The other side of Mumbai...
Amidst Mumbai's bustling activity and urban cityscapes lined with skyscrapers, stuffed with tightly packed beehive-like dwellings, there's a side of Mumbai that is seldom noticed or talked about.
The city's greenery. While every nook and crevice in the city bursts with shoots and moss during monsoons, there's a permanent green space in the heart of the urban scape - a protected sanctuary, the Borivali National Park that stands antithetical to all that Mumbai is known for.
The road leading into the forest: the outer fringe has recreation areas for children including a toy train, but as you go deeper, the jungle turns darker and quieter.
Brown earth, green foliage and blue skies, for miles. And sometimes, all of these captured on the forms of tiny butterflies.
Out of this overpowering landscape emerges a rocky hill (known as Krishnagiri - black hill), now known as Kanheri, home to ancient 2000 year-old caves that were once a centre of learning for Buddhist monks.
If you think the jungle had transported you to a different place on the planet, wait till you enter the caves. Time travel feels real in here, where physical isolation and darkness are so palpable, it is easy to see why the monks used this space for a life of detachment and austerity. I have never felt so viscerally transferred to a different time as I did inside these manmade caves, staring at life-sized sculptures and inscriptions on the stone walls.
Stepping out of the caves, a view of the city skyline feels surreal, like a make-believe world on a digital screen.
