If you're feeling energetic, a stroll down Marine Drive is possibly the best way to discover Mumbai. This is a windswept promenade, flanked by the sea and a row of art deco buildings. Looped between the concrete jungle of Nariman Point, Mumbai's Manhattan, and the leafy green slopes of Malabar hill, Marine Drive was once called the queen's Necklace, strung with glittering street lights like an enormous strand of imperious

jewels.It is also one of Mumbai's busiest roads, an important artery for the heavy suburban traffic heading downtown. Cars whiz continually past the two mile stretch, past huddled lovers, children and babies in perambulators. Like other seafronts, this is where most of south Mumbai comes to breathe in some fresh air.

A sacred tank surrounded by four hundred-year-old temples and modern skyscrapers. Nowhere are Mumbai's paradoxes more evident than at Banganga. Part of an ancient temple czomplex, the water in this tank is believed to come from the Holy Ganges. It sprung forth when Rama, the exiled hero of the epic Ramayana stopped at the spot five thousand years ago, in search of his kidnapped wife Sita. Overcome with fatigue and thirst, he asked his brother Laxman to bring him some water.Laxman instantly

shot an arrow into the ground, and water gushed forth from the Ganga, over a thousand miles away. Although the story is the stuff of legend, the tank has always been sacred. On pious occasions, thousands turn up to take a ritual dip in its mossy waters, and offer flowers at the ancient Banganga Temples.

Poised between what was once the British Fort and the local town, Crawford Market has elements of both. It's a blend of Flemish and Norman architecture with a bas relief depicting Indian peasants in wheat fields just above the main entrance The freize, incidentally, was designed by Lockyard Kipling, father of the famous Rudyard Kipling, and the Kiplings' cottage still stands next to the JJ School of Art across the road. Opposite. Now named after a local patriot called Jyotiba Phule,Crawford Market looks like something out

of Victorian London, with its sweet smell of hay and 50 ft high skylit awning that bathes the entire place in natural sunlight. Mountains of fruit and fresh vegetables are sold here at wholesale rates. Next door there's also a meat and poultry section along with stalls selling smuggled cheese and chocolate!

Within easy reach of Bombay by car are several picturesque lakes. Powai Lake, 25 miles from Bombay, is a quiet stretch of water by the side of a motor road. It can be approached via King's Circle, Sion, and Kurla. or through Santa Cruz and Andheri. Vihar Lake, a mile away from Powai lake, is less secluded, as it is one of the sources of Bombay's water supply. The lake, incidentally, is infested wi

Popularly called Ranee Baug after its namesake, the Victoria Gardens are now rechristened Jijamata Udyan. They are botanical gardens, sprawled over 48 acres and contain some of the oldest trees in the city, some dating back two hundred years! At the entrance is a charming Renaissance clock tower to match the Italian Renaissance-style Victoria and Albert Museum (now the Bhau Dali Ladd Museum) that houses an interesting collection of local archaeological finds. Just behind it is the Mumbai Zoo, a

Taraporewala Aquarium on Marine Drive has a good collection of sea and fresh water fish and other marine life. There is a proposal to convert this into an underwater oceanarium, where people can undertake an undersea walk, surrounded by marine life.
It is open on all days except Mondays.

Another fishy area in downtown Colaba, Sassoon Dock is the Mecca of local gourmets and restaurateurs who forage for quality seafood at dawn, when the trawlers unload their booty. Baskets of shrimp, lobster, thin, bony mackerel and fleshy pomfret are sold here at wholesale rates by loud fishwives who sit on the wharf right next to the colourful boats. There are also cold storage places where you can buy the cleaned and filleted variety that is earmarked for export. Despite the pervasive smell and the chaos,

A unique feature of Mumbai, the dhobi is a traditional laundryman, who will collect your dirty linen, wash it, and return it neatly pressed to your doorstep. All for a pittance. The "laundries" are called "ghats": row upon row of concrete wash pens, each fitted with its own flogging stone. The clothes are soaked in sudsy water, thrashed on the flogging stones, then tossed into huge vats of boiling starch and hung out to dry. Next they are ironed and piled into neat bundles.

The most famous of these Dhobi Ghats is at Saat Rasta near Mahalaxmi Station where almost two hundred dhobis and their families work together in what has always been a hereditary occupation.

Right next to Mahalaxmi Race Course, the Nehru Planetarium is a large domed building, popular with the city's amateur astronomers. Inside, various cubicles estimate your weight on each of the nine planets of the Solar System while in the domed interior, daily shows uncover the timeless mysteries of the cosmos. The place is usually packed with school children so make sure you buy your ticket in advance. Adjacent to the planetarium is the Nehru Centre, venue of numerous international trade fairs and local exhibitions.

In the basement, the Nehru Auditorium usually boasts classical music and dance recitals, concerts and plays.