Mumbai Sea Link: Much Ado About Simple Bare Necessities

I am starved, like most Mumbaikars, for anything that will make living in the city just that little bit better. Something that will help Mumbai live up to its own expectations, to realize its potential to be a global city.
So when the Bandra - Worli sea link - the bridge that's become Mumbai's newest landmark - opened this week it was good news. Finally here's some new, improved hardware to support the city's software - its people and their spirit.
On Wednesday after an interview at the Taj Land's end, at Bandra, I took the bridge back to work in Lower Parel. Not the most rational thing to do. Bandra to Lower Parel via Mahim Causeway would have been the straighter, shorter, more efficient route, but like other Mumbaikars I found on the bridge that day, the decision was emotional!
The bridge, only four lanes of which are ready to use - two in either direction - was crammed bumper to bumper, cars packed with happy, proud Mumbaikars merrily clicking away on their mobile phones.
Stuck in traffic that day it struck me how easy we are to please, we have so little, that even the most basic amenity thrills us. The view is great but in a car, the railing obstructs it, so, so much for that. Parts of the part that is operational, are still work in progress. And it doesn't look spanking new ready to use. And while its a technical, structural achievment, anyone who has been on great bridges of the world - like the expressway that connects Hong Kong mainland with Lang Tau island - will tell you that that's relative.
And the Worli Sea face end - even after its regulated (when the toll gates open) will be a really nasty bottleneck. This is a good point to do a small lament for Worli sea face. Anybody who has done the North-South Mumbai drive will know how much fun it was to go by Worli sea face. To do the detour just for kicks. The broad road, a great view and with no shops - a stretch of Mumbai road that actually let you zip, is history. Thanks to the sea link - or the Rajiv Gandhi Setu, you can forget the fun drive or walk or butta evening at Worli sea face.
The worst part about the bridge, the politics. A day after the inauguration Shiv Sena protests the name and Congress banners with images of local M.P. Milind Deora and party bigwigs, hang on opportunistically. The most telling image - the digital signboard on the bridge that could have said Hello Mumbai, a day after the inauguration still said : WELCOME SONIAJI.