The Mumbai I knew

Dear Kamal Bhayya
I would like to provide a link here from our IL directory since its relevant to your topic and also I think your readers might appreciate it . I know you will not mind but if you object do let me know and I can delete. Thanks. This link is from our home page IL directory.

http://indusladies.com/directory/mum...avi-mumbai-28/

Hope this helps and also to provide access and visiblity to all the hardwork done by Malspie

Originally Posted by saraswathipv

Kamalji,

It was nice to read about Mumbai...
Though I haven't stayed there, I have been on three short trips....once during the time monsoon set....So have seen the rains there also.Have travelled there in bus, train and the taxis...Loved the city..

The people there always seem to be on their toes..

I liked walking in the Fort area very much..
The pav bhajis and yes, the street corners water melons......
It was good to know so much about the city through your posts and others FB..

Bye

Dear Saraswathi,

Glad u liked Amchi Mumbai, as they say.Yes it is addictive.I was one lucky fellow who got over Mumbai’s charm, asit is too crowed for my liking these days.

Thanks and regards.kamal

Dear Kamalji,

Every Mumbaikar has written so well about Mumbai. A Mumbaikar can never forget the city so cosmopolitan and its "get up and go " attitude.

Though an ex Mumbaikar,it is where I have spent 26 years.Mumbai is the best place and everything about it is special to me.All others have written so much about it here.It was great to read about then and now of Mumbai.

Enjoyed reading about Amchi Mumbai!


regards

meera.

Originally Posted by Mindian

hello kamalji,

thanks for taking us to the mumbai of seventies and to mals for updating us with the new mumbai...me too JUST LOVE that place...
i feel a mumbaikar learns to survive in any part of the world...how i missed my railway trains when we shifted after i spent 25 years of my life in mumbai..whenever i used to read about the rains halting the harbor line trains used to get nostalgic as me and my "TRAIN FRIENDS" used to enjoy even jumping out of the train and walking.....
then of course missing the vada paavs,,bhelpuris,chats,sandwiches in vt and nariman point(the best i have had in the whole world,believe me as i am a vegetarian i have tried it in every place we have visited but nothing even remotely satisfying your hunger like that 2 rupees sandwich)
I miss shopping in chembur,dadar ,gandhi market and linking road......missing the ganpathi and janmashtami celebrations..the temples sidhivinayak and mahalakshmi ,worli sea face and oh so many places that dh and I discovered together in our 6 months of courting...the list is endless...thank u kamalji for making me take a nostalgic trip down memory lane....even now a strange excitement fills me everytime i visit my mumbai.....

Mindi

Dear Mindi,

Yes Who can ever Forget Mumbai, the Vada Pao’s .You know even now my mom goes to Gandhi Market at Kings Circle, where in the mid sixties when I was in school, Dad used to have a shop called Satguru;s.Behind was Shanmukananda Hall, and backside of Gandhi Market, inside of GM, was meat shops, which I don’t know if they exist now.


I can go on and on about Mumbai.

This is the first of the Mumbai series, and I have written 9 of them, others dealing with food, movie theatres, film industry and the like of the sixties and seventies.

Would u want me to post them, or are u all tired of Kamalji and Mumbai.

Let me know.Regards.kamal

Originally Posted by Geetha Iyer

Dear Kamalji,

It is nice to know that you were a Mumbaikar. I am also living in Mumbai for the last 35 years or more and as malspie madam has listed Mumbai has undergone lots of changes and with the proposed underground metro rail comes it will be equal to any other city in the world. Sometime back I read a report that Mumbai is the rudest city in the world. I was pained to read that. Having lived and still living I can say that Mumbai people may appear rude but have hearts of gold. Two instances I can quote to prove that. One was immediately after the serial bomb blasts in 1992. Hundreds of people lined outside hospitals like Sion Hospital to donate their blood for the victims. This did not happen in London after the undergroung bomb blasts in 2005. The second instance was on the Terrible Tuesday in July 2005. When the whole of Mumbai was under floods people helped each other and there was no thefts or other crimes. Contrast to this is the post-katrina scene in U.S when vandals looted the properties. I always feel proud to be a Mumbaikar and say 'Salaam Mumbai'.

Regards,

Geetha Iyer

Dear Geeta,

Yes, u are right.I wrote this in a lighter vein.

My daughter was also caught at Andheri, where she worked, and her coworker took her home close by,along with many others, and gave them shelter and food.So very kind of him.

And the stories I heard of others helping the people stranded, moved us very much.Mumbaikars are truly great.And yes after Katrina there was so much looting.We can see the difference,Mumbaikars are the best, with hearts of gold.


Thanks for your superb comments, u could write a blog on that as well.Regards.kamal

Originally Posted by anandchitra

Dear Kamal
You have written an excellent blog this time about a favorite city on earth!.. Now why would I call this my favorite.. I did not grow up there.. Its very close to my heart is because my hubby took me there when we were newly married.. more than once.. and since he has lived there before he wanted to show me around.. especially the vada pav. Still cannot forget the way he held my hand and how we ran to catch the train and managed to get in and how he would hold my hands to get out and then catch the bus and then rush to get some more vada pav..
sorry to ramble. As a young person I was so impressed by the hustle and bustle of the big city. The speed at which everyone moved.. another facet was the sound of pressure cookers going of in the morning at 5 a.m. I always felt the south was definetly laid back.. Still Bombay has its special charm.. really difficult to switch back to Mumbai though..All the fb's here are very interesting to read.. especially Mals.. shows she is a Mumbaiker through and through.Whenever you get time do travel in her Mumbai express here's the link
Mumbai/Navi Mumbai Express - Chalo! Chalo!!
Thanks for the great blog bhayya.. you rock!

Dear AC,


Train travel must have been a quite a ride literally for u eh !And the Vada Pao on the road, heaven isn’t it, and then u drink a milk drink or a coconut, and yr meal is done in 25/- what say, even today.

Yes I read what Mal wrote, and that was wonderful as also all the others.Everyone is very possessive of Mumbai, Raj Thakeray nothwithstanding.

Thanks for yr great comments, and yes I visited Mal’s site thanks to u.Regards.kamal

Originally Posted by ojaantrik

I have very little experience with Mumbai. However, whenever I visited the city, I enjoyed myself. I have lived most of my life in Kolkata and Delhi. I love Kolkata and I think Mumbai is closer to Kolkata than Delhi. I am not fond of Delhi at all. But Kolkata is going down now and I too cannot help recalling the old days.

Dear OJ,

WEll i have never been to Calcutta, but have heard a lot of good things about it, the food and the nice people.Since u have seen both, u are the better judge man.

Thanks and regards.kamal

Dear Kamalji

I also like Mumbai very much. I have stayed in Goregaon, Andheri, Wadala,
Bhandup and now staying in Mulund. So have travelled by Bus and train.
When I was in Andheri used to go by bus to Prabhadevi where I used to work. Morning used to get starting bus but evenings long Qs. From Wadala my office was near so no problem. Have got caught in rain and stayed in cousin's place for the night in Matunga. For twenty years have travelled by train. Eight years by BEST and eight years by Contract bus. Have enjoyed from Bhelpuri to the present Pizza. Have enjoyed my working life in Mumbai. Have visited Siddhi Vinayak Temple everyday while working in Prabhadevi. Previously it was not a problem visiting th temple. Only on tuesdays and Sankashti long Qs used to bethere. But now too much of security is there. Now we are not allowed to offer Coconut. I have also jumped from the train many times. When I was in Goregaon I was working in Fort Area. So everyday evening used to have Belpuri. This was in 1965. I am staying in Mumbai since 1965.
Worked for 36 years staying in different places. After staying in Mumbai people wont like to stay anywhere else. The trains are a boon to people here. I think people in Mumbai get lot of punya as they can see many faces everyday.

I dont know to write so well as others and u have written. Hope u enjoy reading.

with blessings

viji

Originally Posted by Kamalji

Dear Mindi,

Yes Who can ever Forget Mumbai, the Vada Pao’s .You know even now my mom goes to Gandhi Market at Kings Circle, where in the mid sixties when I was in school, Dad used to have a shop called Satguru;s.Behind was Shanmukananda Hall, and backside of Gandhi Market, inside of GM, was meat shops, which I don’t know if they exist now.


I can go on and on about Mumbai.

This is the first of the Mumbai series, and I have written 9 of them, others dealing with food, movie theatres, film industry and the like of the sixties and seventies.

Would u want me to post them, or are u all tired of Kamalji and Mumbai.

Let me know.Regards.kamal

dear kamalji,
i for one would surely enjoy reading about aamchi mumbai....yes gandhi market was good for shopping..that is where i learnt to bargain...now sadly in these malls no use of what i learnt...even now it gives me great pleasure to shop in the roadsides of mumbai...more fun than any branded shop in a mall...typical mumbaikar,no?
and shanmukhananda was where we had our first college day when i wore a saree for the first time in my life and travelled from chembur to sion...so many memories..so i welcome your series on MUMBAI..and mals will give the latest update too...
regards
Mindi

Originally Posted by meera2503

Dear Kamalji,

Every Mumbaikar has written so well about Mumbai. A Mumbaikar can never forget the city so cosmopolitan and its "get up and go " attitude.

Though an ex Mumbaikar,it is where I have spent 26 years.Mumbai is the best place and everything about it is special to me.All others have written so much about it here.It was great to read about then and now of Mumbai.

Enjoyed reading about Amchi Mumbai!


regards

meera.

Dear Meera,

You stayed 26 yrs in Mumbai, I spent 27, born and brought up there, educated and married in Mumbai.

Then I spent the next 28 years in Jaipur, so I am a product of both u can say.Mumbai does have its charm, and so many are addicted to Mumbai.

Thanks for yr kind comments.Regards.kamal