Mumbai Mania

The old lanes of Mumbai conjure up an image of a city within a city; shops selling a wide range of wares from vegetables, flowers to fancy jewellery. Clusters of buildings housing thousands of people, ancient temples for the devout worshippers, commercial establishments dealing in garments and lots more.

Bhuleshwar in South Mumbai is a place where ancient customs fight for space with modernity. Its a crazy walk through the narrow streets and by-lanes of Bhuleshwar, where you have a different view with every step you take.

At the center of it is Kabutar Khana, one of the many that exists in Mumbai, where pigeons are fed all kinds of grains by the locals and bird lovers. Feeding pigeons is an old tradition in Mumbai and in fact they are also taken care of by doctors, who regularly visit Kabutar khana and vaccinate them to eradicate any infections or diseases. The places of worship probably give you some peace but on stepping outside, it is chaotic, especially during evening hours when each lane is buzzing with a different activity. The road leading to Madhav bagh has shops lined up on either side and hawkers outside the shops who sell household items, bags, bangles etc., at a reasonable rate. We made a trip to Bhuleshwar to purchase a turban from a shop that lies in one of the most constricted lanes we have ever seen. Named Bhagatwadi, the size of the lane is quite deceiving when you consider the number of shops it holds. There is a fruit seller just as you enter, followed by a beautiful earthenware shop that has myriad clay creations. Then there are a couple of shops that rent out various costumes, a good place to go if your kid has a fancy dress competition at school, theater and film costumes as well.

There was so much to see in Bhuleshwar, so we soon moved out of Bhagat wadi to experience more of this place. Rows of buildings on either side of the road, a common sight in this part of town stretching from Princess Street, Kalbadevi, Zaveri Bazaar to Bhuleshwar. Some of the buildings are in a dilapidated condition as well, with chawls dominating the housing scenario. The landscape of Mumbai is incomplete without hawkers selling vegetables and fruits placed in ethnic cane baskets. Opposite to the market area is the 130-year-old Laxmi Narayan temple. A famous temple in Bhuleshwar, it is believed that all wishes come true here. The scenes change rapidly as we crawled our way through the streets. So many commercial establishements there has to be a tea shop closeby providing shop owners with their daily dose of chai. Close to Laxmi Narayan temple is the popular Flower market or Phool Galli where variety of flowers are sold at wholesale rates. Of course morning is the right time to come as most of the shops were closed. One of the flower sellers happily posing. While some of them were sleeping in the available space. Move in the opposite direction and there were series of garland shops, used in the temples, marriages or any festive occasion. You can get customised garlands too! I bought a beautiful garland from here for my marriage. :) An old man weaving flowers to make these colorful garlands. Some more floral delights on display at the start of Bhoiwada. Not only flowers there were also some fancy, bright colorful ribbons and beads being sold at one of the shops. As the sun set in this neo-gothic vicinity that has so much to offer, we moved on from there, not without getting stuck in traffic, pondering over the myriad shades that makes Mumbai a highly vibrant city.