Firstly, Navi Mumbai is not Mumbai. Not yet at least. 'Navi' means new. For some reason or the other, the idea which we had conjured up about this place was that this would be a town just like the famous suburbtowns of America. Neat rows of houses, wide but empty roads, shopping malls, with our offices within walking distances.
Fortunately this place was nothing like we imagined it to be. Far from being a slice of America, it had India written all over it. Need I list out what that stands for.
I can proudly say that I witnessed this area at a time when it is growing. Probably many years later this area will have a completely different look.
This place called Kopar Khairne is removed by 2-3 km from Vashi, the main business centre of Navi Mumbai. For some reason, Kopar Khairne abounds in the following things:
1. saloons
2. parks
Saloons
Every step in KK leads you to the door of a new saloon. They are variously termed as "Hair-Cutting Saloon", "Hair Art" or the encouraging "Hire-Cutting Saloon". They cater to all strata of clientele with rates ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 50. The funny thing is that none of these are to be found empty on any day of the week at almost any given time. And weekends mean lining up for 10-15 minutes before finding your turn. (We guessed that people here avoid shaving at home and land up in a saloon whenever the need to shave arises.)
The barbers take up an eternity snipping at your locks, give you a real good champi maalish and spoil you like anything. However the net hair that is removed from your pate makes sure that you visit the saloon at the end of every fortnight.
Parks
This area is relatively new and if you observe closely has some planning behind it. This is proved by the presence of numerous parks within a small area. (Refer to Figure) Parks P1, 2 and 3 came in the way of our going to office, shopping or eating out. The others, we discovered during our morning jogging.
P1, P2, P3
KK is divided into square shaped sectors which have wide roads running around them on which buses ply. At the centre of each of these sectors lies a park. Now these parks are quite funny ones. Half of them are covered with grass and the other half is left bare. The green half is meant for evening walks or chat sessions because evening is the only time when the people get time for leisure. The crowd comprises of what I presume to be the lower middle class type of people.
The other half which is barren is busy all day with budding Tendulkar-s perfecting their skills (most are hopeless fielders) and very rarely some budding footballers. You get the occasional kite fliers too.
We decided that grass growing must not come naturally in these parts which would explain the nature of these funny parks.
P4
I discovered park P4 on my first day at jogging. The road seemed to be leading to ........
to be continued....read Part 2
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