Bombay Boom Bap Vol. 3 — An Album & Poems For Bombay City Nights
Bombay is not just a city. It’s an emotion. There have been a diverse range of writers & poets who have tried to explain Bombay in their…
Bombay is not just a city. It’s an emotion. There have been a diverse range of writers & poets who have tried to explain Bombay in their literary works.
Suketu Mehta called it, “Maximum City” in his book, while Gregory David Roberts explored the city in vivid detail in his book ‘Shantaram’.
Bombay born poet Adil Jussawalla reflected on Bombay city and the partition in his poem, ‘Sea Breeze, Bombay’
“ Partition’s people stitched
Shrouds from a flag, gentlemen scissored Sind.
An opened people, fraying across the cut
country reknotted themselves on this island.
Surrogate city of banks,
Brokering and bays, refugees’ harbour and port,
Gatherer of ends whose brick beginnings work
Loose like a skin, spotting the coast,
Restore us to fire. New refugees,
Wearing blood-red wool in the worst heat,
come from Tibet, scanning the sea from the north,
Dazed, holes in their cracked feet.
Restore us to fire. Still,
Communities tear and re-form; and still, a breeze,
Cooling our garrulous evenings, investigates nothing,
Ruffles no tempers, uncovers no root,
And settles no one adrift of the mainland’s histories.”
— Adil Jussawalla
Being born & bred in Bombay and residing in the city for most of my adult life, I’ve come to find how enchanting the city is, whether I’m walking along Marine Drive or visiting my friends who stay on the iconic strip, or visiting restaurants the on the tip of the Queen’s Necklace.
Or simply walking past the trees & traffic on my way to King’s Circle for a quick snack & some really good cutting chai(tea), and some smokes. Wandering these streets has been a way of life for me, and there’s always a new beginning in every walk along the contours of the sidewalks that make up this iconic city.
Bombay is as a part of me as me being a part of it. My school life, my childhood, my adulthood have all been in this city apart from a short 4–5 year gap when I went to college. It’s hard to leave this city behind & it has served as being a major part of my life. I find few cities could quench my love affair with Bombay, perhaps New York or London or Dublin, I reckon. But that’s for the future.
As a musician, Bombay city is a huge inspiration & at the same time, sufficiently heartwarming. Wandering these streets has been a ritual; even at odd hours until the dawn.
A poem I wrote about Bombay called ‘Bombay/The Flood’ goes
‘Drift’d in
thru the cycles
of heat & rain
backyards of playgrounds
& underwater resuscitation
On the banks of a deluge
A mood for the soul’s windows
A mood, a feeling,
in the midst of
penchant withering
A quench’d disposition
A valley of lotus
bloom
These streets
that mirror
enterprise
This light, that emerges
in the parting of branches
of a city draped in
ornaments of placidity
Opportunity; in these streets
A refreshing new dawn
& a Chicago jazz night
Under the bridges
Of burning envisage
One with a wave
One to save
Before a conclusion
Before a grave
Immersing into
a day’s beginning
& a freedom
a shell of rebirth
a night on the brink
of a confluence
of an endless horizon
Immersing into
Bombay — the flood.
If you liked this poem, you could consider buying my debut poetry book ‘The Indian Night’
The Indian Night: A Collection Of Poems
A collection of poems written in a unique, new age style that unravel a journey through youth lived a bit on the edge…www.amazon.com
But anyway, I digress, my latest musical effort is a beat tape LP which is part of my ‘Bombay Boom Bap’ series of beat tapes. This one is the 3rd installment of the series of LPs.
Its’ called Bombay Boom Bap Vol. 3
As I recounted the process & short description for sharing on social media:
I’ve been crate digging for samples & cuts & chops over the past few months. That led to my final LP for the year which is the latest installment of my Bombay Boom Bap series called “Bombay Boom Bap Vol. 3”. It’s a collection of beats that are smooth & chilled with Bombay as the underlying theme. The inspiration for this LP came from me sampling some vinyl & chops that I thought would sound really great when blended with beats. If you’re looking for some beats to work to or relax to, this beattape has got you covered. It’s a beattape that’s calm, chilled & is proper boom bap beats that are sure to get you groovin’. Give it a spin!
Here it is available for streaming on Spotify:
In case you’re interested in the series of beat tapes, here’s Bombay Boom Bap Volume 1: https://medium.com/@gaurav_krishnan/bombay-boom-bap-vol-1-my-latest-lp-that-explores-boom-bap-with-a-bombay-theme-b45d11bd6ea6
Do follow my artist profile on Spotify if you’d like to. I’d gladly appreciate it.
Thank you