiencing Mumbai in simple metric terms. It comes with excitement and exactitude, it comes with definition. Nothing is ever too far or too close, never too heavy or too light, never too cold or too hot. It's metric, it's rhythmic. ये है मुंबई का माप.
Metric and rhythmic are synonyms.
I've relished Bombay in metric terms.
If someone asks? I live 400 metres away from the Victoria Terminus, the CSMT. My way to colleges 1800 metres. That's 1260 seconds every morning and every evening, 0.7 seconds for every metre.
Despite my proximity to the station, finding which platform to wait on, and the waiting itself, can take anywhere from 120 seconds to eternity. The longest I've waited is 2520 seconds. In 2520 seconds, even a bag weighing 1.1 kilograms gains the weight of weariness. If you find a seat, your bag remains 1.1 kilograms; if you don’t, the bag comes out 1.7 kilograms on the other side, heavy with lassitude.
When everything is in metric units, it's easy to tackle. I've always wanted to live by the sea, close enough to hear crashing waves but far enough to have to walk to it, watch it emerge from the earth. The Arabian Sea has an average depth of 2734 metres. Marine Drive is 1900 metres away from me, nearly a third of the depth, in the direction of the wind. That's 1680 seconds, 0.8 seconds for every meter. I can't hear the waves but I can see them emerge from the earth when I walk towards the sea.
The Metro station is 500 metres away from me, 2400 metres from the sea. It runs deep. My average journey to the airport on the metro takes 2640 seconds. When I heave my bags on and off the security scanners I estimate their weight in metric units. 3.5 kilograms for the one on my back and 6.8 kilograms for my suitcase. It has to be precise, there's a lot riding on the exactness of this weight.
Mumbai is approximately 13,97,000 metres away from home. That's 7500 seconds, enough time for me to walk to and back from the average depth of the Arabian Sea. I've travelled home and back 3 times now, each time the distance feels smaller, metric units withstanding.
I'm used to the temperatures falling to 276.15 Kelvin back home. Mumbai hasn't seen a second fall below 290.15. They both have their charms.
I think I like experiencing Mumbai in simple metric terms. It comes with excitement and exactitude, it comes with definition. Nothing is ever too far or too close, never too heavy or too light, never too cold or too hot. It's metric, it's rhythmic.
ये है मुंबई का माप.
By Anupriya Chakraborty
