Birds & Breeze off the Mumbai Coast

 BIRDS & BREEZE OFF THE MUMBAI COAST.

This was a one day trip mainly to break the boredom and monotony of staying at home for the last several months of  various grades of "lockdown" imposed on Mumbai. A few of us got together and planned for a gathering in open spaces. Therefore the trip from Mumbai to Mandwa on a grand ferry. I have crossed this stretch of sea before and I had enjoyed it . I was looking forward to feeling the breeze and watching the sea gulls flying past. This is a ferry that is big enough to carry about 100 cars in it.  We reached " Bhaucha Dhakka"-the ferry terminal, well before the departure time of the ferry. The ticket booking for 10 people and a vehicle was done online (on site ticket booking is also possible). All of us had met after a very long time and we were excited. We had our face masks on and  jabbered away loudly. We walked around the wide terminal that was nearly empty, because most of the travellers had not yet arrived. The ferry itself had not yet arrived. After about an hour, cars started streaming in and the place looked fully occupied. The ferry too glided into place. It looked almost like a cruise liner! It looked majestic and dwarfed the other boats and ferries that were bobbing about in the water. 

Ferry Wharf, "Bhaucha Dhakka", Princess Dock, Mumbai Port Trust.
 

View from the Ferry Terminal

The Grand Ferry-M2M means Mumbai to Mandwa and the reverse too.

Opening up the Ferry "bridge".

Front view of the M2M ferry entrance- For passenger "walk in" as well as vehicle "drive in"

Parking Area. We are inside the yellow mini bus or "Force Traveller"

The ferry was scheduled to depart at 1:30 pm . We were guided to enter the ferry a short while before this time. Some of us chose to walk in and some of us remained inside the mini bus. Since ours was the largest vehicle we moved inside after all the other cars had been parked. Everybody was sprinting up the stairs and so I did the same. They all collected inside an enclosed , air conditioned area. This is where the snack bar is and coffee/tea was available. Why sit inside an enclosed place and see the beautiful sea through tinted glass? I moved out to the open viewing decks. The ferry had just begun to move into the open sea. The decks were quite crowded. Most of the people were wearing their masks. Beer and other drinks were being sold here in the open deck area. As the ferry picked up speed the breeze started streaming through too. It was very refreshing and the bright sunlight too was great. The Mumbai skyline was moving away and slowly faded  into the horizon. I was looking out for the birds (sea gulls). I could see them following the smaller boats, but none of the birds hovered around this big ferry (M2M). Perhaps the birds fly close to the wake created by the smaller boats. Also perhaps the people in those boats were feeding the birds. In our large ferry I did not spot any one attempting to feed the birds and the wake created by the ferry was too far below , for me to spot the birds. There were quite a few anchored ships around these waters and many small boats and ferries travelling between Mumbai and the surrounding islands and the mainland. If we consider Mumbai to be an island then we were being ferried to Mandwa which is located on the mainland. Mandwa is where the ferry terminal lies and  Alibagh is a little more inland. Mandwa and Alibagh are two tiny towns next to each other. A place where one can be far from the madding crowd of Mumbai. I heard that these days the rich and the well heeled are moving into fancy cottages and villas at Alibagh. Thanks to the ferry services. People can be easily in touch with Mumbai and simultaneously enjoy the quiet , leafy and green surroundings.

The open Deck

Mumbai Sky Line

The Arabian Sea and Anchored Ships

 

Sea Gulls chasing a small ferry

It took exactly one hour to reach Mandwa ferry terminal. The large steel bridge of the ferry opened up and clamped into place. The vehicles rolled out and we were on land. By this time we were all hungry. We had carried some food stuff , but did not eat on the ferry. Instead we drove a short distance to a restaurant , whose owner was our friend. Here we spread out the sumptuous fare that we had carried with us and in addition had delicious stuff prepared at the restaurant kitchen. The "fish fry" was exceptionally good. With stomach full and hunger fully satisfied we trooped back into the "mini bus"/"Force Traveller". Now we were on our way to Karmarkar Sculpture Museum , a tourist spot of Alibagh. The road was a well maintained road and shady too, because of the huge trees on either side of the road. We passed through smaller lanes and  green surroundings . Then we arrived at the museum. It is not exactly the sprawling museums that one finds in Mumbai. It was a small cottage built in the traditional style and placed in a large garden area. There were sculptures scattered around the garden and open space. The cottage itself is made of stone and wood. It is a two story structure and kept very neat and tidy. The first floor or the top floor had many sculptures placed closely. On this floor there is a large balcony that overlooks the total compound area. From here we could see other smaller cottages and also other large sculptures placed under trees. This balcony is just the place I would like to spend a lazy afternoon in , resting in a reclining "Easy Chair" , with long arm-rest, and a cup of "Darjeeling" tea. This place actually belongs to a private citizen ,I think, who has graciously allowed the public to enjoy the sculptures. In short this place had a peaceful and tranquil air. We all  sat on the stone steps of the garden and talked and giggled , exchanging old memories and behaving like teenagers. Time just flew by . Then one of us remembered that our plan included a beach visit. We got into our mini bus and headed for Kihim Beach. We arrived just in time for  sunset. Within five minutes of our arrival, the sun disappeared into the misty horizon. Some of us waddled in the water and some of us settled for coffee at the beach side shack.

Approaching Mandwa Ferry Wharf

Mandwa Ferry Terminal

Sculpture at the Karmarkar Museum garden

Sculpture collection inside the museum

       View of the large compound from the Museum balcony

Sunset at Kihim Beach

It was getting dark and we had to get back to the Mandwa ,M2M ferry terminal. The ferry was scheduled to depart around 9 O`clock. The drive back to the terminal was comfortable and smooth. At the terminal we had to go through a few gates and checkpoints , before entry into the ferry. Here we got  into a skirmish. Quite unexpected! Our mini bus was stopped because we did not quite have the right ticket for it. The online booking confirmation was shown. Yet it did not satisfy the M2M service officials there. An argument with the authorities followed. The captain of the ferry as well as the ferry service management officials got involved. The ten of us vociferously put forward our points , information and arguments. This argument continued until it was time for the ferry to move out . This is when the officials relented and let our mini bus board the ferry. The booking software it emerged , was not perfect and needed tweaking. Also the co-ordination between the two terminals (M&M-Mandwa & Mumbai) required smoothening. I suppose these are small glitches that do occur when a new service based business begins. We were soon inside the ferry and relaxing on the deck. The sky was clear and the stars were visible. A gentle breeze caressed my face and cleared my mind. The ferry was not as crowded as the afternoon trip. We had a large part of the deck to ourselves. In a short while we could see the distant sparkling lights of Mumbai come into view. In an hours time we were at the brightly lit M2M ferry wharf. It was just about 10:30 pm and we were not yet ready to go home. We still wished to be by the sea. So we drove to the Nariman point Tip. We decided to have dinner here in the open . We chose the pavement over a posh restaurant. The elevated stone structure that runs along the sea worked as lounge chairs for us. The street lights were good enough for us. I could see the huge tetrapods (that line the sea front) below. We took out the leftover food stuff , shared it amongst ourselves and enjoyed the breeze and dinner.

M2M Ferry Wharf at night.