Crawford market

... in the continuing explorations of the starship enterprise...of ahem, mumbai.

Crawford market or the Jyothiba Phule market lies close to the VT Station. One of the biggest, most diverse and poorly maintained market-spaces I've ever seen (stinkin' dirty I believe, is the expression). A good place to hunt for bargains, if you want to buy in the bulk (Do not, I repeat do not, go asking for 3 apples like I did... unless you want to get wierd looks :D).

Now another interesting thing in this area is the presence of free reading rooms and public libraries. So badly maintained and dust ridden that one would think twice before setting foot in, they house some of the most amazing collection of books I've ever seen (faithfully locked up always though :P). One such 'artifact' lies next to the Metro cinema; and when I visited, crowded with students who use it as a quiet reading room and by old uncles lazing around reading newspapers. Another of this variety is the Town Hall Library - an impressive monument, these days under renovation and whitewash (can you believe it has the complete harry potter series ! :P)