Once Upon A Time In Mumbai :)

Mumbai - The City of Dreams. My Dreamland :-) A land for a people who want to be something in life. A place to earn name & fame which will make you earn money :P Mumbai is a place were you find millions of opportunities if you are a hard working person. Not Money, nor physical strength.. nothing matters here, all that matters is Intellegence that makes money n strength to follow you. A place where you have to take the life in way it comes, you cannot write ur fortune here in ur initial stages in Mumbai.

Though my Mom was from Mumbai (Ghatkopar), i had been to Mumbai after almost 14-15 years & and i was waiting for this day coz i had made a bunch of good friends on KuDOs and always wished to meet them in real. Moreover, i always wished to experience the raw pace of life of Mumbai. Remember one thing, if you wanna live in Mumbai then KEEP MOVING. Don't stop anywhere even if you are on wrong direction. Just turn around and keep moving :)


Actually, i planned going to Mumbai to give a surprise party to my very close friend who has been my Idol :-) and he is my 1st ever friend from Mumbai. He is like my BIG B & has always been a source of Inspiration to me. Gradually, though staying far away from Mumbai, i made some real good friends from Mumbai on KuDOs (a social network of our community) who will never forget me in any stage of life :) A small number of friends, but all are mine n will be with me forever :) These are the people who are with me for no reason. They are with me just coz i want them to be with me :)

M sharing here my SMALL 10 days Experience in Mumbai. Hope you all readers like it. Some of the readers from mumbai might not have experienced what i have written here. Opinions may differ :) and it has to, coz its about MUMBAI :) Few of my readers from other countries may get bugged while reading all this but i would say read on.. coz i m sure, u will get addicted to Mumbai surely. :P

Here we go !!!

Day One: 12th July: Reached Kalyan at 6:00 am and the train was as usual late by one hour. lol :)) Reached Dombivli at my mama's place by 7:00 am. Had my tea n breakfast, quickly got fresh ( i already was :P) and left home to roam in local Dombivli at 10:00 am all alone. No one of my friend khew that i was in Mumbai coz i wanted to give surprise to all my friends & see everyones reaction. Only one of my friend was knowing about me coz we had to plan for a Bday party well in advance. Will write more on this later on the date when i met them (next day). Was back at home after roming for about 2 hours in Dombivli. Had lunch & left with my mom to visit a relatives place in Ghatkopar. Reached there by local train which was my 1st ever Experience of travelling in local train :) I did not find much difficulty in local train coz i had prepared myself for that :) Was not surprised to see a heavily crowded fast passenger train on Platform 5. Struggled a lot to get into the train and finally boarded it n i was feeling proud of that :) I was studying every passenger thoroughly which gave me a brief idea about the people there and i was quickly getting myself adjusted to the new place coz i had to survive :) I also got to know from a student that most of fast passenger trains had announcement systems. Was feeling so good travelling in local coz it was like my dream coming true that i was in Mumbai. Reached Ghatkopar & hired an auto to reach my relatives place. Spend some time there and left For Sidhi Vinayak Temple which is near Dadar. Wow. i was so lucky to get Aarti a couple of minutes after i reached there. What an moment it was. The Half Hour Aarti made me feel so so so pure n clean. Was feeling blessed :) Saw Sidhi Vinayak Idol as close as the laptop which m using now. Very few lucky ppl get this chance. Got back to home within 80-90 mins from then which was EOD for me :)

Day 2: 13th July: The Boom Boom Day for me. The day for which i was in Mumbai. My friend's bday or u can say my BIG B's bday :-)... But to my bad luck i was not well n had to stay at home n the morning to ensure that i was fine by noon for evenings blast :P Visited my another friends office in Mulund at 2:00pm & left from there by 5:30pm. Finally, me n one of my friend who was knowing that i was in Mumbai planned to meet at Dadar at 7:00. I reached Dadar by 6:30 coz i wanted to roam there a bit n i visited Swami Nayaran Temple which is close by to Dadar Station. All other friends decided to meet at Dadar at 7:00 for going togeather for the surprise party at bday boy's residence :P Remember, none of my friends still knew that i m in Mumbai. N finally i met my friend who took me to all the other friends. What a moment it was when everyone saw me. All were so happy to see me there. Everybodys faces glittered with happiness n surprise :) It was a moment in my life which i treasured in my heart ;-) From there we b0ught a cake n proceeded towards Wadala ( the place were we had to give a bday blast ) Finally after a bit of Search Operations :P we reached our destination with masks on our faces so that the bday boy cud not identify anyone of us. But i had challenged everyone that the bday boy will eaasily identify all of us n so he did :) I knew him n his sharpness very well n he proved me right.. :) he took about 5-6 mins but identified each n everyone of us even though we were with masks on are face. After a small intro of everyone with the family we moved on to the big bday blast and enjoyed every bit of it. Again, it was a great moment and all of us enjoyed alot. We did a bit of Facial :P of cake on his face. This is how he looked like :P













Its getting lengthier... :P ill cut it short now :) read on buddies.. sorry if u are getting bored.. :P

Rest of the days i planned to roam in Mumbai till my last day. Had been to a famous college in VidhyaVihar named Somaiya College. Had a gr8 time there with couple of friends who are from the same college. Did not have an ID card to enter the college but i was brave enough to face the circumstances :P lolzzz.. Got back to home soon coz i was not well still. Change in climate gave me a bit of tempreture n i was still luving it :) lol

Next day, i was all alone and had been to Western line for the 1st time. I travelled in train without a Ticket. :P Got down at Churchgate and walked my way to Nariman Point. Nariman Point has been my most favourite place of Mumbai. I m addicted to this place coz ................................................. :) i dnt know...:P Left from there by 4 to get back to home n visit a relatives place which way on my way back to home.



Nariman Point is the most awesome place in Mumbai. Its a sea face where u can sit for hours togeather even if u are alone like i was :)...
Facing the waves n tides with clean atmosphere will always touch ur heart n give u a heavenly feeling specially in twilight hours :) Again on next evening, my addiction to Nariman Point made me visit the place for 2nd time & again i was alone but still i was luving it...

In between, i had been to places like Thane, Mulund, Ghatkopar, Bhandup, Kurla, Dadar, Matunga, Sion and few more to study the commercialisation at various places. Mulund, Ghatkopar, Dadar, CST, Churchgate & Nariman pt are the most commercially developed places as per me. The most awesome day of my life was at Mulund :) had a most precious moment of my life ter................................................. :)

On Saturday, i almost completed seeing Big Places in Mumbai. I got down at CST where the climate was so good. It was raining heavily and i roamed everywer in rains :) i just luvd it.. Got down at CST n reached Bombay Stock Exchange, spent some time ter with a Security gaurd who was from my place :) He allowed me to take 3-4 snaps in the restricted areas. We both discussed about terrorism prevailing in Mumbai. The cop was so impressive n he was one of the cop who fought out the terrorists last year when Taj n Trident were attacked. From BSE, i left for Gateway, Taj n Trident. Spent an hour there & left for Nariman Point. Spent an hour at Nariman Point & left for Marine Lines :) One of my friend joined me at Marine drive from there i left for Dadar where my another friend ( Bday Boy :P ) joined us. I was feeling gr8 that i was moving with my Idol & SOI :) He hired a cab at Dadar for our further roming. We 3 left for  Bandra Worli Sea-Link & Bandstand. SeaLink is awesome place with a massive infrastructure. This was something which i had never ever seen in my life. i was so excited :) Finally we reached Bandstand by evening n stayed there till it was a twilight. Wat a gr8 place it was. The nature at its best. The clouds n the sky gave a new picture on every alternate minute & i snapped almost 25 pics of skies n clouds. Saw "Mannat" there ( for ppl who dnt know wats Mannat: Its the residence of Famous Movie Actor Sharukh Khan ) I just luvd the place alot. Left from there for Matunga via Sealink again. The Sealink i saw in day time was completely different from that of night view. The whole sealink was glittering and giving a beautiful look. I was not allowed to stop on sealink n take snaps there but i did :) coz i m Bijoy n i dont follow rules.. lolzzz  :)) We reached Matunga, had good Sandwitches n juice and finally left for home. I reached home by 11:30 that day :) Mom was a bit angry but i said Chill maar mom.. :P lolzz :)) 

But gradually as the days passed i was feeling bad coz my last day in Mumbai was coming near :( i was really addicted to the place n was feeling very bad that i will be leaving soon from here.. :( On Sunday, i had to visit Nirmal LifeStyle at Mulund where a small get togeather was organised. Had good time there with all my friends but was not happy coz it was my last day which was pinching me every moment :-( Many of my friends might have noticed that i was present there just physically :P

Finally, It was Monday, my last day in Mumbai. Was not at all feeling like leaving the place. Had to board my train at 10:00pm and was tensed a bit. Guess wat.. i left home & went to Nariman Point again for the 3rd time :) and again i was alone for the 3rd time thr ;) The place eased my tension n i recollected each n every moment of last 10 days i spent thr in Mumbai. Few things brought tears to my eye n many things gave me a BIG SMILE :) I promised myself that i will come to Mumbai back again very soon and i will sit again on Nariman pt :) lolzz :))

This was all wat  i did in Mumbai. I will never forget this 10 days ever in my life coz all the 10 days wer special to me in some way or the other. N the ppl from Mumbai who are reading this, i will come again very soon.. :) Keep an eye on Nariman Point.. pata nahi mein kab dikh jaau udhar phir se :P.

Sharing a few things which i noticed in Mumbai :)

How to identify different Stations when you are in Local Train or on Platform :-)

1) If you find too many Gujjus (Gujrati People) talking about business or some other useful thing, then you are on Ghatkopar.

2) If you see many students moving on platform or boarding/getting down from train, then you are on Vidhyavihar.

3) If you hear your Co-Passengers Saying " Chala Bhau Chala laukar ootra", then you are on Thane. :-) Big number of crowd gets down n many others board the train from here. So make sure to be near door if u wanna get off the train on Thane. If you are inside the train then u will never be able to get off. :-)

4) If you find large crowd boarding or getting down from the train, then you are either on Dombivli, Thane, Kurla, Dadar, or CST.

5) When a few Co-Passengers start starring at you in train with some angry expressions, then you are on Mumbra. Make sure that you too give an angry expression in return which makes you a Regular Mumbai Local Train Traveller. If you fail to do so then you will surely be screwed :P

6) When you find lots of Daily Wage workers n labours on platform or in train, then you are in Kalva.

7) When you see a bit of stylish people/students with earphones plugged into ears and wearing sunglasses on head :P then you are on Mulund. Mulund is famous High Realty Prices of Residential as well as Commercial towers. One of the happening & my favourite place in Mumbai. :-)

8) If you are on Central Line and you dont find much rush or crowd then you are surely on Kanjur Marg Station.

9) If you are standing near the door of a local train and you automatically get down on arival of a station without your wish, then you are on Kurla. lolzzz :)) The Station is heavily crowded and there are abt 60-70 ppl boarding at a time in place of 20-30.  But if u wanna board back the train then just change ur direction back towards the train, you will board the train automatically again due to heavy rush :P lolzz :))

10) In a moving train if u see a lot of big buildings and many towers with broad and massive infrastructure with good design, then the next station will be Sion or Matunga or Bhandup.

11) If you see people rushing on platform like mad & struggling to board a train after pushing n pulling each other and fighting for getting down or boarding a train, then you are on Dadar. Remember, if you dont fight to catch a train on Dadar then its clear that you are not from Mumbai n some Intellegent mind will be planning to fool you.

12) When you see less rush of people moving peacefully on station without much noice then you are on New Bombay Line. You will see some beautiful Railway stations like Washi where the ground floor is a Railway Station & the other floors are given to IT Companies. All the stations of New Bombay line are beautiful n well-organised. But keep in mind that such stations are always on Hit List if bloody terrorists:(

13) When you see moderate crowd n moderate rush then you are on Western line. Even here the platforms are neat n clean. The most important thing about Western line is after Mumbai Central, you will get a marvellous view of sea, well designed building/towers and a beautiful scenery all over.

14) If you see high roofed platform on western line then you are on the last station of Western Line, i.e. Churchgate. Again, this is one of my favourite place in Mumbai. You can see many brands of 4 wheelers like Merc, Skoda, Ford, and other international brands which i was unaware of. :) The place is well designed with clean roads and automatic traffic signals. Here, majority of population is of Business class who follow the traffic rules sincerely. :)


15) If you dont realise that this station has come and passed, then it's Nahur or Kopar.

This was my experience of Railway stations across Mumbai. It includes Mumbai Central Line, Western Line & New Bombay Line. I could not roam on Harbour Line :( Well, something has to be kept pending for my next visit ;-)

16) If you are walking on a place where u find all the people talking in Gujrati about some kind of financial stuff then u are surely on Dalal Street BSE :P people walking thr suddenly stop n ask some of the co-passerby in Gujrati " Bhai, su thaiu taaroo Reliance noo.. Profit ma che toh badha vechi naak.." :P

17) On Dombivli Station you will surely find 2-3 Gujju friends standing in a corner somewhere and a Kutchi Family who wants to go to Ghatkopar :P.

Specimen of Local Train Ticket.

The First Ticket published here is baught after standing 25 mins in line. :P i had a smart card through which i could buy a ticket within seconds but i wanted to experience the normal line too :) so i cued up in the line of abt 25 ppl and the window opened after 10 mins break :)

Here the 1st ticket is taken through Smart Card which is like an ATM machine process 

The other ticket is called a Coupon where you have a Punch Machine installed on platforms n bridges

Everything in Mumbai is organised but the problem is the population which keeps on increasing day by day. 1000's of people settle in Mumbai with Big Dreams. People who put on hard efforts will surely get success and people who cannot give their best, leave Mumbai within a year or even a month. if u cannot cope up with the raw pace of life then Mumbai is not for you. I luvd the pace there n now i m implementing the pace in my life here. Found a couple of people here in Hubli saying me "kidhar bhaag raha hai.. aaraam se chal na, kya jaldi hai tujhe" :P i wish i was born in Mumbai... Things would have been different :)

Hope you enjoyed my BIG LECTURE on my experience in Mumbai... i can talk for days about this place.. :)) Thnx for reading the whole story about my Experience when i was "ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAI" :P


Lastly, here are few other pics of my all thime awesome Mumbai Tour :)

Get togeather at Nirmal LifeStlye :)