Bombay to Mumbai... Rediscovering my city.

Hello!

The south-westerly winds inform me that the summer is coming to an end. Thus, I am going to make the most of it, because for a lot of reasons (most tres personal) this feels like the last summer I am truly going to be able to enjoy completely. So here I am, making the most of it.
How, you ask? Like this.

I have been grateful to be able to visit those spots in Mumbai that most of us haven't visited since the summer of 1999. I am, of course, talking about the forgotten, parks, aquariums, museums and zoo. Although, to be true, the joyride to the past hasn't been all about the joy... Soon you'll find out why.

But I know one thing for sure now, Bombay isn't Bombay any more. Like many others, the change to "Mumbai" wasn't all cool with me. Even now, most of the time I refer to this city as Bombay when all my relatives from elsewhere call it Mumbai. Bombay stands for a lot of things in my life. It stands for my childhood, the glorious 90's. It stands for limited commercialization and for good and innocent times. It stands for purity, freedom and everything that makes Bombay, the city of dreams.

'Mumbai' makes me feel like I am stuck in a traffic jam, in Dharavi, in the heaviest rainfall, in a Rickshaw, without a jacket, wearing white, without any food, at night. *shudder*

But these recent visits to the defining spots of the city have now made me realize, I am now in Mumbai. Bombay is long gone...

Anyway.
So the first visit to the tourist spots of the city of Mumbai started with the Aquarium!

Taraporevala Aquarium Review

Details: 
Name: Taraporevala Aquarium
Location: Marine Lines, Mumbai.
Built in: 1951
Closed on: Mondays
Entry fee: Rs. 15/- for Adults, Rs. 10/- for children
Photography and Videos not allowed. (Though everyone was clicking pictures. Som even with their flas lights on).
My rating for Taraporevala Aquarium: **
(And those 2 stars are for the aquatic animals for surviving there)

This is one aquarium you can't just swim through and have fun. Unfortunately, I went on a Sunday and exactly at a time when 2 other tourist buses had arrived. So it was terribly crowded and there were about 50-60 people in the queue before me. Also, there was a staff member of the aquarium yelling and screaming at me, and others, to move quickly and stand in line, and everything else you expect to hear in an over-crowded BEST bus. After standing in the sun, waiting in line to get tickets, we finally entered past the doors of the only aquarium in the city; and here's what I unleashed. 


Stink. Darkness. Uncontrollable, wee bit rowdy crowd. And stink again.

The main exhibit area:

The first thing you see when you enter is a dolphins skeleton. It's huge, but didn't impress as much as it could have by just lying on the floor. Can someone buy the dead guy a glass case at least? Moving on.

The state of the aquarium is almost depressing. It is horribly maintained. There are paan stains all around the walls and boundaries. The whole place stinks thanks to the loo inside the first chamber, so much that I had to cover my nose and mouth with a scarf. It was so bad that I couldn't breath it directly.
The aquarium is very dark and dingy and not forgetting to mention, dirty!

Talking about the exhibits, the collection isn't impressive at all. But it is not that bad either. Some of the better parts of the collection were fresh water sharks, Moray eels, sea turtles, an alligator fish and skate fish. Some other sea inhabitants were hermit crabs, milky koi, Bottan shark, sting rays, puffer fish and bat fish.

While the list sounds good, but the condition in which they are made to live don't. The aquariums of the exhibit are dirty and the water looked stale and practically green due to algae or whatever. Oh, and some of them were even cluttered with fish poop.

The place just has fans and no air-conditioning making it the wrong place to visit during the summer. I fervently hope they add air-conditioning when and if they renovate. Much needed. Thank you.

The room with fossils and sea shells: 

I hoped this one would have been better, considering most things here were dead and thus didn't need any cleaning. I was wrong. This section which had fossils and preserved dead fish, such as various types of star fish, also had aquariums with smaller kinds of fish (alive ones) on display.

The glass shelves and casings of the fossils and the rare sea shells were covered with dust. I, for one, am a cleanliness freak. The sight of those shelves sent me in depression, not to add the fact that these things that must be valued aren't even being cleaned.

Summary: 

The exhibits, like I said aren't completely unfortunate. But don't expect much action or think that you will get a feel of the real life of the ocean, because most fish were lying dull. In some aquariums, there were just 1 or 2 of the kind. You and I, both, can imagine what must have happened to the rest if they were alive. All in all, give it a visit considering it costs almost nothing.

I spent as little as 10 minutes there, which included a second round of seeing everything again. Make other plans too, the day you go visit Taraporevala Aquarium so that you feel like you made use of the time and travel.

The photos are dark and unclear, because I did not want to use the flash light as it would scare them and also because I don't have a good camera. :P
But this will give you a fair idea of how the place looks!

I think that's the lonely Alligator fish

That's one type of Shark

That's the Moray eels, which are supposed to be quite the dangerous aquatic animals

I don't know if you can tell the difference, but that's a fish in the bottom corner
(Notice the condition of the aquarium from the inside)

Turtles. There were many of these. See how dirty the water is!

Turtles

Hermit Crab

Can't tell what that is.

Skate fish

Sea turtle
(Sorry for the shaky picture. It was horribly crowded and I was being PUSHED!)

Sea turtle
(Sorry for the shaky picture. It was horribly crowded and I was being PUSHED!)

Sea Snails, I think.

Shark

Out of order 

The Taraporevala Aquarium, Marine Lines, Mumbai

Rumor has it that the aquarium will go through massive repair and would be renovated to have an underwater sea walk and a glass vision sea-world. Something like that in Ocean Park, Hong Kong. (You can view my personal experience of that here: http://devikabharadwaj.blogspot.in/2011/12/day-3-ocean-is-always-alive.html)

I hope they are successful in achieving this dream. One good aquarium isn't too much to ask for in a city like Bombay, oops Mumbai, is it?

Hoping to fish through a better aquarium again.

Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on:  https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj
Facebook Fanpage:  http://www.facebook.com/shoestopper
Website: http://www.shoestopper.com/


P.S.- I apologize if I have made a mistake in identifying the fish in the photographs. I was, admittedly, in a rush to get out of the heat and stink there. :(

More than white clothes, candles and peace marches...

Hi back!

Like I said I didn't intend to write another post. As I started to write a response to a comment by Mr. Venkat Ganesh on my previous post. I figured it was so long that I made it a post of its own. So here it goes...

That's a good suggestion, Venkat. However, it's inefficient on its own.
Awareness programs do happen everywhere, all the time. And if our Government was the kind that took actions, well, our country would have been in a very different condition all together.
To cause a change of such a stature would require a long, continuous and combined effort...

Young boys and girls, each and every one of them should be educated. As far as I know, the eve-teasers and murderers in this case too, were uneducated, lawless men. Education puts a fear of the law, as mild as it may be, in the minds of people. So if the same men were educated enough, probably, they would have stopped for one second before stabbing the two boys to death. But of course, they didn't give a damn about the law, didn't have a care for the lives of people; just plain, fearless, drunk attitude to stab anyone who comes in their way to do what they wish to do. Even if it might be the most inhuman, cheap, outright disgusting act.
So yes, step one would be education.

My second suggestion would have been awareness, but what are we going to make both, men and women, aware about? Well, attitudes don't change by listen to some random person talk about ethics, or watching a "informative" film. So here I'm going to state the almost impossible. We  need help from the government and law enforcing bodies in the country. Did you just laugh? Well, I did say it was impossible, almost.

The society is a cycle. You want rules and laws, establish a government. You want them to enforce those laws, ask them. After a few years or decades, you become lazy and don't bother checking up on them. They happen to be glad you just did the same. And that's how we get stuck in the rut.

So if we want the government to do something, a) let's try to get them to do something about it. They must be corrupt or lethargic, but somehow I'd like to believe they wouldn't want women or men to get harmed this way. After all, it could be someone from their families as well, no?
And of course, whether or not we demand of it, the government should be sensible enough to DO something about it. Seriously. They eat our taxes, spend it on building statues and empires for themselves, build colleges that guarantee their whole friend circles' kids admissions. Seriously dear cops and politicians, at least keep us SAFE? Keep the money if you like. I can earn my money and give away some, as charity or tax, whatever (same thing, no? Or wait, charity helps.); but I don't see how I can protect myself or my friends from a situation like this.

So summing it up:

a) EDUCATE people. Boys, girls, mummies, papas, kakas, kakis, nanas, nanis, bhai log, behen log, EDUCATE them all. I, for one, education and knowledge can change a person, the society, the whole wide world. It is one of the most powerful tools the state's nannies can use to build a good population.

b) ACT. The government should act. Do what they can at the very least. Alert cops, traffic police, or any other civil servant to be at the service of any fellow human being in trouble. Furthermore, create punishments and put them to force in a way that not just a human, but even an alien would think a million times before doing anything ethically and morally unsound.
c) Lastly, I'll reach the heights of being philosophical by quoting apna very own bapu, Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
"Be The Change You Want To See "
This is the most important action we can take ourselves. We don't know for sure whether the civic bodies would do anything or whether education would truly stop a person from being a criminal of any nature, but the least we could do is not be dumb, mute and blind to something like this. You see something wrong on the street, Stop and Ask what it is. Don't pass by without doing anything. I think not doing anything in situations like these make us as guilty as the criminals themselves. After all, watching and doing a crime happen at the same place and the same time, don't they?

So well, that is what I think can be done. Of course, like I said, the society and change in it is a cycle. A lot of efforts would have to be made in a lot of areas by a lot of people (hopefully everyone).

Hope you aren't the one who puts on black sunglasses and walks out on a crime scene; and are the one who helps(or at least call the cops).

Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on: https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj

What's more than white clothes, candles and peace marches...?

Hello!

A long time it has been... I've been away from technology because I have been drowned into maths books, preparing to giving the stinking CAT exam next week. So excuse me, won't you?
I had absolutely no plans of writing (or doing anything fun at all *sob*) till I got done with my exam. However, recent events just didn't let me stay put and I had pour my thoughts out somewhere. And where else would that be?

Of course, the event I'm talking about is the event everyone else is talking about (at least everyone aware). The "eve-teasing in Mumbai", the "Justice for Keenan and Reuben" and all the other names this miserably doleful situation has been called out with.
In summary, two boys were brutally stabbed for saving their girl-friends from eve teasing by a drunk man along with his aides, a bunch of rickshaw-wallahs and other brutes.
(Read the link for the detailed story: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150880654735538&set=p.10150880654735538&type=1&theater )

Of the many things this incident makes me realize, one is that how easily it could have been me. It could have been me with my bunch of friends after just another casual dinner out. We probably wouldn't have even realized when things could have gone wrong. Friends protecting us in one minute, stabbed to death in another. What could we have done? What would we have done? What should we do if that happens? Are three of the many questions this thought brings up in my mind.

Of course, my family would give me a solution to this. "Don't go out at night. We told you it's not safe."  So now I should sit at home with fear of my modesty and the safety of my life and of those with me?

The second thing I realized is how numb we have already become. If you have read my previous posts, you know I was called "rasmalai" by some random stranger near a railway station. So I was just another girl used to the fact that random people call us girls such names or catcall when we're around. Moreover, we might as well have been glad they did that (Catcalling is better than being groped, inst it?!) *sigh* I am bemused by own reaction. I found 'rasmalai' funny, instead of realizing that I was just eve teased, yet another time, without doing anything about it.

With time, most have us have used and abused the mantra 'Ignorance is Bliss'. In these cases, it just seems like the thing to do. The judicial system doesn't seem any effective; clearly people around don't help; obviously, we aren't strong enough to over-power a bunch of men or even one drunk man. And of course, avoiding a tough situation is better than being in a messy one later. Nauseating, isn't it?

I know these questions and thoughts are in most people's minds. I wish it was different. But where lies the solution?

The third thing I realized is when I started getting broadcasts and messages on my cellphone, on my Facebook homepage, on twitter and every other imaginable communication tool. Come let's wear white, hold a candle and chant seems the thing to do. Don't think my sarcasm says I don't support it. I think peace marches are the most peaceful and gracious things to do by us. But let's learn from our experience. Where has it lead us? After miles of experience, I don't see a march having lead to a strong, permanent change.
So here what I ask the readers is, what is the solution? I'm ready to be a part of any movement, but would it even lead to even 0.01% change in the society (see, I've been doing math). Will it make me feel,even if for a millisecond, that I can go out safe whenever I want? Is there ANYTHING out there common people, like you and I, can do to cause an effect? Do tell, because I'm game for it.

I'm waiting to see what the police or the government does about this whole situation. I fervently hope at least one of those hooligans is punished. (Hope. Ha-Ha.) Anyway.

RIP Kennan and Reuben.
Hope people around me are as courageous as you were.

Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on: http://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj

Of cheese and chilies.... *slurp*

Salut!

I don't usually go all gaga about food or any particular restaurants. I'm not the "foodie" and always-experimenting-with-new-food type of person.  But every once a while I find a dish or a place worth raving and gushing about. And one such place I'm now officially crazy about is Quattro. Located opposite Phoenix Mills, Lower Parel, Quattro is one place I recommend. My girlfriends and I randomly decided to try some place new; one suggested Quattro and we decided to give it a shot.

Like I said, I'm not really a foodie. Though I'm a sucker for cheese and cheese and cheese. So most of the things we did end up ordering from the Italian, Mexican menu card of Quattro was full of cheese.
So to begin with, we ordered Mocktails, Margaritas and Iced tea (FYI: they don't have a liquor license yet). They weren't mind-blowing, but the taste was regular. The drinks were served in massive glasses and the quantity sure was enormously gigantic!

For starters we ordered Cheese Fondue. *slurp* The fondue dip as such was brilliant with a nice garlic flavour. However, what I personally didn't really like here was the quality of the bread served along. It wasn't the right kind of crisp and was almost too hard to bite at the sides.
Next, we ordered a dish I don't remember the name of, but basically it was buttered rice with a nice vegetable dish. The gravy was delicious and the dish had an assortment of baby corn, capsicum, bell peppers and lots of other veggies.

Lastly, (I was saving the best for the last,) we had Chile Rellano. *water in my mouth*  Every, I repeat, Every time I think of Chile Rellano I have tears in my eyes. Not because it was spicy or anything, but it was just too god damn delicious. It is basically a gigantic chilly stuffed with cheese (and I think a wee bit of mashed potatoes. Not too sure.) But whatever it was, it sure blew my mind away. It was the perfect blend of the nearly bland taste of cheese and very mild hot flavour of the chilly teasing you.
Along with this meal, they served rice with beans and salad with a bit of sour cream.
They serve varied sauces on every table, and there were two worth trying. One was an olive sauce and another was a ginger and chilly sauce. Both are worth trying!

Surprisingly, for their quality of food and service, I think Quattro was cheap. For a group of  3, we ordered two starters, one main course meal and three drinks; and all of this cost us about 1500-1600. Cool, eh?

I think if you are a vegetarian, this is one place you'll love (due to lack of mention of any dead things, you can clearly tell I'm a vegetarian and a proud one at that.) Even if you aren't a vegetarian, I think Quattro won't disappoint and you'll definitely get some other cool vegetarian meal apart from cottage cheese.

Tell me if you like it. Or don't.

Au revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on: http://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj

P.S.- We missed out on the delicious looking desserts because we too full to consume even a single drop of water. Next time. :)

The extra-irritating league of Rickshaw men....

Namaskar!

A lot of people, and I mean, a LOT of people are under the impression that I totally hate Mumbai. To an extent, you guys are right (though hate is too strong an emotion to feel here). But hang on, don't get so smug yet. True that my love for Mumbai is at a constant decrease, but I see that happening to a lot who have lived in 'Bombay', if you know what I mean. So here, I'll rephrase Lord Byron's quote as: "I love not Mumbai the less, but Bombay more." You need no explanation about what I'm trying to say if you have lived in maximum city for 20 years or more.

So loathe me if you must, but I HAVE to crib about what's happening in Mumbai now. How am I supposed to resist it?  But luckily, this is one issue I bet most Mumbaikars are going nuts about, in a bad way. I'm talking about the darned Rickshaw wallahs of course.

This is one class of people who receive the choosiest of abuses from me, each and every day of my life (I'm not sharing which ones). Seriously. What the bloody hell do they want?
First the refuse to take you anywhere you want to go. Then they crib about not getting enough passengers. Then they want to increase the Rickshaw fares. They do increase the Rickshaw fares. They still say no to you to go anywhere. They still crib about not getting enough passengers. So they rig the meters of the ones they do get. But they are still complaining about not earning enough money. So they want to increase Rickshaw fares again. They do it again. But wait a minute, THEY BLOODY WANT TO DO IT AGAIN!

They want to earn 25,000 per month on a job where no prior experience, education qualification, interviews are required. Oh boy, I didn't earn even half of that as a writer, considering I had to apply to a million places despite of having all of the above and more.

If you still haven't heard about it, then you must read about the demands the Rickshaw wallahs and their instigating leader Mr. Sharad Rao (Union leader) is demanding. It is preposterous. There is no other word for it. When I read about what all they were asking for, my first reaction was to abuse, but then when the list went on, I couldn't help but laugh. And laugh I did for 20 minutes flat. Moreover, the Rickshaw wallahs are angry BECAUSE the R.T.O. caught them with rigged meters and are asking them to replace it? Something like this could only have happened in a country like ours, with the Government not being able to do much due to fear of putting a whole sector of votes in jeopardy before the election; and the R.T.O. too tensed and confused about what to do with people they can book guilty and send to jail.

Anyway, here are a few of their demands you might have missed, from my angle:

1) Government Employee status (which obviously includes pension, gratuity, health insurance, et al): Like we need more people like our Politicians in the government: uneducated, rich vagabonds plying on our extremely hard earned salary and taxes.
2) Ply Rickshaw on a shared basis: So that instead of taking the BEST, you travel from stop to stop in a Rickshaw.
3)Minimum mandatory income of 25,000/pm: For their par excellence educational and professional experience. *smirk*
4)Annual Fare revisions: Like they need that after earning 25,000/pm. Basically, this rule would ensure that in 5 years' time, Rickshaw service would be like that of a BEST bus and the fare would like that of a cab in New York. Mm Hmm...
5)Permission to go anywhere in the city: Dear Townies, are you ready? *evil laugh*

So if these very understandable demands of noble, hard-working Rickshaw wallahs aren't met by November 9, be ready with deodorants and pepper sprays to travel by train and buses; because my dear friend, you aren't getting the 3-seater vehicle ride after that. Or if you or mummy-puppa can afford it, time to buy that mouse-like Tata Nano.

Meanwhile, I am sticking to my No-Rickshaw-Come-What-May resolution. Fare badana hai, badhao. Nahi jaana hai, mat jao. It's them who won't be earning a thing if people don't use the rickshaw. And I have done my time spending hours, standing on the street getting no Rickshaw ride and paying much more than deserved due to tampered meters.

I hope Mr. Sharad Rao and his extra-irritating league of Rickshaw men find some sense. Or no passengers, poverty, realization, guilt and regret.

Au Revoir,
Miss Bee.

I tweet on: http://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj
My website: http://www.shoestopper.com/

Rain is falling... Bhaagooo...

Yasou!

So Mumbai has been voted as one of the worst cities to live in. No surprises there. Just when we got used to complaining about how little it has been raining since the past few years and how global warming in kicking us right there, it starts to rain more than it did in the monsoon of 2005.
So why is it raining so darn much this year? Here are a few guesses why:

1) The rains are God's remake of Michael Bay's Armageddon and this year he released the trailer for us to see just how awesomely wet next year is going to be. *oui ma*

2) Who in the sunny heaven's name took God out for beer fest last season because it seems to be raining in on us. *politely opens the umbrella*

3) Some pig-tailed kid must have been feeling hot and asked the Sun to play hide-n-seek with him. We can deduce the Sun is winning the game. Sheesh.

So whatever the reason for this last step of the evaporation process is, Dear Zeus, God of Rain with irresistible abs *swoons*, please stop emptying the water stations above. Our lakes and sewage systems are full, our vast pot-holes seem to be over flowing, the 13.78357% Rickshaw wallahs that agreed to ride are also saying no because of the rains; trains are shut, buses are crowded and my lone pair of denim jeans refuse to dry. Why don't you save some for next year? Because maybe when the BMC said we'll be prepared for rains in 2010, they meant in 2012. Hopefully.

For once, I hope it doesn't rain on us. Not so much at the very least.

Au revoir.
Miss Bee.

I tweet on: http://twitter.com/#!/devikabharadwaj

Nowhere to go: a day in the Mumbaikar's travel diary

Salut!

As much as I hate to say this, I'm going to say it anyway: Gone are the days when you didn't have to think even once about hating things in Mumbai. But now, times are changing. The traffic, the pollution, the population, the stench, the garbage is getting too much to take, for me at least.

Let me give you yesterday's experience for example. I had to travel from an area in Central Mumbai to the suburbs, which usually takes me 45-60 minutes to cover. Ideally, I repeat, IDEALLY, a distance of approximately 12 kilometers should take just about 22 minutes. But understandably, a certain acceptable amount of traffic makes it 45-60 minutes. But why, in the name of this ex-green planet, should I spend TWO AND A HALF HOURS travelling a distance of 12 kilometers?  Why, why, why?

Forgetting about the traffic for a teeny-weeny while, what the hell is wrong with the darn Rickshaws!?
I stopped using the public transport years ago because Mumbai men couldn't control their testosterone level, women couldn't pass a chance of having cat fights, young kids didn't bother whose foot they were standing on and my dear mummy-papa increased my pocket money (yippee!)

So I have been pretty regular on the harassment-roll of rickshaw wallahs. I say harassment roll because:
A) They don't want to go anywhere. Literally, no-freaking-where. Then they crib about not making enough money. Then, they increase the fares. Then, seriously? Seriously?????
B) Meters. 'Nuff said. I don't think I have paid the rightful fare more than twice, or maybe thrice, in the last 4 years. Pinky swear.

So coming back to yesterday, I spent approximately half an hour trying to get a rickshaw. About a 100 said no. About 2 were busy bribing a cop. And the one rickshaw that I took agreed to take me half way, without the meter working for double the price. Icing on the cake, eh?

Oh, did I mention that at one point the traffic was so bad I had to get off and walk 2-3 kilometers to get where I had to in time. Choco chips on the icing on the cake, na? Not yet. The cherry on the choco chips on the icing on the cake was that I was called "Rasmalai" by some random guy on the street. [I used to like rasmalais, bummer. :( ]

So to get somewhere in the city I have to brave rickshaw wallahs, slower than a slug traffic, foul language and vehicles,sauchalays and garbage filling my nostrils. Parfait! I don't want to talk about what we SHOULD or COULD do about these rickshaw wallahs or traffic issues (saving that for a later post maybe. Teehee).

But at the end of the day I feel bad about abusing a city I love so much. I feel bad when I want/have to take my car out and add more carbon monoxide to the air instead of being Eco-friendly and taking public transport. Forms chain reactions, doesn't it? What to do?

Hope to find some answers. And less traffic.

Au revoir!
Miss Bee.

I tweet on: http://twitter.com/#!/devikabharadwaj

Get, set, go!
Where?!