One fine day in Bombay..the glittering, roiling city on India's ocean
By Jehangir Pocha, Globe Correspondent,
BOSTON GLOBE, 1/12/2003

BOMBAY - Poised precariously on India's western coastline, a thin spit of land extending into the Arabian Sea holds more mystery per square mile than any other city on the subcontinent. It's Bombay, a fishing village grown up to become a city of dreams.

My friend Carmen from Cambridge was visiting India for work and had planned to join me in Bombay, where I was visiting family for a week, but flight times, family, and conferences had conspired to give her just 24 hours in the city.

''Is it worth it,'' she had asked. ''Flying all the way for just one day?'' She answered the question herself. ''OK, we'll just have to wake early.''

Bombay is a hard city to resist. The only thing wilder than the myths surrounding it are the facts. Financial hub, seaport, movie capital, military base, fashion capital, and cultural center, Bombay is many things to many people - 18 million at last count.

We start out at dawn from Breach Candy, a residential neighborhood in south Bombay. In his benevolence, Surya, the sun god, rewards our early rising with a beautiful marmalade-colored sky. As we fall into the front seats on the upper level of a red London-style double-decker bus, the city below begins to come alive. In nooks between the designer stores, boys hand-weave garlands of marigolds, and vendors roll out jute mats on which they place their vegetables.

Though stately homes and palaces once dotted Breach Candy and neighboring Malabar Hill and Altamount Road, most have given way to shabby concrete towers and tiny stores and boutiques that nudge each other for space.

Despite its wealth and heritage, Bombay wears a worn look. A complex rent-control regime ensures little or no maintenance of most property. But like an aging rock star who has survived much self-inflicted abuse, the city wears its scars with a grim but potent dignity.

Our first stop is Mani Bhavan on Laburnum Road, Mahatma Gandhi's residence in Bombay and the place from where he launched his call for India's independence. With its multicolored mosaic tiles, polished wood banisters, fading brass fittings, and antique ceiling fans, the building retains a surprisingly authentic feel of those times, and the aura of the great man is still palpable in the one austere room in which he lived.

Taxis are easy to hail in Bombay, and we take one, an aging Fiat in yellow and black, down Marine Drive, Bombay's elegantly curved version of a chic Cote d'Azur ocean boulevard. Carmen is surprised to see scores of couples kissing and groping along the sea wall.

''Public kissing in India?'' she says incredulously. I point across the promenade to the row of buildings opposite, which many consider one of the finest stretches of 1930s Art Deco architecture in the world. From wind-battered balconies seniors are gazing out at the sea, but as I point out to Carmen, they are deliberately looking past the young lovers below.

''Don't ask, don't tell,'' I say. Mutually assured discretion allows many Indian families to reconcile tradition with social change. Artful accommodation has always been vital to this city of contradictions. Life here has never been defined by any one thing, and despite every new influence and every new immigrant that float into the city, somehow space is made for the old.

The Kolis were Bombay's inhabitants when the area was captured by a Portuguese captain, Heytor de Silveira, in 1528. Today, crammed along a narrow stretch of the sea between the modern office complexes at Nariman Point and nouveau-riche residential towers at Cuffe Parade, they still survive, continuing their ancient life, seemingly unperturbed by the world that has risen around them.

From Sassoon Dock, the main fish market not far away, Kolis still sail their Arabian dhows, or fishing boats. Amid the din of the market we can see Koli women patiently weaving the nets their husbands use to catch silver pomfrets and the famous Bombay duck, a thin white fish unique to the city. About eight inches long, it is rolled in red chilies and fried.

A beaming fisherman comes up to us and asks if we would like a harbor tour.

''For golden lady only 200 rupees,'' or $4, he says, gesturing at Carmen's hair.

I warn Carmen that after an hour on his boat surrounded by fish we might never smell the same again. But she wants to go, and our captain, Suresh, sails us down the harbor to Bombay's most famous landmark, the Gateway of India monument, with the grand Taj Mahal Hotel behind it.

The Gateway of India was built in 1911 from private contributions to commemorate the first visit George V paid to the jewel in his crown. An elegant sand-colored monument that is part Arc de Triomphe and part Rajput fort, it apparently failed to impress George, for he never returned.

The Taj Mahal was built by the philanthropist-industrialist Jamsetji Tata as an ''all races'' hotel in 1903, after he was denied entry into one of the city's ''whites only'' hotels. Behind it lies the Colaba Causeway, a melee of curio shops and cafes where backpackers plan their forays into the country's jungle reserves, Himalayan mountains, and beach hideaways.

We sail on to the Lion Gate naval base, where lines of gray Russian-built Kashin-class missile destroyers and two hulking aircraft carriers lie anchored. As I complain to Carmen that India spends one-fourth of its revenues on defense, Suresh rushes to defend his country. ''India has many enemies,'' he says darkly.

Back on land, we persuade a cabbie to ignore our stench and drive us to the military cantonment at the tip of Bombay. Free from the pressures of civil city life, the area is much as it was a century ago. Walking through it gives one an idea of Bombay back then - leafy roads lined with gray stone buildings and grand residences set among lush gardens.

Taking the 123 bus into the city, we stop at the crowded Colaba Causeway to seek out designer ripoffs and genuine antiques in its musty little shops.

By the time we take the bus on into Flora Fountain, the city's nerve center, it is 11 o'clock - rush hour. Vespas, microcars, antiquated taxis, smog-sprouting trucks, handcarts, and bicyclists all compete cheerfully for space on the road as pedestrians weave skillfully among them.

The Bombay Stock Exchange, Asia's first, looms over the imperial Gothic and Indo-Saracenic buildings that crowd the area. Bombay University with its soaring clock tower, the stately High Court, and crumbling 19th-century trading houses are all in walking distance, and we saunter around.

The footpaths are jammed with makeshift stalls, and giant handpainted signs advertise everything from toothpaste to Bollywood films with titles like ''Sometimes Happy, Sometimes Sad.'' Impatient commuters, clad in clothes that span continents, cultures, and generations, mill around us. Aging suits, colonial whites, designer linens, flowing saris, floral frocks, and elaborate salwars (long dresses worn over soft cotton trousers with a long scarf draped over the shoulders) mix freely with jeans, dhotis (the local style of sarongs), Muslim veils, turbans, and Nehru-style white jackets.

We lunch at Trishna, watering hole of the casually hip, on spicy fish in a saffron curry garnished with cilantro, and make our way to St. Thomas Cathedral, the city's oldest colonial building (1715).

The grandest building in the city is the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus just ahead. Originally called the Victoria Terminus, Asia's first railway, started in 1853, ran 33 miles from here to the northern suburb of Thane. Massive, ornate, and elegant, the structure has one flaw.

''I bet you I can find it,'' says Carmen, and she picks it out quickly. It is an empty pedestal. Once Queen Victoria's proud marble likeness stood there, but in the 1970s another proud empress, Indira Gandhi, had it removed.

Catching a local train, we head north, passing through the sprawling shanties of Dharavi, Asia's largest slum. The sight of naked children playing in gutters is enough to tear at the hardest hearts, but the sweaty commuters around us gaze distantly through it all. Emotional insulation is the only way to survive the grit of a city where more than 5 million people live in barren slums.

Alighting at Borivali, a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw gives us a bone-jarring ride to the Borivali National Park, and we are just in time for the last cat tour of the day. From behind the bars of our bus we gaze at sleepy lions and crouching tigers who stare back at us with their bewitching eyes. For Carmen it is the most enchanting part of the day.

Night falls as we leave the reserve, and the cooler temperature emboldens us to walk despite the crowd.

We saunter down to a little dhaba, a roadside food stall for truckers, and dine on hot naan and tandoori chicken. It's hardly more than a shack, and Carmen worries for her tummy. But the secret to safety is eating hot, freshly cooked food and drinking only bottled water from reliable companies.

We can see the clay oven the naan is being baked in, and the cook is delighted to let Carmen reach into it and turn her own naan. One hundred rupees ($2) procures us a beer from across the street, and after sharing a glass with our host he is all jabber. The openness and hospitality of Indians often astounds people, for they can open their homes and hearts wide and quick. As our host tells Carmen about his hometown and asks about hers, kids from the street gather to listen, grinning ceaselessly and giggling when she tries to talk to them. The ubiquitous street dog also attends what is becoming Carmen's going-away party, and as I scratch his ears I look over to Carmen.

The airport is just a short taxi ride away and soon she will be comfortably ensconced in her seat, looking down on the shimmering lights of Bombay as her jet makes a majestic turn over the city. She looks tired, but happy. Bombay has not let her down. It never does.

IF YOU GO..

How to get there
Bombay is about 16 hours flying time from Boston. Most flights connect through Europe. Lowest upcoming round-trip fares from Boston to Bombay (Mumbai) available at press time start at $1,204 on Alitalia, connecting through Milan. The best prices on air tickets are usually obtained through Indian-owned ticket consolidators.

Where to stay
Most tourists prefer to stay in the southern part of the city.

The Taj Mahal Hotel
Apollo Bunder, Colaba
011-91-22-5665-3366
Classic and historic. The best address in the city. Rooms: $200 to $2,500.

Ritz
5 Jamshedij Tata Rd.
011-91-22-2283-7623
A lovely Art Deco building with simple but elegant rooms, with a convenient location and helpful staff. Rooms $90 to $180.

Shelleys
30 P.J. Ramchandani Marg
Apollo Bunder
011-91-22-2284-0229
Oozes old-world charm, low on modern amenities like Internet connections and voice mail. Rooms: about $40.

What to do

Mani Bhavan
19 Laburnum Road
This simple and charming museum was Mahatma Gandhi's residence in Bombay between 1917 and 1934. Gandhi's room and belongings, including his books, are on display. The museum is near August Kranti Field, where the ''Quit India'' campaign was launched in 1942. Open daily from 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Admission is free.

Sassoon Dock
Constructed by one of the city's noted Jewish sons, David Sassoon, this was the first wet dock built in western India. Located off Colaba Causeway, the dock is always interesting to visit at dawn, when the fishing boats come in and unload their catch. Moonlighting fishermen will take you on a private cruise of the harbor for about $2.

Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel
Located beside each other along Apollo Bunder Road. An equestrian statue of the Maratha warrior Chhatrapatin Shivaji and statue of the Hindu guru Swami Vivekhanda are also nearby. Entrance to the Gateway is free. Cruises of the harbor begin and end at the Gateway, and a ride in one of the rickety boats costs about $1.

Sanjay Gandhi National Park at Borivali
About 25 miles north of Bombay, the park is the last surviving patch of green near the city. It boasts a small preserve that houses lions and tigers, but is renowned as a bird sanctuary.
To get there, take a train to the Borivali station and then hop on a rickshaw. Entrance to the park is 10 cents for locals but about $2 for foreigners. Cars and taxis are also permitted inside the park for $1 in case one does not feel like having to walk through the entire reserve. The lion and tiger ''safaris'' require their own tickets: $2 for either morning or evening session, which lasts about 30 minutes; children free. Closed on Mondays.

Where to eat
Bombay is bursting with cafes, restaurants, and bars. Though the choice of international restaurants is relatively slim for a city this size, the local variety makes up for that. Prices at restaurants are higher than one might imagine for an Indian city. The price for imported alcohol in upmarket bars and restaurants can be up to double what one would pay in Boston.

Trishna
7 Rope Walk Lane, Fort
011-91-22-2267-2176
Arguably the best seafood restaurant in town, Trishna is always full. But the half-hour wait usually gives one the chance to rub shoulders with the celebrities who frequent the place. Prices vary widely depending on what you order. A meal could cost as little as $6 or as much as $40 per person, without any imported alcohol.

Chetna
34 K. Dubash Marg
011-91-22-2284-4968
Enjoy a traditional thali - a smorgasbord of vegetarian dishes served on a silver plate - while you marvel at the Art Deco floor tiles and soak in the simple ethnic decor. A complete meal for two costs about $15.

Cafe Mondegar
Colaba Causeway
011-91-22-2202-0591

Leopold Cafe
Colaba Causeway
011-91-22-2287-3362
Great places to meet fellow travelers. The mood is sociable and the food and beer are good and cheap. A meal for two costs approximately $15. A beer with munchies costs about $8.

Jehangir Pocha is a freelance writer who lives in Cambridge, Boston, MA.

© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.