If you’ve travelled to Mumbai during monsoons or call the city your home, you’ve done at least one of these things:
- Been a total hero and put (mental) war paint of sorts to board the local to work
- Stopped getting bothered about the state of your clothes.You can try but you can’t escape the horrid splashes
- Fallen in love with how the city comes alive during the monsoons
Why cry about what we don’t have control over? Why not get acquainted with the city’s love story with the monsoons instead? So ditch your umbrella and plan some evenings through these 7 must have experiences during the Mumbai monsoons:
Colours to brighten anyone’s mood! | Photo Credit: Etta Talwar Dutta
1. Walk down Bandra’s bandstand, get a cuppa coffee overlooking the stormy sea. End the walk with bhutta from one of the roadside stalls.
Bond with friends over a steamy cup of coffee | Photo Credit: Etta Talwar Dutta
2. Go for a drive in Aarey Milk colony, the maximum cover of green Mumbai has in one location. Situated in Goregaon East, the colony has lakes, restaurants overlooking lush green gardens, space for boating, and even an observatory called Chota Kashmir.
3. Get up early and go to SGNP (Sanjay Gandhi National Park) to explore Kanheri caves. Photographers, don’t forget to take your shooting equipment to capture these Spartan caves sprinkled with Buddhist inscriptions on the basalt walls. Later, spend the evening with wildlife, birds and numerous plants the national park is home to.
4. Dare to take a walk along Marine Drive during monsoons? If you haven’t, we suggest you indulge the wave lashes a little. Don’t get too close to the edge or you could get swept way! When you have had a sufficient dose of adrenalin, feed the growling stomach with a plate of bhajiyas or bhel puri from the roadside food stall.
Dare to face nature’s fury? | Photo Credit: Etta Talwar Dutta
5. Drive down to Juhu or Aksa beach and watch the sea growl. It’s at moments like these, when you comprehend your powerlessness against nature in all its fury, that leaves you both enchanted and stumped for words.
6. Hit the town for lip-smacking food joints for fresh fish! Highway Gomantak in Bandra East is known for its scrumptious malvani meal.
Mumbai roads, freshly washed by the rains | Photo Credit: Etta Talwar Dutta
7. Finally, if you are under house arrest or don’t want to venture out (which beats the purpose of the suggestions above, so do go out!) nothing beats sipping on a cutting chai while sitting by the window and watching the raindrops fall with a rhythm of their own.
Mumbai monsoons calling already?