Girl's Trip to Mumbai

In October, Priya and I took a girl's trip to Mumbai for a week. Priya was invited to compete at Squash Nationals where the top 32 U11 girls from all over India competed at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai. We stayed at the Oberoi on Nariman Point, a hotel that overlooked the Arabian Sea and offered breathtaking views. 

Priya' tournament lasted 5 days and our hotel was conveniently located 5 blocks away from the venue. Every morning, at the crack of dawn, we walked along the serene beach to Priya’s match. It was such a peaceful time to experience the usually bustling city and it gave Priya a chance to clear her thoughts and think about her strategy for the match she was about to play.

Since Priya has never competed on the Indian squash circuit before she had to play a few qualifying rounds to get in the main draw, which she played with ease. Once she entered the main draw, the matches got a lot more exciting and were full of emotion on my end  as I cheered Priya on and felt every point as if it were my own. Priya played very competitively and in the course of the week she took her game to a completely new level. She faced some tough competition but she handled it with great form and grace. She ended up placing 7th in India for girls U11. We were so proud of her!!

During the week, Priya met some amazing athletes from Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and many other Indian cities. Many of her opponents watched her matches out of curiosity to figure out where this new competitor with an American accent came from. It was fun for me to meet the other parents and tell them our story. They all agreed that Priya is a real up-and-comer on the Indian squash circuit. 

After the tournament ended we spent a couple days exploring Mumbai. Mumbai was known as 'Bombay' until 1996, a name that emerged from the Portugal term "Bom Bahai" meaning good bay or harbor. What I find most interesting about Mumbai's geography is that it was originally 7 different islands that were joined by land reclamation.  

Since Priya has been studying Mahatma Gandhi at school, our first stop was Mani Bhavan, the home Gandhi stayed at on and off from 1917 to 1934 and from where he initiated his political activities. It has since become a memorial to Gandhi.

Gandhi’s association with the Chakra (a small, portable, hand-cranked wheel for spinning cotton and other fine fibers) began while he was staying at Mani Bhavan. Gandhi brought the chakra into larger use with his teachings, which stressed that Indians should not be sending their cotton bales to England to get woven, spun into cloth, sewn and then sold back to India at prices they could not afford. In order to resist against the British, Gandhi encouraged Indian men to spin (which was traditionally women’s work), weave their own cloth and wear clothing made from this homespun cloth. As part of the passive resistance movement, Gandhi would often spin in public. The chakra now symbolizes Indian quest for independence and is proudly displayed on the Indian flag.

The main floor of Mani Bhavan houses a beautiful library where many of the actual books Gandhi read are preserved in a bookcase. Here Priya is sitting in front of that bookcase. 

The 2nd floor houses a big photo gallery where photographs, letters and press clipping from Gandhi’s childhood till his assassination are displayed. One of the letters was one written to Hitler in 1939 urging him not to war and instead try passive resistance, an approach Gandhi followed.

The room that Gandhi used during his stay at Mani Bhawan was on the 3rd floor. This was Priya’s favorite part of the memorial. Through the glass partition we saw Gandhi’s spinning wheels, a floor bed and many of his personal belongings still preserved.

After leaving Mani Bhawan we went to the lush green Hanging Gardens, on the slopes of Malabar Hill in South Mumbai. The gardens greeted us with a hedged archway that led us to the beautifully manicured lawns.

Priya loved the animals sculpted out of hedges. Her favorites were the giraffe and the man seated on the elephant.

From the park we saw a view of Antilia, the 27-floor personal home belonging to businessman Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries. The home, which is valued at $1 billion, is considered the most expensive in the world. Antilia has its share of controversy; while some Indians are proud of the ostentatious home, others see it as shameful in a nation where many children go hungry. 

Right outside the Hanging Gardens we got a stunning view of Chowpatty beach and Marine Drive, a popular spot for watching sunsets and especially gorgeous when lit up at night.

This is Mumbai’s historic railway station (called Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus). The station building was designed in the High Victorian Gothic style of architecture by an English architect is the late 1800s who was commissioned to construct the station after a masterpiece watercolor sketch. The final design bears some resemblance to the St. Pancras railway station in London. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Finally we made it to the Gateway of India in Colaba, a monument built during the British Raj to commemorate the landing of their Majesties King George V and Queen Mary, when they visited India in 1911. The gateway overlooks the Arabian Sea and in earlier times was the first structure that visitors arriving by boat in Mumbai would see.

Across the street is the famed Taj Mahal Hotel, which was built in 1903 (during British rule) by Jamsetji Tata, an Indian industrialist. The story goes that he built the hotel after he was refused entry to one of the city’s grand hotels of the time because he wasn’t white. The hotel is considered one of the finest in India and has hosted many U.S. presidents, dignitaries, royalty and Hollywood A-listers (i.e. Bradgelina). The hotel was rebuilt after the 2008 terrorist attack. Priya and I had dinner there one evening and we could really feel the British history and glamour that is interwoven into the hotel's fabric. 

Around the corner from the hotel we visited the newly opened Starbucks, the first in all of India. We had to give it a try so we stood in the line that extended outside the front door to try the chai latte.

That ended our exciting week in Mumbai. The next morning we boarded a flight back to Delhi and reunited with our boys.