"London streets are paved with Gold"
This I read as a kid and imagined what the streets would look like. Yes, did want to visit at that time. My father the traveling man, brought me a Queen's Guards Doll from his visit to London. He had a gold tipped staff. That was the closest I got to the streets of Gold.
A year later I read Shashi Deshpande's " The Only Witness" I would have been 9 years old and loved her few books, she was like the Indian Enid Blyton! and the kids were like the Famous Five!
This book had an opening line" So this is Bombay" I equated Bombay to London.
Small town girl that I was, all these were exciting. The only big city we would visit was Chennai, which seemed small with large gatherings of cousins.
Visits to Srilanka to visit grandparents for summer holidays were exciting, but never the adventure that I read about.
Soon enough I too became a city girl, seeing Delhi for the first time, Wide eyed,
but the pain of commuting to work everyday, dulled the excitement.
And then came more cities.
Mumbai remained my City of Dreams! Till one clandestine weekend trip to meet my unapproved of boyfriend.
So this was Bombay!
It was not what I imagined, the high rises, the slums were as I had read, but the crowds, the heat, the trains were not!
Still I did love the city and the 2 days of life I lived!
My fiancee ( Yes, our marriage by then had got my parents approval) then moved to London, from Bombay.
Again I hoped to get a piece of gold! He brought me back more than gold! still the streets eluded me.
Marriage took me to Bombay. Life on my own terms. And a love for the city.
It made many dreams reality!
I loved the city. But left too soon.
All other visits, remained short, need based, hectic, with no time to relive my dreams. 'Shantaram' awakened in me a yearning for the city, the life and the people who were always helpful.
Till the summer of 2019.
A much needed break after the exams. I decided to show my children what the city had to offer- a whirlwind two day trip to my city of dreams.
We stayed in a lovely Airbnb just behind the Taj Mahal Palace hotel!
Am not one for opulence, more of convenience,
The location was ideal, with the Gateway of India towering over us as we stepped out of our stay. The famous shops of Colaba Causeway right next to us.
We walked a lot! Everywhere! Ate a lot of food. Enjoyed the history and art and architecture all around us. Drove on roads I had previously run on, I could not believe the distances I had covered on foot! Realised a marathon is no mean feat!
Day 1
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Cafe Mondegar for lunch- amazing pasta, the most delicious chicken roulade, fries with everything and more!A long ride over the Bandra Worli Sea link to Bandra Church - which earlier I had only run on during TMM, now a nice easy drive!
Back for some ice creams and a walk down to the Gateway of India and its history,
Rush down to Nariman Point for the sunset and the crowds.Walk down to CST to see the lights! WE walked!
Back to Bademiya for a hearty meal! The crowds and the price shocked us. A small roadside eatery with fancy cars parked and their bonnets serving as tables!
Tired and back to the room for much needed sleep.
Morning saw us walk down for breakfast to Theobrama to stuff ourselves!
Back again to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya museum which was a wonderful experience.
Museums remind you of our glorious past-and we decided to make a trip soon to Gujarat to see the ruins of the Harappan civilisation.
We walked around till we reached Flora Fountain, the pile of books all around us.
The old University of Mumbai and the huge clock tower!
Khala Ghoda and the artsy surroundings.Everything held in awe.
Leopold Cafe for lunch. With the terrorist attack still being talked about there.
Much needed rest and back to Nariman Point for a good sunset!
Rush to the Hanging gardens of Mumbai,and Kamala Nehru park for the view of the Queen's Necklace.
And it was worth it!
Back to Bademiya for their much hyped rolls. All other restaurants on the causeway were full! We had no choice!! A nice walk in the night along Strand Road and the view of boats parked their for the night.
Day 3
The next morning- an early morning drive along Nariman Point and a walk along Chowpatty beach. Sunday is a rest day made holy by visiting some churches.
We visited Wesleyan methodist church and its pipe organ and the Holy Name Cathedral - with its history and lovely architecture and arches! Stopped at the old Afghan church which was unfortunately closed by 10:00 am on Sunday. But it was lovely and quiet just sitting outside in the yard!
Grabbed lunch from Theobrama and made our way to the airport!
Thus ended a whirlwind tour of the city of my dreams.
And someday the streets paved with gold will welcome me!
