Mumbai never stops, neither for death nor for life. Not for justice, and definitely not for injustice. People are like local trains in Mumbai, always running even when it's full and there are a lot in number, but still many get left behind. You would always find people in a rush, even when they were going to their workplace or returning home. They never stop a second to acknowledge the beauty of Mumbai in time because time itself is beauty in Mumbai, something that nobody could afford. People in Mumbai run all life to earn what they are rushing always for ' Time'.

Yet when Akash Abhinav Raghunathan stepped outside the Mumbai airport, the whole city stood still, getting captured by time itself. His whole life, Akash has been told by his father and other Indian business associates that Mumbai always keeps running, and nobody there ever cares about the biggest stars too, because everyone there is either a star shining on top of the world or the future star burning inside itself to shine brightest among these stars.

No, it was not from him. Even when nobody knows Ak in London by face, everybody recognizes him due to his father, but here he was just passing face, and he didn't mind that; he was just interested in knowing the person who makes the whole sea known as Mumbai stood still like Krishna did for Arjun when he was winning Draupadi's hand.

So he rushed to climb the stairs, and the moment he kept his foot outside on the terrace, the whole thing that stood still became alive. The sky was painted in its brightest color, the whole ground was decorated with the softest flowers, and the air was filled with the purest melody. It looks like the whole of Mumbai was welcoming him. He then saw the only person that whole Mumbai stops for the elephant god, Urf Ganpati Bappa.

Mumbai would never be Mumbai without their ganpati bappa; every person in Mumbai waits 354 days to have those 11 days. Someone who came to Mumbai in those 11 days would never be able to not fall in love with the city and its people.

Akash was no exception. When he looked down, it felt like whole Mumbai was celebrating its own wedding, dancing like crazy, and an uncountable variety of food was prepared and shared in bulk. People were performing Pooja of idol with those brightest eyes and sweetest smile together, making him eat sweets like their own son is having homecoming. They feel like family, and unfortunately, even when you don't believe in or follow them, you still feel like part of that family because this happiness is contagious.

He sees the kid stealing laddoo from the plate before it was offered to Ganpati Bappa, and his mother looks at him with fake anger, but then tickles him and lets him keep one laddoo from that, and his head feels heavy. He closes his eyes, holding his head where some flashes came, and he feels like he had seen it earlier somewhere when someone kept their hand on his shoulder and made him sit on a chair while he opened his eyes with great difficulty.

He looked older than him, offering him some type of sweet, but he shook his head, not wanting to trust strangers no matter how genuine he looked, because looks can be deceiving.

"Beta thoda sa khalo ganpati bappa Dil dekhte h aur woh bilkul nhi chahenge ki tum apni tabiyat kharab Karo unke liye. (Son, please have some Ganpati Bappa see your heart; he wouldn't like to see you unwell.)

Akash shook his head again, not wanting to trust strangers in a foreign country.

Fasting that would hurt yourself doesn't make Ganpati Bappa happy. I respect people's ways of showing love to Bappa, but not their blind faith or traditions. That's why I always bring extra Vada pav (a famous Mumbai snack) and sweets for idiots like you who faint on Ganpati Aagman (the coming day) and Visarjan (the returning day)." Akash looked at the sweet old lady who was glaring at him, thinking he was not eating because of the fast that he had no idea of, and he still wanted to say no, but unfortunately, after looking at her, his heart didn't allow it, and he could see many people there eating from the package she was distributing, so he took it, which made her smile, and Akash didn't know why it made him happy.

He started eating and looked at the lady going downstairs near the biggest idol he had seen, where people had now stopped dancing and made way for her.

He saw her doing an aarti of that idol of Ganpati Bappa with three young boys, and his heart skipped a beat when one of them started singing the sweetest aarti. He had heard the softest voice he had ever heard in his life, while the other two also joined him, their voices coordinating with each other perfectly yet standing out. Akash knew he could listen to them the whole day.

His heart had never felt such peace since his father died, so his feet automatically took him downstairs near them, but it was slightly impossible because of the crowd. He could not even see their faces from downstairs, even if they turned, let alone even reach a distance of 1 foot from them from where he was. He cursed himself for coming downstairs, as he would never know the face behind the voices that brought him peace.

His hand reached the kalesh bigger than him, full of red vermilion by mistake, and it fell on Ganpati Bappa idol's feet, but he didn't pay attention and was running back when suddenly the aarti (song of gods) stopped, and he turned to see that the face behind those voices, but obviously couldn't due to the crowd.

"Who the hell idiot put sindoor (vermilion) on baapa foot when you always do it first, bhaiyu?" He heard one of those voices. Said angrily.

"Relax, Maan; it's no big deal. We would put it now; how does it even matter?" The first voice spoke softly. 'How could someone speak this softly?'

"But you always put it first, Bhaiyu; it's tradition." Another voice said, and he swears he could hear pout.

"Traditions could always be made new, and it might ganpati bappa wish that the person who put it first do it, so please smile and come; let's put sindoor (vermilion) on baapa foot."

If earlier there was a crowd and a loud voice, he doesn't know how you would describe the atmosphere now. People ran like marathons to put vermilion on Ganpati Bappa's feet, and the dhols were too loud to even hear your own voice. You could hardly see anything with the colors in the air.

In short, it was a chaotic but good one where your mind would be pounding with noise, but the soul would have found the only reason for its existence. He might not have come to Mumbai for this, but it would have been his best experience in Mumbai, which he would tell everyone in London after going.

Till yesterday, he was feeling like nothing in this world could make him feel like he belonged, but here he is feeling like he is always part of Mumbai. It feels like he belonged to this place and its people. He had smiled, laughed, found peace, and also eaten something instead of the glucose dose, which he hadn't done in 15 days.

Mumbai had already started working its magic on him. Now it's a matter of time before he realizes that Mumbai will always be his home, even when he leaves Mumbai. That's the specialty of Mumbai and its people. You always fit here in sometimes, like you were missing part of the puzzle.

When he reached the terrace, which was actually a bridge, he didn't realize that earlier due to too many people. He was taking his belongings when he looked at the lady who had made him eat food. Her beautiful face had something that he couldn't put his hand on, but when he tried thinking hard, again flashes came, and he held the pillar to not fall when that lady came and asked him sternly, "Did you eat Vada pav?"

He nodded slowly because his head was hurting.

That old lady gave him painkiller and water, which he took immediately, and he felt better after 15 minutes. He said to her, "Thank you so much, mam."

"It's all good, young man. Just show the doctor once and ask my driver to drop you wherever you want to go since you already know how cabs work here on the first day of AAGMAN and your health doesn't look good at all." She patted his cheeks and started leaving, but Akash stopped her, asking, "Who were the boys that sang in Aarti with you? Any local band?"

"You are new here?"" That old lady asked him, smiling, and he nodded.

"They were my grandchildren," she added with the brightest smile he had ever seen on her face, and then she left.

A/n:

How is the chapter?

Have you ever been to Mumbai in ganesh chaturthi?

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What flashes are akash getting again and again?

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