EsselWorld

Salt is the first thing you notice. A breeze comes in off the creek, warm and a little muddy, and it carries the smell of mangroves and frying snacks. Somewhere ahead, a ride clanks up a steel track. Then the screams start, rising and falling like a wave. Welcome to EsselWorld, an amusement park on the quiet Gorai side of Mira-Bhayandar, at the northwestern edge of greater Mumbai.

The park opened at the end of the 1980s. At that time, India had very few large, modern amusement parks. A day out for a Mumbai family often meant a beach, a garden, or a seaside fair with a few hand-cranked rides. EsselWorld offered something new for the city. It brought large-scale mechanical rides, landscaped walkways and a full day of planned entertainment, all in one place.

The name comes from the Essel Group, the business house behind it. The group is linked to the entrepreneur Subhash Chandra, who later became widely known for building the Zee television network. So the same family of companies shaped both the cable channels that Indian homes watched every evening and this park, where many of those families came on weekends. Television and theme parks grew up together here.

Now think about the location for a moment. Gorai is not central Mumbai. It sits on a stretch of land between a tidal creek and the Arabian Sea. The area is known for fishing villages, mangrove swamps and small Christian and Koli settlements. The Koli are the traditional fishing community of the Mumbai coast. Their boats and drying nets were here long before the roller coasters arrived.

For many visitors, the journey is part of the memory. A common route is the short ferry across the creek from the Borivali side to Gorai. You stand on a crowded deck, the water flat and grey-green, and the outline of the rides slowly grows on the far bank. Other people come by road through Bhayandar instead. Either way, the city noise fades, and the open sky gets bigger.

Inside the gates, the park is laid out as a long loop of paths. Rides, food stalls and shaded seating areas sit along the way. You will see painted metal, bright fibreglass figures and the tall frames of thrill rides above the palm trees. Some areas are built for small children, with gentle spinning cups and slow trains. Other areas are for teenagers who want speed, height and a stomach-dropping fall.

Here is something many visitors do not realise. For a whole generation of Mumbai children, a school trip to EsselWorld was close to a rite of passage. Ask a local who grew up in the 1990s, and there is a good chance they will remember a bus ride, a packed lunch and their first real roller coaster here. The park lives in many family photo albums across the region.

Next door, you will find a sister attraction called Water Kingdom. It is a water park with slides, wave pools and a lazy river. It was added after the main park and runs as a separate experience with its own entry. In the heavy heat before the monsoon, many families spend half the day on dry rides and half the day in the water. The combination became a classic Mumbai summer plan.

The climate shapes everything here. Mumbai is hot and humid for much of the year. Then, from roughly June to September, the monsoon brings heavy, steady rain. Some outdoor rides may pause when the weather turns, and the paths can get slippery. On a clear winter morning, however, the air is softer and the light is gentle. That is often the most comfortable time to walk the whole park.

The park has also lived through difficult chapters. In recent years, there have been news reports about the financial troubles of the wider business group and about the park's future. Details have changed more than once. So the most honest advice is simple. Before you travel out to Gorai, check the current status of the park and of Water Kingdom. That way, the ferry ride ends with a good day and not a closed gate.

If you have extra time, look beyond the park. Not far away stands the Global Vipassana Pagoda, a large golden-domed meditation hall built in the style of a Burmese pagoda. Vipassana is a form of silent Buddhist meditation. The contrast is remarkable. On one side, people scream on spinning rides. On the other side, people sit in complete silence under a huge dome. Both places share the same salty coastal air.

While you walk, pay attention to the people around you. You will hear Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and English, often mixed in the same sentence. Grandparents sit on benches with bags of snacks. Teenagers compare their courage before the tallest ride. Young couples take careful selfies in front of the colourful sculptures. In many ways, this park is a small cross-section of the city itself, just with more noise and more sugar.

So take a moment now. Look up at the nearest ride frame, the metal warm in the sun. Listen to the mix of music, motors and laughter, with the faint sound of the sea under it all. When you leave later, perhaps on the ferry, turn around and watch the rides grow smaller across the water. Then notice the fishing boats in the creek, which were here first... and which are still working.