Amchi Mumbai!!!

Mumbai for me is a wonderland. The sea of humanity everywhere, the people who are perpetually in a hurry, the rash driving, oh man!! Every minute is really spent well in Mumbai. And shopping!! God! I wonder how the Mumbaiites actually work – if I’d been a resident, I would’ve just shopped 24/7!

SHOPPING
Mumbai is shoppers’ paradise. And bargainers’ heaven. The ‘shop-till-you-drop’ syndrome really gets activated once you get there. I shopped like crazy. Clothes, bags, footwear, I have samples of everything here now. I was lucky that both my maami and maasi are great at bargaining. ‘Coz I‘ve absolutely no clue!!
Chembur Laxmi market, Santacruz, Linking Road, Globus,… I shopped with different range of prices.

FOOD
I’m not much of a food person and all my relatives (mostly overweight) have understood that well. So I really did gorge on much stuff, except the real Mumbai things that, believe me, are just not the same in other cities. So authentic Pav Bhaji from Bageecha, chaat from Khasiyat, Pani Puri and Kala Khatta from Juhu beach. And Sugarcane juice, I wonder why that simple juice is not available in many places!! And ‘Frankies’ (chapatti rolls, I’d call them!) which is THE snack of the Mumbaiites now (I wonder what it is called in other cities!!).
Also had some REAL burger (from Mac Donald’s) & pizza (from Pizza Hut). No wonder most of my relatives weigh the way they do!!

CELEBS
This is a very debatable topic – it is great to meet celebs or is it similar to meeting ‘lesser mortals’ like friends and relatives? I like meeting people who are well known, even if they are not that famous, it doesn’t matter. People over here always ask people from Mumbai if they’ve met any one famous. It is a great thing!!
But my relatives there hold a different opinion. My uncle asked me – what is so great if you shake hands with a celebrity? Does your hand become of gold?!! Mumbaiites meet so many celebs regularly and have ceased to care.
It is funny, maasi and me bumped into (not literally, thank God!) Saroj Khan and VJ Anusha on consecutive days. My maasi began thinking that I have this special chance of meeting these people, so we took my cousin along for shopping the next few days. But never met anyone after that [; -)]!!

JUHU BEACH
This is one place my mom had wanted me to visit – she felt that any trip to Mumbai was incomplete without a visit to Juhu Beach. I have been there lots of times and never has it appeared to change. The crowds, if anything, have increased. The camel ride is missing and the number of horse carts giving rides is decidedly lower.

In short the trip was everything I’d hoped it would be. A great experience!