Sometime in 1981 I was firmly introduced to what is now known as Mumbaiya or Bambaiya Hindi. I have been an admirer ever since. Accustomed to speaking Hindi the way it should be spoken, I approached a taxi driver for a ride from Juhu to Dalal Street.
“आप दलाल स्ट्रीट चलेंगे?” (Would you take me to Dalal Street?), I asked.
He looked at me somewhat bewildered and said, “शायरी क्या करता है? आप बीप. बैठ.” (Stop being so poetic. Just get in.)
I was a bit confused about his apparent annoyance. I later found out that my use of the term “Aap”, which is a respectful way of addressing another person in Hindi, irritated him. He thought I was being too sophisticated and therefore ““शायरी क्या करता है? आप बीप.”
It did not take me much time at all to understand that the Bombay of the street had its unique patois which, as it unfolds, has a very impressive literary range. It is very inventive and yet very business-like. It is direct to the point of coming across as rude but still often remarkably moving.
Of course, Bambaiya or Mumbaiya has been popularly associated with the city’s underworld known as “Bhailog”. “Bhais”, literally brothers, are gangsters of varying reach and criminal propensities but are often united by their language. Or so the legend goes. In my days of reporting crime in the city I did not come across too many “bhais” who spoke the way Hindi cinema portrays them but every once in a while one would pop up to completely justify the stereotype.
There was a pimp in Colaba area who could be a character that might have escaped the script of a B grade Hindi crime drama. His language was almost exactly like what is popularly represented. I know because he threatened me in Bambaiya for doing a story about his racket. “Apun ka chalta hai bhai logon se. Kabhi raat ko niklega idhar se ludka dalega.” (I am pally with mob bosses. If you ever venture out at night here, you will be dealt with—killed)” he said. Of course, it was more bluster than anything else.
Since the 1980s I have been fascinated by that street language but it is only this morning around 4 that I thought of actually writing poetry in it. There is a term called tapori to describe these waif-like young men, who are often available for hire for minor criminal errands. I have called this new genre ‘Tapori Shayari’. Here is the first one born early this morning.
टपोरी शायरी
काई कु भेजे का करेला बना रेला है
लाइफ की रेस में अपुन का नंबर पेला है
ताली मार साले क्या शायरी बोलेला है
मालूम, अपुन ने कितनो को ऊपर धकेला है
सब की अपनी बिजली सब का अपना करंट
यह देख बाप जेब में क्या घोडा रखेला है
यह क्या पेहेन के निकली तू आज चमेली
तेरी आखी बॉडी पे बगीचा खिलेला है
तू ले ले तेरे कु जितना जो मिला
क्यूँ लंड के माफ़िक अकड़ेला है
काट डालेगा गांजा एक ही झटके में
लाइफ पे अपुन ने सुपारी लियेला है
--मयंक छाया उर्फ़ गांजा पिस्तूलवाले