Presenting some of these photographs that give a peek-a-boo into the life of Mumbai. These photographs don't cover the entire of the Mumbai or for that matter all the "tourist" locations of Mumbai, but do cover some of my favorite locations and what I feel is the essence of the city itself.
The Gateway of India: This one doesn't need any introduction. It is the very reflection of this very city. The most important thing about this monument is that, whatever be the season or time of the day, the crowd that you see below is of the same numbers.
These lovely glass pieces are found at the most crowded places in Mumbai - the railway stations. Record number of people travel everyday through the life-line of Mumbai, the local trains, which brings me to the next photograph.
Yeah, this is how the average, common Mumbaikar travels every day - to work, or to any other place the want to reach out to...
Disruptions do happen sometimes to his time-bound schedules...like the other day when the train got derailed and for hours everyone was stuck.
But then its okie and people do know how to get around such things...
Often the Mumbaikar gets tired and relaxes...
wherever he can get a chance to sit and release his stress; stress that this city's fast life offers in return to the thousand dreams it fulfills...
The Queen's Necklace embraces all these tired souls. It also embraces a lot of those love stuck souls too; who want to take sometime out of their busy schedules and spend sometime with those they love.
This photograph was taken on 11th July - World Population day...
The best part about this place is that, irrespective of the crowd it carries, it still offers you some sort of an eternal peace - it gives you a chance to think; to contemplate...
I know its got a bit heavy...so I would like to divert a bit here....
Mumbai has got this beautiful network of roads... well you need to trust me on that since I have been driving around for quite sometime now...yeah some places the roads are damaged but then its the same everywhere...
Anyways coming back....for drivers like me...this road is a heaven....you can think of breaking the 100kmph barrier on this road....irrespective of the traffic....
This bright streak of light is that car which was doing a 120...this is the Eastern Express Highway...
which brings me to my very own road that I have been treading for the last 60000kms that I have driven so far - bike and car combined since 2003...the Western Express Highway...
though its has the express highway tagline....i have always seen it laden with jams...with hell lot of infrastructure construction around what else do you expect???
Moving away from traffic and noise, Mumbai does offer a lot peaceful places...places where you only find chatter and laughter of friends or quiet and serenity of a couple in love... well yes am talking of the famous Bandstand, Bandra...
This is the aerial view of Bandstand from the top floor of my engineering college....4 yrs and yet we visited Bandstand properly only in the final year..
Mumbai has a host of serious places too...places where rituals and poojas take place...one such location is Banganga...
One of the best seasons for me in Mumbai is the rains...I dont care what people say... but seriously its beautiful...
the way the drops bring about life everywhere around you; its magical...even the most barren parts of the city get covered with the greens during the rains...magical...
Mumbai has got some beaches...I wouldnt dare call all of them lovely...but yes some of them are really great...some really dirty...
This is Marve beach...same is the condition with Juhu Beach...
But then some beaches are still not that frequented by people and hence still kind of virgin and clean and beautiful...
Mumbai also has some beautiful lakes too...the Powai lake for example, post its beautification project, really looks lovely on a moon-lit night...
Mumbai has host of places and you can literally categorize them as per your needs - chill out zones, fun zones, movies, theaters, holy places, places for friends, places for love.....you name it and you'll get it
To get a complete picture of Mumbai in one photo-blog is absolutely impossible...just with history I can go on with 2-3 photo-blogs
Every place here has its own significance...whether its an elite shopping mall or a simple market, high rise buildings or shanties....each of them have there share of story to tell....
This is the city which has been my home for years...
This is Mumbai - the city of dreams....
Aastalavista...
Abhi
