For the first time ever, I have been on a solo trip and it was to the city of dreams. Yes, it was a 2-day trip to Mumbai. People will find it a little awkward that why would suddenly I will go to Mumbai from all the way to Hyderabad just for 2 days and spent so much. Well, I needed peace of mind. It’s strange that I went to one of the most crowded city it worlds to find peace, I am happy that I found what I needed.

I was born and brought up at Kolkata, another crowded and noisy place. Hence, for me, it was pretty much easy to find peace in noise. Yes, I am a beach person, but, Mumbai is not about the beach. Most of the seas-shores are full of rock. Especially in monsoon, it’s pretty hard for one to find the beach in Mumbai. Other than Juhu, all the beaches were fully covered with water due to high tide. Still, just go there, sit on one of the rocks and just listen to the sea, roaring. The sound of water splashing on the rocks, those sprinkle of water coming on your face, is what defines peace.

“Mumbai ki baarish” is pretty famous and if I would not have visited in monsoon, I would have never known why. I am a person, who hates rain, but Mumbai rain is actually bliss. Those droplets when you are walking at the sea-side, the breeze along with the waterdrops is the ultimate. Generally, rain makes you tired and sleepy, but when you are in Mumbai, you can not be lazy. The Mumbai Rain energise you to the core.

Mumbai is the city with Asia’s largest slum, again Mumbai is the city where the richest people live in. The city knows how to manage poverty and wealth at the same time. The tall buildings are raising their heads parallelly with that slum. Mumbai is not posh, it is dirty. You will see garbage everywhere, be it on the street or at the beach. But Mumbaikars are working on it daily to make it clean. As I said, if you are lazy, Mumbai is not a place for you. You have to be engaged with some of the other kind of activities. It is the city that never sleeps, it is the city where people make you feel safe. If you are a girl, and walking alone on the road at midnight, you still feel safe. Wherever you want to go, you have enough of public transport. If you are new or just a visitor for a few days, ask people and they will tell you how to go.

There are plenty of places to visit in Mumbai, but I am not a traveller. I went to simply sit at the Marine Drive at midnight. Yes, it is one of my dreams which is now fulfilled. Though I was scared initially, once I sat there, I realized, hundreds and thousands of people are sitting beside you and everyone is lost in their own world. After 11 pm, you will see Mumbai Police taking strolls but unlike most of the cities, they actually protect you and helps you rather than asking you to vacate the place. You can sit there the whole night and do nothing but won’t realize when it is morning. Queen’s necklace shines all night.

There were a few places I had been to other than Marine Drive. One of them is the Gateway of India. Besides this, there is the Taj Hotel. It is the place where heritage meets royalty. When you look at the Taj, you will still see those scars of 26/11 which the whole world will never forget. The sound of the sea and those scars will surely give you goosebumps all over.

One more place was nowhere but Bandstand, the scenic beauty will amaze you. There is a fort there, which hardly looks like a fort, but the view you get from there is eye-soothing.

Though the main attraction on Bandstand is filmstar’s house and I am also no exception there. I went to fulfil my other dream, that is nothing but seeing “Mannat”.Even though I could not see SRK there, but I could feel butterflies in my stomach for sure.

In the short time of period, there were only those few places I could cover, but as I stated, I got what I needed. Before leaving the city in the morning, I could not resist the water to touch my body, so I went to Versova beach. Unfortunately, it was closed due to high tide, but I sat there and felt the rain. I went back to Juhu beach, it the place from where I started my “Mumbai Darshan”. So my trip ended where it started from. The water of the sea touched not only my body but my soul. Having tea while your legs are drowned in the water in the early morning, that too is the city of Dreams, it is still a dream for me and I will be back soon.

Warning: This one is not a travel blog and I am not a traveller!