Life At Dobhi Ghat
Our first morning in the city of dreams started with a very humbling experience at the Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat. The largest open laundry in the world, the ghat has some 1,000 cement tubs where about 5,000 people wash 1.7 lakh garments every day. Featured in several films and winner of a World Record Certificate, life at the Dhobi Ghat is far from comfort and cleanliness. Our guide, Bala, proudly told us that Tendulkar’s retirement T-shirt was also washed here!
Piya Haji Ali
The beautiful tunes of the famous AR Rahman number rang in my ears as we approached the Sufi precincts of the Haji Ali Dargah. Built on an islet in the middle of the Arabian Sea, this divine example of Indo-Islamic architecture receives about 40,000 pilgrims on Thursday and Friday.
Juice It Up
At the behest of our Mumbai-phile bunch, we just couldn’t commit the sin of skipping the Haji Ali Juice Centre. Tariq took Ganga, Jamuna & Saraswati, a combination of orange, mausambi and pineapple, while I had my favourite watermelon. Manna for the soul!
Aksa Beach Chalte Kya
Accompanied by our dear friends, we hit Aksa Beach near the Malad area after sunset. To our surprise, the beach was clean and not at all crowded. Definitely a thumbs up! Since it is customary for us to eat at the beach, we opted for an indigenous fruit called Targola. It looks like a small, raw coconut on the outside and opens up to reveal three pieces of white jelly-like fruit. Do try it.
Natural Joy
Tariq and I are not ice cream people but we had to try the delicacies at Naturals. The delicious ice cream here is tastefully created from real fruits. We sampled all and finally went for cheekoo and jamun. They easily beat the Haagen Dazs of the world!
Keep reading for more action tomorrow.
(Pictures courtesy Tariq Khan)