Finally, the phrase navigates the complex politics of renaming. Since 1995, the Shiv Sena-led state government has officially enforced “Mumbai” to assert Marathi identity and erase colonial memory. Yet, in everyday conversation, art, and literature, “Bombay” persists. The persistence of “Bombay” in “Bombay Meri Jaan” is not an act of colonial nostalgia; it is an act of emotional ownership. “Bombay” is the city of dreams, a more inclusive, historically layered name that includes the Portuguese, British, Gujarati, Parsi, and South Indian communities who built it. “Mumbai” is a political assertion; “Bombay” is a personal memory. Saying “Bombay Meri Jaan” allows a citizen to honor both the indigenous past (the mother goddess Mumbadevi) and the cosmopolitan present.
Historically, the name “Bombay” itself is a palimpsest of colonial and indigenous influences. Derived from the Portuguese phrase Bom Bahia (“good bay”), the city was a collection of seven swampy islands gifted to King Charles II of England as part of Catherine of Braganza’s dowry in 1661. The British, recognizing its deep natural harbor, transformed it into a major trading post. By the 19th century, land reclamation projects like the Hornby Vellard had fused the seven islands into a single landmass, and the American Civil War (1861–1865) catapulted Bombay into cotton-trade riches. This was the birth of the modern city: a mercantile powerhouse. Yet, the affectionate “Meri Jaan” did not arise from imperial architecture alone; it arose from the watan (homeland) feeling that developed as Indians from Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh poured in for textile mill jobs, creating a syncretic, working-class identity that affectionately retained the anglicized name even as the political climate demanded its replacement with “Mumbai” (derived from the local goddess Mumbadevi). Bombay Meri Jaan
The economic spine of this devotion is the promise of survival and upward mobility. Mumbai is not India’s most beautiful city—it lacks the planned gardens of Chandigarh or the Himalayan backdrop of Shimla. Instead, its beauty is utilitarian. It is the financial capital of India, home to the Reserve Bank, the Bombay Stock Exchange, and the epicenter of Bollywood, the world’s largest film industry. For millions of migrants, the city is a ruthless but fair employer. The dabbawalas (lunchbox carriers) of Mumbai, who achieve Six Sigma efficiency with no technology, are a testament to this spirit. The phrase “Bombay Meri Jaan” is often spoken after surviving a grueling local train commute, sleeping for four hours in a 100-square-foot chawl, or paying off a family debt through a second job. It is a love born of endurance, not ease. The city, like a demanding beloved, asks for everything—your sweat, your time, your sanity—and in return, offers the only thing that matters to a striver: a chance. Finally, the phrase navigates the complex politics of