Vashi

BOM Flight Path Like any city that is built on islands, reclaimed land and is surrounded by water that threatens to submerge it the day we melt our polar caps enough, Mumbai is an admiringly beautiful city when seen from air. The transition from the green Shayadris to the mangroves of Thane Creek within seconds when you fly in from the east. The lights of the JNPT and the nuclear reactors as you take off to the south east. The sardine-pack peninsula of South Mumbai surrounded by the shimmering blue sea to the south. Seeing a test match being played in the Wankhede. The reassuring purposefulness of the local trains we see zipping up and down the western and central tracks. The growing sea of lights of the gridlock on the express highways at night that looks beautiful even when your number is 14 on the landing list and you are forced to circle the city. Yes, the city with the Queen's Necklace is a sparkling goddess at night. But my favourite descent into Mumbai remains from the rarely used North West descent. It's best when you come in from the Arabian Sea as the fishing boats from the western waterfront are coming in with their catch. With birds circling the boats. Then you see the fishing docks, markets, the koliwada, the rich sea-facing homes and you glide in so close to the rooftops, you can smell the Bombil frying in the kitchens. In the above picture, you see a couple of planes slowly gliding in for a descent from the east, above Navi Mumbai.