Exhibition on Egyptian Artifacts and Mummy,

image source

If you are in South Mumbai, be sure to visit ‘Prince of Wales Museum’ (now called Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya) at Kala Ghoda to see an interesting exhibition on Mummy called ‘The Inside Story’, that unravels the mystery of the Egyptian Mummy.

 The tour is interactive with the exhibition guide leading you through different Egyptian artifacts, happy to give you a deeper insight on Nesperennub, a priest of the temple of Karak, near Egyptian city of Lusur, "who has himself has been the subject of such a process of discovery, and subsequent scans, along with a detailed inscription left by his son, and have allowed historians to piece together the life of this Thebean resident".

 The exhibition will be displayed for four months and Indians will get an opportunity to encounter a real Mummy.

 Visitors also get to see the ‘Virtual unwrap’ of the mummy in 3d film.

 There is an interesting article on Economic times as well.

 You are not allowed to take pictures although you can take a visual tour of the exhibition here at demotix.com

 

The Day Mumbai Came to a Standstill……

On normal days it’s a crazy street

With hawkers running across the street

Carrying their wares in bundled wrap

Waiting till police van disappear

Back they are on the spot

Shouting and peddling, to sell their lot

There is heavy traffic with blaring horns

Snaking through path in between the crowd

There is noise, there is dust, plastic bags

In midst of feet, carefully we walk.

This is life on Mumbai streets

That moves at its' fastest pace

But now it seems like a ghost city, Men on bike forcing the shop keepers to drop down their shutters, I met a woman on the road who complained that cinema house stopped the movie mid- way and people were asked to go home, I went to market and vegetable sellers were quickly selling all the vegetables at Rs30, there were no hawkers,...no autos on roads, buses were overcrowded, everybody walking at fast pace, Saturday night, in the city that never sleeps, 6pm looked like 2am...Mumbai was mourning for Bal Thackeray out of fear

Bal Thackeray, the man who could bring Mumbai and the entire State of Maharashtra to a standstill by a single command and whose ethnic and communal rhetoric added a strain of perpetual menace to an already fraught metropolis, died on Saturday, November 17. He was86.

On the day of the funeral, more than 2 million people walked silently towards Shivaji Park, while the rest of the city came to a stand-still.

My maid did not turn up for work, but the masseurs dared to walk down the lonely street to earn their hourly wages. People who work from home were not affected but only distracted. There are some families in Mumbai who depend on their daily wages to feed their family and bandh like these affect them a lot, because bills have to be paid irrespective of they making a sale or not.

With no TV, no cinema or any other entertainment, most of the people were on social media venting their emotions, some good, some bad and some very evil.

For me, Sunday was the quality time with my family, we had the whole family under one roof eating HOME COOKED food all Sunday, Bombay bandh was a blessing in disguise...... tomorrow is another day.

Lady Sea Link Dressed in Pink

My friend and I regularly go to Carter Road for evening walk. When tired, we sit on those benches facing the sea. The Bandra-Worli sea link is visible from this point. Last week at around 7:30pm, the sea link was suddenly flooded with pink light.

It looked beautiful, and I got curious. We decided to go for a short drive to Bandra reclamation for a closer look.

I was told that Estee Lauder had taken the task of lighting up the sea link every day between October 5^th to 12^th, in its bid to create awareness about Breast Cancer and to stress on the importance of its early detection.

The Bandra-Worli Sea Link thus joined the league with around 600 international landmarks that were illuminated for this cause.

The campaign works closely with local organization of the region and in Mumbai; it was involved with the Women’s Cancer Initiative- Tata Memorial Hospital and Ogaan Cancer Foundation.

It was a beautiful sight to witness and other  monuments must have looked equally beautiful too.

Burj Al Arab ..Image source

The Arena, Verona, Italy Image source

Tokyo Towers Image source

It would have been a difference experience though, had I got a chance to drive through the sea-link during the week. I had even planned to return to Bandra from South Mumbai but getting caught in the traffic jam was the risk I was not willing to take

Well…next year perhaps…

Bad Poem on Mumbai

If you visit Mumbai, you will never be sad

Mumbai infrastructure is not really bad

You will be happy to walk on its broken roads

Your health problems cured through bumpy zones

Sit in an auto rickshaw, ride through potholed roads

One by one they come out, your kidney stones

No need to go for a massage or to a spa

Travel in Mumbai locals and get yourself squashed, aha!

If you find no room in the town to stay

Under the bridge there is ample space

Mumbai is the urban town,

You can walk in your night gown

During the day or late night

There are always bright lights

Mumbai Infrastructure is not really bad

Its perfect for backpackers

Who like to go on trek

You know?

Mumbai in deep waters

Mumbai is the great city to live in but such a pain during the rains.

I like to escape rainy season every year, and plan my holidays to some other country if I can help it, because although it may not rain for 4 months continuously, but there is always one day during the rainy season when it rains in such a way that the whole city is paralyzed.

Pic:Suresh K K

There has been very low rainfall during this rainy season but then came the downpour, in wholesale.....

This year, I watched Mumbai from Spain and I see Mumbai in knee-deep water…more pictures are in Midday Paper

Happy that I escaped this year from being marooned on the flooded streets of Mumbai……..

Must Visit BandStand at Bandra in Mumbai

BandStand in Bandra is a great place to enjoy the sea breeze. You can go at any time of the day and still feel good. The sound of the waves splashing on the rocks creates a soothing music to the ears. All my guest who come to visit me, I love to take them by this sea shore.

Walking on the promenade is a pleasure. During Bandra festival, there are different live shows and short films organized at amphitheater, that stands in the center of the promenade.

I have not been to the rocks but I often see adventurous people walk up to sink their feet in water, sometimes its dangerous especially when there is high tide.

During my last visit, I was surprised to see the new addition. A small patch of promenade has been renovated with beautiful street lights, a steel fence and ‘Walk the Stars’ patch.

There were hand prints and signature prints of famous Bollywood stars over that patch, A watchman was posted to prevent people from walking over the name-slabs.

There are also two Bollywood stars sitting there, do you recognize them?

People who visit this patch are amused by this and many sit on their lap and get a picture

If you visit this place during rainy season, you are sure to enjoy the freshly roasted corn, sprinkled with salt, red chilies and lime...Yum

Hanging Gardens & Kamala Nehru Park

Last week my nephew visited me. 


Sitting at home and just eating and napping is not a good idea especially if there are so many interesting places to see. The weather is warm, I agree, and there is much too much humidity too. Normally people would prefer to spend a day at AC mall and shop till they drop dead, but is that a good idea for the person who is visiting you from Spain? Especially when there is so much to see in the city of Mumbai, where there are lots of open spaces and many picnic spots.


I decided to take him for a South Mumbai tour.

One of the places that he liked during this tour was Kamala Nehru Park and Hanging gardens.

Nestled close to each other, this is a delightful  place to visit, mainly for its spectacular view of Chowpatty beach and Queen’s Necklace (Marine Drive). The sea breeze from Arabian sea can blow your thoughts away as you breathe in the scent in the air and enjoy the scenic view of Mumbai sky-scrapers against the blue sky with golden beach below touching the waters. 

Kamala Nehru Park is located at the top of Mumbai’s Malabar Hills and it is named after Kamala Nehru, the wife of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

A structure shaped like a shoe is the main attraction at this park which is inspired by the nursery rhyme “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe”. Remember that? Not only were the children enthralled by this shoe, I even saw few adults walk up the dingy steps inside the shoe to click their photograph from the tiny window. Some brave children walked up the top of the boots to enjoy a slide down the sloppy sides.

On the other side of Kamala Nehru park, across the street are the steps leading to Hanging Gardens. The steps are low, evenly spaced and not tiring at all. There are several gates leading to this park, which also have slope paths for wheel chairs.

If you go across and climb the step leading to ‘Hanging Garden’, you are in for a visual delight. The park is manicured in the shape of animals. This park was laid out in 1881 over Mumbai’s main reservoir to cover the water from contamination.

Outside these parks is a street market selling odd things like artificial jewelry and handbags, and for people who love the street food there are many hawkers too. In the weather like these these black Jamun sprinkled with salt and red pepper was a big treat....