Cool Comment

Check into one of the many four star hotels Mumbai has to offer. Strap your money belt close to your chest. Strap on the walking shoes and hit the dense human experience of this extreme city. Mumbai was once a lushious strand of seven islands, the  Matunga-Sion, Parel, Mahim, Wadala, Old Woman’s Island, Mazagoan, and Colaba, that was the Raj’s most sparkling jewel. It was given to the Portuguese Princess Infanta Catherine de Braganza when she became the wife of Charles II of England in 1661. Her dowry has become a bustling commercial mecca of old civilization trying to become at one with the new modern world.

Mumbai is the extremes of human existence. There are thirteen million people living here among the great distance of the rich and the poor. The streets are crowded with people scrapping for a place to work, eat, live and play. Vendors are scrapping for money with everything that is new or used. There is the Stock Exchange making over night millionaires or destitute citizens. There are wealthy industrialists with their high rise buildings. Flashy film stars make the Bollywood scene come alive. Many everyday workers and career people who try to contribute good things to the city.

The historical buildings still can be found nestled between the modern towers. One of the notables is now the Mani Bhavan Museum. This is located inside the bit sad and tiny building that housed Mahatma Gandhi during his stay in Bombay from 1917 to 1934. Visitors can see the tiny room where Gandhi stayed. This is the same room where he figured out his philosophy called satyagraha which translates to truth, nonviolence and self sacrifice. It is from this old building that he launched his civil disobedience campaign in 1932. The campaign that finally brought the British rule to its end.