MUMBAI STAR

The usual Sunday walk but today walked all the way to Dahisar Station. And it was another walk down memory lane. As a teenager, I used to walk from my kampong at Whitley Road to Thomson Road/Balestier Road junction where Singapore Traction Company (STC) Bus service No 19 terminus was located and then along Balestier Road all the way to Jalan Rajah. The side of the road was littered with pasar malam makeshift stalls...here in Dahisar, Mumbai the road is congested with pedestrian shoppers and traffic, mainly the auto rekshaws. Stalls and shacks were set up all over the place alongside the road. Dahisar station was in an old building located at the end of one of the sideroads. It has with dirtied counters and signboards with people queuing for tickets. Surprised to see two computerised ticketing machines, like those found i our MRT stations. This is not an MRT-like train service but a land train line. Must try to take a ride in the train one day, perhaps to Mumbai City at least. Just wonder how the ride will be like.

Some unusual sightings:
1 A cinema house showing movies. Cinema is actually a shophouse dressed to become a movie theatre. Some were showing videos actually. And they were crowded with mostly men.
2 There were a number of mini-processions celebrating some festival or belief along the streets. There were drummer boys and men and women folks dancing on the road as the procession moved along. At times, firecrackers were let off freely. These were loud blasts indeed.
3 Vendors frying some delicacy in huge frying pots placed along the road and there were queues to purchase this...all in the dust.
4 There were stalls selling fish and prawns, like our wet market amidst the other stalls and you could smell that they were going stale. Still people were buying them.
5 Alongside the roads are drains and you could literary see men ease themselves and the foul smell of urine was quite bad on some stretches of the road.
6 Small time traders selling hard-boiled eggs
7 Makeshift barber stalls...yes people were having their hair done by the side of the road.