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| Bombay in the AM |
A friend of mine asked
about culture shock – I cannot deny that I always have a case of it when I
first arrive to a new country after being home in the US for a while. I feel
nervous, excited, vulnerable and a bit fearful. India’s big cities are quite
intense as well. When I stepped off the plane from NYC to Bombay, I no longer
had a working iPhone (which I forget how much I rely on), can speak to just
anyone as not everybody knows English, have friends or family close by to reach
out to. I am alone, trusting that my couch surfing host would show up to pick
me up late on a Monday night.
I asked a few strangers
if I can borrow their phone to contact my host to let him know I’ve arrived
safely. They direct me to a telephone stand a blind gentleman operates. I’m
able to get in touch with my host Dr. Sidharth and his driver arrives 30
minutes later. His driver, Baabloo, speaks some English and we chat a bit
before picking up Dr. Sidharth to take me to his clinic. The whole time though
I’m thinking of The White Tiger. Is Baabloo
treated well? Does he wish he could be with his family this late at night?
Those who read it will know what I mean.
My host is very
welcoming and made me feel at ease. He even introduced me to his friend, Dr.
Vishkar, who is taking his mother and sister-in-law out that night to
experience Bombay night life. I join along to Juhu beach. We dip are feet in
the Arabian sea and oh does the sea breeze feel amazing on that sticky night.
They treat me to my first Indian street food and Kalfi for dessert. I’m
stuffed! I swear they’re trying to fatten me up! A good first night in Bombay.
All in all during my stay
in 3 different parts of Bombay with 3 different CS hosts:
- ·
Juhu – Dr. Sidharth’s extra room in his clinic
- ·
Bandra West – Mudit’s flat
- ·
Chembur West – Navneet & Nikhil’s flat
Unfortunately my 2nd
host, Mudit, is under the weather the whole time I stay with him, but we still
were able to have some great conversations. I had other couch surfer’s offer to
show me around, so I take Amrit up on that for my 2nd day. He’s very
generous and shows me some true gems in Bombay.
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| Laundry central near Mahalaxmi station. If you send for laundry to be done, more than likely it will come here. |
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| Cricket is played everywhere! |
HOLI
India is known for its
many festivals. Lonely planet has 4 pages dedicated to month by month breakdown
of the top festivals. I had the chance to be in India during Holi. Holi is one
of North India’s most ecstatic festivals. Hindus celebrate the beginning of spring
according to the lunar calendar, by throwing colored water and gulal (powder)
at anyone within range. On the night before Holi, bonfires symbolize the demise
of the evil demoness Holika.
For any whom I’d
chatted with before my trip heard about my excitement about celebrating Holi. I
think I created a bit too much hype and expectations for the experience. Don’t
get me wrong it was fun just different than what I’d expected. I’d assumed it
was some massive outdoor celebration where much of the city participates; similar
to St. Patrick’s day in San Francisco. I quickly came to find out that playing
Holi is a bigger party up North (if only I read my lonely planet) and that it’s
celebrated with close friends/families. So you really want to be able to attend
a private party with a friend and all their friends/family members. At this
point in my trip I’d just met a few people, Amrit and I opted to check out a party
in Juhu beach. We played Holi, danced to Bollywood music and as soon I was
starting to feel all crusty from the colors the rain dance started! I think
that was my favorite part, everybody was jumping up and down getting drenched
in the water. I walked away with some really fun memories and a couple new pink
highlights in my hair haha.
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| Amrit and I on our way to Juhu Hotel. Like my go go gadget arm? |
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| Holi celebration at Juhu Hotel. |
Before heading to see
the Ellora and Ajanta caves, I spent the day with Navneet. He was patient
enough to run me around on his motorbike to do errands. Biggest success of all
was getting a phone here. So if you’d like my Indian number hit me up! If I
know you that is J We
also checked out the Great wall of Mumbai. The many rickshaw and taxi drivers
Navi asked when trying to find it had heard of it, even though lonely planet
had a paragraph on it. I don’t think street art is appreciated as it’s getting a
bit rundown but I still enjoyed the art and the beauty of it all. Next time I’d
love to walk the whole stretch.
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| Bandra Bandstand where many Bollywood stars live |
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| Bandra Market - You can get shoes & clothes for around $2 |
My last day in Bombay
was by far my favorite. Good company is what has always made my travels. At
this point, I’d returned from a one night trip to Aurangabad (detailed in a
later post) and brought along two new Swiss Friends, Eliane & Joelle. All
three of us girls were welcomed to Nikhil & Navneet’s flat in West Chembur.
These boys have such good energy together; you can tell they’ve been friends
for nearly a decade. That day I laughed more than I have in weeks. The 5 of us
meandered all around Bombay and ended the day with a night motorbike ride to
Bandra bandstand. It’s a nice area on the sea where many Bollywood stars live.
I still need to see a Bollywood movie in India, I guess I have 4 more weeks to
check that one off.
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| A bit delirious after our overnight train ride. |
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| Sweet shot from my GoPro |
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| The silliness begins! |
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| This is what happens when I showed them a scarf that I didn't know what to do with....Myself, Nikhil, Joelle and Navneet. |
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| Local train time. |
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| Mumbai CST |
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| I'm convinced now....for sure. |
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| Sugar cane juice mm mm |
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| Eliane, Navneet, Nikhil, Joelle and Me at the Gateway of India. |
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| These grilled cheese were bomb!! If you're in bombay find this stall! |
Random observations
about Bombay Life
I was surprised that a
city of 19 million has yet to open an underground
subway system. The above ground local train still definitely works and is very
cheap (10 rupees or 20 cents a ride), but the underground that is expected next
year will hopefully be a bit of a relief. I did have the luck to experience the
local train at peak hour – ladies compartment was better than this though.
Nuts, right?
Locals make things as easy as
possible, jay walking is everywhere even when sky walkways have been
built; it’s so much easier to just cross lanes of traffic and hold out your
hand for cars, motorbikes & rickshaws to stop for you. Nobody stops for
Ambulances. Somebody could be having a heart attack and die because of a
traffic jam. Culturally it has not been taught to pull over when you see or hear
an ambulance. There is definitely a lot of madness going on in those streets,
but it’s beautiful. My favorite memories of Bombay are riding around on the
back of Navneet & Nikhil’s motorbikes. It allows such a different
perspective of all the life around me from the back of the bike.
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| I loved these old school cabs. |
Something that
absolutely blew my mind was that every couch surfer I met had a maid and cook
that came twice a day. Navneet had first mentioned it when we were chatting
before I arrived, I was floored, thinking wow he has a cook?!?! That is such a
rarity in the US. Nobody has a cook and I knew a few who have cleaners come
twice a month - what a luxury to have somebody cook and clean for you! I had to
know more, how could they all afford this….Well first, a lot of it has to do
with the massive over population and women that are from surrounding countries
who can’t get a work permit. Also, all in all to have somebody do your laundry,
cook and clean for you twice a day is only $100 USD a month. Living the high
life in Bombay :-)
Thank you so much to
all my new friends who made my Bombay experience incredible. We’ll be seeing
each other again. Reunion on the golden gate bridge?
