Mumbai Diaries!

Vada Pav? SiddiVinayak temple? Uncontrollable traffic? Bollywood? Congestion? Gateway of India? Which is the first word which comes to your mind when you think of........

Yes, its THE MUMBAI! These would be the words which come to your mind when you think of Mumbai, the most happening city where people arrive with full of dreams and hopes for a better future. When I was speaking to my taxi driver in Mumbai, he said, "I wanted to return back after working in Mumbai for a few years. But I am still here even after 12 years of working. Its very difficult to return back to your own place once you have come here." You life becomes so happening and its difficult to return back to the basics. No wonder, Mumbai is rightly called the City of Dreams! Either you hate it or love it, you still can't leave it!

We had a good ride in the local trains, prayed in the Siddi Vinayak temple, entered the Gateway of India, breezed along in the Marine Drive, bargained in Colaba Market. Not a bad coverage even when we were travelling with a toddler along with us.

Being given a chance to visit this city and go around for a day and a half, we decided to do the basic coverage of this noisy yet fashionable city. We started off in the local trains as I wanted to experience the madness of the Mumbai local trains - which I have always heard to be crowded and very critical in terms of transport. 

A dosage of the Mumbai local trains!

We took the train by the late morning and by the evening when we returned back. Did I get a taste of the crowded train? Yes, I did during my return trip which happened to be the time when the crowd was returning back from office. We did get a lot of stare since we were travelling with a toddler in a first class compartment which was otherwise occupied with office goers and crowded till the very end! Given a thought, it would otherwise be too tiring to travel from the North to the South of Mumbai without the trains which gives great connectivity. The traffic of Mumbai is equally alarming, in which I would not want to spend 2-3 hours of my time waiting in the bus or car in a slow moving traffic. Without any thought, when you have to explore the local interests, just go out and spend your time with the locals!

One piece of advise for the trains- Avoid the peak times! Or if you don't, get immersed in the crowd.

If you ask me what would that I like about Mumbai? It's the street food! Being a lover of Indian food, I loved the local delicacies and enjoyed it to the very bit! Vada pav or Tawa pulao or Pav usal - these brought in a wonderful flavour of the Indian spices in a chatpata way! Never miss the local food of Mumbai if you are here one day!

After visiting the beautiful and enchanting SiddiVinayak temple and enjoying a scrumptious lunch, our next stop was by the Colaba Market. Try your bargaining skills on the roadside shops to purchase the various merchandises. The variety will range from jewellery to dresses to art items or decorations or children toys. The next stop was in Gateway of India.

The Gateway of India

The Gateway of India is a monument built during the British rule. The whole place is busy witnessing people visiting it and clicking pictures. The view is a plus factor of this area as it looks upon the Arabian sea and makes a wonderful place to spend some time in the evening. 

The Gateway of India

The whole place is swamped with pigeons and the children running behind them to catch one of them. The little ones definitely wind up in a more playful mode. At least mine did!

The Taj Hotel is just opposite and can be easily seen from the Gateway of India. The harbour nearby also added to the whole scene and was just perfect for any photo enthusiast! Numerous small boats and ships lining the harbour with some people busy pushing the boats back to the harbour finishing their day was the sight we could see.

The Harbour by the evening!

As the evening was dusking upon us, it was time to visit the Marine drive to spend some time watching the sea, sunset and the city line. A hot chai (tea) and some samosa's would have been wonderful for the scenario.  While the city was busy finishing its day's work, we were relaxing on the other side with the sea and the sunset!

Marine Drive and the city line

A visit to the mall is like definitely having dessert after the meal. A mall visit is like a must itinerary for any place visit! The Oberoi mall was welcoming us on an otherwise busy Sunday afternoon the next day. The Christmas decorations were in place and people flocking in for the various activities available - having your favourite lunch, watching a movie, play area for the kids, shopping for all ages and gender.

After a hectic schedule, time to say goodbye to Mumbai! May be I should visit Mumbai some other time just to enjoy the local food...