Kala Ghoda Festival-The dark horse of street Fairs

Finally, I attended one day at the Kala Ghoda Festival 2016. The 24 hours I spent in Mumbai were very different from the 3.5 years I have spent in the Maximum City. When I told my friends about travelling from Pune to Mumbai just for the festival they thought that I was over-doing it, but it was so worth it!

The Festival is a lovely art festival and people from all walks of life- come together to reclaim to the busy streets in Fort (a neighborhood). The festival has an amazing capacity to bridge the gap between North Mumbaikars and South Bombay folks 😀

The Kala Ghoda is a black statue of King Edward the VII (the then Prince of Wales) riding on a horse. Ironically the statue is not seen neither in the festival or in the neighbourhood. It was moved to Rani ki Baug aka Mumbai City’s Zoo.

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival Photo Credits -Rupali Gurav

Early mornings I saw a lot of photographers, people with SLR’s 😉 and  mobile phones clicking pictures of the artefacts displayed. It was amazing to see many college goers-probably on their first date. Imagine being asked out- Hey I was wondering if you would be free this Sunday, I was thinking of going with you to Kala Ghoda? The girl, especially if she is not from Mumbai would be floored, wondering what an awesome taste this guy has. The guy’s chances for the next day just tripled. (I hope you are reading in between lines, I just gave an awesome date idea!)

The day started well. Finally, I took the Freeway connecting Chembur to SoBo. This was just not a commute but a journey into India’s commercial capital which really is stereotyped by the tall building of BSE(Bombay Stock Exchange). I saw Mumbai beyond its traffic jams, government buildings, banks, media houses, malls and tall (ugly) glass skyscrapers. I saw huge factories which were centres of production.  Thank you Freeway for breaking the stereotype image of Mumbai and providing a faster commute to the tax payers.

Sudarshan eats at Sassanian

Breakfast had to be at Kyani and Company, a traditional Iraani restaurant- A cup of chai and lipsmacking omelettes. The huge queue outside disappointed me and I am proud to say- I introduced my friend Sudarshan a true Mumbaikar to Sassanian Boulangerie. This Parsi run restaurant is an abode to food lovers. The freshly baked mutton puffs are delicious beyond description.

My sole purpose of the trip was to go and attend the Travel workshop with of the Natgeo Traveller India Editor-In-Chief Niloufer Venkatraman. She spoke about –

• How can a regular travel blogger pitch stories to travel magazines
• How should one’s attitude be while pitching a story.
• Some amazing tips for travel write ups. The most important tip she gave was- to become a better traveler!

We need to provide support to the local economy,  I shopped!

• Chappals – Shoes are to women, what beer is to men, we can always have another one!

Shoes is women, what beer is to men!
We can always have another one

• A saree– I have been wanting to buy a cotton saree for long and then I finally figured a beautiful block print saree!
• Books– There was a huge discount, I couldn’t help J

Honestly all the stalls at the festival were very expensive. However, I realised the stores at Kala Ghoda Circle eg. Chetan’s Boutique were organising amazing exhibitions. I did visit and picked up a beautiful saree.

Also I as I was passing by – I realized the civic machinery needed to execute a festival

Police-Fire Brigade- Municipal Corporation ALL at work

of such a huge scale. The Mumbai Police, the fire department, the municipal corporation were present in full force. The limited police force comparing to the overgrowing population provide bandobast at par with Ganesh Celebrations, Eid and Christmas. And they deserve a round of applause from all of us!

How can anyone be at reach Kala Ghoda circle and not eat at Chetana’s. This place serves some lipsmacking thalis and to bear the Mumbai winter I needed to devour Undhiyu aka Surti Oondhiyu.

Finally, I headed to Churchgate to catch a local train. And while I was half asleep I woken up by voice I have missed for a while and it said- Pudheel Station Matunga Road, Agla Station is Matunga Road, The next station is Matunga Road…

Photocredits- Rupali Gurav 🙂 Thank you Rupali

The Traffic Police did not give this one a challan as she entered South Mumbai