Day 1 : The stint begins

I am seriously hating this fact that I am not carrying my laptop with me. Another bummer is I forgot my phone's and camera's accessories at home. I am usually not careless when it comes to travelling, but it  feels like, I didn't do my homework properly this time. I still cannot post photographs. DAMN !!!! But once I am back home, I am gonna update all the posts with pictures. iShapath ! 

Anyways, Day 1 at Mumbai began quite early for me. I slept at 3 last night at woke up at 6:30. These days I am reading this book "50 shades of grey" by E.L James which is an erotic fiction. Don't think I am some kind of a pervert, I am reading this book coz of its enticing plot. I highly recommend the book for all those who think they are adults now.

So, the day was planned. I had to meet two people from twitter. And then I thought I would spend some time with my family. The day actually began at around 10:30, when I told my cousin about my plans for the day and he decided to take his family out for lunch and then to Mumba Devi.

I had to meet Divpreet ( @Smilesgalore ) at Mainland China, Hiranandani at sharp 1:30 P.M. She is a British citizen and is currently living and working in India. She told me that she is very punctual as she is a Britisher. Keeping that in mind, I made sure that I reach the place before time. So, I finished my daily chores by 12:45 and made sure that I don't get late. 

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As usual, the humid weather was taking a toll on me and I was completely drenched in sweat when I reached the restaurant. Waited for good 10 mins there and at exact 1:30, a hottie entered the place in a black dress. I was awestruck.Yes, that was Divpreet, one of my closest friends on twitter. She is a smart woman, who knows what she is up to. Yes, a bit messy at times, but yes girls are supposed to be messy (Girls, don't kill me for this, I love you all). I met her for the first time today, but we BBM a LOT and yes, we gossip around a lot. To tell you a fact, her previous handle was @Gossipal. Yes, she is a Gossip Queen and you can label me as Gossip King when I am with her. 

We ordered some food and then began a long endless conversation with no full stops and commas. We were continuously blabbering about something or the other. Food was amazing. This was my first visit to Mainland China and I highly recommend it to the people who love Chinese food. 

After spending good 2-2.5 hours together, Divpreet had to leave. We bid each other goodbye and she promised that she would be in Delhi soon. YaY :D  

After that I had plans to meet another person from twitter, Ajit Parameswaran ( @AjitWrites ) , one of the wisest people I know on twitter. He works for an IT company as a Project Manager and is an avid sports lover, gadget freak and a travelaholic. He has lived in Mumbai all his life and another thing that I discovered after meeting him today that he is an encyclopedia about Mumbai. 

I met him at a coffee shop at Hiranandani only, and in some time we decided to go to Gateway Of India. Another twitter friend Viraj ( @Gaaliman ) was around, but he got stuck in some work and Ajit and Me had limited time, so after having a word with Viraj, we both left for Gateway Of India. (Read about it on Wikipedia if you dont know what it is).

Ajit explained me how we are gonna go there. We took an auto rickshaw till Ghatkopar and from there he told me we will take a local till CST. Travelling in Mumbai Local which are also known as the lifeline of Mumbai was an item in my bucket list. So, with all excitement, we entered the station premises. Ajit bought tickets and I got myself coupons which people use here to commute.

Mumbai Locals are plain simple example of a perfect strategy. It connects almost all the main parts of Mumbai. I might be wrong there, but that is what my knowledge says. Ajit explained me about dos and donts in the locals. The concept of fast local and the slow local, timing, east and west side of the platforms and a lot many things. The was some knowledge. We took a fast local ( That stops at Major stations only) to  CST. There were 3 major stoppages in between ( Kurla, Byculla, Dadar).In around 25 minutes, we were at the another part of the city. Ajit kept telling me about eachk station that we passed. And finally around 6, we were at the heart of the city, CST ( Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus).

We got out of the station and Ajit told me its a half an hour walk to Gateway Of India and the way is extremely beautiful. We decided to take a walk and Ajit kept telling me about all the buildings that we encountered on our way.This part of Mumbai was built by Britishers. The British architecture is beautiful and jaw dropping ( I wish I could share the pics ). He also showed me Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) coz of which many people have their lives and many lost theirs. I kept clicking pictures from my phone. Yes, I was not carrying my camera. FUCK MY LUCK.

After a good 30-35 minute walk, I could finally spot Gateway Of India and on the other side, I could see Hotel Taj and Hotel Oberoi. Hotel Taj is now famous for all wrong reasons after that terror attack but it is one architectural beauty. Also, this was my first encounter with any Sea. I was like, there can be nothing better than this. Mumbaikars are surely lucky that they have something like this in their reach. I instantly fell in love with the city. Yes, now I LOVE MUMBAI MORE THAN DELHI. I am not a traitor, but yes, the Mumbai bug has finally bit me too.

Soon after, I asked Ajit, if we can go to Marine Drive if he has time. Very coolly he said, its just 15-20 mins by Taxi here, let's go. We took a taxi and as we were about to reach Marine Drive, it started raining cats and dogs. GAWD, the weather is so unpredictable here in Mumbai. It rains when you are least expecting it. Well, Marine Drive in rains looks heavenly, many people had told me about this and now it was the time to experience it. Rains definitely added up to the whole experience. The moment we reached Marine Drive, rains stopped. Lucky Me. We got off the taxi and rushed towards it. 

I AGAIN FELL IN LOVE WITH MUMBAI after seeing Marine Drive. Honestly saying, we dont have places like this in Delhi and around. It was magical. Marine Drive right after the rains looks magical. We were there at around 7 and then, the street lights were lit. Now we could see the famous Queen's Necklace too. It looked like a dream. I was like, somebody buy me a house near it. I JUST DON'T WANNA GO BACK. The cool breeze, and the  sound of the sea waves hitting the shore. OH MY GOD. It was just amazing. Mumbaikars, you guys ARE SERIOUSLY LUCKY. 

After clicking a few pictures we decided to go back to CST. Ajit told me that there is this very famous Pav Bhaji joint near CST station named CANON. It is famous in the whole Asia. I was like okay, lets have some famous street food then. We reached there and the place was bustling with people. We ordered Pav Bhaji and Lassi. I spotted that they were selling Vada Pav too. Mumbai aake vada paav nahin khaaya to kya khaaya. I ordered a Vada Pav for myself and that tasted awesome. After finishing my Pav Bhaji, I again ordered one more Vada Pav and devoured on it. (And I'm trying to lose weight, someday, hopefully) . 

Post this scrumptious meal, we headed towards CST station, took another local and I got down at Ghatkopar, from where I again went to Hiranandani as cousins and family was there. Had an ice-cream and came back home at around 10:30 P.M. It was a long tiring day, but at the end of the day. I am a happy soul. 

Few things that I observed about Mumbai today is

1. People love their city are very proud of it.

2. Mumbai is the perfect example of "Life has to move on, no matter what".

3. Life here is faster than Delhi.

4. Public Transport is cheap.  

5.The "Bhaad Mein Jaaye Janta" attitude of Mumbaikars (This can be seen at Marine Drive) #IfYouKnowWhatIMean

All and all, Day 1 ended on a good note. Too many memories to cherish and the entire credit goes to Divpreet and Ajit. Signing off, till the next one.

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Yatin