June 17-19, 2016 – Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Welcome to the travel blog after a couple weeks’ of interruption.

This was such a memorable trip and for so many reasons and one of the most important ones being this was the first time I was traveling to Mumbai after so many years. The last time I was here, I didn’t have a good experience at all and had to detest Mumbai for most of my adulthood. But, when the opportunity knocked, I didn’t want to miss it.

One of the lecturers at my undergrad institute, SGGSIET, reached out stating he has an opportunity for a week long Big Data workshop and if I could pitch in with my expertise, that would be appreciated. I was jobless, waiting for my US visa interview, with a girlfriend overseas, and nothing else to do, so immediately nodded in approval. I was excited as it was the cultivation of two things I love the most – teaching and traveling. This was a backstory of me traveling to Mumbai on my way to Nanded, where my alma mater is based out of.

As the institute was paying for the trip, I chose to fly to Mumbai and enjoy a few places before I head to the US. It was an awesome experience to have fun without thinking too much about money and in the process, I was biding adieu to almost anything or anyone that I used to see/meet during this trip and onwards.

Before I knew it, I landed at the Mumbai airport and one of my friends who was supposed to pick me up was still at work, so I had to take a cab to her workplace. From there, it was time to head home, freshen up, and then go out to roam Mumbai.

During my last visit here, I dreaded going through the Mumbai Local just because of the number of people and how fast paced the life was. I was never a big-city guy, so Mumbai came out too strong and scared me. But, this time it was different. I had a friend along who had been living in Mumbai for quite some time now and was Mumbaikar enough to take care of me (helping me navigate through itsy-bitsy details you need to survive in Mumbai), so I knew I was in safe hands.

We changed a couple of locals to reach the first spot that I wanted to visit – Nariman Point. I must tell you, when you get out of the local and head out of the station, you don’t realize that you reached the actual destination so soon, but, as soon as you see those stones, man, you cannot help but realize how grand this beach is and why people actually love this place. I instantly fell in love with this place and thanked my friend for bringing me here.

We spent a good 90 minutes at this place, talking about various things, and reminiscing the past and having a good time, basically; And, of course, clicking many pictures.

I didn’t know I would spend this much time at this spot that it started getting dark and I got a bit hungry, so, we decided to head to a nice restaurant to have some good food.

As you can see, back in the day, I was not good with food photos, so here’s the one that I took while I was trying to finish some of the food that we ordered.

After dinner, it was time for late night chai and chats and we ended up staying late till 3 AM, as we were catching up almost after 4-5 years. The next day, I had my flight scheduled for the further journey, so had to bid adieu to Mumbai and the beautiful memories. Until next time.