Expats get a taste of Mumbai's heritage

MUMBAI: Did you know that Mumbai has the second largest number of art deco buildings in the world, next only by Miami? Over 140 expats living in the city learnt these and other nuggets about the metropolis during a heritage tour organized by the Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC) on Saturday.
"There are more than 100 consulates in the city," said IMC president Dilip Dandekar."We wanted to spread the idea that Mumbai offers great tourism opportunities."
"I've been going to work at Nariman Point for six months, passing the same buildings, but I didn't know what they were," said Mila Lopez from the Spanish consulate. "It's a nice, different thing to do on a weekend."
Gareth Jones of the British Deputy High Commission said, "We are so busy with our there's not always time to take in your surroundings in daily lives that we don't look up - even in taxis or cars too busy looking at the traffic to take time to notice the architecture."
Guide Sampada Shirali showed expats a glimpse of how the city might have looked at different times: the bells playing God Save the King across the Oval Maidan during the British era, the Cathedral without its stained glass windows.
By the time the tour reached Regal Circle and Shirali pointed to a building and asked which style it was built in, the group chimed in unison: "Indo-Saracen".
A few Mumbaikers, such as Dilnawaz Bana, also joined the walk. She explains: "I'm fourth-generation Mumbaiker but and have lived here all my life. But you can always find something new with a different guide," said Bana.
Sonel D'Sa agrees: "I'm from Mumbai but strangely I've never really had a good look at the Gateway of India. Only today I noticed the incredible details."
Dandekar added that taking time out to see the city can be just as interesting for Mumbaikers. "We travel thousands of miles to see Cathedrals, when we have one that's so beautiful that we don't see in our own city."