Raj Gaurav Debnath: Bombay 2022

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First of all let me state that I prefer to call the commercial capital of India as Bombay and not Mumbai. Similarly I prefer Calcutta over Kolkata, Bangalore over Bengaluru, Madras over Chennai, Pondicherry over Puducherry and so on and so forth. Anyways on 10th June 2022, Friday, I went to my office and as usual I was carrying my gym bag. If you open my gym bag then you would find a t-shirt, shorts, gloves, gym shoes, a small towel and a deodorant. Recently I have joined the BEING STRONG gym which is near Southern Avenue. My initial plan was to go to the gym everyday after office, that is like six days per week, but nowadays I am going there only three days per week - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

On 10th June 2022, Friday, my plan was to go to my office and then go to my gym around 7 p.m. and then go back home. But something happened in office and I had to immediately go to Bombay. So a colleague instantly bought my aeroplane ticket from MakeMyTrip. I had to catch the 5:30 p.m. Indigo flight. I told her to do my web check-in and asked her to reserve a window seat for me. I left my office around 3 p.m. in the office car. Once on the road I saw that there was huge traffic jam all around. The AJC Bose Road Flyover was shut down. Park Circus was closed too. Someone from my office called me and informed me that there was some gun firing in the Park Circus area and that has resulted in huge traffic jams all around. Luckily my office driver took another route via Moulali and Kankurgachi and succeeded in dropping me at the airport in the nick of time. I managed to catch my flight on time. Since I already had my boarding pass and I was only carrying my gym bag, therefore I straightaway went to the security check. I boarded the aeroplane and sat on my window seat and clicked some selfies. Also clicked a lot of pics and videos from the window while take off.

I reached Bombay around 8:30 p.m. I came out of the airport and saw that it was already raining. I met a cab driver called Wasim. I asked him to take me to any good hotel nearby and told him that my budget was around 3500 per night. He took me to Le Grande Hotel in Andheri East. There, after some negotiations, I booked my room for six nights for Rs. 3200 per night including breakfast. I went to my room which was on the third floor and took a nice hot shower. Then I came down to the hotel restaurant and had my buffet dinner. That day when I had my breakfast in my home in the morning, even in my wildest dreams I had no freaking idea that I would have my dinner that night in Bombay. Life is really strange! Anyways after dinner I went back to my room and went to sleep.

On 11th June, Saturday, I woke up early and had my breakfast in the hotel restaurant. I had booked Wasim's cab for eight hours for that day. He reached my hotel around 9 a.m. After breakfast I went to do some urgent office work in Wadala. The work got over in one hour. After that I was free. So from Wadala I went to see the Gateway of India in Wasim's cab. I clicked a lot of pics there. The weather was very pleasant. It had rained in the early morning. From the Gateway of India I walked all around the Colaba Causeway area. Since I came to Bombay in just one shirt and one jeans therefore I bought some shirts, t-shirts, shorts, socks, underwears and a black cap with a marijuana mark from the Colaba Causeway area. I had my lunch at Cafe Leopold. I ate chicken biryani. The food was good but not that good. Nothing like our Calcutta Biryani. Calcutta Biryani is simply the best. Anyways after lunch I walked around the nearby area and checked out a lot of shops and also checked out a lot of passing women. Bombay really has some of the most beautiful women in India. After an hour I had coffee at Cafe Mondegar. I had to wait for around fifteen minutes before I could get a table. Loved the walls inside the cafe as they were full of murals and cartoons drawn by the great Goan cartoonist Mario Miranda. The cafe was chock a block full of people. Also loved the old retro Jukebox inside the cafe. From Cafe Mondegar I again strolled around the nearby area. In the evening it started to rain again. So I went back to my hotel. Post dinner my plan was to go for a nightout but it was raining tremendously therefore I just stayed inside my hotel room.

On 12th June, Sunday, my cab driver Wasim Bhai came to my hotel around 9 p.m. After breakfast, first I went to see Amitabh Bachchan's bungalow named Prateeksha. Then I went to see his another bungalow named Jalsa. The security guard outside Jalsa was very rude. Most probably he was fantasizing himself as an angry young man! Anyways from the Shahenshah's bungalow I went to see King Khan's bungalow named Mannat. The security guards outside Mannat were very nice people. They did not interrupt me even once as I was clicking pics of Mannat. There were also a lot of Shah Rukh Khan's fans from different parts of India outside Mannat. Anyways from there I next went to Bandra Bandstand. Loved this place a lot. The view was amazing. A cool breeze was blowing. Also loved the sound of the waves as they were crashing into the land rocks. From Bandra Bandstand the view of the Bandra-Worli Sealink was spectacular. From there I next went to see Salman Khan's flat at Galaxy Apartment. After that I went to see Sachin Tendulkar's house.

That day in the evening I went to Inorbit Mall in Malad. There I met a friend of mine. She is actually from Calcutta but she has been staying in Bombay for the last seven years. We had tea and a lovely adda at Tea Villa Cafe inside Inorbit Mall. From there she took me to Infinity Mall. There on the top floor we went to this place called Bounce. Loved this place which was full of children as well as adults. Most of them were bouncing themselves on those big trampolines. From Infinity Mall we went for drinks and dinner at Buddy's Bar. The food was good there. After dinner we took an autorickshaw and I dropped her home and then went back to my hotel.

On 13th June, Monday, I had some office work in the morning. After work I became free around afternoon. I was near the Andheri station area. There I saw a double decker red coloured bus. I immediately boarded it and went and sat near the window on the top floor. I had no idea where the bus was going. The last time I had boarded a double decker bus was in the early nineties in Calcutta. Maybe I was around ten years old back then. Now I am almost forty. I asked the bus conductor which was the last stop. He said the last stop was Kurla. So I bought the ticket for Kurla. I thoroughly enjoyed my double decker bus ride. From the Kurla bus stop I took an auto and went to the Phoenix Mall. It is one of the biggest Malls in Bombay. There I had my dinner at the Rainforest Restobar. After dinner I took an Uber auto and went back to my hotel.

On 14th June, Tuesday, after breakfast, I took an Uber auto and went to Juhu beach. I spent around two hours on the beach. Made some new friends there. From there I came back to my hotel, took a shower and then went to the Prithvi Theatre. There I bought the ticket for that evening's theatre show. The name of the play was RANGAI. From there I went to visit the ISKCON temple. I ate the bhog at the temple. Then I came back to Prithvi Theatre. I went inside the Prithvi Bookstore and bought Naseeruddin Shah's "AND THEN ONE DAY : A MEMOIR". Loved this bookshop a lot. After this I ate paw-vaaji and tea at the Prithvi Cafe. This cafe is really a very cool place to hang out with friends and strangers. I made some new friends here. Clicked a lot of pics here too. The play started on time. The play was good. It was about the lives of two wall painters who are stuck in a big bad city. After the play I again had coffee at the Prithvi Cafe and discussed about the play with strangers. Then from there I took a cab and went to Marine Drive. At night Marine Drive is an amazing place to hang out. A lot of people were there. Singles, couples and also the full family crowds were there. Saw a lot of pretty girls there. I also took a ride in a battery operated vintage carriage. After spending almost two hours at Marine Drive I went to have dinner at the Bademiya Kebab Restaurant at Colaba. I ate chicken kebabs there. The place was full of people even at around 2 a.m. After dinner I came back to my hotel in an Uber.

On 15th June, Wednesday, I went to Pune. I took an AC Bus early in the morning. I reached Pune around 10 a.m. From the Pune Bus Stand I took a shared autorickshaw and went to the Osho International Meditation Centre at Koregaon Park. I registered myself there at the reception area and bought my Osho robe and also got my Osho Card. Then I participated in the afternoon dance meditation under a glass pyramid. I met some lovely people there. Met a girl from Germany. Had an interesting chat with her. Then I had my lunch at the Cafeteria. Unfortunately they do not allow people to click pics inside the Osho Ashram. Anyways after lunch I left the place and went to have coffee at the nearby German Bakery. After coffee I roamed around the streets of Pune for some time. Then I took an auto and went back to the Bus Stand. From there I took a share-cab and came back to my hotel in Bombay. This car ride from Pune to Bombay was amazing. The car went through a lot of mountain tunnels. The road was as smooth as Osho's beard! I have been an Osho follower for almost the last ten years. Almost every night I listen to Osho's speeches on Youtube. For the last many years I had this tremendous desire to visit this Osho Ashram at Pune but this tremendous desire never transformed into reality sometimes because of shortage of money and sometimes because of shortage of time and sometimes because of shortage of both. But this time it finally happened. My tremendous desire finally transformed into reality. When you desire something from the bottom of your heart then the whole universe conspires to make it happen.

On 16th June, Thursday, after breakfast, I first took an Uber autorickshaw and went to the Jio Convention Centre at Bandra Kurla Complex. I walked around that area. This place has a lot of commercial buildings. Loved the shape of the ONGC building. From there I went to the Jio World Drive. Loved this Mall. On the top floor there was this pub called Some-Place-Else. From Jio World Drive I took an Uber cab and went to the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. I went to the Masala Kraft restaurant inside Taj and had chicken biryani. Loved this iconic hotel a lot. From Taj I went to the Gateway Of India. There I took a boat ride on the Arabian Sea. It was fantastic. Then I took a ride on an open double decker bus. Loved this bus ride too. I got down at Kala Ghoda. This place is named after a statue of a black horse. I walked around the entire Kala Ghoda area and also walked inside the narrow lanes and bylanes in this area. Then I went to have coffee at the Kala Ghoda Cafe. Loved the black caps which the waiters of this cafe were wearing. From there I took an Uber cab and went back to my hotel. From my hotel I went to the airport and took the Indigo 10:30 p.m. flight. A beautiful air-hostess asked me if I would like to have the empty seat near the emergency door. I readily agreed to her proposal because that seat had great leg space. She also was kind enough to give me a free non-alcoholic beer. I reached Calcutta around 1 a.m. and took an Uber and came back to my home.