Return to Bombay 40 years later

RETURN TO BOMBAY 40 YEARS LATER (now called Mumbai) 
We returned with 11 other Malaysians to Mumbai in Feb to join in the Reunion of the alumni of our Grant Medical College. The airport looked modern, even before the opening of the new terminal. The immigration and customs went on very well in spite of warnings given to us about the strict Indian rules. There were coupons for taxis to prevent rip-offs. The organisers had arranged for a minibus to fetch us to the hotel. The ride to the hotel in the city took about an hour through heavy traffic. There were many cars, which were of many more models compared to the years gone by. There were even more BMWs than the Tata Nano cars seen. The sounds of car horns were loud and irritating. The black and yellow taxis were ubiquitous- they were usually small and non-air-conditioned. Fares were cheap, starting from 19 rupees (RM1). However they often demanded two to three times the rates when hailed from our hotel. We did not see as many buses as before, and the familiar BEST logo had been replaced by Marathi words. 

The Bandra-Worli sealink across the bay looked like the Penang Bridge and shortened the time taken to the city centre. Along the way, there were several new condominiums, amidst many of the familiar colonial buildings. We passed by Beach Candy, Chowpatty Beach and Marine Drive before we reached our hotel. The Trident at Nariman Point hotel was part of the Oberoi Hotel. It was 30 storeys high modern 5-Star hotel. As they were not able to check us in early, we were given free buffet lunch (worth Rps2300 or RM120). The rooms rates charged were about Rps10, 000 (RM550) inclusive of all taxes including luxury tax! Buffet breakfast was included (worth RM60) which consisted of a wide selection of Indian, Western and Asian foods. Wifi was not free- Rps300 (RM15) for 30 mins but Rps900 (RM45) for 24 hours. 

On the next day we hired a mini-bus for the city tour, up to Sanjay National Park and the Kanheri Caves, about 90 mins away. There were 103 Buddhist caves but we only visited 5 of them. The caves were built about 2000 years ago, not very big and impressive though. On the second day, we went in 3 taxis to Vikhroli (1 hour from city centre) to visit the Godrej town which stretched over 3000 acres. 2000 acres remained woodlands, while in the remaining area were factories manufacturing many products from soaps, hospital beds, refrigerators, microwave ovens, vending machines, bank safes and even doors for submarines. Among the buildings were schools and a specialist hospital. Godrej was founded by the Godrej family, of whom we knew Sorabji very well as he was a close friend of the Malaysian students when we were there in the sixties.

 Mumbai City had just as many people and cars than before. Fortunately there were several elevated roads through the city which reduced the travelling time. There was one flyover Crawford Market (which was old and dirty), starting from JJ Hospital to the Victoria Rail Terminus, now known as Chakravathy Shivaji Terminus. Many of the old cinemas still functioned, such as Regal, Eros and Metro. Colaba was still the same with small shops and crowds of people. The areas around the Marine Drive, University and Churchgate had not changed much. Familiar restaurants like Gaylords, Kum Ling and Ambassador were there. The only shopping we did was at the shop selling cotton materials. Food at the good restaurants was not cheap. Even a plate of noodles was about RM20 in the Chinese restaurant. The streets looked cleaner than before. There were hardly any squatters living on the pavements. Even the number of “slums” we saw along the way were better built. About half of them even had Astro-like discs. Beggars were few. Several of us decided to pass by the notorious red light area. However the familiar lights with red numbers were no longer seen. It was not the red light area we knew before. 

Although we missed the main events of the official Reunion (which was postponed after we booked our tickets), we had a wonderful time at our mini-Reunion. The organisers were kind enough to organise a special dinner gathering and the visit to the campus. Several of our former class mates made an effort to meet us at the GMC Gymkhana (along Marine Drive). There was an invitation to a home, dinner at the Bombay Gymkhana and also a lunch at the Juhu Beach. In a way, the smaller gatherings were more meaningful as we were able to catch up with our classmates whom we have not met for nearly 40 years. 

When we visited the JJ Hospital, we were greeted by the acting Dean and other senior doctors with garlands, tea and lunch. We were impressed by the computerised system in the whole hospital complex. We presented a bank draft of US$10,000 as donation from the 25 Malaysian alumni, to be used for deserving poor students in the college. There was warm fellowship as we shared our happy memories when we studied there about 35-40 years ago. We also had some fun singing and dancing with the young medical students! The Boys Common Room and the Anatomy Hall were being renovated. We visited the familiar buildings and recollected the old memories of our good times.