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OVERVIEW
Everybody
loves his own backyard...I'm no exception.
Being born and brought up in Bombay I love the city too much, so
much so that even after some foolish politicians changed its name
to Mumbai I still call it Bombay!!
Bombay
(now renamed Mumbai) India's golden metropolitian city is the most
fast moving, affluent, industrialised city and the economic powerhouse
of the country. It handles almost half of the country's foreign
trade and is a stronghold of free enterprises, a centre of India's
most important textile industry and also the financial centre of
the country. It's is the NewYork of India. A mixture of different
races and culture, it's a city with smart hightech buildings pockmarked
with slum dwellings. Bombay's range of industries include virtually
all consumer goods - cars, textiles and high tech multimedia. Apart
from this Bombay boasts one of the biggest and a very flourishing
film industry.
Bombay
has a rich historical background as well as several places of scenic
beauty making it a major tourist attraction as well as an important
business centre. Bombay was part of the dowry brought by Catherine
Of Braganza when she married Charles II of England in 1661.
Situated on the western coast of India, near the Arabian Sea, this
hot & humid city is now the capital of Maharashtra, one of the
most important states in India. Its a fusion of technology and culture,
rich and poor. Don't be surprised if you see a Mercedes SLK purring
at a traffic light next to a bullock cart carrying Ice blocks. That
too in the middle of the city traffic!! Apart from having a lot
of Hindu & Muslim temples and mosques the city has a lot of
chrches which are a great example of Portugese and British Architecture.
It is decorated by numerous Victorian structures like the Victoria
Terminus, The University, The High Court Building and The Municipal
Corporation Building.
Bombay
is the City that never sleeps...and I'm not talking about Citibank!!
It has got a pulsating heart which keeps pumping on & on...like
Remo Fernandez say Bombay's just a bomb at bay!!
If you know the right way and have the right resources you can have
anything you want in Bombay. Electronics and high tech gadgets are
freely available in the shady markets and sometimes available at
a price lower than their price in the country of origin!! Its a
Freeware market for pirated Softwares, you only need to have the
proper channels....and the common rule is 'Ididn't sell it, You
did'nt buy it'! Here everything is legal as long as you don't get
caught!.
The
night life is as good as it can get. This again depends on the individual
but the city caters to every taste. Some where along the line some
crazy politicians got the terms 'Culture and Heritage' confused
with 'Entertainment and Fun' and came hard on the Pubs and The Watering
Holes, but it is going to take a lot more than a few old fashioned
oldies to keep Bombay from being what it is. I dont want to review
all the places but for a person who likes good company and good
music, places like On Toes, Toto's Garage, Tavern are worth visiting.
The DJ's know their music here! There are also places like Madness
that play the new Techno stuff but it agains depends on the individual.
All and all Bombay is Bombay....Bombs Away!
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Some
Famous Landmarks of Bombay
Gateway
Of India.
A
magnificent structure built to welcome King George V and Queen Mary
on their visit to to India in 1911. Situated at Colaba - Apollo
Bunder, this is a favourite evening spot for many Bombayites and
a famous tourist attraction.
Jehangir
Art Gallery. Situated at Kalaghoda,
this is one of the best art galleria in Bombay exhibiting some outstanding
works of art.
Prince
Of Wales Museum. Built between
1904 and 1914 this musuem is famous for its collection of Art, Sculpture
and Chinaware.
Nehru
Planetarium. This high tech Institute
presents Sky gazing programmes and Astronomy shows in four languages
and is a major attraction of tourist from all over the world. The
educational programmes it provides for students are very highly
rated.
Rajabai
Tower. Bombay's very own BigBen!!
The 200 feet high clock tower was built by the famous merchant Seth
Premchand Raichand in memory of his mother Rajabai.
University.
These French Gothic buildingswhich
were built in 1874 comprise of the Sir C.J. hall and the Rajabai
tower housing part of the university library.
Hanging
Gardens. The Hanging gardens were
built in 1880 as a terrace garden on top of the three reservoirs
which store 30 million gallons of water. The hilltop provides a
magnificent view of the Marine Drive and promises a glorious sunset
every evening.
National
Park. National Park is situated
right in the middle of the large bustling commercial city. Its a
large greenbelt area dedicated to the preservation of wild life.
It has a Lion Safari and a big picnic park all with it's very own
mini train and all!! A favourite weekend spot, this park is also
famous amognst joggers and morning walkers. At the begining of monsoon
this park is full of butterflies and various species of spiders
making it a paradise for nature lovers and photographers.
Kanheri
Caves. Situated in the National
Park area, these caves have tracesof buddhist civilisation with
some great sculptures and some good scenic beauty for photography.
Victoria
Terminus. Built in 1888, it is
the biggest railway station in India and houses the main Terminus
for the Central Railway.
Beaches.
Chowpatty & Juhu are Bombay's oldest
and most popular beaches. These used to be very neat & clean
in the past but poor maintenance and equally poor civic sense has
killed the beauty of the beaches. There are still some beaches,
on the outskirts of Bombay, like Aksa, Manori & Gorai which
are still visitable and have survived the crowd so far!.
Marine
Drive. It is the curving road from
Chowpatty to Nariman Point. It has a wide promenade with the sea
on one side and luxurious residential apartments on the other. As
night falls and the lights come on the entire road gleams in the
way as it is nicknamed - The Queen's Necklace.
Taraporewala
Aquarium. Situated along the Marine
Drive it was built in1951. This Aquarium houses a ot of marine life
and also some exquisite pearl jewellery. It is soon to be renovated
into a hightech Aquarium with a glass vision seaworld.
Wankhede
Stadium. It is the second largest
stadium in India & a venue for all major International &
National cricket matches.
Esselworld
& Fantasy Land. The newest
landmarks in the city, these are the only two amusement theme parks
(with waterparks) and are already the biggest attractions of the
city.
Bombay
and Cricket
Bombay
is the Mecca of Indian Cricket.
Almost 85% Bombayites are Cricket fans and this shows in their reaction
when a cricket match is going on. Every one has a pocket radio glued
to his ear, desperately listening to the live commentary of the
game. Ther's a big crowd outside Electronic shops (where the dealers
are kind enough to keep all the TV sets ON for the delight of the
crowds).
All
along the year you'll see thousands of kids playing the game in
every nook & corner of the city. All it takes is a deserted
street and a few boys to start the game of cricket. Apart from this
you'll find a lot of grounds where almost 20 teams play together
on a Sunday. I have played games where it is difficult to know if
the fielder is from the opponent team or if he is a member of another
match goingon on the ajacent strip!! I have experienced incidences
where 2 fielders face eachother just becoz their team is playing
a game on a wicket which is exactly adjacent to the other team.
It may sound foolish & confusing but the one who has played
the game will understand the joy of it!.
Grounds
like Shivaji Park, Aazad Maidan & Oval Maidan, along with clubs
like Dadar Union, Matunga Union, Khar Gymkhana, Parsi Gymkhana are
birthplaces of future Bombay Cricket Stars. There are different
levels of cricket begining right from school level! Apart from the
many small time tournaments, theres the Guilles Sheild, Harris Sheild,
the Kanga League (which is typically played in the rains) &
the Times Sheild which is the top level tournament having different
divisions. Many big corporates sport their team in this competition
and teams like ACC, Tata Sports, Mafatlal, SBI add a competitive
edge to the tournament. The Times Sheild is the final step to the
level of the Ranji Trophy, the most prestigious national cricket
tournament, where one gets to represent Bombay as a whole team.
Apart from this there are a lot of other tournaments on the national
level where Bombay participates as a regional team.
Bombay
has always been one of the best cricket teams in the country, Infact
it can be called THE best team by the number of times it has won
the National Championship crown..I'm not sure but Bombay has won
the Ranji trophy atleast more than 35 times!! and whenever it has'nt,
she's ended the runnerup!
The
City has produced an array of cricketing stars like Eknath Solkar,
Dilip Sardesai, Sudhir Naik, Budi Kundaran, Ajit Wadekar, the Parkar
bros., Ramakant Desai, father Vijay & son Sanjay Manjrekar,
Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, Sandeep Patil, Vinod Kambli and
ofcourse the great Sachin Tendulkar to name a few, But its greatest
contribution to world cricket has been Sunil
Manohar Gavaskar!!
The
Bombay team still sports some great names like Amol Mujumdar, Jatin
Paranjpe, Sairaj Bahutule, Rajesh Pawar...who are knocking on the
doors of International cricket.
Bombay
was and always will be the biggest contributor to the lovely game
of Cricket!!
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