Majhi Mumbai Post 2

Mumbai at night is a different city all together. The lights, the sound of cars zooming past you, and the best of the lot, no traffic! Even the air has a certain new character about it. Even though the roads are as empty as empty could get in a city like Mumbai, there is a certain charm that holds you in its grip as you try to savor in the flavours of the night life.

The city that never sleeps, and believe you me, this statement absolutely holds weight. If this city has one thing to offer (of the many good things), it is the pure pleasure of being yourself in the dead of the night without feeling antsy about it.

As night befalls, one can see various creatures of the night come out to play. You have the regular party animals, the religious sect who walks to Siddhivinayak, the chaiwala anna, the cops, the drunks, the tuk-tuks, the workaholics, the lovers, the insomniacs, the daredevils...and a whole lot more! One thing that makes this city come alive at 3 in the morning, is the Dadar Flower market.

Truckloads of carnations, roses, marigold, jasmine...any flower under the sun, seems to make it to the legendary Dadar flower market. Located right across the station, the flower vendors get their scented luggage from far off places like Virar, Vasai or even as far as Dahanu. Just as one enters the stretch between Elphinstone and Matunga, one gets welcomed on a bed of roses, literally! For you have flowers strewn across the road making a blanket of petite scented loverlies! There is a certain joy in seeing these men hover around flowers like bees. One would be extra precious with something as delicate as a flower, but not these men and women. They treat it like any other vegetable, any other job. Afterall being a flower girl or a flower man is no pretty selling job.

This is one sight that makes up for all the tiredness, all the dullness that one may feel in the dead of the night. But come Dadar and there wafts a new scent in the air, making your headiness fly away, even if it lasts just for a few minutes!