Global gypsy

Growing up in Mumbai was an interesting experience. I loved it when i was in Dahisar and hated it when i was in Thane. But i did enjoy growing up there and thus hindi became my first language. I have a love hate relationship with Marathi but i am a little bit of Mumbaikar.

Chennai was a culture shock at first but it made me write a beautiful blog. I found tamil people narrow minded too but did meet some nice people. At the end, I know that this is not the city I wanted to live in. So much so that I started listening to hindi songs and I couldn't take too much of Tamil anymore. I became aware of my North Indianness for the first time and was even thankful that I never grew up here.

Bangalore is a beautiful city and I finally felt myself there. It has a good mix of north Indian-ness and south Indian-ness. I did meet some stupid people like bus conductors and rickshaw drivers. But overall this is a good city with some nice people.

Toronto was a different type of culture shock where I saw women enjoying themselves. Its a female paradise. And I wanted to be part of it. But I keep getting lost in my identity crisis here every now and then. I have to redefine myself every now and then to ensure that I don't get lost. I do feel alone here sometimes but life still goes on.

Why I prefer to identify as an Ambai Girl rather than a Mumbai girl

I saw the movie on Thackeray recently and saw my old buried anger and emotions rise. The word Mumbai, marathi, and Shiv Sena rile me up like a swastika riles up a Jew. I have managed to not bring up this with my friends - Marathi or not because is topic is like vegetarianism. There are no correct and wrong answers, only strong emotions on both sides.