A Glimpse into Life from the Mahalakshmi Temple

“I have made a mistake by coming on this trip with you people. It is very uncomfortable traveling by car for such a long time. I should have stayed at home with mummy,” said my six year old son Sanjiv with the gravity of a person beyond his age. Sanjiv had chosen to accompany me and my parents on a trip to the Mahalakshmi temple in Mumbai. The trip was to take approximately two hours. “Come on. Your father used to travel by train and bus when he was your age to get to the temple while you have problems traveling by car,” returned my mother. Traveling by bus and train was to Sanjiv taking the road less traveled. Nevertheless my mother’s statement brought back a flood of memories about various trips to this temple beginning in the early seventies. Typically, my family (including my brother) would take a train to Byculla and then the bus to the temple. One of the joys of this trip was that we would get on to a double decker bus. My brother and I would scramble to the front seat and lean over the window just ahead of us as my parents urged us to be careful. The breeze would simply waft on to our face while we laughed delightedly. After worshipping at the temple, the next stop would be at the canteen in the temple premises where we would gulp down some tea and snacks. This would be followed by a foray into the rocks alongside the temple which led into the sea. Also there would be a wonderful view of the Hajiali dargah. This time too after worshipping the goddess of wealth, I took Sanjiv down to the canteen. We skipped the tea and snacks but I badly wanted to take him at least close to the rocks. We found out however that no trip was possible to the rocks as the entire place had been barricaded by a fence presumably on security grounds. I was deeply disappointed as I was keen on taking my son to a place which had given me considerable pleasure in the past. The view of the Dargah was however as good as ever. Nevertheless the disappointment lingered. Sanjiv despite his complaints had been able to travel to the temple in style in a car- a sign of the changed times. I could not take him to closer to the sea thanks to the fence. Alas, this too is a sign of the changed times.