Name – Aditya D’cruz

Subject – Scripting
Date – 26.07.2021

A Personal Incident
Moving to a new city, in unknown territories and amongst unfamiliar faces is one of the most
baffling experiences in life. I came to Mumbai during the peak of its rainy season in August,
the admission procedure for my college took precisely two days. Though my mother had
come along, she had to leave for Allahabad the very next day.

I was scared, alone, without a roof on my head and no clue of where to go. I had ten thousand
rupees in my pocket and had to find a place to spend a week at least, to be able to hunt for a
hostel on the side. So here is exactly what this story is about, ‘A Week That Changed My
Life’. After a lot of surfing through the internet I finally found a Dormitory and by the time I
reached there, it was already late in the evening. I was too tired to do anything so I decided to
call it a day but the excitement for the first day of college hardly let me sleep that night. Let
me tell one more tiny detail, this dormitory was in Malad. Anyone who is familiar with the
geography and the travel situation of Mumbai will know in an instant that travel from Malad
to Marine Lines for the first time by a newcomer, alone in a local train is a recipe for disaster.
After asking my way around I finally reached the platform and waited patiently for the train,
five minutes into it, the first train arrived with fifteen to twenty people literally hanging onto
the train as well as their lives. Another train followed with a similar deal to offer. The sheer
shock of watching that crowd transformed into a worry as I let sixteen trains go past and had
been standing at the same spot for more than an hour. Someone eventually told me to travel
in the opposite direction and take a train at the last station there. This trick did work but by
the end of it all I had spent 3 hours just travelling.

Similar experiences followed for a few days till the time I started to understand how things
worked but during this time I met one very peculiar person who became a guide, a classmate
and most importantly a very good friend. At the end of the first week I was at the college
gate, asking the guard for contacts of brokers who could help me find a place. Suddenly from
nowhere a guy comes, hugs the guard and becomes a part of our conversation. I took him five
minutes to introduce himself, understand the context and come up with a solution. Next thing
we know, he is in the local with me, taking me to PGs who’s contacts he found and roaming
with me all over South Mumbai, just to help me look for a place. I had never in my life
witnessed a person do such a thing with no foul intentions or any benefit in mind. It came as
somewhat of a culture shock if one may call it so because who ever does such a thing.
This hunt for a house finally ended thanks to Sudo as I was able to finalize on a place and
shift the very next day.

Though this was just the beginning, it became one of my most cherished and memorable
experiences in Mumbai. The sheer speed at which this city operates and the helpful nature of
all the people whom I met here helped me tackle my fear and anxiety and my love for this
city has only grown stronger after every passing day.