Mumbai Mere Jaan during Corona Days

Such lovely pictures of Mumbai - which is always crowded - A rare sight to see it so empty.

Bombay is a gritty and an unforgettable place to be. It has everything in almost all spectrums of life to offer. From the travelers looking at the Taj from the Gateway of India to the ones peeping at the Gateway of India from the Sea Lounge, ‘Bombay’ offers both worlds to both people. The aspirational and the dreamer find a voice in this city. Their voices are sometimes snuffed in this same city too. The parallels and divergences of this megacity run way too close to each other. Almost pillar each other with their odd variances.

Received in dowry along with Tangier by King Charles the II, this archipelago of seven islands was controlled by the British from 1665 all the way to Independence. And while the five islands were interconnected at low tide by shallow sandbanks, the island of Colaba and the old woman’s island remained disconnected by a deep channel. By 1730 while the five islands permanently united to form a single mass, it took another hundred years to connect its southernmost entities via a causeway.

A city that now boasts of a few of the richest men in the world, Bombay was leased to the East India Company in 1668 for a measily 10 pounds a year. After all, what Bombay would become was an incomprehensible thought to just about anyone. It had little value in the era. Abode of the Koli fisherman from which Colaba derives its name, this island country was a slapdash scattering of boats, Portuguese soldiers and plantations of coconut.

But Bombay showed a proclivity to being a cosmopolitan haven since the very start. Without marked demarcations, it was where distinct lots mingled and mixed. And while the docks and harbours prospered, so did the population of the islands. Especially the Parsis who were quick to learn trade, the making of ships and the English Language.

And while economic and military fortifications began making Bombay what it is today, by 19th century it is its people who made it a truly great city.

Bombay.

Marine drive









Hotel Taj





Colaba defence, Regal to CST road





Outside VT Station



Nariman Point



Girgaun chowpatty



Gateway of India



Cross maidan



Mumbai Police on guard



Cuffe Parade Ka Fish Market



Sasoon docks
Juhu beach




Mantralaya





BMC head office



Churchgate Station



Floura Fountain



CST



Asiatic library