Trip down memory lane.

• Print this page
• Post a comment
• Login to flag content
• Subscribe to this page and comments

It was almost two decades ago. I was in class four and our geography text book was more like a Mumbai Darshan guide book. Those were the days of little extravagance and still lots of fun. The geography text book was entitled ‘Greater Mumbai’ and a map of the city adorned the cover page. Unlike most students who found the subject boring, I found geography fascinating. For me it was like a travel book through which I could take imaginary vacations to all kinds of places around the world. Through a drab school text book I spent nights in igloos of the Tundra region and met pygmies from the rain forests. But it all started in class four, when my text book actually came to life. My first and fondest memory about Mumbai is embedded in that enchanting road trip I took with my parents.

 The text book had pictures of major landmarks of the city accompanied by a brief description. So as part of experiential learning, my parents decided to take us kids to see what we were mugging up. On a bright Sunday morning we hopped onto a Double Decker BEST bus (also for the first time for me) and headed southwards. The Gateway of India stood in all its glory to welcome starry eyed kids instead of royals form the Empire. On the ferry to the Elephanta caves I came face to face with foreigners for the first time. The black and white printed Elephant in the book came to life in the form of solid stone and I could not stop staring. Rajabai Tower, Flora Fountain, Prince of Wales Museum and Victoria Terminus rose out of the school book with such over powering grandeur that I could not imagine how anyone could learn of these places without actually visiting them. My love story with the city started on that day. That day I had truly been there, done it.

On this children’s day I hope kids get something memorable like I did that Sunday several years ago. In the clutter of PS2s and automated elevators a simple climb up the deck of a bus can be very adventurous. The BEST plies an open double decker bus called Nilambari along the very route that my parents charted for us back then. I can’t wait to gaze skyward as the bus moves along Marine Drive and drown in memories of the same trip I took as a 10 year old.  

Author: Prachi Wagh | Published Nov 10, 2009 | 02:32 PM

Loves and lives Mumbai. Journalist and traveler. The city is home. It is also a way of life. The city that makes me who I am, every day, all the time....