Originally Posted on: Sunday, January 1, 2012
To a lazy Garfieldian like me, the ideal
way to welcome the New Year on the midnight of 31 December is by
sleeping early and ignoring it's birth. But it seems that the entire
human race minus one has other ideas - including my siblings. And so I
found myself accompanying them yesterday, traveling on the southbound
Mumbai local train headed for Churchgate.
The
train was unusually crowded for so late an hour (around 9:30 pm - the
south-bound trains are pretty empty even during weekdays at this time of
the night). Apparently, there are a lot many people who share the same
(silly?) ideas about fun and enjoyment as my siblings. So there we were
on our way to the sea-face along with so many others - like lemmings on
their way to mass suicides...
We
got out of the Churchgate station and walked towards the sea-face. The
footpaths were pretty crowded as people waited outside the restaurants
and pubs that flank the streets there.
While I was trying pretty hard not to look at all the good looking gals (since my sisters were accompanying me), I was trying to observe and understand what motivated people to leave their cozy beds and come all the way out here. The good looking girls was the obvious reason for some of the guys. The loud music and the advertisements of liquor brands outside the restobars was certainly the reason for most other guys. As for the gals... let me not hazard any guesses into that area which I understand nothing about (a.k.a. the female psychology)... But mostly, I had this feeling that most people gathered out here had no idea what they were looking for, except for this deep urge to do something (which also means anything other than 'nothing') till the midnight hour struck...
As we reached the road, that runs along the sea-face, I could feel the pleasant sea-breeze. It was cool - and felt invigorating, rather than chilly. This added to the general festive atmosphere. Quite a few people could be seen clad in jackets or winter-gear.
I
was very apprehensive about the crowds along the sea-face. For it is a
well-known fact that during New-Year's eve, this part of the city is
crowded with drunks, thus making it unsafe for women. But as of now,
that 'well-known fact' turned out to be just a rumour. For certainly the
Queen's Necklace (that's what they call this jewel of a place that
adorns the otherwise bleak crowded city of Mumbai) was crowded, but not
the 'overflowing' variety crowded. People sat in groups along the ledge
as they faced the sea, or faced the road, with their backs to the sea.
And one could even find nice little vacant spots between these groups to
sit and enjoy the sea-wind. We preferred to stroll instead - headed
towards the other end of the necklace which terminates at the Girgaon
Chawpatti (Charni road)...
There
were hawkers selling balloons, blow-horns, devil's horns headgear, and
lots of other kid-stuff. Many people had bought and were roaming around
with this kids-stuff, most of them adults. Even we bought a balloon for
one of my sisters. My brother wanted to have the devil-horns (God knows
for what crazy reason). But it was too costly - New Year's special
prices...
It
was low tide. A short strip of sandy beach was visible below the
sea-face ledge, just beyond the spiky-boulders. Some people had managed
to climb down along the spiky-boulders and on to the sand-strip. My
siblings also wanted to descend and have a walk on the beach. But I
refrained pointing out that - sure, we could climb down, but how
difficult it would be to climb back up, with no lights to illuminate the
shadowy boulder-scape (of course, my ulterior motive was my laziness.
But lets just keep it between ourselves :-P).
A little way ahead, we saw people gathered along the ledge and there seemed to be some kind of commotion. We climbed up and saw the source of the commotion... A pot-bellied guy was dancing on the small strip of sandy beach below. And everyone was looking at him and cheering him on to make an ass out of him... He was certainly drunk; for how else does one get that kind of courage to make an ass of oneself in front of so many people?
Along the way, we noticed many policemen and police vehicles, obviously there for safety reasons after what happened on 26-11 (2008). Sometime after 11:30, an SRPF van full of commandos passed us twice on their round along the entire boulevard. I personally did not envy them their job. If I was in their place, I would be pretty apprehensive about the security measures, considering the number of people gathered there. If so many people gather in such great numbers at one place, then the people themselves (because of their sheer numbers) become a security hazard.
As we neared the end of the Queen's Necklace, it was nearly midnight. So we stopped and waited for the golden hour to strike. The crowd was getting thicker. We literally saw a wave of people cross the road as they came out from the Charni road railway station... As the clock struck midnight, a wave of cheers went through the crowd. Everyone was wishing everyone else. People were hollering and blowing on whistles and little blow-horns. Now everyone along the ledge looked up with anticipation at the sky above. Everyone was waiting for the fireworks.
What attraction people have towards fireworks is something I will never understand. And we have so many fireworks during Diwali. So I did not understand what was so special about the New Year's fireworks; not until the first rocket burst, somewhere towards the south, above Churchgate area. It was a pretty sight indeed - The burst of lights above the lighted city, the colourful twinkling sparkles reflected in the sea water... I am still to find out where exactly did rockets originate from, and who burst them. The fireworks continued for a while.
By 12:30, the fireworks ended and we were about to head for the Charni Road railway station on our way back home when my brother suddenly remembered that he was very hungry. There was no point going back to Churchgate - it would take too long. So we headed towards the nearby Girgaon Chawpatty beach to have something to eat from the various stalls along the beach.
By this time, the people were really going crazy. Many of them were constantly blowing on the blow-horns and whistles. One person would blow on his whistle or blow horn, and ten others would follow suit, imitating the first one, and so on, triggering a chain reaction... What had sounded cheerful at first, now sounded crazy and cacophonous. For those who doubt the Darwin's theory of our evolutionary origin from monkeys, here was proof positive. For how else can one explain the mindless imitating behaviour people were displaying here?
My sisters were beginning to grow a bit scared of the way the crowds were behaving. Maybe most of them were drunk. Maybe not. But they were certainly acting like drunks... This was what I had been worried about all along. On our way we got split up and lost in the crowd and had to call up each other and coordinate until we were reunited again. By that time we had almost reached the beach. But we were in for a big disappointment. The police were vacating and closing down the beach, for obvious security reasons. Stalls were being shut down and people were being herded out of the beach area.
So with ringing ears, confused and scared minds, heavy hearts and empty stomachs. We decided to head back home. We got on a local train at Charni road station at around 1:00 am. The train was pretty crowded with men, women, kids, balloons, drunkards - all on their way back home.
We came back home, cooked up and ate some kande-pohe, and then thankfully welcomed the first sleep of the new year 2012.
A little way ahead, we saw people gathered along the ledge and there seemed to be some kind of commotion. We climbed up and saw the source of the commotion... A pot-bellied guy was dancing on the small strip of sandy beach below. And everyone was looking at him and cheering him on to make an ass out of him... He was certainly drunk; for how else does one get that kind of courage to make an ass of oneself in front of so many people?
Along the way, we noticed many policemen and police vehicles, obviously there for safety reasons after what happened on 26-11 (2008). Sometime after 11:30, an SRPF van full of commandos passed us twice on their round along the entire boulevard. I personally did not envy them their job. If I was in their place, I would be pretty apprehensive about the security measures, considering the number of people gathered there. If so many people gather in such great numbers at one place, then the people themselves (because of their sheer numbers) become a security hazard.
As we neared the end of the Queen's Necklace, it was nearly midnight. So we stopped and waited for the golden hour to strike. The crowd was getting thicker. We literally saw a wave of people cross the road as they came out from the Charni road railway station... As the clock struck midnight, a wave of cheers went through the crowd. Everyone was wishing everyone else. People were hollering and blowing on whistles and little blow-horns. Now everyone along the ledge looked up with anticipation at the sky above. Everyone was waiting for the fireworks.
What attraction people have towards fireworks is something I will never understand. And we have so many fireworks during Diwali. So I did not understand what was so special about the New Year's fireworks; not until the first rocket burst, somewhere towards the south, above Churchgate area. It was a pretty sight indeed - The burst of lights above the lighted city, the colourful twinkling sparkles reflected in the sea water... I am still to find out where exactly did rockets originate from, and who burst them. The fireworks continued for a while.
By 12:30, the fireworks ended and we were about to head for the Charni Road railway station on our way back home when my brother suddenly remembered that he was very hungry. There was no point going back to Churchgate - it would take too long. So we headed towards the nearby Girgaon Chawpatty beach to have something to eat from the various stalls along the beach.
By this time, the people were really going crazy. Many of them were constantly blowing on the blow-horns and whistles. One person would blow on his whistle or blow horn, and ten others would follow suit, imitating the first one, and so on, triggering a chain reaction... What had sounded cheerful at first, now sounded crazy and cacophonous. For those who doubt the Darwin's theory of our evolutionary origin from monkeys, here was proof positive. For how else can one explain the mindless imitating behaviour people were displaying here?
My sisters were beginning to grow a bit scared of the way the crowds were behaving. Maybe most of them were drunk. Maybe not. But they were certainly acting like drunks... This was what I had been worried about all along. On our way we got split up and lost in the crowd and had to call up each other and coordinate until we were reunited again. By that time we had almost reached the beach. But we were in for a big disappointment. The police were vacating and closing down the beach, for obvious security reasons. Stalls were being shut down and people were being herded out of the beach area.
So with ringing ears, confused and scared minds, heavy hearts and empty stomachs. We decided to head back home. We got on a local train at Charni road station at around 1:00 am. The train was pretty crowded with men, women, kids, balloons, drunkards - all on their way back home.
We came back home, cooked up and ate some kande-pohe, and then thankfully welcomed the first sleep of the new year 2012.
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