Susheel’s day out…!!!!

I hit the road on Sunday. I made it a point to visit as many beautiful places in Mumbai as possible. I can say I say that I was successful to a great extent. I did have a fun filled day which ended with a happy accomplished feeling.

I fulfilled a long standing wish of mine on Sunday. I traveled in Mumbai local. Yes, to some it might seem very normal. But for a person like me who has only seen the jam packed Mumbai local either in movie or photos – it was fun. It is true that a lot of public in Mumbai prefer to travel by Train. Even though there are trains plying every minute or so, it is hard to locate even a half filled bogie. What is more amusing is the business that goes on in the train. In my travel between Santa cruse to Church gate I counted at lest four different hawkers (a calendar seller, a Train pass cover seller, a person selling shaving kit and a book seller). I also listened to a girl barely in her teenage singing some great Bollywood songs in a very impressive voice (Though she started begging later). And all this happened in a span of about 15-20 minutes!!!! This is the speed at which Mumbai moves. It is business as usual. The most fun part was while getting down from the train. I was told that it’s a very tricky thing. When your stop approaches, all you do is stand near the door of the train. Leave the rest to the mad public. You will be pushed (or should I say carried?) out from the train to platform.

I got down at the church gate station. Most of the good places to visit in Mumbai are in and around this place. A little walk down the roads and you will start feeling the influence of British rule in India. You will feel as if you are walking in the English Victorian era. Beautiful (but old) buildings, name of the roads, foreign tourists roaming around and the rustle and bustle all make you feel as you are in some other country. I roamed around a bit and visited Bombay university building, Rajabai clock tower (magnificent), Prince of Wales museum, Kala Goda chowk, Hutatma Chowk, The Bombay stock exchange, shivaji Bus terminus and the Taj mahal Hotel.

There is a special story about the Taj mahal hotel that I read and I think it’s worth sharing here. The Taj mahal hotel was built by JRD Tata. The story goes that JRD went to a posh British hotel along with a few of his friends. Even though he had the money to pay for the services being offered, he was not allowed an entry into the hotel. Reason – he was an Indian and English people did not want to sit with an Indian. JRD resolved then and there that he will built a 5 star hotel besides that posh English hotel which will be bigger, better and more brilliant then any other British hotel in India. The result was Hotel Taj mahal. Most of its civil works were planned personally by JRD. This was more then 100 years ago. Even today the hotel is soo beautiful that all other structures pale in comparison to this beautiful hotel. I salute the sprit of JRD.

Just a stone throw distance away from Hotel Taj is the famed “Gateway of India”. It is another wonderful place to visit and see. To many people it has become a name synonymous to Mumbai. A plaque besides this monument reads that it was built in1911 to commemorate the landing of King Gorge on the India soil. Since it was through this gateway that King gorge entered India, this monument was named as the “Gateway of India”. Today to many sailors and sea travelers it serves as bacon to Indian soil. All around the Gateway of India you can see the sea. There is something about the sea that makes me feel happy. Its vastness, its silence, its waves and the fact that it hides within itself a whole different word brings me peace and tranquility. I love to be on the sea shore.

After sitting for some wonderful moments besides the sea and beneath the gateway of India, I moved on. My next visit was to the Mumbai festival in Kala goda. I found it very interesting and fun. The punch line of the Mumbai festival was – “Discover your artistic side”. The name itself tells you how the festival might have been. I saw potter making pots, weavers making cloths, painters painting, dancers dancing, singers singing and lot of kids performing cultural events. And the sentimental touch to all this was that all the performers/artists were the socially, physically and financially under privileged. To name some - there were kids from slum, Women who where victims of physical abuse and domestic violence, physically challenged artists etc. I salute their Never ever give up attitude. God bless you all!!!

My last stop of the day was Nariman point. Now this is what I call a cool place!!! There is Lot of crowd, lot of young couples, Lot of beautiful young faces, lot of walkers. Gosh!! I was left breathless by this place. Sea all around, cool breeze, heavenly climate, lot of beautiful faces around. It was a perfect mixture of beautiful natural surroundings and Romantic atmosphere. I will forgive all the couples being a tad too cozy in this place. The place it self is so damn good that anybody can become romantic and fall in love. I spend quite some time in this place. All the fatigue that I had due to traveling the entire day simply drained off. I was refreshed.

Most of my “Must see” list of Mumbai are checked. The only thing left is to catch up few of my old friends and make some more new friends. With still a minimum of seven days of stay left in Mumbai, I cant wait to see what the coming days has in store for me :-)