A few favourites and a few complaints in and about Mumbai

I spent two months in Mumbai and I think I'm now in a comfortable position to talk about what I liked and what I didn't like in and about the city.

First, the favorites. These are in no particular order.

1. Mani Bhavan: Mani Bhavan served as Gandhi's residence in Mumbai from 1917 to 1934 and it plays a very significant role in the independence struggle. See here to know more. Mani Bhavan is today, a tourist attraction, mostly visited by foreigners. Indians who are attracted to this place are scholars and researchers, thanks to its collection of over 40000 books in the library. The library is housed on the ground floor. The first and second floors house some of the rare photographs of important historical events of Gandhi's time, Gandhi's room, quotes from and about Gandhi and the beautiful miniature figures depicting Gandhi's life. To me, Mani Bhavan's library, its interiors, the exhibition and the thick greenery along the road has been very refreshing every time I've visited the place.

2. Prithvi theatre and the NCPA: As someone very fond of watching plays, I've always wanted to go to Prithvi theatre. As a frequent visitor to Rangashankara in Bangalore, I couldn't help compare the two when I watched my first play in Prithvi and to my surprise, Rangashankara beats Prithvi! Rangashankara houses a bigger stage and a much better seating arrangement, it's probably double the size of Prithvi and its cafe is more spacious and better maintained. In the cafe, I once found Shashi Kapoor, the founder of Prithvi on a wheel chair, barely being able to understand what's going on around him while people were busy taking selfies with full co-operation from his assistant. While I initially felt terrible, after a few moments, I wondered if all the attention he gets does make him happy. Even if it does, does it give anybody the right to take a picture without his permission and post it on facebook? I don't know. All I know is that I left the place with discomfort.

The NCPA (National Centre for the Performing arts) houses multiple theatres and is much more sophisticated compared to Rangashankara and Prithvi. One reason I'm jealous of theatre enthusiasts in Mumbai is that they get to see performances by some of the finest Hindi actors. I was surprised to see that there are quite a few actors who despite being active in Bollywood, continue to direct and perform plays. After watching a play written and performed by Pankaj Kapoor and a play directed and performed by Naseeruddin Shah during my short stay in Mumbai, I haven't been able to decide who's luckier - Me or the theatre buffs in Mumbai.

3. Fort: I fell in love with South Bombay, specially the Fort area. Most of my time on weekends were spent here. I even stayed in the fort area for four days. There's something really nice about this region around Church Gate, the Oval, flora fountain, the book stalls on the pavements, the cafes, the museums, all those by-lanes and the road that takes you to Victoria Terminus. Just like how I've never been able to explain to anyone why I like Church street, St Marks Road, Vittal Mallya Road and the entire area in and around the Cubbon park in Bangalore, I'll probably not be able to explain why I like Fort so much. 

Mahesh Lunch Home at Fort deserves a special mention. Every time I've been to Fort, I've had lunch at Mahesh Lunch Home, although there were so many other options available. I don't know if it was just because of the awesome sea food or if it was because of the people who work there, most of them from coastal Karnataka. After half a dozen visits, they started treating me like I've gone to their home for lunch, which probably nudged me to visit them half a dozen times more. I've been to the one in Juhu too, but the one in Fort is my favorite. 

4. Marine Drive on Sunday mornings: I'm not denying that Marine Drive is beautiful on evenings, but I like it more on Sunday mornings. I probably like the crowd better. A walk or a run on Marine drive is one of the nicest ways to start your Sunday if you don't stay too far. I like how places like Marine Drive so visibly destroy class apartheid. There's no way you can enjoy special privileges there no matter how rich you are!

5. Sewri mudflats: How often do you get the luxury of seeing thousands of flamingos and other birds in the heart of a city!? And the fact that the folks from Bombay Natural History Society often arrange a birding tour to this place also gives you the option of using their binoculars and telescopes to get an excellent view of these beautiful species along with some education on these birds and their behavior if you are a novice. Ideally, you should reach there by 6 30 a.m and stay till 9. As the tides rise, the birds move closer and closer to you, so much that at some point, you don't even need binoculars. Some pictures here. Apparently, these mudflats aren't the only place where you can see flamingos in Mumbai. 

6. Rickshawalas: I haven't had one bad experience with Rickshawalas in Mumbai. This is one area where Mumbai beats Bangalore hands down. It took me a little while to get used to arrogance of these guys here in Bangalore after I returned.

And now, a few complaints, again, in no particular order.

1. The scarcity of real breakfast: I now understand the value of having Sukh Sagars, Shanti Sagars and Darshinis every 200 meters here in Bangalore. These are places where you get real breakfast. I'm a big fan of South Indian breakfast and I wish I could convince people in Mumbai that Vada Pav, Burji Pav, Misal Pav and God-knows-what Pav aren't breakfasts! And the unavailability of filter coffee sucks. I've had situations where waiters didn't even know what filter coffee is.

2. The lack of participation by renowned corporates in solving city's problems: I'm willing to stand corrected here, but I don't see prominent people from Mumbai participating in city administration. If you have lived in Bangalore, you often see renowned folks from corporate world coming together and engaging with Government and urban reform agencies to help them through their expertise and aid. I see this missing in Mumbai. If you are wondering what I'm talking about, you should read about BPAC. In a city where 60% of the population lives in slums, public-private partnerships to tackle urban issues might help a lot. But somehow it feels like the rich and influential are indifferent towards city's problems.

3, Weather: I've nothing to say about this.