Visit to Md. Ali Road, Mumbai

Every year during Ramzan, Md. Ali Road lights up in complete glee. There is complete chaos and yet things look to be systematic.

The famous sweet mart at Md. Ali Road

The streets are filled with food stuffs. Different types of road side delights. There is
the famous Malpua, chicken tandoori, kababs, chinese food iteams, chicken fry, sweets, ragda, chana, masala aloo, fruit juices, dry fruits, nalli nehari. OMG.. I can go on and on..
have a look at the snaps that I was able to take from my N70.

The Malpua of Suleman Usman Mithaiwala is worth tasting. This sweet mart is one of the oldest on the streets. Other items served only during ramzan include phirni and sandal.

Sandal is sweet idli, got only during Ramzan and only at this place.

Look at all the people. There is hardly any space to breathe, let alone walk. All you have to do is stand at one place and you will be pushed and pulled from that place to another , thats the kind of crowd you’ll find there.

And there is the ever lasting beauty of Minara Masjid. The famous land mark on Md. Ali Road. The architecture of this Mosque is worth admiring. And during ramzan its even more breath taking.

Its a total delight for foodies like me. Here are few more. You have to be there physically to get a feel of the energy around.

There are people, people and people every where. Its like a Tsunami of human beings. You’ll find people shopping, people eating, people having a cup of tea, people buying kurtas, people buying shoes… every where you look there are people.

 I have quite a few fond memories of this place. May be I’ll share some time later in my posts.

Minara Masjid at Md. Ali Road

Tongue Soup as speciality during Ramzan

The famous sweet mart at Md. Ali Road

Leaving on a jet plane

Well with Eid-ul-Fitr just round the corner, its time for me to be with my family. So I decided to fly. Even tough the face prices are hitting the roof, I had no other option. I am fasting  (thats one thing I cannot leave). Hence it would be a tad difficult for me to travel in either bus or train. Not that I haven’t done that. There is a time for everything. So now it was time to fly, may be the last time (for now).

So here I am sitting in the Departure lounge of Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL). I left my place at 5:30 AM. Although my flight wont be departing till 09:35 AM.  I was planning to take the Volvo to the Airport (BIAS service from BMTC) but I got the Suvarna bus, which is something between a Volvo and a normal BMTC bus.

Its 07:15 AM, with atleast 2 more hours for the flight, sitting with my MacBook. Accessing the free Internet. Its just so easy. As soon as I started by MacBook, there was  prompt saying from the Airport Wifi Card “PASSENGER FREE INTERNET”. All i had to do was select it and done. But not yet,  I have to send out an sms to get the password for accessing the WIFI service.I have read on the BIAL website that the free internet service is only for 15 minutes so I’ll have to be quick.

By the way I am flying Kingfisher Red (erstwhile Deccan). I booked the ticket on Deccan tough. Cost me Rs 4174/- including taxes. I haven’t checked in yet. I wanted to roam around the terminal and explore it before the checkin.

Well my first impressions are quite good about BIAL. I dont understand what exactly are the “facilities” the politicians grumble about.

[Update]

8:30 AM

I have checkedin my baggage and now waiting for the security checkin.

The Wifi connection is excellent by the way and also its for an hour. Its mentioned on the BIAL websits its for 15 minutes. Good. I can really pass my time here.

Damn it the clock for the Internet usage does not stop after I have shutdown my MacBook. Now I have only 28 minutes left.

I was just roaming around taking some pics of the airport. Will upload it once I reach Bombay.

Thats it i guess from BIAL. Let me go for the security check. If possible I’ll blog again from the security holding area. But I can see a lot of shops to keep me busy. So lets go….

[Update]
9:40 AM Hmmm… I am flying and using my laptop. The feeling is amazing.
I could only see others using their laptops in my past journeys in a plane. But now I am also using a laptop and not just any laptop… its a MacBook.. an Apple MacBook. The Best. Many drool, dream and only dream about a Mac. But I am the one who owns one.
I have always wanted to listen to some of my favorites tracks on my laptop and being able to listen to them while flying is superb.
The thrill of flying is wonderful. The thrust that you feel at take off.. is just WOW!!! One moment you are standing still and the very next you are off at more than 300 KMPH (hmm… note to self: check out the take off speed of an airplane). And the feeling that you get when the plane lifts off the ground, is just unexplainable. You really have to feel it… experience it. Its over velming.
Then within a few minutes you are flying over the clouds. The clouds appear like small cotton balls spread across the sky to infinity. You can see the roads and cars like little toy cars.
Last nite I have slept only for 3 and 1/2 hrs but still I am wide awake. I just can miss this opportunity. This experience is unforgettable.

10:45 AM
We are descending now. I can see the beautiful Western Ghats. Somewhere on those mountains is Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani and Matheran. They look just as beautiful and lush green as they look up close. I can see a deep blue river running between the mountains. Oh its so breathtaking. In a couple of minutes my journey will end and I’ll be in Bombay, the city of dreams.
A fly just flew by me. I wonder how did it get in. Guess its a free passenger… enjoy ur flight mate

11:10 AM

I just flew over New Bombay (Navi Mumbai). I can see the Gopala Towers in Vashi. This is where my brother stays. Its clearly visible. I’ll be home is a couple of hours. I’ll be landing a few minutes. And so my journey will end.

P.S: I have no idea why the font is messed up in my latest update. All I did was copy paste from the word doc that I had temporarily written the post in. Will sort it out sometime later.

A shot of Mumbai

Mumbai: The city of dreams and of course RAINS.

If you wanna know how does it rain cats and dogs, be in Mumbai during the Monsoon. For many its just facinating how can Mumbaikars live in such diludge, for a Mumbaikar its a part of life. They are so much used to the rains that if for some reason it does not rain so heavily, many may start to wonder whether something is missing.

While I was in Mumbai, there were 3 days of continuous rains. With water filling into the streets, trains stopping at stations, vechicles stuck in the knee deep water, what make you wonder is, ask any one and they’ll say, “Arre, yeh to har saal ka lafda hai”. They are just not bothered about it anymore. More over they are prepared for the heavy rains.

On one weekend my family decided to go for a long drive, to may be Alibaug or Kashid. But as we drove out of the parking lot, it began to pour. I was on the from seat of the car. And I was not able to see what lies 50 mts ahead. It was raining and raining hard.

After Kharghar near to Panvel there is a diversion to JNPT and New Panvel, we took the wrong turn and were on our way to JNPT, but took a U-Turn and were back on our way to New Panvel. Just a few minutes after this we got stuck in a massive traffic jam. We were just standing in one place for like 30 minutes. At this moment we decided its not worth the drive and had to turn back. So my outing with the family ended there.