Very, very rarely does a perfect moment come along.

Monday night, several of us went from Mumbai drinkery to drinkery, raucously singing Queen's We Are The Champions.' It isn't often we get to sing the 'of the world' refrain and mean it. Well, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and I were both two when India last won a cricket World Cup, so celebrations were obvious.

Still, this was more mega than any of us dreamed. Less than 48 hours after our initial revelry, 40,000 people crammed into Wankhede Stadium, blissful sardines singing along to any song with 'India' in the lyrics. Mumbai took its hat off to Team India, and did it in style.

To your left, the victory lap. The omnipresent tricolour, fans rushing up, music, camaraderie and the captain with a wonderfully deserved smile. It doesn't get better than this.

Here, then, is an account of Mumbai before and after this perfection. Behind-the-scenes, if you will. Read on. Also read: World Champions come home

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