Lasting Impressions

Showing a few friends around the architectural side of Mumbai.

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Mumbai. The sprawling financial and entertainment capital of India. Originally seven separate islands, it is the city of dreams that has captivated the hearts and minds of many an Indian. Tourists flock to the city to get better acquainted with Bollywood, to have a look at the opulence and luxury of the Ambanis and take a drive down Worli Seaface. But when a couple of friends decided to come down to visit, we wanted to show them a different side of Mumbai. Aside that tends to melt away into the backdrop. The old architecture that the British left us.

Mumbai is home to well over 12 million residents and it doesn’t matter how well planned and wide your roads are, that number will always lead to congestion. Which is why we had the perfect vehicle for the job, the new Hyundai Santro. In its latest avatar the Santro is a compact car that is perfect for a city such as this and its traffic. At the same time it doesn’t compromise on interior space or creature comforts. So when we set off early on a Sunday morning, it put a huge smile on our faces.

Our first destination was the Gateway of India on the bank of the Arabian Sea at Apollo Bunder. This is by far the most popular tourist attraction in Mumbai and it was built to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. It was always intended to be a ceremonial structure and it stands today attracting throngs of curious onlookers. It has a distinctly British architecture, dominated by a huge arch and it is wondrous to behold. No wonder then that Shruti, who comes from a family of architects, was so captivated by it. The Santro was a stark contrast to this with its unmistakably modern design, especially the Z-shaped character lines above the wheel arches.