Mumbai untravelled

Itrsquos just after 4 am the sun hasnrsquot shown up yet and apart from a few barking stray dogs not a soul on the street seems to take notice of my taxi zipping across the suburbs to what was once the hub of the cityrsquos textile mills Parel But as Irsquom about to learn from Harshvardhan Tanwar founder of tour company No Footprints the beauty of the city in the wee hours of the morning lies precisely in this misconception Taking me on his threehour Mumbai by Dawn tour he shows me how one turn away from a lonesome street you might find a bustling bazaar teeming with traders especially at five in the morning One of the largest networks of newspaper vendors servers opposite CST station Fishy business Therersquos no better wakeup call than the smell of a fish marketrdquo the former adman reassures me perhaps noticing my semiasleep state I realise just how right he is when we reach our first stop the cityrsquos first wet dock and the only one open to the public Sassoon Docks ldquoAbout 2530 tons of fish arrive at this dock every day But while that statistic is incredible enough I also think it is one of the best places to observe the culture of the original inhabitants of Mumbai the Kolis Yoursquoll find the nononsense Koli women responsible for every aspect of the business they buy the fish and sell it here or in other parts of the city The responsibility of the men ends with their catch of the day which they deem sufficient once the ice in their boat begins to meltrdquo says Tanwar fielding aggressive fishmongers as we walk through the teeming fish market over to the dock Harshwardhan Tanwar started Mumbai by Dawn earlier this year ldquoWatch how they chuck baskets full of fish Therersquos no automated system here this is how itrsquos donerdquo he says pointing to the rhythmic way in which men in the boats transfer their catch one cane basket at a time to the dock The market like our very rich coastline has everything from eels to giant stingrays but the cityrsquos quintessential Bombil is undoubtedly the highlight here ldquoDo you know how it got its namerdquo Tanwar asks me just before he offers his favourite urban legend about the Bombay Duck ldquoThe Englishmen from the East India Company absolutely loved this local fish It was soft yet crispy and went perfectly with their Scotchu00a0 The chicken bazaar at Crawford Market They missed it sorely in Calcutta and decided to have it sent across the country by mail or lsquodaakrsquo on the railways When the cargo arrived it would stink and so an Englishman sweating after a game of cricket or polo was often proffered the insult of smelling like the Bombay Daak Thatrsquos how the fish got its namerdquo Tanwar says with a laugh Meaning in the mundane Moving on to the next leg of our tour which highlights the cityrsquos robust vendor distribution networks Tanwar steers my attention to the many manual labourers up and about trying to make their living Therersquos the milkman with his cans of milk tied to the sides of his bicycle the pavwala picking up fresh bread from the bakery and the handcartoperating water supplier ldquoLarger tankers sell water to these guys on the handcarts who in turn provide water to the hawkers on the streetrdquo explains the 26yearold engineering graduate Tanwar began conducting research online and by meeting and talking to people a year before he took his first tour with a foreign couple in January ldquoI wasnrsquot sure whether a bunch of tourists would enjoy waking up at 5 am to learn about how trade works in Mumbai so I offered to show them around for free But they seemed to have liked it because they paid merdquo Tanwar tells me over the din of clucking chickens at the chicken bazaar in Crawford Market Since that first tour earlier this year Tanwar has hired a group of junior ldquoexplorersrdquo as well as senior team members to guide the team ldquoMumbai has always been a very busy and hardworking city and mornings provide the very backbone of trade in the city Whether it is the fish veggie or chicken market it is the Indian motherrsquos emphasis on fresh food that makes mornings so important in terms of trade For the foreign traveller it provides an important insight that we tend to take for grantedrdquo adds Tanwar explaining why he introduced the Mumbai by Dawn tour Along with his Worli Village Walk this is also extremely popular with foreign guests who seem to have finally found more to do in the city than a daytrip to Elephanta Caves But while we enjoy getting our food farm fresh often home delivered we seldom give a second thought to where our food may be coming from which makes this tour just as eyeopening for a Mumbaiite Perhaps what is most incredible about the sites we visit is that an hour or so later BMC cleaners ensure that the area is left spotless ldquoYou come to this end of Crawford Market and yoursquoll find no trace of the chicken marketrdquo says Tanwar The same is true for the herb market at Dadarrsquos Tilak Bridge which is supposedly the only market for greens of this scale ldquoCome at about 9 am and all yoursquoll get is the pandemonium of honking carsrdquo he adds Creative tourism Apart from the foodie markets which Tanwar also includes in his Culinary Detour we visit one of the largest networks of newspaper vendors opposite CST station and the Dadar flower market too ldquoLittle nuggets of history exist all over the city all you need is someone to tell you the right onesrdquo says Tanwar determined not to have Mumbai remain a transit city for tourists As we pass the Magan David Synagogue at Mazgaon he tells me that over 90 per cent of the students at the Jewish school are Muslims and I canrsquot help but admire Tanwarrsquos knack for pointing out the cityrsquos most endearing details He also shows off Mazgaonrsquos other surprises in his Hidden Island tour and offers special Jewish heritage tours ldquoWersquove got a wide range of tours but we never limit ourselves Itrsquos all about creativityrdquo he claims ldquoFor instance one of our clients a honeymoon couple told us they loved baseball Indian history Indian food and surprises We found a way to work all three in we got them to learn to play cricket at the Oval Maidan which overlooks several Britishera buildings and at the end of two hours they were served a typical Indian lunch by a couple of dabbawalasrdquo recalls Tanwar who also lays claim to opening up Mumbai University for lectures on Hinduism serving lunch at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and high tea at the Prince of Wales Museum grounds Call Harshvardhan Tanwar at 09619952576 or find No Footprints on Facebook httpswwwfacebookcomnofootprintsmumbaiu00a0