Chalo chalein, Mumbai: Immerse in the city's history through these curated walks

Mumbai is known for its looming skyscrapers various museums and art galleries the bazaars as well as some of the countryrsquos most famous places of worship However the cityrsquos history and culture goes far beyond just that To bring the citizens closer to the stories of the city Mumbai Walks Fest hosts a variety of different walks each organised by a different storyteller who plans to take the people on a journey to discover the city and the multitude of secrets that it hides within its corners and streetsByculla walk with Walks Fest founder Alisha SadikotThe founder of Mumbai Walks Fest Alisha Sadikot says ldquoThe fest is a way to bring different walk leaders together to offer their walks and make it festiverdquo The enchanting part about these walks is that they bring storytellers that want to narrate the stories of the city as well as attentive listeners who bring their curiosity to the table She further adds ldquoIt is a way to build a community among walk leaders but also offer people a chance to join walks they may have heard of and wanted to tryrdquo Oftentimes these storytellers and listeners end up exchanging meaningful dialogues and take back more stories and knowledge than what they started withMoreover these walks do not treat the city as a static museum but as a place that is fluid and is multifaceted These walks cover a variety of areas and various different topics Some walks that are being organised under the Mumbai Walks Fest to name a few include the Gandhi to Gangsters walk with Priyanko Sarkar mdash that explores the cityrsquos founding history with Prohibition and how it gave rise to bars permit room culture and the infamous gangster culture Sarkarrsquos Mills to Malls walk which explores how Cotton transformed the city over the ages the Deadletters walk organised by Tanya George that explores the evolution of language through various graves and memorials as well as Tracing the Footsteps of Water with Akanksha Gupta a walk that traces the journey of water that reaches our houses and the stories of migration water politics water mafia and water citizenship that revolve around itPeople on a walk with Priyanko SarkarPeople who join the walks this time also have a lot to uncover As Sadikot puts it ldquoA lot of people whorsquove previously participated have new walks this time Sananda Mukhopadhyaya who does tree walks is doing something called the Forest Trees of Bandra Itrsquos based on new research shersquos doing Three people are also doing walks for the first time mdash one on medical history and the city one on cricket and the city and another on Mahim which is very rarely explored as a place especially from the perspective of cinemardquo Hence one can definitely expect their own interests being reflected along with some research on the cityIf you find yourself intrigued by the topics that these walks aim to cover you should definitely join the Mumbai Walks Fest Like Sadikot expresses ldquoDoing the walks is one thing but specifically with the WalkFest what amazes me is how many different ways there are to look at a city You can do walks in the same area but make them completely different based on the subject Therersquos no one way to look at a city a neighbourhood a street or a topic Itrsquos amazing to bring these different perspectives to people so they can participate enjoy have fun and walk a little more Thatrsquos the whole idea mdash to get people invested in their city and enjoy itrdquoWHEN December 57 and 1214TO BOOK urbanautapp