Mumbai

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I remember sitting at Shivali's dinner table in Hamilton, where the conversation about Bombay came up. I could hear that it was a place with a vibe, a place where modern India was the go and where people who were different from the norm, can find acceptance. 

I came to know it was the home of Bollywood. I figured the best way to see it, would be to book a tour, I found Tours with a local and chose Mohammed, I'd like to say I chose him because of his amazing profile, however my first choice was not avail and he mentioned having a sense of humour which was a win, also the other person liked shopping which I did not have in common with this person. 

It wasn't until I was making my way to our meeting point that I realised how far Bandra West was from all  the main sights of Bombay. I had to get a taxi because some parts of Bombay did not allow autos. On the commute, a Porsche caught my attention and reminded me of the distribution of wealth in the world, it almost seemed out of place in my mind.

We met up outside Cafe National which was on this big roundabout. Our first stop was Dhobi ghat, the largest open air laundry. A sea of clothing, sorted in their colours and styles. It was a first for my eyes and I could have sat there all day and made a game of where's Wally out of it. 

We went up on to a main road hoping to catch a bus, we drove past the Dabbawala statue which reminded me of a documentary I had watched years ago about these lunch delivery men. I just loved the idea of the community feeding each other, Also, the tiffin boxes have a place in my childhood memories. Back in the day that was how we would take food to the temple and it would come back with random leftovers. 

We were headed to Malabar hill to Pramod Navalkar viewing gallery, there is this echo point which excited the scientist in me, trying to figure out how this open space could do such a thing. Then I looked out to view the skyline that was the showcase of the viewing gallery, it was a lack lustre moment, I have experienced similar views like this in clear skies, but due to the construction and air pollution, a haze that blanketed the view and so too the beauty of it all. 

Just across the road was the Hanging garden which is built over the main water reservoir. Mohammed kept mentioning the vultures above us, I don't know why that made me feel uneasy, too much watching the Lion King methinks. As a fan of parks, this was definitely one of the more interesting ones. 

As a child of divorced parents and being a sensitive soul, conflict is loud chaos, I believed that why Gandhi's approach to conflict, won him a spot in my list of my favourite people in history. Our next stop was the house where Gandhi lived during his time in Mumbai, Mani Bhavan Gandhi Museum. the lower floor was a library that had some of his famous words frozen in glass above the doorways. The upper floors had a display of his office. I find it breath-taking to be able to see the past in the present and to know the people/ person that were there before me. 

The mix up of different eras and influences of architecture in Mumbai tells quite a story in itself, so many beautiful Victorian style structures, the Flora fountain, the Taj Mahal palace, what an experience that it, I had not been paying enough attention to know what had unfolded in that place until I watched Hotel Mumbai, many months after visiting. Across from the Taj, is the gate way of India, I remember  Mohammed mentioning something about, it being built to welcome the British in, only to be used to march them out. 

I had a favour to ask Mohammed, my friend in her early life lived with her grandparents in Mumbai and asked whether I could try to find a few locations, first being her grandparents house, the apartment building she had stayed with them, her grandparents resting place and also a church her aunty was baptised. I was up to the task and Mohammed would make it just a little bit easier. It helped that the building had individual names and the gods were on our side. All I had to go by was a suburb and a house name and by chance we were on the right street. I took photos and sent them to my friend. 

It was getting late and I was feeling pretty knackered from the tour. So I decided to resume my search on the next day, the apartment building was easy to find as it showed up in Google maps as exactly that, it was going through some restoration, I sent video clips to my friend and the church was not far from that location, 

When I went to the cemetery, it wasn't clear exactly where the entrance was, didn't help that my taxi driver had completely missed the exit and was on the hill, ready to head in a different direction. I had somehow picked up a lovely guide buddy whom spoke great English, he was in his 70s and apparently just wanted to help me out, unfortunately, once we got to the office, we were told that there were no records around the dates in which I was enquiring about. Bittersweet ending, however what a blessing it was to be able to share such things with a friend,