amma's travel post

Amma wrote a very beautiful piece about their sudden mumbai trip.I want to upload it on my blog.

Sudden bombay trip

A fleeting thought and a wish transformed into reality!That is how our Bombay trip can be explained.To accede to their father’s wish the daughters, son and grandson did things in such a quick way that we were in the plane in a matter of 7 hours.One daughter brought a suitcase and packed our things;grandson brought another suitcase and quick eats for the night, just in case; he also booked our tickets; another daughter filled in the necessary details for the trip and also reminded me of all the things to be done before leaving.We were mere spectators. Nice to have efficient children.The funny part was, I was supposed to be the executive, ordering about the subordinates!
Once we reached the airport we were told the flight was delayed, so we relaxed in the lounge. Our son had asked that we take the business class and hence we soaked in the luxury.When we asked for a magazine, we were given a magazine of unknown language!The attender also did not know what language it was.We had the funny experience of being wheeled into the lift and also lifted right up to our seat on the plane. No security check up, no checking in, no tagging our luggage; everything was taken care of by an attendant .The night scene of Chennai from the flight was most beautiful.We enjoyed the benefits of traveling business class. The solicitousness of the airhostesses, the number of magazines given to us and that too in a tray,the umpteen glasses of fruit drinks and tender cocoanut water that were offered and of course not to mention the capacious seats and leg space made our travel quite comfortable and memorable.
We landed in Mumbai and saw quite a few saffron clad swamis in the arrival lounge.I came to know later that Swami chinmayananda’s disciple was holding a meeting in Mumbai that day.The airport has been modernized beyond recognition and it can very easily compare itself with the best in the world.I was amazed at the sheer number of planes taking off and landing and taxiing in such a short span of time.Spicejet aircraft with their colourful tails were very prominent.
We reached home late in the night.
Mumbai is unique; there is very little parking space, so if you need to go somewhere, the driver will drop you and keep circling the area and pick you up when you call him on his mobile!
This trip was arranged as per KRR’s wishes .His next wish was to visit ahobila mutt temple in chembur.Kumar made necessary arrangements for the same. While traveling in the car , ‘’anda naal nyabagam nenjile vandade”.It was 1945, just after the Allies victory. My father had taken me to the VT station, which was illuminated with colourful bulbs of various hues and sizes.I can still recall the illuminated tram with the words ‘allies won year 1945’.This tram was the cynosure of all eyes on that day.As a ten year old girl I was also delighted to see this.Even after so many decades, this picture frame is etched green in my memory.So also, the memory of a ship explosion when we were crossing Bycullah, and its aftermath is still fresh.While passing through Matunga, the memory of Dec 1978, when we had come there after my daughter’s engagement in Pune, was fresh.We were now passing through Ghatkopar and I was busy searching for Chandra Shah hospital where my son was born. My brother Babu liked the food the hospital served so much, that he used to polish off the food given to me. I could not consume anything as it was very rich with ghee and I barely could manage the ‘pathiya saapadu’ that my mother used to bring.For the first time I saw mothers after a few hours of delivery, consume sweets like mysore pak and laddu. I was told that it is necessary for the mothers to regain strength and the nurse used to goad me to try some. She used to tell me, aap log imli ka pani letho ho, isliye koi takath nahi.I was still intrigued how they are able to digest these heavy foods and I was told that they are given a health drink of gum and some herbs, first thing in the morning; they are also given a special gum laddu which is supposed to strengthen the waist and uterus.
While I was traveling back in time wistfully , the car was busy covering lot of ground.
We did not witness any traffic jams.The roads were fairly clean and .broad and also had footpaths on which people can actually walk.In Chennai everyday we come across in the newspapers about traffic accidental deaths; but in Mumbai for the two weeks that we were there, I did not read about a single accident.
We reached Ahobila mutt after nearly one and a half hours .The temple as such is not a very imposing one.You can see the main sannidhi as you are entering the temple.In front of the main sannidhi, there are small sannidhis for periya thiruvadi and siriya thiruvadi and also enough space for doing pradakshanam. In the main sannidhi you have lakshmi narasimhar and Lakshmi hayagrivar.There is another sannidhi for mahalakshmi. The sannidhi doors are made of pure goldThe doors of lakshmi sannidhi were more elaborate and intricate than that of the moolavar. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and it was not surprising!There are other small sannidhis including one for guruvayooorappan.There is a big pond and we could see brisk business of puja articles on the banks of the same.I was happy to see kadambam being strung with malli dhavanam and Krishna tulasi.In Chennai I have never seen Krishna tulasi being used for kadambam.A group of ayyangar mamis were chanting sri sthuthi and Vishnu sahasranamam.I have usually come across bhajan groups which chant desika sthothrams and divya prabhandam but sristhuthi and that too by women was unsual.
Our return journey was fairly quick and we were back home in less than an hour.

On Sunday Kumar took us to Malabar Hills. There was hardly any parking space. So we found some space for sitting while Kumar parked the car. It was very very chilly in the garden area and so we were not able to enjoy the sylvan surroundings and ambience. We had to return soon. After coming back we took a taxi to Banaswadi Balaji temple. The road leading to the temple was one way so we had to get down and walk some distance. Kumar was most careful leading his father in law, holding his hand. I was lagging behind because the road was not good. This temple is almost like oppiliappan koil, with the temple situated amidst residential buildings. Most of the temples in Tamil Nadu are situated far away from the street with a big compound wall of imposing length and width.
We were happy to see Prakara valam of Devaraja Perumal with chamaram kudai, theevati and a shenai was also being played instead of the usual nadaswaram. After sometime there was a recorded nadaswaram music. This temple has undergone vast improvement.The entire gita has been inscribed on the walls as also the pictures of the 108 divya desams. The temple was well maintained and spotlessly clean.The Bangurs of Calcutta built this temple and the archakas have been provided residential quarters inside the complex itself. After a satisfactory darshan of Lord Srinivasa and Alarmelmangai thayar,we hired a taxi in front of the temple itself and returned home.
I told Kumar that there need be no more outings but Vasu’s father after 2 days of walking inside the compound wanted to go to Gateway of India. Once again there was no parking space and the driver Francis asked us to have a leisurely and he would pick us up after 20 minutes. There was a wedding in the Taj Hotel and we saw a beautifully decorated white horse. The baratis were standing on the platform and waiters were serving them cool drinks and cookies. A car with orchids about a foot wide and shaped in the form of a n S was standing.This itself must have cost a fortune. Renovation work was going on in front of the Gateway of India and we could not go anywhere near it. There were lots of boats of various sizes and my mind flew back to the time when we went to elephanta caves as a group. I was able to touch the sea from the boat and was thrilled beyond words.
From Gateway of India we went to Cuffe Parade and saw the President hotel and the park where we used to have our evening walks when Raja was there in Mumbai. In the mornings we used to go beyond Hotel President and walk upto M FHussain’s flat situated in a big complex. On the way back we saw lots of fishermen repairing their nets and the entire space was very dirty.
The next day was Satyanarayana Puja in kumar’s office. We went down by 11 o clock and the puja was going on and on. The marathi priest was saying the mantras in a sing song voice and it took some time for me to understand what he was saying.Towards the end the priest drew a kolam on a plate. There was a maharashtrian couple doing the puja. The wife was conspicuous by her loose hair. It was strange because we in south India don’t keep the hair loose as it is considered inauspicious. The office staff were informal and it was very nice. They were chatting and joking.When the priest started a bhajan everyone joined and clapped hands keeping tala. The priest went on adding one camphor after another and it took more than 15 minutes. After which the karta was asked to do sashtanga namaskaram which he tried to avoid. But all the others egged him on.All of us put flowers and aashtadai.
There was another function in which emplouyees who have put in more than 10 years of service were honoured. We came home and refreshments meant for us were brought by an office boy. Our going to this function resulted in lot of people exchanging smiles and greetings whenever we were having our walk. The watchmen used to get up and say salam sir. Generally the people were very courteous and were very respectful.While going in the lift the other occupants used to open the door and come out to make way for us.
Exactly on the 15th day we started on our return journey.As the flight was scheduled to leave by 7 am we had to leave rather early.We got up at 4.30 am . Much to my chagrain Kumar came in to find out if I have got up. By the time we started it was 5.35 am. It was a very nice drive on empty roads and cool air blowing. While we were on our way to the airport, Kumar made a remark that my efficiency level has come down as he thought that I would wake him up. Ageing process! During the flight we had pink colour upma with big raisins and cashew. The breakfast was very heavy and I had to refuse some dishes.
Thus we came back home ; home sweet home after an unforegettable fortnight in Mumbai.