Date: January 20, 2025
I began my day stopping by Antilia, the tallest and most expensive private residence in the world. After that I walked all the way to Malabar Hill.
Upon leaving, I asked the staff at Pramod Navalkar Viewing Gallery if they knew how I could get to Marine Drive from there. I was told there is a bus stop just a short walk from the viewing deck.
Marine Drive was constructed by Pallonji Mistry, yet another prominent Parsi businessman. Mistry’s company Shapoorji Pallonji is one of India’s oldest construction companies, and one the largest shareholder in India’s largest conglomerate, TATA Group.
Completed in 1940, Marine Drive is also dubbed the “Queen’s Necklace” because from above, the streetlights lighting up the promenade at night resemble a string of pearls in a necklace.
Made me think about the economic impact of Coldplay’s concerts on Mumbai’s economy. Nearly 200,000 attended the three concerts Coldplay played at DY Patil Stadium. Most of the attendees were from outside Mumbai and the state of Maharashtra. I flew in from Bangalore, my friend flew in from Calicut. People flew in from all over the country — many came by train, buses, or drove down. They needed hotels, spent on Uber rides, ate out, etc. I remember reading about the economic impact of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour across the cities she played in. India got to experience the same with Coldplay’s five shows across Mumbai and Ahmedabad. My cousins flew all the way to Ahmedabad for those shows. Then there’s GST and entertainment tax levied on ticket sales.
It’s frustrating to think Bengaluru, which used to host more international concerts than any other Indian city in the 2000s, is now losing out on so many events due to the lack of good venues for concerts.
I had walked all the way down to Churchgate, close to Nariman Point, where a lot of old high rises and premium offices are located.
I could not stick around much longer and decided to leave Marine Drive.
I managed to get a shared taxi to CST and made it to Jio Drive Mall, but that will be next post.
Next post in this series:
Mumbai: Visiting the official Apple store at Jio World Drive mall
Mumbai: Flying back to Bengaluru — and making a big mistake
Previous posts in this series:
Mumbai: Visiting Antilia and Malabar Hill’s Pramod Navalkar Viewing Gallery
Mumbai: Getting to Navi Mumbai via Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (Atal Setu); ForRest Hostel review
Mumbai: Phoenix Palladium mall and skyscraper-gazing around Worli
My Experience Attending Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres Concert in Mumbai
Mumbai: Boat ride to Elephanta Caves, a highly recommended tour
Mumbai: Visiting CST and Gateway of India Early in the Morning
