No prizes, for guessing this. It is Mumbai Sea Link. South Mumbai is connected to North Mumbai via the sea-link. It was inaugurated in the year 2009 and is a boon for people of Mumbai. Prior to this, Mahim Causeway was the only road connecting the western suburbs to Mumbai’s central business district. This north-southwestern corridor became a bottleneck and was highly congested at peak hours. The Western Freeway project was proposed to span the entire western coastline of Mumbai to ease congestion. The Bandra–Worli Sea-Link (BWSL), a bridge over Mahim Bay, was proposed as the first phase of this freeway system, offering an alternative route to the Mahim Causeway.
Image source
Here is a view from the car over this cable stayed bridge. A beautiful view of the sea as you drive over it. BWSL, officially called Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link, was designed as the first cable-stayed bridge to be constructed in open seas in India. It was designed by Seshadri Srinivasan and constructed by Hindustan Construction Company, India.
The construction began in the year 2000. The construction of the bridge’s structure presented major engineering challenges.The pylons have a complex geometry and the main span over the Bandra channel is one of the longest spans of concrete deck attempted. Balancing these engineering complexities with the aesthetics of the bridge presented significant challenges for the project.
The superstructure of the viaducts were the heaviest precast segments to be built in India. They were built using a span-by-span method using overhead gantry through a series of vertical and horizontal curves. The 20,000 tonne Bandra-end span of the bridge deck is supported by stay cables within a very close tolerance of deviations in plan and elevation. The Bandra–Worli Sea Link was the first infrastructure project in Mumbai to use seismic arresters. These will enable it to withstand earthquakes measuring up to 7.0 on the Richter scale.
An engineering marvel keeps Mumbai connected.
*/This post was inspired by Weekly Photo Challenge Connected/*
A standout amongst the most excellent books, I’ve ever read. In the event that there’s any individual who can paint a photo with dialect, it’s Amitav Ghosh.
Amitav Ghosh (Image source)
Each page makes you encounter an uncommon situation; you’re discovered between needing to clutch each word and the avidness to dive more profound into the story.
The Hungry Tide brings out the magical universe of the Sundarbans exceptionally well. It is set amongst the little, poor and confined groups of the Sundarbans, the mangrove marshlands that assemble at the mouth of the colossal Ganges Delta. Sunderbans mean the beautiful forest.
I like to quote here beautiful lines from the novel
‘we who have always thought of joy,
as rising….feel the emotion
that almost amazes us
when a happy thing falls. ‘
The Plot is interesting, amazingly woven between the two lead characters of Piya and Kanai. Nirmal’s notebook particularly adds a kind of a mystery to the water mazes of Sunderbans.
With Ghosh’s narrative, you could envision, for a case, each drop of water that spouts into eyes and mouth, and hotly fluttering legs before you see a man suffocating. While reading, I was for all intents and purposes transported and lived by the Sunderbans’ unbounded water channels, viewed the dolphins in the winter chill and survived its violent winds. The explanation of the exotic, whether scientific, geographic, or historical can be as engaging as the lives of the characters.
Ghosh hypnotizes you with the excellence of the scene, its waterways and tides, mangroves and thick woods. The author leaves a few different points of interest with little esteem to the general plot and a few remaining details loosened. He perhaps anticipates that mature reader will envision their own rendition of untold stories.
Generally speaking, The Hungry Tide: A Novel is an extremely tasteful excursion. It positively swept me away into an abstract sea, and I am now a fan of Amitav Ghosh who looks forward to his novels.
I am honoured to have been nominated for Liebster Award. Getting appreciated for my work and getting an award is always a happy feeling. I would really like to thank Arun from mytravelpedia.net for nominating me for this award.
Liebster Award is given to recognize and/or discover new bloggers and welcome them to the world of blogging. It consists of 10 questions that the nominated bloggers answer in a blog post and link it back to the blog that nominates them. They then must create 10 new questions that they’ll ask 10 upcoming bloggers who will do just the same.
Here are the questions which I am supposed to answer:
Do you have any place in mind which you feel is underrated when it comes to tourism?
Madhya Pradesh in India is underrated. There are many sites worth visiting like Pachmarhi falls, The Bori-Saptura Tiger Reserve, Satpura National Park, The Kanha National Park, Mandu etc.
Pachmarhi Falls
Kanha National Park (Image Source)
Hotels or hostels?
I prefer to stay in hotels but on backpacking trip with friends it is in hostels.
Your top most essential travel item (excluding your passport)?
Travel Packing Aid which includes currency, travel documents, toiletries and other important items. A neck pillow while travelling.
What is your best advice in saving money while traveling?
Well, I will try to be brief here. Discount in everything from airfares, while eating, car rentals, to currencies, don’t give up looking for Deals, group discounts, talk to locals so that they can tell you places where to eat and some may even offer you to stay over, mini tours.
What is one of the best travel lessons you’ve learnt so far?
If I had to sum up our lessons learnt due to a bitter experience they would be:
Do your own research, travel agents are great if they have visited the resorts but if they haven’t been there they know as little as you do.
Get multiple quotes and also contact the hotel directly.
Find people who have been to or have recently booked the resort you want and ask them which travel agent offered them the best deal. Follow up with those travel agents.
If it sounds too good to be true just contact the resort directly, they can tell you if the agent is legitimate or not.
Consider issues such as insurance, liability and exchange rates
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why?
I like the idea of living in the south of France. A small cottage nestled in the hills and vineyards, where I could write and escape.
South of France
What was one of the most unusual/ unexpected travel experience you’ve encountered?
On one of our travels, our mode of transport broke down in the middle of nowhere. We were horrified. Just then the locals came to our help and took us to their village home. We stayed there for the night. They also served their local food.Next morning, they took us to the nearest bus stand in their mode of transport. We were so glad and thanked them for everything. This was truly an unexpected travel experience I have encountered and cherished.
Do you miss home while traveling? If yes, then what makes you miss home?
Travelling is such a delight! Why think about something you’ve left at home?
What’s your preferred mode of transportation while traveling?
Definitely a train. I can relax and read, or get up and go to the dining car for lunch and watch the country roll by as I meet new people. Airplane if travelling over water (ocean)
What’s your next travel destination and why?
Australia Sydney for its lovely beaches, the harbour, Botanic Gardens and Sydney Opera House.
Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House from Botanic Gardens
