India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) (53 page)

I also like to walk around The Oval (maidan, in downtown Mumbai) for another kind of contrast. On one side you have beautiful neo-Gothic buildings that look as if they’ve been transplanted from another continent, albeit with typically Indian flourishes and intricate carvings. Walk over to the other side of this huge field and you see Art Deco buildings from the 1930s and ’40s with nautical and tropical motifs, again embodying a distinctive Bombay quality. Only Miami has something close to this. The northern end of the field has a cricket training academy but on Sundays, the maidan is overrun by dozens of impromptu cricket games, and in the middle of the chaos, a group of Nigerians can often by found playing football. Another great place I like to wander is Chor Bazaar and the adjoining Mohammedali Road. A flea market, Chor Bazaar is filled with a jumble of interesting things, and you can snag some good vintage finds—furniture, posters, coins, records—or just window shop and laugh at some of the ridiculously naïve copies of old objects and artifacts.”

—Naresh Fernandes, Editor, Time Out Mumbai.

Victoria Terminus
Rechristened
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
as part of Mumbai’s nationalist-inspired anti-Raj campaign, this baroque, cathedral-like train station—still known to everyone as “VT”—must rank as Mumbai’s most marvelous Raj-era monument. India’s very first steam engine left this station when it was completed in 1887; today at least a thousand trains leave every day, carrying some 21⁄2 million commuters in and out of the city. Targeted in 2008 as part of a wider attack on the city by a group of terrorists, the station has been undergoing some renovation, and attempts to beef up security mean that there are now armed guards around all the entrances. Don’t let that put you off, though—and don’t be alarmed by the sheer number of commuters should you happen to turn up during peak hours. With its vaulted roofs, arches, Gothic spires, flying buttresses, gables crowned by neoclassical sculptures, stone carvings, and exquisite friezes, the terminus is an architectural gem, worth entering to see the massive ribbed Central Dome (topped by a statue of the torch-wielding “Progress”) that caps an octagonal tower featuring beautiful stained-glass windows with colorful images of trains and floral patterns. But come, too, for the spectacle of the disparate people, from sari-clad beauties to half-naked fakirs, who make up Mumbai. Get here just before lunch to watch the famous
dabba-wallas
stream out into the city: A vast network of
dabba-wallas
transfer some 200,000 cooked lunches, prepared by housewives for their office-bound husbands, and kept warm in identical
dabbas
(metal lunch containers), through a unique sorting and multiple-relay distribution system; later in the afternoon these empty
dabbas
are returned to their home of origin. The success of this system (no one gets the wrong lunch) is proof of how well India works, despite its reputation for obstructive bureaucracy. In fact, following a study of this network, U.S. business magazine
Forbes
gave it a Six Sigma (99.99% accuracy) performance rating, which means that just one error occurs in six million transactions.

Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji Rd., Fort.

Need a Fortifying Break in Fort?

Stadium
(
022/2204-6819
) is a cheap, unpretentious Irani restaurant outside Churchgate Station where you can sip chai or a cold drink while you contemplate your next move. Across the street (though you will have to walk all around to get there) is
Gaylord
(Mayfair, Veer Nariman Rd., Churchgate;
022/2204-4693
) an old fashioned cafe with a terrace and an all-day bakery selling fresh breads, croissants, and assorted bites—great to recover your strength after a day of pounding the sidewalks or idling in traffic.

MARKETS

Mumbai has more than 70 markets, and it’s worthwhile to spend a couple of hours exploring at least one, not so much for the shopping (for that, see “Shopping,” later in this chapter) as for the human spectacle of it all. Flowers are an intrinsic part of Indian culture, and
Bhuleshwar Wholesale Flower Market
(CP Tank Circle; dawn–noon) is the best place in the city to witness the Indian romance with color and fragrance. Note that according to Hindu beliefs, if you touch or sniff the flowers, you’ll ruin them—so don’t. The name
Chor Bazaar (Thieves’ Market)
(Mutton St., off Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rd.; Sat–Thurs 11am–7pm) conjures up
Arabian Nights’
cloak-and-dagger intrigue and visions of precious rings sold with the finger of the former owner still attached, but in reality this is a fun place to rummage through an extravagant assortment of antiques, fakes, and junk and get into the rhythm of that favorite Indian pastime: bargaining. It’s also highly likely that—unless you’re an expert on antiques—you’ll end up buying something that might look a few hundred years old, but which was churned out by a talented craftsman just this morning. In short, it’s a good idea to browse here, but you’d better be on your toes if you have any plans to leave with a valuable antique.

Bewitched by Alphonso

Along with the unbearable heat, summer brings forth crops of beauteous mangoes, dozens of varieties of which are available only in India. King of them all is unquestionably the Alphonso. You may have eaten mangoes in Mexico, Thailand, or even other parts of India, but until you’ve sucked on the succulent bright orange pulp of the Alphonso, with its bewitching scent and unimaginably divine flavor, you’ll miss a sensory experience like no other. The best Alphonsos originate from Ratnagiri in rural Maharashtra. To make sure you’re getting the real thing, ask your hotel to find you one, or—better still—explore the fruit section at Mumbai’s
Crawford Market.
Prices start at Rs 1,500 a dozen in March and go down to Rs 120 a dozen when the season peaks in May; the mangoes often need to be kept a day or two to ripen before eating.

If you visit only one market, make it
Crawford Market
(Lokmanya Tilak Marg and Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji Rd.; Mon–Sat 11:30am–8pm), Mumbai’s quintessential fresh-produce shopping experience, now officially known as
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Market.
Dating from the 1860s, it combines the traditional Indian bazaar experience with both Norman and Flemish architecture; pay attention to the bas-relief frieze above the main entrance—it was designed by Rudyard Kipling’s father. Admire the colorful pyramids of heavenly mangoes (see “Bewitched by Alphonso,” box above) and ripe bananas, but steer clear of the disturbing pet stalls.