The Gateway was a monument built to commemorate travel, commerce - and, of course, the might of the British Empire. It was the entry point into the most happening city of India,and was named Urbs Prima in Indis or the foremost city in India by the colonial administration. . It was the site of cotton trading during the cotton boom. It was the port of entry into India for important colonial officials, merchants and traders, and British army officers. Ironically, it was also the point of exit for the last British troops who had held India. The style of architecture you will be looking at is called the Indo- Saracenic or Indo-Gothic style, or simply Bombay Gothic. The architects of this style were inspired by native Indian and middle-eastern Islamic traditions; they combined these with the Gothic revival and Neo-Classical movements that were flourishing in Britain during the 19th century. Don’t be surprised, if during your tours, you come across several structures with the high arches and ornate carvings like in cathedrals, only to be topped with domes and minarets like a Turkish palace! You can linger about and marvel at the statues of Swami Vivekananda and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.They’re both icons of Indian history. Swami Vivekananda also sailed from here on his historic visit at the Chicago Parliament of Religions in 1893. He ended up introducing the western world to Hindu spiritual practices and ideals.

The Taj Mahal Palace hotel comprises two buildings: a tall, relatively new-looking one to the right, and an older, grander building to the left. The entrance to The Taj is through the new building, and I recommend that you stand across the street from this entrance as I tell you the story of the Hotel. If you stand in front of the Taj, you will find yourself in the middle of an interesting panorama of Mumbai life. Behind you stands the Gateway of India, bustling with tourists. On your extreme left you are likely to see quaint old carriages, called Victorias, dressed up in gaudy colours and pulled by rather sad- looking horses. On your right, the traffic blares away. Every once in a while you will see a fancy car pull up into the driveway of the Taj, carrying elegantly dressed guests who may have come to stay at this iconic hotel or just stopped by for a bite at the many restaurants here. Built in 1903, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel was, for several decades, the first sighting for visitors sailing into Apollo Bunder Harbour. The island city of Bombay has its British colonial history to thank for most of its heritage structures. But for Indians it is quite a satisfying thought that the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel – one of our most iconic, beautiful and luxurious buildings was built by an Indian. The Taj hotel is exquisitely pretty, built in the same Indo- Saracenic style as the Gateway. It combines this style with elements of Byzantine or Medieval Turkish architecture, so if you look up you will see its domes sitting like fat onions on top of its high Gothic ceilings. It even has latticework on its balconies in the Arabic style.

Before we reach to Leopold cafe we will be visiting Lansdowne Road and Tulloch Road. At Lansdowne Road you will spot some fancy curio shops and the Bowen Memorial Methodist Church. You will come to another lane that leads to the left, known as Tulloch road. It is down this lane that we will go, for it contains some of Colaba's hidden treasures.For decades, this lane has been the centre of Mumbai's nightlife: A delectable pit stop for the city that never sleeps. No matter how late you turn up here you will find good food, good booze and good cheer. First, to your left stands Bade Miya – the kababwalas who have been feeding the city's hungry partygoers since 1946. If you happen to come to Bade Miya during the evening hours when it operates, we recommend you try the succulent mutton seekh kabab and the bhuna gosht. Or if you’re a vegetarian, go for a juicy plate of paneer tikka.you will see Gokul on the right. Gokul has been the provider of cheap drinks to students like me and young professionals since the 1960s, to your right. At Gokul you can try their coastal-style fish preparations like bombil fry and surmai fry with the poison of your choice. Just a few steps after Gokul you will also find Baghdadi - another low-priced eatery. As famished students, my friends and I would raid Baghdadi every Friday night after drinks at Gokul, gorging on the mutton biryani or the chicken fry or chicken Afghani. True to the name, the rotis you will get at Baghdadi are in the middle-eastern style: they're huge, almost 30 inches in diameter, and one is more than enough to fulfill your cravings. Imagine that. You have two iconic monuments on one side and the sumptuous bazaar of Colaba Causeway on the other, and yet this tiny gulli holds enough of the city's treasures to have a presence of its own. For over 50 years, Cafe Leopold has been the confluence, the meeting point, of all the streams of life and multicultural experiences that we Mumbaikars are so proud of. Cafe Leopold is the favourite haunt of foreign tourists and visiting expats, non-resident Indians, and locals who are looking for world class restaurant culture combined with the warmth of Indian hospitality. Have you read 'Shantaram', the best-selling book about life in Mumbai, by author Gregory David Roberts? In the book, he describes Cafe Leopold as "a place for people to see, to be seen and to see themselves in the act of being seen". This is not so true anymore. But what cannot be denied is that Leopold itself has been, and continues to be, the place with an international feel to it. From hippies in the 60s and 70s, to Arabs and Afghans in the early 80s, then backpackers through the 80s and 90s and expats ever since then. And of course, as a peaceful, lively and open-hearted meeting place of different cultures, Leopold could not escape the tragedy of the November 2008 terrorist attack. Two terrorists hurled a grenade and fired bullets into this crowd, causing the painful loss of many lives. Proud of its strength, Leopold has preserved the bullet holes on its walls.

Colaba Causeway is one of Mumbai's busiest and most colourful streets. It is a noisy carnival, a riot of stalls cramped together so tight that they appear fused to each other. On any average day if you come here between 11am and 5pm, the bazaar is usually teeming with shoppers and you might struggle to negotiate the next 100 meters or so to our next stop. As you snake your way through the endless crowd you will find stalls selling endless varieties of cheap fashion accessories and souvenirs. If you ever want to find out what's trending among the young - the college crowd and struggling 20-somethings, you just have to take a stroll through this market. T-shirts and scarves, belts and boots, funky pendants and fridge magnets, it's all here. But the secret pleasure of shopping at Colaba Causeway lies not in the products themselves - but in the thrill of Bargaining. If you cruise slowly along the bazaar and observe the people, you can watch how deals are struck. You can watch as the high drama of negotiation unfolds about you, and how youngsters fight like tigers in their prime.

If you stand outside this dimly lit cafe, you may hear american pop classics playing on the jukebox and the humming of conversation. Along with Leopold, Mondegar is a giant of the old-world restaurant culture. Started in the 30s, Mondegar was the first establishment in Mumbai to get a jukebox. Many an avid customer has paid the small fee and dedicated a song to his date at dinner! If you plan to go in, you can ask the staff if the jukebox still works. There is usually a 5-10 minute waiting time before you land a table, but once you do, you will want to spend 5-10 hours. The food is great, the servers are happy to leave you to your conversation, and the ambience is always genial and charming.

At the corner you will arrive at the Regal Cinema house to your right. Once you reach the entrance to the theatre, do pause to take a look at this magnificent old institution. It is a throwback to a bygone era, when going to the movies 'was an art'. Beautifully designed in the Art Deco style of the time, Regal was inaugurated in 1933...when Mumbai was gathering its reputation as home to the magical world of films. Plush decor, luxurious seats, velvet curtains - Regal was a grand tribute to the importance of cinema in the culture of Mumbai. People would book tickets well in advance, dress up in their finest clothes and jewellery, and come to the theatre in Tongas, or horse-drawn carriages. The theatre was also known for its refreshments, in particular the ice cream, and this reputation was well-founded. As a child in the early 90s, I would eagerly await family outings to Regal, drawn here less by the films and more by the promise of getting a softie ice cream from one of the few softie dispensers in the city. Not surprisingly, Regal evokes all kinds of nostalgia in old Mumbaiwalas. Why don’t you take a look at what's playing there now?

The Wellington Fountain is named after Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. He was called the 'Iron Duke' for his victories in important battles. The Duke of Wellington was just a young colonel when he defeated Tipu Sultan, the fierce king of Mysore in southern India. Strangely, despite this and other achievements, Lord Wellington was not much appreciated back home. Then he fought Napoleon, and defeated him in the famous battle of Waterloo, and, well, you know what happens to your record when you defeat Napoleon, right? He was handsomely rewarded with accolades and a dukedom, he rose to become Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, and eventually he served as the Prime Minister of England for two terms. He visited Bombay in 1801 and 1804, but this fountain was only built in 1865 to commemorate his visit. I guess you could call this an interesting roundabout quite literally – it’s all ‘round you, and fun to know about! Now for the statue behind you. This is of one of our former prime ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri.

This large, elegant construction used to be The Royal Alfred Sailor's home. It was designed by F.W. Stevens, the very same architect who designed the breathtaking Victoria Terminus, which we will visit on one of our walks. It was completed in 1876. Today, it houses the headquarters of the Maharashtra Police. Find a convenient place to stand and look up at the facade. At the top, you will see a delicately carved sculpture on a triangular piece of stone. This is a carving of Neptune, Roman God of freshwater and the Sea.

For now you are off the Colaba Causeway and in the 'fort' area. In doing so, you have just entered the main Bombay island for the first time! The causeway was completed over 200 years ago to connect the island of Colaba to the island of Bombay. Before that, this ground that you are standing on used to be just ocean - and people would actually drown trying to cross over! You have also entered what is known as the art district of Mumbai. The first art institution in this section is the National Gallery of Modern Art, or the NGMA for short.

This is the Prince of Wales Museum, now known as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya - renamed after the great maratha king Shivaji. The museum is one of Mumbai's greatest treasures, and you cannot leave Mumbai without spending at least 2 to 3hours admiring its diverse collection. The architect who designed the Museum was George Wittet, the very same man who also designed the Gateway of India. Do you notice the Indo-Saracenic architectural features we discussed earlier? The Museum covers a built-up area of over 12,000 square metres, and has over 50,000 artefacts in its collection. The collection falls under three categories: Art, Archaeology and Natural History - so you see, there's something for everyone.

The college is named after Monstuart Elphinstone, who was Governor of Bombay province nearly 200 years ago. It was the Honourable Elphinstone who recognised that the province of Bombay could be more than just a naval base for the British, that it could be a city in its own right. The college was established in 1856. It is here that the Western System of Education took root in Bombay. Several of its graduates went on to play important roles in Bombay's and even India's history as they went on to become religious reformists, political commentators, businessmen and even freedom fighters.

Built in 1952, this gallery provided a space for the young artists of Independent India to unleash their creative genius on the country. It was commissioned by Sir Cowasji Jehangir, 2nd Baronet of Bombay, who came from a highly distinguished family in Bombay's history. The Jehangirs, originally the Readymoneys, were a wealthy Parsi family who were part of English colonial royalty. The first patriarch was Sir Cowasji Jehangir Readymoney. He funded the construction of the Elphinstone College building that you just saw, and also the elegant Convocation Hall of the Mumbai University.

This lofty sculpture of a horse is made in bronze. What do you think of it? While you gaze at it, let me tell you the ironic story of the place that you are standing in. This locality, specifically, is known as ‘Kala Ghoda’, or Black Horse. “Ah,” you might say, “So this neighbourhood is named after the statue!” I hate to be the one to break it to you, but in fact the sculpture of a Black Horse was installed here because the neighbourhood was originally known as Kala Ghoda! You see, in colonial times, there used to be a statue of King Edward the VIIth, Prince of Wales, riding a horse, at this very spot. That’s how the neighbourhood originally came to be called ‘Kala Ghoda’.

If you are taking this tour after 11am, you will find the corner outside Khyber packed with many stalls that form one of Mumbai's informal and open food courts, selling sandwiches and sugarcane juice among other snacks. Such stalls are vital for the working folk who cannot afford the fancy restaurants in this neighbourhood. The restaurant Khyber, is named after the famous Khyber pass which formed the historical land route between Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. Today, the region is known as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Khyber is a landmark of fine dining that serves what they call 'Northwest Frontier Cuisine'.

The Keneseth Eliyahoo synagogue was built by the grandson of David Sassoon. It is maintained with much dedication by the few remaining Jews in the city. The synagogue was completed in 1884, and it is beautifully decorated on the inside with pillars made of Burma teak and large stained glass windows. The atmosphere inside is old enough and quiet enough to make you stop to examine your soul. When visiting as young 20-year old students, we were fascinated by the sombre prayer hall, the mystic symbols on the windows, and the aged prayer books in Hebrew.

Before you reach to oval maidan you will be visiting Watson Hotel. The Watson was a high class hotel built by the 19th century business man, John Watson. If he was in any way connected with Sherlock Holmes, that's a mystery we'd love for you to solve! According to Mumbai blogger Deepa Krishnan, the Watson was completed in the late 1860's using a design never seen before in India. The building was made entirely of cast iron, using only cast iron girders for its framework. The iron was imported from England, and it was assembled and built on site, right here. The Watson was a posh, elite establishment which even had English waitresses serving English patrons. It was a Whites-only hotel when it was run by the Watson family, and perhaps this imperialist policy gave rise to the legend that Sir Jamsetji Tata built the Taj hotel to avenge his insult after he was denied entry here. Among the famous guests at Watson's was the well-known American writer, Mark Twain, who wrote about his fascination for the crows of Bombay in his travelogue titled 'Following the Equator'. As you walk, the Oval Maidan and the buildings on the other side of the Oval Maidan come into view. These are from a totally different era, made in the Art Deco style which became popular in the 1930s in Bombay. These buildings were built on reclaimed land, and they stand now where the sea once rolled in, all the way into the maidan ahead of you.

As you come around to the front of the University you can stand outside the Gate and look in. To the right you will see a statue of Sir Cowasji Jahangir Readymoney the first outside the entrance to the convocation hall. Behind the statue is a huge circular stained glass window, behind a frame of smaller circles like port hole windows.

see, the High Court is a massive structure, larger than most of the buildings that we have featured in our walk today. It is approximately 171 metres long and 51 metres wide. If you stand at the entrance and look up at the two towers in the foreground, you will see two statues standing at the very top. The one to your left is Justice - the lady with a blindfold and weighing scales. To your right is the statue of Mercy, with her hands folded. So what comprises the story of the High Court? Is it the age? The architecture?The jurisdiction? Invariably, the story of a court cannot be complete without a gleeful dissection of its most sensational case. Would you like to hear the story of the most confounding, most scandalous, and most significant criminal trial held in Independent India, within these courts? We will delve into our little bag of legal lore, and tell you about the infamous Nanavati murder case? It was the first high -profile case in newly independent India, and that too in the glamourous metropolis of Bombay.

The tower was funded by a business tycoon of Bombay, named Premchand Roychand. If you have been to the Museum earlier, you will be aware that Roychand also has an art gallery in the museum named after him. Premchand Roychand was a businessman who made his fortune in the cotton trade that colonial India was known for. He came to be called India's 'Cotton King', and went on to become a big time speculator in the early stock market of Bombay. Incidentally, Bombay is home to the oldest stock market in all of Asia, the BSE, which is in the close vicinity of our tour. The BSE has had a colourful history of speculators, but the prince among them was Roychand. This clock tower was, however, an act of devotion on his part: he built it for his mother, Rajabai, and it is named after her. His mother was blind and a devout woman who wished to take her meals at the hour appointed by the religious scriptures, and so this clock tower was built to remind her to take her meals on time! The architect, Sir Scott, modelled the Rajabai Tower on the famous Big Ben in London, and you can hear it chiming merrily away in the hustle and bustle of the city, every 15 minutes. An interesting piece of our history has been carved into the façade of the Rajabai Clock Tower.

The first thing you must know, is that for well over a century, this spot, which was known as Flora Fountain, or simply Fountain, was the very heart of Bombay. The four roads that meet here form the axis of the original city of Bombay. This is why you find most of the oldest structures of British Bombay along these streets.You are also standing at the point that used to be the historic 'Church Gate' from where this area gets its name. The Church Gate stood where the fountain stands now, and it was one of the three gates leading into the old Bombay Fort. The gates and walls of the Fort were ordered for demolition by the then Governor, Sir Bartle Frere, because he saw that the town within was bursting at the seams and there was an urgent need to allow for expansion.

In reality, the Hutatma Chowk is a Memorial. ‘Chowk’ is a local word for Junction or Square. So Hutatma Chowk means The Martyrs' Square. This sculpture was built to commemorate a tragedy that occurred during a political movement that was started in the 1950s to define the identity of Bombay. After 1947, when India gained Independence, an attempt was made to carve out new, independent states in a formerly dependent colony, and this was done largely on the basis of language.