I love Tolkien. The man was fantastic, I mean read his work, its a testament to a life of creativity, dedication and dreams. Basically the man is my ideal. I love his work; in all honesty his legendarium is the world I would live in if I was allowed to. High Fantasy is what my own work aspires to be, a dedication to the one who put me on the road of light.
But Tolkien taught me more than just how to tell a story.
He taught me that writing about the things I love most deserves my time, dedication and absolute devotion. This is why I strive in all things to write from my heart, to do the written word justice by giving it my all.
In keeping with that belief, I’m going to write about Bombay, not Mumbai.
See Bombay is the city I grew up in, the pre-concrete urban village that was home to my first dreams, wishes, fears and wild imaginings. I still reminisce about the many days spent climbing trees, falling off them, running around in open grounds and mostly spending a lot of time enjoying my childhood.
And through it all a thread that runs thru reminds me of the days when it all changed.
The open grounds were levelled to make way for wider roads, the trees were gone and tall buildings took their place, and most significant of all these was the fact that kids started spending more time indoors forgetting the games we used to play that brought out the little monsters in all of us (fond names uncles and aunties who past us running by, would called out).
The ‘Little Bay’ a.k.a. Bombay was fast disappearing and as a growing child I refused to let it go. Symbolic is also the fact my own childhood was fast passing me by. Maybe it was that which kept me from calling the city Mumbai, or the fact that I just didn’t want to agree with an enforced rule, or the simple rebellion of a teenager. But truthfully its a simple belief, I belong to India and changing the name of a city isn’t going to make me believe differently. Bombay has been and will always belong to the larger part of the Asian Subcontinent. India.
Having cleared that, I do acknowledge the existence of Mumbai, as a citizen of India I will keep to its laws and regulations. My passport states that I am from Mumbai, my academic documents acknowledge the University of Mumbai, and as a whole when I travel I always buy tickets to the city of Mumbai. The difference is the same as saying when I was a kid Pluto was a planet, it still is a planet, however its just a minor one.
In keeping with that minor difference, Mumbai is the stranger, the city formerly known as Bombay is always going to be home.
Candida Fernandes
