Mumbai Diary - Pritul Ghosh

 MUMBAI DIARY 

My first visit to Mumbai in May 2022 deeply impressed me . A city,just like my home city Kolkata . Visually at first sight , the small yellow-black taxis and yellow-black autos caught my attention . Ola , Uber (app cabs) are very scarce in Mumbai than Kolkata . Autos run on reserve . Street food items like ‘Vada Pav' , ‘Sugarcane juice' are quite cheap .

The City tour - a drive from Nariman Point along the Marine Drive to the Persian cemetery "The Tower Of Peace" was quite impressive . The drive through Worli Sea Link was thrilling . The presence of shady green trees along most roads made the city look greener than Kolkata . The Chowpatty Beach was slippery, high chances to fall . The Juhu Beach was very much crowded , not so impressive . The stuffed large sea animals and a variety of birds impressed me at the Prince of Wales Museum . But the Indian Museum of Kolkata is more diverse and rich in its collections . The best part of the city to me was the India Gate and the Taj Hotel along the Arabian Sea and the view of the Victoria Terminus now named CSMT (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus) , the oldest railway ran from here to Thane . But the most enjoyable I should say was the exciting one hour boat journey across the sea from the India Gate to the Elephanta Caves, passing through the numerous ships and dotted islands , which were actually hill tops rising from the sea . At the Elephanta island , the climb to the top by the slippery stone steps was quite risky and tiring too . After reaching the top of the caves , the first two caves were quite enchanting . This place was a herd of truant monkeys , eyeing little children with packets of chips or bottles of coke etc. The hill top restaurant of the MTDC overlooking the sea could offer a good view and a cup of tea and rest after the tiresome climb .

The next day we went for a tour to Matheran - a nearby hill station , near about 100 kms from Mumbai .From CSMT station we took the local train bound for Karjat and got down at Neral . It took about 1hr 40 mins . Formerly there was a toy train but due to covid, that was closed . Then we took a share car Rs.100 each from Neral railway station to the hill top - a journey of about 9 kms . After reaching the hill top ,we took a horse ride which was enjoyable but expensive too ( Rs.3000 per person) , to roam around the tree covered hills of Matheran . Exploring the points like , Heart point , Echo point , Sunset point , Lords point , Panorama point , Edward point , Myra point , a lake,offering spectacular views . 

 By Prithul Ghosh

(Assistant Teacher) 

 Department of History, STEM World School

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