Shirish Bhumkar, our guide, fat with anecdotes, quickly makes a point that stirs the conscience, “Ask people where is Shah Rukh Khan’s house, or Amitabh Bachchan’s house and you’ll jhatpat (instantly) get directions. But ask them about Gandhiji’s Mumbai residence and you’ll draw a blank,” he says, as the bus pulls over next to Mani Bhavan, the Mahatma’s house from 1917-34. A store house of Gandhiji’s paraphernalia, the museum houses a huge library, most of them from Gandhiji’s personal collection. What catches the eye, however, is a collection of Gandhiji’s correspondence with Hitler, amongst others.

Bhumkar says, “Navigating through the city’s traffic doesn’t permit us to include more places. Anyway, five museums in one day is a good number.” The second stop is the Bhau Daji Lad Museum, clean and freshly painted thanks to recent revamping. The great elephant sculpture in stone, from the Elephanta caves, stands a few steps from the threshold. Just in case the museum doesn’t hold your interest, the Byculla zoo is only a ticket away.

The Ballard Bunder Museum at Ballard Pier, it seems, is more relaxed than others. A plastic chair with a towel drying on it stands in the middle of artifacts that explain the illustrious history of the Indian Navy. It also stores an ancient metal diving suit that would surely befuddle modern deep-sea diving experts. A quick 10-minute stopover at the high-security Reserve Bank of India Museum turns out to be loaded with information about coins and notes. They even have a small section dwelling on the non-monetary uses of money which features coin-embellished jewellery. What say, ladies? When we ask Bhumkar if we can stay a bit longer to try out the computer games, he folds his hands and says, “When guests ask for something it is only wise, never otherwise.”

The bus ride terminates at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya. Formerly the Prince of Wales Museum, it served as a hospital for wounded soldiers during World War I. Clearly, the most popular museum in the city, the museum has three sections: Natural history, Art history and Decorative Arts.