Marine Drive

At Marine Drive
on Arabian Sea
Mr. Mumbaikar lay on the wall
between the sea and sky
desiring,
a space on the Way;
money and love,
twined, packed,
stacked in frigs,
to last a while.
Mr. Mumbaikar lives alive,
a human, not saint.
near or away,
Marine Drive,
a fulsome,
measure,
anciently modern.
Marine Drive may not be his,
on share, lease or ownership;
Hopeful, for sure,
resting on the wall.
Dream intact.

In an article The Making of Marine Drive written by Sidharth Bhatia, and FBed by Khushboo Narayan, the author asks: 'Do youngsters dream of making enough money to move into a Marine Drive flat one day? Well, Mr. Bhatia, for 40 years have dreamt (still dream), only to move home from Dombvili to Borivili and never beyond. But desiring like Mr, Mumbaikar, me has stretched out on the wall, walked down the Grand Curve, mostly every day; always left it in ecstasy. Marine Drive on Arabian Sea became a sure, benchmate from around 1979 when offices of Business Standard shifted to Atlanta, 14 th floor, Nariman Point (offices of Times of India were far). Since then till 2007, has been around Marine Drive most of waking hours; has seen the Marine Drive wet; bright; watched the sun and moon traffic lighting the three km stretch; a touch tipsy with Narayana Karunakara Kurup and swaying. The sexy arc of the Drive, a woman in repose. When friends in the 1980s left for Gulf newspapers, me waited for chats across the Arabian Sea. Marine Drive on Arabian Sea suggests Infinity; Mumbai is Infinity. That's what a sea does to a city.... a mountain cannot. It was, it is, it will be. Miss the train to office on Marine Drive one day; be ahead of time the next. There could be bad days as if Marine Drive on Arabian Sea does not want; good times when she wants. Neglect never. Mumbai is spun in yarns the Sea brings in and takes out, daily. Marine Drive on Arabian Sea is an evocative story teller; a Nargis; Mumbaikar a romancer; a Raj Kapoor.