A tale of FOUR CITIES: Maximum City

MAXIMUM CITY
Mumbai is known as the city that never sleeps. But how many of us have seen the metropolis alive and kicking at dawn? Its denizens going about, doing their business, come rain or shine? The No Footprints Explore, a Mumbai tour company, take their guests/ visitors on a trip to the lesser seen side of the city. The company is focused on sharing stories about people and culture through various experiences like tours, workshops and group events. Their Facebook page www.facebook.com/nfpexplore and insta handle https://www.instagram.com/nfpexplore/ bring those experiences to their followers in the format of visuals and interesting notes.

Harshvardhan Tanwar, founder of No Footprints Explore, says, “One of our most popular tours called Mumbai by Dawn, shows you the underbelly of the city and what makes this city truly tick  — from walks into the docks, seeing the newspaper sorting, to the colourful flower market, and ending with a two century old dying exercise form. You can see all this at 5 am! It’s fascinating to understand the complicated micro economics that employs nearly 70 per cent of this city.”

So far, the NFP Explore has organised 2,000 tours, 450 workshops and 100 musicals and events. They were also the ones to give eminent individuals and groups a tour of Mumbai. The list includes writer, broadcaster and chef Nigella Lawson; Oscar winning screenwriter Eric Roth;  author, chef, broadcaster and travel addict Peta Mathais; music conductor and director Zubin Mehta’s Israel Philharmonic Orchestra; and celebrity chef Rick Stein. 

One of its latest ventures explores the Queer heritage of the city. “Many of Mumbai’s by-lanes, markets and cafes have been important spaces for queer interaction for decades now. Our tour takes you through these spots while we share stories of struggles and victories of the community,” he says.

Talking about how the city has been photographed, he says, “Mumbai is dynamic when it comes to people, culture and festivals. We like to highlight what runs the economy, the stories of the markets, histories of buildings and the communities to whom Mumbai is home. We love interacting with people and gaining an understanding of their lives. Our Worli fishing village tour takes visitors through the oldest community of Mumbai and how this small village still lives as a well knit community. Dhobi Ghat, near Mahalaxmi, sees a lot of tourists and is a hot spot for photography. But the markets of Mumbai have not been captured extensively. From the variety of fruits and vegetables to the aromatic spices, the markets have so much charm.”

OUT ON A STROLL
The millenials know Bengaluru for its night life, IT industry. And the not-so-young reminisce Bengaluru for its gardens, old world charm and delicious food at Koshy’s and so on. The art fraternity rave about Rang Shankara and numerous cultural engagements that make up the city’s firmament. Bengaluru is all this and more. 

A group of Bengalureans, who take pride in the historic and natural heritage of the city, have come together to showcase them to visitors. Their website —Bengaluru by Foot and their insta handle — https://www.instagram.com/benbyfoot/ present the sights and sounds of the city. 

Bengaluru by Foot, the brainchild of Ameen Ahmed, a PR communication consultant in Canada, and architect Mansoor Ali, takes you on a tour of forts, colonial bungalows, old bazaars, religious shrines, gardens and food joints. Talking about their initiative, Ali says, “We have a heritage walk every weekend and a lot of people join in. They may be expats, out of towners, Bengalureans and others.” 

One of their popular walks, called Silk Tale, is in Kempe Gowda’s Pete (or Pettah) area. “We take the guests on a darshan of one of the most popular temples in Bengaluru, which is also associated with the popular Karaga festival. Next, we move on to an akhara to get a glimpse of how warriors were trained in wrestling long ago. The main focus of this walk is a visit to the last surviving weavers inside old Bengaluru who are engaged in the process of reeling and dyeing silk yarns as well as weaving it. You may walk into the comforts of an air-conditioned silk saree showroom, but we want you to see the hard work that goes into the making of a saree,” he adds.

Like every other city, Bengaluru too has its favourite sights that are most photographed. “The KR Market, Lalbagh, Vidhana Soudha and Cubbon Park are very popular destinations. “Some people believe that there’s not much to see and do in Bengaluru except for its pubs!” says Ali.