Mumbai Diary

Day 1 (27-9-2011), Tuesday

It was 4:30 PM; hurriedly I left the office and headed home with my husband, where we had our backpack ready by last night. I and my husband ate some food, carried our backpack and left for Bhairahawa, from where we were supposed to take a rickshaw up to Sunauli then 3 hours car ride and finally to Gorakhpur Junction. Though it was a hectic schedule, I was excited about the train journey which I was about to experience the following day for the first time in my life. We boarded the bus from Gongabu bus station at about 8:30PM; it took about 12 hours to reach Bhairahawa bus station. 

Day 2 (28-9-2011), Wednesday

It was Ghatasthapana day, which did not lure us much, which would have if we were back at home.  We took a rickshaw up to Sunauli and crossed the NEPAL-INDIA border on foot. Had thought of many evils about border security guards but I did not experience any such incidents nor did I see any traces of fear and insecurity.

We hired a TATA Indica up to Gorakhpur Railway Station. It took us about three and a half an hour to reach Gorakhpur. We happened to meet two interesting characters on the way to Gorakhpur. A man and his wife, man worked for Nepal Police and was sending his wife on a working visa to Saudi Arabia through an illegal way from India.

Gorakhpur Junction

Finally, we were in Gorakhpur Railway Station; it was about 2:30 PM, Indian Time. Since we had tickets for AC compartments, we were entitled to enjoy the facilities of the AC waiting rooms. We took shower, changed clothes and waited for our train which would leave the station at 9:30 PM. As we waited for the train we found that many Nepali actually visit India during the holiday season. We felt good to see Nepali faces in a foreign land.

Our train arrived at the station, and we walked up to our compartment i.e., AC Tire 3, B2-25, 28. I must mention here that the train was neat and clean. I liked it inside the train. Luckily two Nepali faces entered our compartment. Two ladies-I felt nice to have a companion from my country. So did him. But contrary to our expectation, the taller looking lady was rude and from her telephone conversation, I doubt if she was taking the other girl, Kanchi (she screamed at her saying this name) to Mumbai to the red light area. I was not sure but I sensed a smell of human trafficking there. She did not allow Kanchi to interact with us, nor did she allow her to stay in her berth without a curtain on. So we could not find out much about them.
The railway staff brought dinner for us, which we ordered half an hour earlier, we ate dinner and slept. As we woke up early morning at 5 AM, we were on a bridge over the GANGA, in Kanpur. We bowed our heads to Ganga.

Day 3 (29-9-2011), Thursday

Bhel Puri

The two people, who boarded last night on our compartment, got off in Kanpur. Now we were only two in the whole compartment. I liked it very much. We put the curtain on; it felt that only two of us were in the whole world. There was nothing to worry about we kept on trying each and every food the train (pantry) staff would bring- Bhel Puri, Bada Paun, Dal Bada, Biryani, Tea, Coffee, Sweet Corn, Cucumber everything. Since we were only in our compartment, we tried different poses for a photoshoot there. We tried sleeping on each berth. We danced and sang, we played Baghchal, Marriage (card). Most of the time, we enjoyed outside views while other passengers were sleeping or reading newspapers.  After all, it was our first time on a train.

Enjoying outside view from Train

Day 4 (30-9-2011), Friday

Mumbai in an early morning

Our Train arrived at Lokmanya Tilak Station, Kurla, Mumbai in the early morning at 4:30 AM. It was still dark. As we took our luggage and got off the train, the taxi drivers/auto drivers swarmed up around us. This was what I did not like the most. We tried to ignore them and headed towards the station enquiry room. But they were determined not to leave us like that; one of them followed us for about an hour. Finally, we found some Nepali Guys-Amit and his friends queuing up to get a ticket for the local train up to CST (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station). We requested him to buy two tickets for us as well, he was really a great help to us. I found Mumbai Local train so punctual and disciplined unlike what I used to see in Bollywood movies. I also found people in Mumbai were friendly and helpful. And was compelled to think that we always had misinterpreted India and Indian People and that not all of them are bad. And I believe Bollywood movies are also partly credited to develop such feelings in us. We reached CST along with them.

Gateway of India, Mumbai

Mumbai- I found it huge, rich and lavish. It was early morning about 6:30AM; when we reached Central Mumbai, it had not woken up yet. We decided to go to see the Gateway of India directly. The walking distance from CST to the Gateway of India was just 30 minutes. The Gateway of India and The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel face each other on the bank of the huge Arabian Sea. The Gateway of India was built in 1911 and The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel was built 21 years before the Gateway of India. Colourful ferries in the Arabian Sea in the early morning looked beautiful.

Hotel Taj and Gateway of India 

We walked around for about three hours there and set out in search of a hotel. Though we had already booked a hotel in Grand Road, someone suggested we not stay in that area. So we tried to find out a budget hotel in Colaba. We roamed for about an hour and finally found a hotel behind The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. And luckily the manager was Nepali. I was very happy to find a hotel in such a lovely place. Sea on two minutes walking distance, it was simply wow!

The street which took to our hotel

We got into our room. It was an old British styled room. We did not waste time, took shower, changed cloth and hurriedly went out; again we went to The Gateway and took a ferry (INR 130 each) to Elephanta Cave. It was about one hour ride; we reached a small Island with Rock Mountains. Those mountains are carved with huge Hindu Gods and Goddesses. It is also registered as UNESCO’s World Heritage Site. To enter the heritage site, visitors need to take a ticket, INR 10 for Indians and INR 250 for Foreigners. Since we could speak Hindi fluently, I asked for two tickets in Hindi and paid just INR 20. We saved INR 480 in this way. Photography was prohibited by the Indian Navy on the way to Elephanta Cave, but we stealthily took some photos from the ferry.

Elephanta Cave

As we got back from Elephanta Cave, we walked around the city. Coconut water did wonders on such a hot day. We went to MC Donald’s for lunch. I must say it was so crowded with teen Mumbaikars. We walked around the city, did some shopping, and had dinner in a fine restaurant. Overall it was a great experience in Mumbai.
Mumbai added a very memorable day to my life. I loved Mumbai the most at night. I must say ‘Mumbai never sleeps. It was so lively at night, people meet friends, go shopping, got together, they walk on the street so carefreely at night, which is very contrary to our Kathmandu. One more day in Mumbai was yet to come.

Mumbai @ night

Day 5 (01-10-2011), Saturday

'Jalsa', Mr Bachchan's house

My only wish in Mumbai was to see “Jalsa” and “Mannat”. In so early morning we took a Local Train from CST to Juhu. We were not sure about the distance from the railway station to Juhu Beach, we decided to go to Juhu Beach at first and then to Mr Bachchan’s House. We reached Juhu Beach after an hour's walk. Juhu Beach could not attract me much, it was polluted and the water was stinking. I entered the sea reluctantly. We took a photo from a local photographer who carries a camera and printers and provides you photo instantly. We tried some Indian dishes on Juhu Beach. And not to forget a rash-gola, which I will never try in my life again.
Then we set on a mission to find ‘Jalsa’ Mr Bachhan's house. We found it, two guards were there, I thought I need to take permission before I take snaps in front of it. We took permission and took some quick snaps in front of ‘Jalsa’. I was expecting if I could see just a glance of Bachchan's.

'Mannat' King Khan's House

My next wish was ‘Mannat’. So we took a bus to Bandra from Juhu Bus Stand. We reached Bandra, and then we took another bus to Bandra Stand from Bandra. Bus fare in India is cheap and very systematic. And there are reserved seats for ladies, the elderly and the differently-abled. There are certain rules to follow while you travel by bus and Mumbaikars follow that. I liked the disciplined way of the bus and passengers.

We reached Bandra Stand, and Mr King Khan’s House stood just in front of us as I got off the bus. Written ‘Mannat, Lands End’ on the wall. Many fans were already there. They were taking snaps in front of the house. I thought to talk to SRK’s guard first. I peek inside through the window of Guard’s House. There were SRK’s posters all over the wall. I talked to his guard and told him to convey my message to SRK. The guard was very friendly, he suggested I write a letter to him and he would give that to SRK. I was very happy just to think that SRK would read my letter, I wrote a letter and gave it to him.  We found that nearby there was a Bandra Fort. We went there; found that it might be the most popular dating spot in Mumbai. We saw a couple everywhere. Busy and lost in their world. We enjoyed the scenery and the sea.

Bandra Fort

We took the bus back to Bandra and a train to Mahalaxmi Station. We were then heading towards Haji Ali Darga and Mahalaxmi Temple. It was about a 1-hour walk from the railway station to Haji Ali. We bowed our heads from outside to Haji Ali Darga and walked toward Mahalaxmi Temple. It was 7 PM when we took back the bus to Colaba, where our hotel was. We went to the hotel, freshened up and again came out for dinner. As I explained earlier, Mumbai was glittering at night. I simply loved it. I almost fell in love with Mumbai.
Mumbai is best for street shoppers. You can find everything on the street, clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery and accessories, souvenirs etc. Chinese products were also commonly seen in street shops, as in Kathmandu.

Street Market in Colaba

We ate dinner and for the last time, we went to watch the Gateway of India, The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. They looked beautiful at night on the electric light.

That was the last evening in Mumbai, next day we had an early morning train to GOA. We talked to ourselves that the two days and two nights were not enough to explore this beautiful city. We missed many things but also were happy because we lived two beautiful days in Mumbai. Thank you, Mumbai for adding such a memorable day to our lives.