This Is It

My last twenty four hours in Bombay passed in a blur of last minute details and much drama..
I had it all planned out in my head how it was supposed to go.. Needless to say, that was not how things panned out. At all.

I imagined having everything sorted out the day prior to leaving so that all I would have to do would be to wake up, go to work to say my goodbyes, take my two dear colleagues out to lunch, come home, dress and look beautiful in time for my farewell.

Here's what actually happened.

I woke up to pouring rain. And I don't mean any everyday Mumbai shower, I'm talking the 'everyone runs home in a panic' shower.
Then my sister tells me I have to help her move the last of her stuff to her new house (which I had not accounted for), thus making me late for my lunch with my colleagues. When I finally dash out of her house, I splash right into calf deep dirty drain water. And as luck would have it, I have no umbrella.
However, in a few minutes I manage to flag down a ric - Which in turn, breaks down a few minutes later. So once agian I splash through the calf deep, dirty drain water into another ric and finally make it to Khar station
(All of this while holding a heavy, overloaded packet of my ex roomates dabbas, ahstrays, glasses and other miscellaneous (but heavy) stuff)
At Khar station, I am stalked down the length of the platform by a dirty creepy man who was explaining in detail ( and unfortunately in English)what he would like to do to me if he could - Yea I know..very gross.
On finally reaching my stop, Im thinking fondly of the woman who sits at the station selling umbrellas for hundred bucks (which ordinarily I would never have touched), but on this day she would be my savior. And wouldn't you know it, she's not there!
So after waiting for the rain to let up for a few minutes, which it did not, I in my infinite wisdom decide to make a dash for it.
Now read this carefully. And visualise it if you will - I take off at a running start - nearly do a split - catch my balance - run another two steps - slip - catch my balance - run two more steps - land up flat on my ass, and skid a lil bit more just for good measure. The only thing missing from that was the rug burn.
I stand up, gather my things .. and the last of my dignity and set off to hail down a cab. When a cabbie pulled over, looked me dead in the eye and informed me that he's not letting me sit in his cab as soaked as I was, the last of my dignity went with him and resorted to begging. Three taxis later, my pleading worked and I FINALLY made it to office.
The rest of the day passed without incident till evening. Thats when I started to checking up on my evening plans. It turned out that most of the people who were supposed to spend the evening with me (and incidentally were so upset that I was leaving) had made alternate plans for the night or could not make it due to circumstances. I, however, failed to understand how this could be a valid explanation for not showing up and promptly burst into tears - Afterall, my last night in the city and no one wanted to see me??.. ME?????
Then my own personal knight in shining armour, weilding his foot long umbrella came to my rescue, braving hell and high water (literally) to show me a good time. Soon after, a few more friends, whom i won't name here, travelled through the rain and across not an insignificant distance to see me, for which I am very very grateful.
So the night ended on a very very high note for me, though I did shed a tear or two over the goodbyes (which was expected, I suppose)

All in all, it was a very dramatic exit, what with the rain, the flooding, the tears, the drinking, the dancing and the last minute heart-to-hearts. But one thing I learnt from this is that you can never really know who your real, solid friends are in your life, except through those few moments that will show everyone for who they really are - their priorities, their honesty, their loyalty - their substance.
Five years in this city, I ve partied with many many people, eventually settled into one group, all of whom have sworn to be there for each other, to back each other and to prioritise each other.
Many times in the month to my leaving, I heard the oft repeated questions about why I'm leaving, how I can leave, the pledges of how much they'll miss me and how they'll all be there to make my last night special. And yet, when the moment arrived, the people with me were not these same people.
But in fact, these five people that did come to see me that night, gave me something that I will hold on to. They made me feel special for that night. They made me feel like I would be missed. And they gave me something to take away from that city - a sense of belonging. So I suppose it's true. It's never the numbers - It's the people.