Hello Readers,
I had been away from blogging for quite sometime as I got occupied in my work since last 1-2 months. Hence, I could not blog for a while. I recently happened to visit Mumbai on a short trip and hence thought to share this ‘petit voyage’ through my blog.
Mumbai, as we all know, is the most famous and visited city in India. It is the financial capital of India, is known for bollywood, and is often known as the city of dreams for Indians. Just like the american dream, this city also carries a legacy where rags to riches story have come true. The most famous example is that of the Ambani’s, who once resided in a poor chawl, and now live in the country’s most expensive tower, ‘Antilia’
Well, this was not my first visit to Mumbai. I had been to this wonderful city before, but only for some work, like getting a visa, or giving some entrance exam. I never got a chance to see the city except when my parents took me to this city for the first time when I was a kid, and hence, I hardly remember any of those memories now. So, this recent visit to Mumbai has been quite a new one as I could visit many places for the first time, since the city has changed and developed so much in just a span of last few years.
It was just a 2 day journey, but I have rejoiced every moment of it.
Day 1:
We started our journey from Pune with the historic Deccan Queen Express. The train has recently been upgraded to have a ‘Vistadome Coach’ and hence, we booked an executive coach chair (EV) to experience this. The train arrived on time ( which is surprising when we are being used to late train arrival) and departed exactly at 7:15 AM from Pune Railway Station.
The cost of vistadome coach executive AC chair is Rs.915/- per person.
Tea and snacks ( Omlet and Veg Cutlet) are served in the coach ( not included in the ticket). The scenic view of the western ghats seen from the coach is mesmerising. Since this was December, we could not see any waterfalls or lush greenery, as often seen during monsoon season. Hence, the best time to travel through vista-dome coach would be during monsoons ( June to Sep). Also, I observed that the Deccan Queen slows down as we reach Panvel-Thane which was not expected as this train usually runs as ‘SuperFast Express’. Due to this slowdown in speed, its not worth paying for an executive coach during non-monsoon time.
As soon the train reached Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) around 10:40 AM, I marvelled at the CST building which is designated as a UNESCO historical site. It is indeed beautiful to see the magnificance of this architectural marvel, and I couldn’t stop myself from clicking few photographs.
After coming out of CST, the outside locality of Mumbai is known as Fort Area. Historically, this area was once ruled by the Portuguese, and The King of Portugal gifted the 7 islands of Mumbai as a dowry to King Charles II of England. He had married the Portuguese princess Catherine. Later King Charles II handed over Mumbai to the East India Company for an annual payment of ten pounds. Today, however, this area is worth billions of dollars in real estate.
Then, we started walking down towards Flora Fountain, aka Hutatma Chowk (Martyer’s Square). This square is known for the remembrance of the freedom fighters who fought for the creation of state of Maharashtra. The most amazing thing I found near the square was the pile of books kept on the street by the book vendors. There were all kind of books, and its indeed a paradise for any book lover. I wish to spend more time, but seeing the huge pile of books, which almost resembled like a library being setup on the square, it would take more than a lifetime to read them. Hence, I vowed to come back again in that square to read and purchase few books someday, and decided to move down towards Gateway of India.
While walking down on the Mahatma Gandhi Road, we saw the tall Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building on the left. We took the left turn towards Dalal street, and saw the BSE building. Being a high security area, we weren’t allowed to enter the building. But seeing an aura of business and market, it does resemble like the NYSE on Wall Street.
It was 12:30 PM and we were hungry by then, so we decided to dine in at the Kamat Dwarka restaurant just at the corner of the Dalal Street. We always prefer Kamat restaurants, as they serve one of the best south Indian Udupi dishes. We had delicious Dosa, Medu-Vada sambar and filter coffee for lunch. Then, we took a taxi to Gateway of India, which was just a 5 min drive and cost us Rs.25/- only.
The Gateway of India along with Taj and Oberoi Hotel are the must visit tourist destinations on everyone’s list to see in Mumbai. Infact, Mumbai journey cannot begin if Gateway of India is not seen. This magnificiant structure was built to commemorate the arrival of King of England. It looks old, with a medieval architectural style but it was constructed in 1924, and hence its not even 100 years old yet. The Taj Hotel reminds us the courage shown by Jamsetjee Tata to build the first 5 star hotel owned by an Indian, after he was insulted by the British. Also, it reminds the heroic valor of the Mumbai police and later the commando’s to rescue the people who were attacked by Pakistani terrorists supported by its Army during 26/11 in 2008.
After taking couple of photos and selfies, we decided to go to see the Elephanta caves. We booked the ferry which costs us Rs.225/- per person from Apollo Bandar to Elephanta caves and back. The ferry ride took 1 hour to reach Elphanta caves. The island has a mini rail which takes the passengers till the entrance of the caves. The caves are beautiful with the statue of Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh and also having the holy Shiva Lingam. But the other statues have been partially to fully destroyed by the invaders who had arrived centuries before to loot India of its treasures. Its sad to see that India had seen few unfortunate events in the past which lead to the obfuscation of some of its beautiful treasures.
Then, it was 4 pm and we decided to return back to Mumbai. We took the return ferry and arrived back to Apollo Bandar by 5 pm. It was time to check in to the hotel. We had booked our reservation at the Hilton International in Andheri East. It took us more than 1.5 hours to reach Andheri from South Mumbai by taxi due to the busy evening rush. During our travel towards north, we saw the most expensive residence of Mukesh Ambani ‘Antilia’ on our way. The taxi also drove over the Bandra-Worli sealink, which shortens the distance between north and south mumbai.
Finally, we reached our hotel around 6:45 pm and we checked in. We were tired with all the day’s sightseeing. We had a nice dinner in nearby restaurant, and that was the end of Day 1 in Mumbai.
Day 2:
The next day we got ourselves ready with a refreshing breakfast served at the Hilton Mumbai International Hotel as part of our hotel stay. The breakfast included some usual Indian foods like Idli-Sambar, Mysore Bonda, Omlet, Puri-Bhaji, Halwa, fruits and ofcourse chai and coffee. The most interesting thing I observed was that the tea was served in a plain glass, which as per Mumbai’s local vocabulary is known as ‘Cutting chai’. I would never have guessed a cutting chai being served at an International brand hotel!!
After checking out from the hotel, it was already noon, and we booked an Ola to Jehangir Art Gallery, KalaGhoda. The KalaGhoda area is known as a Art district and is a paradise for artists and intellectuals. The nearby area hosts many important museums and colleges, such as Elphinstone College, David Sassoon Library, Bombay Natural History Society, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya and National Gallery of Modern Art.
The Jehangir Art gallery hosted the paintings of some contemporary painters and sculptors. We also met one of the sculptor from Hyderabad who had displayed his creations in the exhibition. He briefly explained his designs which expressed the human brain and mind and the impact society has on it. It was not easy to understand this by just seeing his design, and only after he explained about it, I could appreciate the depth of the message conveyed by those designs.
Then, after seeing the art gallery, we decided to visit the famous Shri Siddhivinayak Ganpati Mandir which is located in Prabhadevi. We hired a taxi and it took us 45 mins to reach the temple. We had already booked an online appointment ( no cost for booking )at 3 pm as per the new rules. After reaching the temple, our bags were scanned, and we had to wait in a long queue which is normal as it being one of the most visited shrines in Mumbai. After 20 mins, we entered the temple premises, and took the ‘Darshan’ of Ganpati Bappa. The temple is beautiful, and the statue of Lord Ganesha is even more radiating with a divine aura. It felt so much peaceful after we took the darshan.
Our Mumbai tour was almost coming to an end. The last place we had to go was the Dadar Terminus, where we had to board return train back to Pune at 6 pm. We reached Dadar before 5 pm, had evening chai at a nearby cafe, and waited on the platform for our train to come. Dadar is one of the important railway stations in Mumbai, and the evening time are the busiest, with flocks of people headed towards their destinations/home towards northern suburbs of Mumbai. We watched the local trains arriving and leaving on time every 2 mins. No wonder Time is the most important asset in Mumbai just like the real estate. Seeing the Mumbaikars running and struggling to catch their trains on time made a Punekar like me feel being quite laid back. And this is true as Pune is very much easy going and laid back as compared to the hustle and bustle of Mumbai.
Finally, the Sinhagad express arrived on time and we reached Pune around 9:30 pm with a journey of 3 and 1/2 hours. The one thing I noticed is that the Railway stations have become very clean, thanks to Swachh Bharat movement initiated by the government. Also, the trains arrive and depart on time nowadays which is quite surprising after having seen the abysmal service provided by railways once upon a time. Infact as per my recent experience, the trains are lot better than private buses, the latter of which continue to render appalling service to its customers. Also, the booking experience through its IRCTC App is very good, with easy to use interface and a customer friendly service.
Thus, our short 2 day trip to Mumbai was a success. We enjoyed every spot we visited, and below is the brief summary from my travel journey to anyone who would like to visit Mumbai.
Destinations visited: CST Terminus, Flora Fountain, Bombay Stock Exchange, Gateway of India, Elephanta Caves, Jehangir Art Gallery, KalaGhoda Art District, Shri Siddhivinayak temple.
Some famous spots via taxi: Marine drive ( its good to walk on this long sea facing drive during evenings, and watch the beautiful sunset, but due to time constraint, we could not stop by), Antilia residence, Bandra-Worli sealink
The taxi fare to South Mumbai area from airport comes around Rs.500-600/-. The elephanta caves ferry costs around Rs.225/- total journey, however, there are additional tickets to be paid to enter the caves, which wont cost more than Rs.100/-. The food costs varies with location, but in general Mumbai being expensive, with even a cup of tea costs around Rs.30/- as compared to Pune where its costs just Rs.10/-.
Visiting Mumbai is always a dream for most Indians, and also most foreigners. It is a lot similar to New York, though it doesn’t have the grand central park. There are some of the richest area like Malabar Hill similar to Upper East side. Mumbai has the Gateway of India while New York has the Statue of Liberty. The Mumbai skyline might not be as grand as New York, but it does look similar. Just like the subway for New Yorkers, the local trains are the lifeline of Mumbaikars. The Wall Street and Dalal Street are very much the heart of financial world for both the cities. New York has Broadway, while Mumbai has Bollywood. New York has Times Square, while Mumbai has KalaGhoda-Flora Fountain area. And with the opening of Bandra-Worli sealink, it does remind of the Brooklyn bridge.
‘Yeh hain Mumbai meri jaan…….’
AbhiKNotes - The blog of Abhishek Karadkar 
