A Town Called Dombivli

 

I am someone who suffers from a major identity crisis. You see, my parents’ native place is Palakkad, which has an identity crisis of its own, being on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. I was born in Anand, Gujarat. If you ask me what I consider my hometown, I would say a quaint little town nestled amidst the landscapes of Maharashtra, a town that doesn't fall under Mumbai but whose native, if asked, would say he/she is from "Bombay," a town most famous for its Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, and a town where I was raised.

This beautiful town is called Dombivli, and I call myself a Dombivlikar. It is the identity I most relate to. Unfortunately, I do not have any photos of this town because, as such, it is not about sightseeing but more about feeling and living it. I spent the first three decades of my life here, and those decades feel like a lifetime of events and happenings.

You have to visit this town during the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. What a splendid welcome the town gives to the Ganesha idols! Hours and hours of dhol, tasha, dance and chants of Ganpati Bappa Morya, the idol seated majestically on a pedestal atop a truck decorated with flowers, the crowd going crazy on seeing the idol arriving at the lane where they would be waiting eagerly and patiently, the dance, the beats, the rhythm, the euphoria and the ecstasy! In this situation, I challenge you to find a single person who can stop themselves from dancing wildly. The reception of Lord Ganesha is grand, and equally majestic is the farewell ritual of the Lord. The farewell ritual is tinged with some sadness as the eleven-day long festival comes to an end. There are several Ganesh Mandals exhibiting extremely beautiful idols of Lord Ganesha. Many come up with a theme every year, a theme that touches the cords of the devotees’ hearts.

My childhood comprises of beautiful memories of spending evenings visiting various Mandals of Lord Ganesha with my family and friends. I swear, with every visit, every Mandal, and every year, I fall a bit more in love with the cutest of all gods.

Equally grand is the celebration of Navratri. The sounds of Gujarati songs accompanied by the ‘click! click’ of Dandia or the claps of the beautiful Garba resonate in many lanes on Navratri nights. I, my sister, cousins, and my friends would dress up, buy new dandias, and rush to our nearby lane where we would dance Garba and Dandia to our heart’s content. Our parents literally had to drag us away on such nights!

On the eve of Diwali, you have to assemble at Phadke Road, a famous junction where many events are conducted by the local groups and bands of Dombivli on Diwali. While you will enjoy these events for sure, you have to first ensure that you get a place to stand on the road! It is crowded, unbelievably crowded on the morning of Diwali. The people bursting firecrackers at random locations don’t exactly make matters easier. You may be standing by the road and feel the 'zzzz’ of a firecracker about to explode. You turn around to see a firecracker just behind you! You scamper off in a rush just when the firecracker explodes, you swear heavily, and then you burst out laughing. This is typically a Dombivlikar. It is not easy to be a Dombivlikar, but it is an honour to be one!

After the event's high has worn off, you might want to pay a visit to the Ganesh temple across Phadke road. This is a ritual that I am sure every Dombivlikar still follows.

If you are a South-Indian Dombivlikar, you will find most of your clan at the Balaji temple in Dombivli, which has a majestic and beautiful Lord Balaji, an extremely gorgeous Devi Padmavati, and a very feminine and lovely Devi Andal. During Navratri, a majestic Brahmotsavam function is held in the temple for nine days where Lord Balaji is decked with a new avatar every day. This is a grand function and attracts a huge crowd of devotees to the temple.

On the way to my home from the Balaji temple, there lies another beautiful temple dedicated to Lord Karthikeya. On the night of Karthik Poornima, you will find both Maharashtrians and South-Indians assembled at the temple to see the beautiful lighting up of earthen lamps in the temple.

Dombivli is not just about temples or festivals. On a Monday evening, try to go to the market near the station. You will find that there is no market, but there is still a market. You see, on Mondays, the shops in Dombivli are closed. At least they used to be closed while I was still living there. The shops would be closed, paving the way for the famous Monday market of Dombivli East. Except for people, you will find everything on sale here. Don’t be alarmed by seeing the rush! The stall-keeper would be barely visible to you over the crowd of people surrounding him, but he would peep out, trace you out somehow, and ask, "Bolo Saab, kya dun aapko?" ("Yes, Sir, what can I help you with?" The stall-keepers of Monday Market are blessed with the ability to remember what every customer asked for in the first place, deliver it to them, and not leave any customer dissatisfied. The Monday market is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

And talking about lifetime experiences, you've got to board a fast local train from Dombivli to CST terminus in the wee hours of the morning. It is a soul-shaking experience that will turn you into a believer. You pray when you see the crowd at the station waiting for the local train to arrive. You pray when you see the overflowing local arrive at the station. You first swear and then you pray when you realise that there are more people trying to get inside the train than people trying to de-board it. You pray when you want to get down at a station. You send out a silent note of thanks to the Universe for helping you to reach the office safely. Then you start the whole process again in the evening while going home.

When you are miles away from Dombivli, you pray for all these people, thinking about their daily struggle. "Struggle" is the middle name of every Dombivlikar. There are guys who travel every day from Dombivli to Pune (a 3-hour journey) for their work. The ladies travelling on the local train cut veggies while returning home as it saves so much of their time. At ten or eleven in the night, the trains are still full, with many people having to stand for more than an hour after slogging the whole day in the office. And how do these people handle their struggle? By playing Antakshari in the train, by singing Bhajans regardless of whether you are sitting, standing or floating (it is a possibility that sometimes both of your feet will be above the base of the train and you will be solely supported by the people crushing you from all sides). Every Dombivlikar is a hero who has conquered his/her struggle with their indomitable spirit and will-power. You won’t find such people elsewhere! There is a well-believed legend from Dombivli that if you have lived there, you can live anywhere on earth.

Actually, I find it only partially true. Because once you are accustomed to the fast life of Dombivli, once you have gotten used to the festive aura and the grand celebrations, once you have had your first ‘vada-paav’ (a staple delicacy of Dombivli that no other dish can match!), you will constantly find yourself comparing your present living conditions with all these relics of Dombivli, and find them falling short of Dombivli’s standards.

While I have settled in Hyderabad, a large part of my soul still lives in Dombivli, among the lanes where I used to play with my childhood friends, where I used to wait eagerly for Ganpati Bappa’s arrival, where I used to burst firecrackers with my family and friends... a part of me has frozen here forever.

My friends from Dombivli tell me that it is getting harder and more difficult every day there because of the crowd and the rush. While the practical 40-plus me is grateful to have escaped the fast pace, the emotional Dombivlikar in me refuses to even believe that life in Dombivli is tough now. (After all, I am a Dombivlikar through and through). Even though I am miles away from Dombivli, a part of me will always live there amidst the crowd and rush, frantic but happy beyond words, because I will be where I was destined to belong always.