Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan

"Modern Bombay, in a sense, has its genesis in the poppy fields of Bihar" 

- Amar Farooqui in Opium Enterprise .

Anil Yendluri is a batchmate with a difference  in that  he dared to leave the service  after  becoming an Inspector General in God’s Own Country. The scope for personal growth , he said, was  tapering  and he wanted to take up new challenges and be a part of new changes . So off he went and joined Vishwa Samudra (VS) whose tagline incidentally is Challenge it, Change it. But more on Anil. credited with developing the world class Krishnapatnam Port and his Chairman Chinta Sasidhar, a bit later.

From the verge of being abandoned by the British in the late eighteenth century for

producing very little revenue , Bombay ( as Mumbai was called those days), bounced back on the transit tax levied on Malwa opium once its export was allowed from there, and became , over the years, India's premier economic and financial city. Today,  Bombay is Bombay, rest is India , many say. . The skyline of the city spans across the city’s shores , and in a rather amphibian way, goes even under it . Yes . I refer to the Worli Sea Link, the Atal Setu  and the tunnel segment of the Dharmveer Swarajya Rakshak Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Coastal Road  which passes about 20 meters under the Arabian Sea. The Metro and Monorails have already added new dimensions to the city’s public transport which , till a couple of decades ago, was limited to the local trains and BEST buses. New skyscrapers continue to be built, to be lived, bedazzle , evoke wondrous envy with prices of upto Rs. 1.5 lacs per square feet - and galloping further. It still remains India numero uno city for people to chase their dreams - and for many, to shatter them as well.

To  the many reasons Mumbai attracts me is now the added one of our daughter staying there - having joined the ranks of  many young corporate lawyers- with dreams in their eyes, punishing loads of labour as weekday and even weekend, office as well as home, companions. But the breed has a Yeh Bombay Meri Jaan exuberance to rough it out despite all odds and not miss a  chance to live life kingsize. 

When Anil offered the  options of participating in Vishwa Samudra’s signature Golden

Eagles Golf tournament, an amalgamation of Golf, Glamour and Glory and a brainchild of the group's Chairman, at either Delhi or Mumbai , it was the latter I opted for - forsaking my regular partner  and occasional foe of the Kolkata fourball ,  Herman , who lugged it out at Delhi ‘s ITC course a week earlier . Herman , Ramphal , Sujoy and I could  play only thanks to the CEO Anil’s invite . The takeaways at this tournament are staggering, but more than that, Anil ensures that all participants feel as if they are part of Vishwa Samudra’s family - to be extended warmth and camaraderie .

The venue at Mumbai was the Bombay Presidency Golf Club or BPCG , a course I had played over ten years ago and had completely forgotten the outlay .This is a lovely course , each hole seems to have a character - fade , draw, undulations , water bodies to teach you humility, a clutch of Out of Bounds to make you despair and swear,  and the warning signs about poisonous snakes to keep you alert .

The counting for assembly elections was in progress on 23 rd November ,the day I

played a practice round at BPCG, but so unexpected was a coalition’s sweep that it even left the winners stunned. Maybe that is why I could not see much jubilation - of colour, sound or dance during my drive from Chembur to Saat Raasta or even in the late evening when I went for dinner at  O Pedro in BKC with my daughter Tanya , and school friend Alok Bahl.

On Sunday, the tournament kicked off with the introductions in which Anil spoke about VS’s current projects like the aerial cablecars of Varanasi, a slew of Highway projects from Kashmir to Kollam, a greenfield port at Mulapeta in Srikakulam, a novel cement additive to lay roads , and a clutch of CSR outreaches. Amongst the many organizer's flexes that dotted the course, an. interesting one was of a bull on treadmill which Anil said also manufactures energy , and enables keeping bulls viable for farmers - otherwise the only presence of bulls would have been  in the sperm banks .

The four ball I was drawn into was a varied lot - an executive of an electronic

manufacturing company in Pune , an owner of an IT firm and another of an E Commerce platform . Pretty competent golfers , focused , talked very little about politics and had no curiosity whatsoever about travails of and travails by police officers - it was so different from Kolkata. T Parthiv , a two handicapper , even managed a prize later - an Apple 16 pro . I enjoyed their company , though I did have a few distractions- the fantastic victory where Boom Rah’s boys berthed the Aussies at Perth , the news of IPL auction and the occasional calls for some help from Kolkata by friends - ranging from cyber crime frauds to need for  FRRO’s  intervention  in some visa stamping matter.

The mega evening event ended on an intense foot tapping note . While VS roped  in Ajay Devgn and the Deshmukh duo , the star of the show , like last year, was Kapil Dev . After ticking off the Emcee for not speaking in Hindi , he proceeded to plod on, in a much improved English - maybe the transition from cricket to golf had something to do with it . Accessible , the iridescent smile never leaving his face , he wished Shashi , Chairman of VS, to make more profits and host more golf tournaments.  Anil was there with his family - wife and two lovely daughters , looking after his guests . As usual , the intensity and infection  of his smile never dimmed throughout the day.

One cannot escape Mumbai 's peak time traffic , of pythonic proportions and

laboured slither , on the Eastern Express Highway . As Shankar , my friend Asim’s driver missed an exit , we took 15 minutes more to reach the house of Rohit , classmate of my school De Nobili, Dhanbad . Bright as always , Rohit is now a Professor at IIT Powai where he researches in computational neurophysiology , and also pursues writing fiction. He has two novels to his credit , and a host of professional works .  His seniority has now got him an independent double storied bungalow where amongst other things his wife and he have to be watchful of poisonous snakes and keep their knees in shape .

For me , apart from a chance to catch up with him ( last was in his flat overlooking the Powai Lake) was to get his wonderful book The Enclave , which I had finished a few days ago ,signed by him . Rohit writes for his own satisfaction and for what he owes to the language and craft of storytelling. For those who understand both , his novels are entertaining and unputdownable.

The class of '79 has now moved on. In addition to Rohit, there were Asim, Alok and Debu - and a chance to catch up with his wife Shivani, a professional career counselor . There was a fair amount of wellness talk , especially as Shivani goes about caregiving her 92 years father - insulin resistance , sugar spike , knee extensions, the demonisation of cholesterol, the dangers of statins , strength training, etc . After some time she took leave of us but not before getting the dinner started - no mean task this. The senior citizens also cleaned up the table, and with guidance from Rohit, completed the management of left overs as per the exacting standards set by the lady of the house- a task achieved with an after dinner combo of shots of Singleton and double scoops of chocolate ice cream .

The return journey from Powai was quicker , the sleep deeper , and I woke up in time for the morning  return flight . The Terminal 2 dazzled , the staff at Adani lounge satiated my hunger with a decent cheese omelette and an iced Americano . Just as I boarded, received the news that my batchmate Rashmi Awasthi was back in saddle as the top cop of Maharashtra as the ECI’s Model Code of Conduct had been withdrawn.