We are staying at The Leela in Mumbai, and the room I apparently booked is quite large featuring a 6 person dining table, separate lounge, 2 bathrooms and a bedroom. It would actually be possible for us not to talk to each other for the whole stay, but that is not my current intention.
And the dining area…
This morning we met our guide and driver and set off to see some of the sights around the Mumbai city area. It won’t be possible to go anywhere near that part of town tomorrow as the Ganesha festival culminates, with thousands of people (maybe millions) taking their Ganesha idols and immersing them in the ocean.
Our guide, who will be showing us around for the next few days, is a nice fellow, but does talk a bit too much and has so much information to impart that he is a bit tiring. Our first stop today was Dhobi Ghat an ‘Open Air Laundry’ where lots of people and some commercial properties get their washing done in a community laundry. It was certainly a hive of activity.
We then drove around some of the more expensive areas of Mumbai, before visiting the house that Mahatma Ghandi lived in from 1917 until he was sent to jail in 1934 for sedition, based on his role in the civil disobedience campaigns against the ‘Britishers’ (the term the Indian guides use). The house had some good diorama displays that chronicled important events in Gandhi’s life and was very interesting.
From there we went to Mumbai’s central railway station. This was built in 1887 as part of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. It was renamed in 1996 to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in honour of a local king. The building is listed as a World Heritage listed site and is a fine example of Victorian architecture. It was the site of a terrorist attack in 2008 that killed 57 people.
We then went to the India Gate from where we took a photo of the the Taj Hotel which was also targeted in the same terrorist attacks that targeted the railway station and another 38 lives were lost here. Interestingly, the Taj Hotel is run by the Tata Group and after the attacks it was shutdown and totally refurbished over the next 12 months. During that time all the workers continued to be paid and accommodated.
Since these attacks, Mumbai has been trying hard to reinvent itself as a safe place. Many of the monuments we have visited across India have some sort of security check in place. I do however question the value of metal detectors if they are not turned on, or if nobody cares if they beep. We are both, however quite used to the odd very personal security check.
The ‘Gateway to India’ is next to the Taj Hotel and it’s great modern significance is that when the last British Army units left India in 1948, all the soldiers passed through the India Gate. I think that was a great piece of symbolism that India was now truly independent. It was originally meant to be built to commemorate a royal visit by George V and Queen Mary, but wasn’t actually completed until 4 years after the visit. They did however build a cardboard replica for the visit… I’m sure King George never knew!
Our last stop of the day is a park called the ‘Hanging Garden’. This is a park that was built to cover a water reservoir on the top of Malabar Hill. It is a well-used public space and there are views to the sea.
We then fought the Mumbai traffic for an hour to get back to the hotel in time for happy hour… which seems to be free drinks and snacks between 6 and 8.
Overall an interesting day.
Until tomorrow!
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