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A sudden trip to Mumbai was perhaps just what I needed to get some life into my running. The city is getting ready for its annual marathon tomorrow and while passing by the area where the event is to be flagged off, I could feel the buzz.
It was a pleasure to get out this morning in shorts and a tee and not deal with frozen fingers. Ms. A lives in this city now and we made a plan to catch up at Shivaji Park. The run was a lumbering sort until I hit the morning market at Dadar Plaza and then on it was fun. That market is a blaring short stretch in the mornings with hawkers, shoppers, vehicles and overflowing greens. Running that stretch was like playing NFS, weaving in and out between cabs, cycles, trucks, human bodies and avoiding the greens. I crossed that mess and met Ms.A at the 7k mark. We ran together until we reached ‘Idli House’, my favourite breakfast joint here for steaming hot idlis and rasam. Simply melt in your mouth idlis.
Running here is very different from running back home. Out here, I run on the highway and busy main streets. Even at an early hour it is always rumbling with trucks and buses and other assorted wheels.
Today was a bustling sort of day and I also got a ride on the local train as well as the ubiquitous B.E.S.T. bus after ages. It felt strange to feel like an out of towner in this city I called home for many years.
Nostalgia yes, but do I miss it? No. Pune is home now.
I met AJ who is in town for the run tomorrow. As always, it doesn’t feel like so much time has passed since I last saw him. Wishing him and all those running tomorrow a good one.
me and my run 
Be careful running on those busy streets!!! (Can you tell I’m a mother?)
; ]
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🙂
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Will you watch the marathon? How many take part?
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Not going there but perhaps on TV. Around 40,000 odd people are participating. It’s the biggest running event in the country.
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Reading your post reminded me of my time in India (about 30yrs ago now) I visited Mumbai on the way in and out. When I arrived I thought it dirty and primitive, but after a few weeks staying at a village hospital (outside Madurai) and some travelling on a tiny budget when I returned to Mumbai it all seemed like a thrusting metropolis with glittering lights! Friends tell me that a lot has changed since then! Your talk of idlis reminded be of the breakfast we used to get. It was my first ever time out of the U.K. – I’d never even been to France next door! But it was a wonderful experience and I loved the country
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It’s an incredible city, straddling the best and worst that’s possible. The best thing about this place is really it’s people, grounded and yet constantly dreaming. Back home now and it feels so quiet in contrast. All I can hear now are the birds and a distant purr of a motorcycle.
A lot has changed since you last visited. Perhaps you can visit again and maybe run here too? 🙂
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I definitely hope to visit one day. My husband will want to go in 5 star luxury, but some of the best bits for me were travelling on local buses from place to place! I’m not sure if I could cope with the heat for running!
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