Beta

Bombay Meri Jaan.....

This post on Bombay is dedicated to my dear English friend Jill Cadman, who has always stood as the epitome of all those things I so admire and secretly hold in great pride about some of the Brits – pristine Queen’s English, reserved personality, love of the British Royalty, good matters, beautiful English ladies and somewhat odd looking men, charming nevertheless. Whenever, Jilly visited India, she took a taxi straight from the Sahar International Airport to Pune directly, without ever wanting to really see Bombay with my eyes. The real Bombay - on the street, in the local trains or in the fish market. British snobbery! At once, amusing and disgusting!

As long as I stayed in Bombay, I too never really saw it, as in one way or the other one is part of that world. As an outsider now, it brings untold pride to say that I belong to:

Amchi Mumbai

Early morning breakfast

Or midday snacks

Early morning paper sorting outside the railway station

Train Track: Origin of names of some Stations

Malad

This name was derived from the whitish earth found around the area, which was also used to construct the buildings in the neighbouring area.

Dadar

The Marathi word for bridge or connecting stairway, it probably got the name because it linked the northern islands to the main island of Mumbai. In the 40s, Dadar Circle was called the Khodadad Circle (after the name of the contractor’s father). It came under the scanner of the renaming brigade, who mistakenly believed it to be named after an Afghan God. It was formally rechristened the Nana Shankersheth Flyover, after the overbridge that had been constructed in the 90s. But it is usually referred to as Dadar Circle or Dadar TT. The TT, stands for Tram Terminus, please note, which was the last stop for the tramways network, owned and run by Bombay Electric & Suburban Tramways Company, BEST, if you please.

Never to forget the conductor...

Masjid

Contrary to popular belief, this station is not named after a mosque, but the 200-year-old Gate of Mercy Synagogue, known as Juni Masjid to the locals.

Parel

This station was named after ‘paral’ or ‘padal’, the Marathi name for the trumpet flower that blossomed in the vicinity.

Cha ghe re....

Would Bunty guess?

It's Bandra of course!

Where do you want to go?

Charni Road

Derived from the Marathi word ‘charne’, it is named after the erstwhile grazing fields for the cattle and horses.

Matunga

The coinage dates back to the 12^th century, when Raja Bhimdev’s army of matangs or elephants, were positioned around the area.

Inside the train shopping display....

.....and outside stations

The actual life of Bombay is in the streets, the local trains and the hurry that is integral to life in Bombay. In fact, most of us Mumbaikars, are restless in every other city in the country and find the slow pace, suffocating to say the least. The other fact of Bombay is, they say, if you have ever lived in Bombay, you will never live in any other city in India – at least for long. And if you do, you will always remember it with the fondness, only a person like me will know. Really, I am only in body away from Bombay, never in spirit! Never away from what I love so dearly, MY Bombay.

Nothing fishy about maushi...