Location: 18.96 degrees north latitude, 72.82 degrees east longitude Elevation: 26 feet
Mumbai (formally known as Bombay) is the most populous city in India (13 million people!), the capital city of the state of Maharashta, and the commercial and entertainment capital of India. Mumbai sits right on the Indian Ocean/Arabian Sea. Mumbai is about an hour-and-a-half flight north north-west from Bangalore.
Travelled up to Mumbai this weekend, extensibly to do some recruiting. The majority of Indian visual effects and animation companies are located up here (the home of Bollywood), so we thought a day of in-person interviews would be of benefit to us, and certainly preferable to the vagaries of telephone interviews of the past weeks.
Saturday was spent either travelling and then in a hotel business center room interviewing people.
(it was a 7am flight and a one hour trip to the airport and they want you there one hour early. I'll leave figuring out what time my alarm went off this morning as an exercise for the reader. Hint: it was early!)
The interrogation room. . .I mean interview room at the Grand Hyatt - Santa Cruz Station Hotel. . .
Please try to not be too jealous while I drop some names on you:
While at the airport Saturday morning we saw Rahul Dravid, very popular player and former Captain of the Indian national cricket team and Bangalore native. While we were at the Grand Hyatt - Santa Cruz Station hotel we saw Meher Jesia, former supermodel; Arjun Ramphal, current Bollywood Star (his most recent movie "Rock On" is a huge box office success over here) and husband of the aforementioned Meher Jesia; Rohit Bal, famous Indian fashion designer; and Harsha Bogle, a very famous Indian cricket analyst and commentator.
Evidently this was the place to see and be seen this weekend.
After one final interview on Sunday morning, I had just enough time for a whirlwind tour of the city before my return flight. The hotel arranged a driver for me. When he asked me what I wanted to see I said "Show me as much as you can".
Here's where he took me.
Stop 1. The Hanging Gardens
The hanging gardens sit on top of a huge water tank atop Malabar Hill, an exclusive neighborhood of the Mumbai rich and famous (financiers, Bollywood movie stars, etc.). It comes across as just a nice little neigborhood park. Looked like people use it for the daily/weekly strolls.
Some attempt at topiary sculpting. A lot of the sculpted trees/bushes had little placards next to them telling you what they were, or what they were supposed to be. Not a real sign of success. The elephant and giraffe (?) were two of the more successful ones.
Not-quite-all-the-way-stopped stop 2: Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is the Mumbai train station, and is also known by the old British name of Victoria Terminus. It is supposedly the busiest train station in all of Asia. I took the first picture from the slow-moving car, as there was nowhere to easily pull over and park for a few minutes.
I grabbed this photo off the web, to give you a better idea about how big this thing is and it's ornate design. I definitely wished I had more time to explore this building.
Stop 3. Gateway of India
Next stop was the Gateway of India, built in 1911 to commemorate the royal visit of King George V. Sorry about all the scaffolding and plastic sheeting. I asked them to be taken down so I could snap a couple of nicer photos, but my request was denied.
Across the street from the Gateway of India arch is the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, a very ornate blend of Islamic and Renaissance stylings. It was built in 1903 by a wealthy Indian industrialist after he was refused entry to one of the other neighboring European hotels because he was an Indian native. I think it's safe to say that he showed them.
Cliff diving, city style!
Stop 4: St. Thomas Cathedral
St. Thomas Cathedral is the oldest English building in Mumbai. Construction began in 1672. It's style is a blend of Byzantine and British colonial. The white-washed interior certainly gives it a very airy feel. Lots of memorials, grave stones, and commemorative plaques inside.
Stop 5: Cross Maidan
Cross Maidan is a little green belt that runs through part of the city. It's just down the street from St. Thomas Cathedral, so I spent a few minutes wondering around. Ornate fountains and memorials dot the carefully landscaped areas.
This first fountain is the Flora Fountain (1869), named after the Roman goddess of abundance.
One of the many differences between Bangalore and Mumbai is the latter actually has some interesting architecture. All of these buildings are within a block or two radius of Cross Maidan and Veer Nariman Road.
Stop 6: Mahalaxi Temple
Mahalaxi Temple is dedicated to the goddess of wealth (of the same name). Once again, no photography is permitted inside the temple. So we're left with a few images of the bazaar that unerringly springs up around each and every temple.
No-time-for stop 7: Haji Ali Mosque
We ran out of time. I was hoping to make the short walk out to the Haji Ali Mosque, but I had to setle for a short view from the car. The mosque was buitl in the 19th century as the tomb of Muslim saint Haji. As the legend goes, Haji died while on a pilgrimage to Mecca and his casket mysteriously floated back to this very spot. The mosque is built on a little rock island out in the bay; a small causeway leads out there from the mainland that is actually covered by water at high tide.
No good photos, so I was left to grab one off the web. This specific picture can't be very recent, as the mosque I saw was definitely a little worse-for-wear, but very interesting nonetheless.
On the way to the airport: the Mumbai skyline on a very warm, humid afternoon. By the way. . .that's the Arabian Sea in the picture. The Arabian Sea! That's a part of the larger Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean!
There are a few beaches in Mumbai, but they are not very attractive. In fact, think of the exact opposite of "attractive" and that best descibes the beaches in and around the city. I did not put my feet in the water. One look and you would not have either. I hope and suspect that I will have another chance to take the plunge in the not-too-distant future. . .
Postscript: Yep, that's really two oxen pulling a bright silver mini-temple-looking-something-or-other down the middle of the street in the middle of the day. And it probably only gets a second look from us foreigners. . .
