You see I was on my first visit to GGN. On top of that I was moving to GGN for good. Having lived in Mumbai for the most part of my life my apprehension or curiosity wasn't rocket science! It also felt really wierd knowing that I wasn't going to return to my city for a long time to come.

My last years in Mumbai were a total disaster. My career nosedived, my marriage was like I have my scotch (on the rocks!), my friends were addicts(so was I). Basically, I was heading nowhere except the mental asylum or maybe death.

Then something wonderful happened, My wife and I were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Something within told me to get out of my rut and I gathered the strength to pick myself up and reclaim my life(like tata safari :)

I decided to start afresh. A new life. A new city. New friends. Same wife :) A new beginning or perhaps a brand new end. Things fell in place. I was offered a great job with a great company. This is my story of Coming Back to LIFE

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I had heard a lot about GGN. From friends, colleagues, family, relatives, newspapers, TV, internet, everyone! I decided to move to GGN and check it out myself.

The first thing that struck me was the great GGN Mall culture. I mean where else on earth do you have 45 malls along one road and ALL - I repeat - ALL - full of people!!! Was it this insatiable craze to shop? Was it SH*T load of cash to splurge? Was it no limit credit cards? Was it nothing better to do to pass time? Was it a lifestyle? Was it being socially active? Was it the thrill of window shopping? Was it about guys checking out girls and vice versa? I soon realized it was all of the above! I mean this Mall culture is spreading across cities all over India. A place like Kharghar (how many of you have heard of this place?) has 4 malls around a giant roundabout! Its just an urban way of life. A reminder of the age of consumerism or perhaps plain simple voyerism.

The next thing that struck me was Road RAGE. In my first 2 weeks in GGN I witnessed 26 cases of Road Rage. Thats an average of two perday. This showed me Extremely low levels of patience in people. Little importance for another man's safety, little regard for human life.Incredible! Shocking! One of the most well developed cities in India. The fastest growing. No.1 destination for MNCs. 100+ Malls. Highest no. of Expats. Booming Real Estate. Metro trains. The works! I also read daily cases of crime in the newspapers. Midnight brawls at nightclubs. The apathy of Law enforcement agencies.

What I loved the most though was the amazing range of road side Food. From parathas, to chhole, to bread omlette, to egg rolls, the dhabas open till wee hours. It was amazing to see this rainbow of a culture. You see Mumbai can get really boring with its range of road side food. I mean how often can one eat sevpuri or pav bjahi.

I love the large hearted friendly nature I found in most people. I loved the way everyone would say "koi dikkat nahi hai". No worries. In mumbai "Vaanda Nai". I love the way people show respect here to strangers calling each other bhaiya or bhaiyaji. Unlike Mumbai, where its 'Boss' or worse..the bird like sound.. u know what I mean!

I love the roads here. They are smooth, wide and open. I haven't driven over 60kmph in mumbai all these years(except late nights).

I'm looking forwad to playing squash. So if anyone knows more about clubs or similar players looking for partners, do give me a shout.

I guess what Im saying is that there are two sides to every coin. What matters is where do you focus?