Last leg of Mumbai travel was one of the best experiences of my life filled with contrasting explorations. It started with roaming around Bandra and Juhu in an auto, watching a play at the Prithvi theatre and culminating it with an evening at the iconic Taj. Let us begin with the day when sis and I decided to see Mumbai in auto leaving parents at home. We started with Mount Mary Church in Bandra which was beautiful and serene. The silence was peculiar to the one experienced in almost all churches where you can hear even your breath’s pace.
From there, we decided to hire an auto and move around Bandra and Juhu for some real hands-on Mumbai feel. We were fortunate to come across a very interesting auto guy who said, “Madam, pay me Rs 250 and I will show you the houses of all your favourite stars. I visit their houses every day.” We hopped into the auto happily not knowing at that time that it would be one of the best explorations of our lives. We stopped at every filmstar’s house, posed, grinned, blushed (at the embarrassment of our acts) and just had pure fun. Here is the proof of my typical middle class Indian fan girl moments, visiting Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and my all time favourite Sachin Tendulkar’s houses.
Above pictures are only some of the samples of my posing spree. We passed through every Bollywood star’s house that you can imagine. “Madam, Jeetendra ka bungla sab se acha hai,” was the verdict of this very interesting auto man. We glanced dumbstruck and awestruck at residences of Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Red Chillies Office, Jeetendra and many others. We stopped for a while at the Juhu beach too.
Finally we landed at the Prithvi Theatre in an auto and said our goodbyes and thanks to the driver. We had booked a show and still had some time to kill. So decided to go for a nosch at a beautiful cafe near the theatre. With full stomach and satisfied souls after a cup of coffee and sandwiches, we went to the Prithvi theatre for another satiating experience. The theatre premises was filled with passionate performances and an enthusiasm that was hard to skip. It was nostalgic to come across the actors from my childhood whom I had watched on TV, Doordarshan to be specific.
The last stop of the day was at Juhu beach enriched with dusk time, nature, sea and good life. Enjoyed street food at Chowpatty and happily returned home with a bag of lifetime memories and experiences.
The next day was a neatly planned one with parents. Visited the iconic Taj for an evening tea watching the Gateway of India standing tall as the dusk dawned and the whole world indeed seemed like a stage. The time stood still for me. It was my long long long cherished dream to spend an evening at the Taj sipping tea. And I don’t know why but the magic that tea brings into a moment can never be experienced with food. One of my longest held dream came true that evening at the Taj in the company of my parents and sister. For a moment, I just closed my eyes and internalised the whole thing to take with me.
So this is how Mumbai, the city of dreams, fulfilled my dreams of a perfect holiday and life-altering travel experiences inundated with family and friends. As I wind up sharing my experiences with you, all I am left with is a deep sense of gratitude and peace that hovers around when some of our dreams come true.