Prayasu

If you'd told me last November where I'd be this November, I'd have laughed.

The people who matter have changed. The way I look at today has changed. 2025 me had no clue what 2026 was planning.

Then I spent a few days in Mumbai, and the city kind of explained it to me.

They call it Sapna Nagri, the city of dreams. I agree. The traffic never stops. Cars run the roads at 2 a.m. like it's noon, and everyone's headed somewhere.

Then you look up and see a glass tower standing right next to a slum. Both are home to someone. Neither is waiting for the other to leave.

And somewhere inside all that rush, the city slows down. People finish a 12-hour day and still show up at Marine Drive to sit with someone they love.

I sat alone on the wall one evening with Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana playing, then Musafir Hoon Yaaron, watching the waves come in. Kishore da had this figured out in the 70s. Life is a safar, and you're just a musafir passing through.

Fast and slow, side by side. Same city, same night.

Mumbai reminded me that life runs on commas. You can pause, sit by the sea, look back at a year you never saw coming.

Just don't end the sentence. 🌊

For those who don't understand the craze behind GTA VI, here's a short story.

Age 12. Got my brand new laptop.
The only real use-case was games, and mostly with a near-zero budget.

Saw my neighbour playing a pirated GTA Vice City. Asked him if I could copy it. He said no, it's not for kids.

Next day, when he was out at office, I convinced his wife to lend me the CD for some time. Copied it. Returned it.

Always hid the game from my parents while playing. And the girl on the loading screen messed things up more than once 😅

Then came GTA San Andreas.

I must have played every modded version: GTA Punjab, GTA Chennai, and obviously the OG pirated San Andreas (FitGirl repack).

A year later, 2015.

GTA V launches on PC.
At the IIT-JEE coaching centre I was going to, my chemistry faculty announced that the year's top scorer would be rewarded with a brand new GTA V.

I had glitter in my eyes and one goal: score the highest and win GTA V.

And guess what. I did it……

But unfortunately, my laptop couldn't run GTA V. 4 GB RAM, no graphics card, a very basic machine.

Life moves on….

7 years later.

2022My very first $500. I immediately bought a PS5, and my very first game purchase was GTA V.

23 now. We've grown up. But the love for gaming, and for GTA, stays the same.

If you read till the end, drop a comment with your story.

Girlfriend bought me GTA 6. Smartest $80 she's ever spent on her own peace.

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