The city of dreams, where fortunes are made and lost with equal elan and perhaps with as much unpredictability. The commercial capital of India. People from all over the country come to Bombay, to make money and turn their fortunes around. Some succeed and some don't. Some return to where they came from and some struggle to etch out an existence. A city where luxury flats overlook slums and a seth (wealthy trader, though colloquially used for anyone apparently moneyed) turns his face away from the poor kid who is tapping on his BMW's window asking for a rupee to feed himself. Yes, that is Bombay. In the city named after the godess Mumba Devi (now Bombay has been renamed to Mumbai), the wealthy and the poor coexist.
The first trip to the main city was to Nariman Point, Bombay's business district, which has been reclaimed from the sea by landfilling. The cost of real estate and office space at Nariman Point is the highest in the world. Oh yes, Salman Rushdie lover's would know of this (he mentions all this in Midnight's Children). Skyscrapers all around, well not too tall but tall enough for the standards of this country definitely. From the tip of Nariman Point one gets to see the upmarket Cuffe Parade at a distance and a filthy fishing village right in front.
In the morning, of course, I was too tired to keep my eyes open in the taxi. But, in the evening, the rush hour proves to be a blessing in disguise. We are not able to find a taxi and so we start walking out of the Nariman Point area and suddenly we are faced by the sea front. A harbour actually and all along the length of its coast is this beautiful stretch of road called the Marine Drive. The official name now is Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road I think. It is also called the Queen's Necklace becaus of its shape. Due to its curvacious nature one is able to see one end of the road from the other, the length of the road being about three odd kilometres. The photograph that you see on the right is from the Nariman Point end where the road starts and goes all the way to Chowpatty and Malabar hill. On the way it crosses the Taraporewala Aquarium. A little distance down the road through Peddar road is another part of the sea which houses the Haji Ali Dargah (mosoleum for Muslim and sufi saints). Near Haji Ali is another business district called Worli and the Nehru Planetarium. On a rainy sunday morning we ventured out to the elephanta islands (I shall write about it later sometime) which are about 10 kilometres off the Bombay coast on a motor launch through a choppy sea from Appolo Bunder. At Appolo Bundar we also saw the Gateway of India which was made for King George V when he came to India. Being guided through the buildings and the busy streets at Nariman Point on my first day in Bombay, one is taken to the local MAFED street side food stall. MAFED, incidentally, is a cooperative in the state of Maharashtra (of which Bombay is the capital). The food is good and the price low, so what if its right there on the street and you also consume a lot of dust and smoke and share your food (unless you are careful) with a stray fly or two. After lunch one is taken around Nariman Point and one is expected to say geez and wow at every roundabout and sighting of the buildings. Nevermind the sultry premonsoon heat of Bombay in early June. One notices that in this business district, there are food stalls aplenty, selling almost anything from the famous pao bhaji (pao is bread and bhaji is a half fried, half mashed spicy concotion of some three four vegetables), to biryani (a mutton or chicken rice preparation), burgers, sandwiches, dosas, other south Indian stuff, pretty good Chinese food, to strictly vegetarian Gujarati (remember the Motel Patel's?) food. And of course all sorts of drinks (no, no beer though) from mango and banana shakes to juices and aerated water and lemonade and lassi (a little different from what one finds in northern India though). And all at a reasonable price. Umm..well that is one reason I like Bombay, plenty of good food and not too costly! On my very first evening in Bombay we were told and also realized that Bombay is a city of pubs. So we ventured out to the nearest pub (incidentally I have visited this pub atleast once whenever I have visited Bombay) and almost groped our way to the first floor through the dark stairway to emerge into a dimly lit area. Looked a little shady, if you know what I mean. The place turned out to be quite a surprise, great draught beer, great music but not too good food. However, over the months the place has improved, been refurbished twice and it is good as ever. This place is called Pamposh and is on the Linking Road near Bandra (that is where the Bombay suburbs start). And on the way back home one of these nights we found this small shop owned by a sardarji (sikh gentleman) who sells tandoori chicken, fried fish and prawns. Absolutely delicious stuff. Later on a different trip to Bombay, one evening (after dinner) I was taken to an ice cream parlour in Juhu (thats one of the posh areas). This parlour is a part of the chain called Naturals. These people claim that their ice creams contain nothing artificial and no preservatives. So, since they can't preserve the ice creams, they dump all left over ice cream in the drains each night. So each time you eat an ice cream at any of the Naturals outlets, you can be sure that the ice cream is absolutely fresh and of course great to eat. I must tell you about the dinner that I mentioned above. It happened at a steak place called the Yoko's on S V Road in Khar. Great steaks (no beef though). Come to think of it, Bombay is a city of food and drink lovers. All over the place you find pubs and bars. Also you do find tremndous amounts and types of food in the city's innumerable restaurants. There would hardly be a locality or a market place without atleast half a dozen restaurants and eating places. Food ranges from Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Italian, local seafood, north Indian, Frontier food and you name it and you can find it.
But is that all there is to Bombay? Archaic arhitecture, good food, good hotels? Well, one wonders. Bombay certainly is not one of those cities where you come to enjoy the salubrious climate. Bombay definitely has to do with money and the earning of it. May be that is the reason why people here are generally professional in nature. So if a Bombayite fixes an appointment with you for a particular hour, rest assured, you won't have to waste time waiting. One finds this city always on the move. The local trains prove the point by running throughout the day (except for a brief two hour respite) transporting passengers from far off places to main Bombay. These local electric trains are the lifeline of Bombay. And these trains stop only when there is too much of waterlogging on the tracks during monsoon. So next time you hear that the trains on the Western line in Bombay have got delayed due to waterfilled tracks, you know that its pouring like mad in Bombay. One flies out of the Santa Cruz airport each time gazing at the lights below, bidding a fond farewell to the city but always promising to come back. |
My visits to Bombay have been regular over the past couple of years, mainly due to work. Flying into Bombay in the night, stay for a few days and fly back to Delhi, that is what I have been doing. Cannot say that I have seen Bombay very closely. But then close enough to understand what it is about and also come to like it a bit, I guess. The first time I went to Bombay, I alighted at the Bombay Central Station (one of the three main railway stations). A taxi ride through the busy streets during office hours presented sights of hurry and urgency. Bombay looked like a city on the move. A city started off by the British, it seems to be trying hard to hold on to its traditions and style but at the same time trying to surge ahead into the modern era.
Gradually, on each trip to this megapolis I saw other different places. I was shown the large film studios. Bombay is fondly known as Bollywood since it produces the lion's share of India's seven hundred odd movies each year. I also saw some staged plays at different auditoria. Theatre and stage plays are very popular and are very professionally done in Bombay. In fact a lot many movie stars started their career on the stage. As I started travelling more and more I found the old buildings built by the British which look as elegant as ever. And these buildings reminded me of Calcutta which at certain places looks quite similar to Bombay. This picture is of the Victoria Terminus railway station (India's first railway station) which is one of the prime examples of British Architecture, others being almost all the older colleges (like St Xavier's), the university, the buildings near Fort, most of the Colaba area. Incidentally, near Colaba are two intersting things, one being the Jahangir Art Gallery and the other is Rhythm House. Rhythm House is arguably the most organized and the biggest shop in the country for CDs and cassettes. They do have a great collection.