Off to Mumbai

Spending two months in the great city of Mumbai is a great experience for anybody. I had the golden chance of lifetime to do so in this summer. It was a trip spiced with great environs of Mumbai along with a research experience in TIFR (Tata Institute for Fundamental Research). I was among the lucky few in India to be selected for this summer project experience. Our project was called VSRP (Visitors Students Research Program).

I started from Pune on Thursday 15^th May at an ungodly hour of 5:45 am. Because of negligence on my part we (oh me and Soumyajyoti !) were not able to get a reserved ticket to Mumbai. We reached Pune station and cut tickets for Mumbai but missed Deccan Queen by a whisker and had to settle for 7:55 Pragati. We got seats to seat and I got a beautiful co-passenger whom I mistook for a school girl (She was a BA 2^nd year student). We had a nice trip to Mumbai having nice scenic view all around us.

We reached TIFR by 12 and were promptly shown to our temporary accommodations in Ramanujam guest house. I was put into a room with Arnab(University of Delhi) and Tanuj(IIT Bombay). I went to see barrel (oh soumyajyoti’s nick name, saves space) and there met a pucca keralian, R. Sooraj Krishnan (IIT Madras). He eventually became my room-mate and I had long debates with him.

We had the taste of west canteen lunch (do mahine yehi khaya) and by afternoon were in the permanent accommodation in Geomagnetism hostels. Our room was actually a kitchen having a proper kitchen sink and platform. Drinking water was 20 litres mineral water bottles which we had to carry ourselves after 3 days. One bathroom for seven people was a mess but we didn’t have any other choice as the other accommodation in Wadala was 1:30 hours away and in a messy area. At least we were 20 mins (walking) away from TIFR and near to Colaba which we roamed like anything.

In the evening itself we started roaming around in Mumbai. Tanuj was our guide and the travelers were Anirudh (NIT Surathkal), Arun (NIT Trichy), Harsh Tiwari (IIT Roorkee), me and Sooraj. We saw the famed Gateway of India, Old Taj and New Taj. Among them I saw the sea for the first time in my life. I was seeing all what I had seen only in films. From there we went to Marine drive and the Girgaun Beach. The beach was small as compared to the more famed Juhu beach (and cheaper). We ate somewhere in Colaba and then went back to the hostel. In my room the third roommate had arrived and he was K. Shanti Swaroop (JNTU, Hyderabad re!!!). He is to play an important character in these memoirs. Off to the next part…………..