Bombay or Mumbai. Review on Mumbai

TRUTH IS TRUTH, whether you are In USA or INDIA or PAKISTAN. TRUTH WILL NEVER LOOSE against FALSE. TWO wrongs can never make one Right. All the criticism that I am getting on this great site makes me more determined to share my true experiences with the whole World, and once again, I Thank founder and Team of Mouthshut who has given me such a vast platform to share my experiences without much effort from my side.

• As Someone has Rightly said ''Marriage is a Invitation to Divorce'', and here at Mouthshut writing True Review is Invitation to personal comments by some ill-mannered member of Mouthshut.

• BUT ONE LEARNS FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCES, AND I HAVE LEARNT FROM MINE AND SO I AM NOT GOING TO FALL IN THE TRAP OF SLEDGING THIS TIME.

No one and simply No one in this world can make me change my TRUEopinion

BOMBAY OR MUMBAI.

WHATS IN NAME?

LOTS. It is the first step to know a stranger. It is the first thing you do when you meet someone, you exchange names with each other. It is for the best reason that you give your child or place a certain name to create a good rapport with him. Your Name is your Identity to the whole world. So Mumbai or Bombay the name does matter to everyone, at least to the visitors, far from the Sub-continent. The great Confusion still continues to cause trouble to the Visitors, though I personally feel the Bombay was much better then Mumbai.

This time I am not going in History of Bombay, oops! Mumbai. (As I like Bombay, henceforth in my this review I will reefer it as Bombay and not 'Mumbai') In fact I am not aware of Bombay history as such. Here I would like my friend asyis to tell me something of past Bombay.

Bombay, the Cosmopolitan and the most happening city of India. It being Commercial City attracts people from all over India and also from outside World.

I have been to Bombay more then 5 times since I started Working for PCB. The first time was way back when Pakistan Cricket team was due to play a test match at Wankhede Stadium. Before coming to Bombay I had heard lot about it, but it all ended the time we stepped out from the flight. The Airport though busy is very ill managed by the authority and it took us more then 1 hours to check out. The Airport is way outside the Town area, it took us more then an hour to reach 'The Ambassador' hotel at Churchgate. We opted for ''The Ambassador' due to it's close proximity to BCCI. The Customs Official (If they were in Pakistan I would have taken them on the street and Shoot them openly) treated us like we were some Smugglers or Militant. Even after constantly reminding them about our credentials, they did not stop harassing us. In the end, my colleague who had some High-Profile friend in Bombay had to call his friend to make thing easier for us. I wonder what this people must be doing with the ordinary Pakistani visitors who comes to visits their relatives in Bombay.

The Places to Visit in Bombay:

A place called Dharavi, the largest Slum in whole of Asia.

Chowpatty Beach, it is the dirtiest beach that I have been to. It's more of a dumping ground for City' s garbage.

Gateway of India, an ancient monument built by the British, but the old charm of it is totally lost due to neglect on government officials.

Prince of Wales Museum, for the lover's of art.

Wankhede Stadium & BCCI, this is the place I am most of the time when I am in Bombay.

THE PRE-CAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN WHEN IN BOMBAY

• Never try to be alone in Public places, chances are you could be man-handled by some local miscreant, without any mistake of yours( just because you are a Pakistani).

• The People of Bombay, (I still have not figured out their Language) speaks some weird language, and you just can't keep track of what they are trying to say. Their Language doesn't have any sweetness as compare to URDU or PUNJABI. Take a short-term course in their Language.

• At Traffic Lights, never open your Car Windows, there are chances that an eunuch will suddenly appears from no where and scare you to death. This Pride of Bombay would thrust their hands inside the car and would refused to go away unless paid lots of money. They always attack in-groups.

• If you are Visiting in Monsoon get yourself to a huge pair of GUM BOATS and Umbrellas as the drainage system is total failure in Bombay. Even a slight heavy shower and city is brought to stand still, and your whole day is wasted. I have gone through all this.

• OR The Best Pre-Cautions is to never visit Bombay at all.

I hope this time Everyone Agrees with me on Bombay.

© 2000-2001 Imran Ashraf, Pakistan.