Trip to Mumbai

It was my first visit to Mumbai after I left for Australia earlier in 2007. It was a long flight and towards the end I could no longer wait to step into my land. What seemingly has been known to me as my home, in that moment felt unpredictable, as the flight touched its base in Mumbai..the city that never sleeps.
Everything about the city was overwhelming, although i had been familiar with it for years. speeding rickshaws, to the road-side paanipuriwalas, ever flowing traffic to the lakhs of people going about their lives, the smell of the jelabees to the latest malls...there were many things happening at the same time.
Its bizarre when I think of the number of relatives, friends and families, acquaintances I know back home, from the maid to my gulli friend, from mum's kitty party aunties to the colony folks. I know them all, and it feels the same way when I spoke to them even after a year long gap. The latest filmi gossips, to stuffing diners, visit to the unsophisticated indian habits and stories of american multinational success are all a part of the Mumbai package.
I dont know how often one would visit Mumbai but i think its important for me to visit home for fairly straightforward reasons. Its a reminder of what I aspire for. we have left our comfort zone in quest of something bigger, and if we lost our way in the middle we sure would have a reminder of the very reason of where we are today.
Its also a reminder of our secure base, our roots, our values, our family..to feel the warmth, the love and belongingness.
Mumbai presents with its own unique flavour..its a need to feel that flavour. Mumbai has the space for everyone, irrespective of whether you are rich, middle class or poor. you would always feel at home, and never be a stranger. Mumbai is surviving each day, with a hope on everyone's face. thats the hope i look for...

Introducing yourself.

I have always experienced difficulty in introducing myself. Professionally or socially I have always struggled with it. One might think, why is it such a challenge. it might sound stupid to a lot of them. but yeah, i always wondered about how can i describe myself and my experience in those couple of minutes, in those few words.. its not about what others would think of me, but its about not being able to package myself in that moment when i have to introduce myself.
I have been tossing with this question for a couple of years, but i have gained some recent insight into it while i was reading eckhart tolle's 'new earth'. in page 28, he writes the following.
" The 'I' embodies the primordial error, a misperception of who you are, an illusory sense of identity. what you usually refer to when you say 'I' is not who you are. By a monstrous act of reductionism, the infinite depth of who you are is confused with a sound produced by vocal cords or the thought of 'I' in your mind and whatever the 'I' has identifed with".

It sure might sound complex when you read the first time, but when i read that again and again, and again, i found meaning in what he explains as the monstrous act of reductionism...introductions typically require you to reduce youself in a few words, and thats all what you are known to someone who is unknown.
with every passing day of our life we are adding something to us as a person, its a different you every day, with new thoughts, new information, new vision, new hopes, new emotions. bottomline is: you are more than what you think you are, more than 'I'.