Two rickshaws it took to take us all to the Surathkal railway station, one just for the immense amount of luggage we had- thanks mainly to my 3 bags weighing a total close to 65 Kg. The train, Matsyaganda Express No. 2620, came on time, ie, 1:30 pm on 10-08-2009 and seats 25,26,28 and 29 were ours in AC compartment B-3.
Yet again I see there is a girl sharing our compartment. Now this may surprise quite a few but I can without doubt confirm she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen in person. She was on the other side of the compartment alongside a guy who I earlier thought was her boyfriend but was not at all related to her. No, I don’t even know her name and by the time I got down at Mumbai I was kinda glad for that!
Why can’t beauty and brains co-exist often? This one was selfish AND lazy. Don’t ask, I won’t elucidate: Simply not worth it… Lets just be satisfied that she was a physiotherapist for the National Girls Football Team (We actually have one??) and nothing close to Chak de India. The guy on the other hand was really nice: He was Nithin who was studying Master’s in Medicine in Bangalore and had come to Mangalore to attend a medical conference and was on way to Mumbai for another conference.
The other two sharing the compartment were two Gults who rarely came down from the top berths and spent their time watching whole movies on their Nokia mobiles (See even Gults recognise the superiority of Nokia!).
The only eventful thing during the train journey was the juggling of the luggage between the spaces beneath the seat and otherwise and so it was that at 6:47 am on 11-08-2009 that I stepped onto the soils of the greatest city in India: Mumbai!
Oh sure some may have other opinions on which city is greater but as I spent 4 days here I can understand what my friend Dhole was telling when he called me lucky for having got a job at BPCL, Mumbai just for being able to live here. This is truly the city of dreams- some become true, others are shattered- and amidst all the chaos that was prevailing every time combined with the Swine Flu epidemic and Independence Day/ Ganesh Chathurti celebrations coming up I was convinced this place more than anything else epitomises India: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of it all!
Its funny how people here take time for granted, I stayed at my dad’s bank’s holiday home – Nugget – at Prabhadevi, right opposite the headquarters for the Shiv Sena newspaper Dainik Samna and I had to walk a kilometre in Mumbai to find a decent place to eat.
Dainik Samna Headquarters
I know this is really rare and can happen only to me but I enjoyed the excuse to walk and notice how a vegetable market exists right next to a construction site; how a temple is next to a chicken centre and how a 50 floor skyscraper stands next to a slum colony.
Day 1 and a visit to the famous Siddhi Vinayak Temple nearby showed the fascination people here have with the Lord Ganesha.
Siddhivinayak Temple, Mumbai
Day 2 was a lot more interesting as we had hired a tourist cab to take us around Mumbai…
What the N-95??
I have to admit it: Even now the first thing that pops in my mind when I hear/see the letters “N-95” is a big, bulky Nokia multimedia handset that failed spectacularly in India. However the latest fashion accessory over here is the variety of face masks to “help prevent” contraction of Swine flu. The types of masks available on the street are mind-boggling ranging from a simple piece of cloth attached to a string (Rs 10-40, depending on the vendor and street) to a full head gas mask with nano-charcoal filters (> Rs 5k). But one thing common to all the vendors is that none of them use their own products; infact they have nothing to cover their nasal cavities at all! One has to wonder whether its because they themselves have no confidence in the products they are selling to the public but I was glad to see even the most paranoid ones to be using mostly handkerchiefs/ Dupatta’s whereas the majority of them (Like us) are willing to brave the elements.
Our Driver’s Comments
Hailing from the mighty city of Ranchi, Jharkhand our driver made no efforts to keep his thoughts to himself. We were close to the jail where the terrorist Kasab was held and he begins his monologue about how the govt is spending lakhs for his upcoming and how if it were upto him and his friends, Kasab would never see the light of another day again! Sad to say the feelings are shared by nearly everyone in this majestic city; I cant ever hope to understand given I was safely some 800 Km away on 26-11-2008.
Just as I thought he was against only terrorists, he then went on to generalise Muslims as the cause of everything dirty and evil in the city: No comments from me! I am generally against all this anti-Islam talk but this city is ruled by that old Shiv Sena tiger Bal Thackeray and his fist is everywhere here whether you choose to believe it or not.
He then led us to the Mahalaxmi Temple and delivered another lecture on how the youth of today no longer care for religion: I had a funny feeling he saw straight through me! Just to make his point the next stop was the nearby Iskon Temple where I decided to make up for Mr Goody-Goody and snapped a few pics of the idols with a few guards around me when it was clearly prohibited J
Water Place
Main Idols
Part of a wall collection
While on the way to the Gateway of India, he pointed out the homes of a few bollywood stars (SRK, Salman Khan, Abhishek Bacchan) as well as those of some MP’s, Cabinet Ministers and other VVIP’s and at the same time doling more speeches on what he thought of each of them and their assured high security level leaving the general public in harm’s way. But wait- he was not done yet…
On the way to the Gateway of India, he drove very slowly around Nariman Point and showed all the spots of the attack, then showed the Oberoi Trident and finally somehow got us through a security cordon (albeit very lax) around the Taj International at the Gateway of India to show the destruction still very present. Upon seeing a few French guys taking snaps there, he gave a lecture to everyone present about how we treat the Firangi better than ourselves in our own country- This guy was a fiery patriot!
Taj International (Old)
Oberoi Trident
Pigeons are a constant presence here
Gateway of India
The Wharf at the Gateway
Mumbai’s Splendour?
As a tourist in Mumbai, there is very little you can do. It took about 5 hours to cover everything we wanted to see and it was pretty boring mostly. The world famous Juhu beach was covered with filth when we arrived there (~9 am) and cleaning crews around told us it was a daily routine for them to remove such vast amounts of garbage every morning after it was left behind by the tourists the previous evening/night but it was clear the beach was losing its popularity swiftly.
Family at Juhu Beach
And trash at Juhu Beach
Sure you got your usual temples/places of worship around and there is Crawford Market for the greatest deals if you are into shopping. But despite the lack of rainfall this year in this place, the busiest people around were clearly the municipal cleaners: Mumbai has its posh areas, but the vast majority of the city is dirty L
"Ancient Temple" with Email Id
I did manage to have my share of good cuisine- local and otherwise- here, from the never-to-be-missed Vada Pav to the Chicken Sauthe and Crispy Schezwan Masala Dosa that had a Manchurian twist to the Bhaji instead hehe.
But nothing was as majestic as the Sea-Link:-
Entering the Sea-Link
Rendering me speechless
I can use the fingers on a single hand to remember the times I have been left truly speechless! Infact I talk so much and often that my friends once took a record of the time I spend talking in an average free hour (48 mins was the record I believe). Day 3 in Mumbai and it was spent visiting friends/colleagues of my dad who had arranged the entire trip for us. One such visit was to a Jain family who had stayed over at our house this March and I was interested to learn their daughter-in-law of 4 months was a fashion designer for SONY entertainment channel with her most famous work being on the set of Comedy Circus. Imagine getting to talk to superbly talented comedians like Shakeel! Anyway we were off to leave and she comes carrying a very expensive book of novels to gift me: I had no idea they were even aware of my reading habits but I was so stunned getting such a great gift from relative strangers that I could only smile for the next 2-3 mins.. The book is titled “The Secret” and I plan to read it during the flight.
Govinda aala re
Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated with pomp all over the nation but there is something so passionate with the way Mumbai-kars celebrate anything! Day 4, and my last day in India for some time, saw the entire place erupt in a humongous roar of music, colours and the lot. Maybe it was because this place was Shiv Sena territory but there was saffron everywhere the naked eye could see. There were also groups in white, green, yellow, blue and all sorts of colours: Mainly these groups went about in hired trucks/vans with their own bands to do the famous Matka Phod while onlookers in flats from above showered them with water as they attempted the human pyramids.
Neighbourhood buildings throbbing with on-lookers
A Band Playing
Of course I did not have my phone out in my hands during the actual Matka-Phod, but you get the picture. After the gala was over, it was time for check-out and a half hour cab ride to Chattrapathi Shivaji International Airport where, to my great delight, my old classmates Arun and Preet were there to bid me farewell.
Preet and Arun
After they left at about 7:30 pm, it was time to enter the gate which meant farewell to my family (Well except my Dad who had arranged with the bank’s Public Relations Officer to grant him access inside till the Immigration/Emigration desk. Things got senti (Not for me, surprisingly) and I officially stepped out of Indian Shores once I stepped into the airport… Adieu India!
