My Many Mumbai Mates

Being here in Bombay we are very privileged to be with Denise. Not only has she arranged our stay here at ADAPT where everyone is so friendly, but she also has all kinds of friends who have come in and talked to us about all kinds of stuff. I've already mentioned Manav, who was an excellent tour guide our first two days here and Joy who is just that, a joy, to be around. Also there is Manav's wife Carissa who is a very busy and successful woman so we have not been around her too much yet but she is also great to learn from as a Westerner who has fully integrated into Indian life. There's also her friend Leenata who has set up our meditation retreat at the end of the course and is just a fabulous woman.

Recently we got to meet Baba Ji, a hindu holy man and a very entertaining intellectual. He has basically renounced all of his worldly possessions (including his family) to completely devote himself to Hinduism. He found out that Ren and I have Jewish roots and immediately got excited and started talking Old Testament. He is a wealth of knowledge and a very talkative, fun guy to be around for someone who once took a vow of silence for three years.

The four of us with Baba Ji


Then there was Claire, a young woman from the UK who works with Joy. After three years of working in London after graduating college she packed up and came to Bombay, not knowing a single soul here really (talk about chutzpah!). The other night we had dinner with her, Joy and another of Denise's friends Tushar. Tushar, as I put it at some point in the night is really India incarnated. By that I mean he is the perfect example of the clash between modernity and tradition that you see all over India. He is a very spiritual Hindu, but at the same time a very successful business man and probably one of the smartest economic minds in Bombay. Again a great guy to talk to whether you want to learn about hinduism, discuss the world's struggling economy or just hang out and talk about movies.

Also there's Johney, who lives down the hall from us with his roommate Nickel, a busy lawyer. Johney works with software and is a real hoot. He loves movies and he and I talk every day. Yesterday he asked me to go with him for a walk on the waterfront at an area called bandstand. I assumed he meant a walk on the beach so I slipped on some sandals and off we went. In fact he meant he was going for his nightly power walk along the water. While I wasn't expecting the exercise (or the resulting sweat bath it gave me) it was nice and the conversation was great. He especially liked when I told him about America's Food Network and how, to me, it is produced just like porno but with food instead of sex and a resulting hunger instead of horniness. We talked everything from sports to women to Sri Lanka which he tells me is amazing and even cheaper than India. Here are some pictures from our walk by the waterfront:





One morning I had Johney explain an Indian phenomenon for everyone back home. Basically, here, they not only nod "yes" and shake there head "no", they also have a third, very common expression in which they sort of wag their head back and forth to say "maybe" or sometimes "ok". Check out Johney's explanation:


Yesterday I whipped out a basketball I bought at Big Bazaar (basically India's target) for the school here and pretty soon made several new friends here at adapt who joined me for a shoot around.

Last night Denise threw a party for us and we met all kinds of successful people from all over Bombay. The best part was that most of them work in media, photographers, a record producer and several people in TV and film. I got to talk shop with a Bollywood producer and cinematographer, as well as a commercial director and cinematographer. Overall it was a very fun night though I restrained from trying to get a job here. As much as I'm loving my trip I don't know if I could handle the climate year round, especially considering that the temperatures and humidity we're getting now are as mild as they get.

Oh, and here are some Indian school children who I randomly met on the street and taught how to high five:

Hare Krishna, Not Just In Airports Anymore

Today we went to a Hare Krishna Temple (Yes, the guys from the airports). The temple was absolutely beautiful, completely made of marble and filled with some amazing art of hindu stories. Here's some pictures of the art, the temple and of course our guide and a video of the prayers they do:





These are the three parts of the temple. Each is next to the other behind big black and gold doors. At intervals throughout the day they open up and a devotee first waves incense sticks at it, then a burning ball of incense in a bowl then a little three-pronged incense thing at it. After each one, when the devotee finishes, he brings the flaming incense over to where people can go to it and then they sort of collect the smoke in their hands and rub it on themselves. This is called Ahrti. The people praying also raise their arms in the air, chant things, and the really hard core ones would lie face down on the ground horizontally to the shrines all to receive "darshan" which means to see and be seen by god.



Our guide Bhagwat, a devotee of Krishna, with the girls:


Here is a video of some scenes of prayer from the Hare Krishna temple. Note that the guys playing music do that pretty much non-stop between prayer sessions, then they play the Hare Krishna music (I call it that because those are the only words sung) over the speaker system. Also note that they start the prayer session with the blowing of the Conches, easily the most badass way to start just about anything.

What A Bunch Of Tourists...

Today we had a relaxing morning around the hostel followed by a busy day. We first went to Phoenix Mills, an upscale mall where we could not help but try Indian McDonald's for lunch. I had previously been promised that McDonald's here carried mutton burgers (because they don't eat beef of any kind) however this one had no such thing. Instead I had a fillet o' fish and a Chicken Maharaja Mac. The girls all had McVeggie Burgers, and everyone had normal fries and cokes. All of the sandwiches (other than my filet o' fish) had a distinct Indian taste which gave no inclinations of McDonald's. Also, there were at least twice as many people working there as would at an American McDonald's, two managers at the front, extra people in the back, a seperate dessert counter, someone at the trash can to take the trash, etc. This is common at all Indian stores and in Indian life in general. For every task there is a person with that job, doormen at every high-end store, more salesman than you would think you'd need who are more helpful than they need to be (as opposed to America where often times you can't get service to save your life). It is the Indian way I suppose. Here are some pictures from McDonald's:

The Girls with Ronald

The Indian McDonald's Menu

The Chicken Maharaja Mac

Recess In Mumbai

Here's a video I took of some children playing at recess:

Indian Grocery Store

We went to an Indian grocery store to buy some snacks and fruit tonight. Here's a few pictures of things that amused me in the store:

Cricket stars on Lays with flavors like Masala:

Weirdly shaped soda bottles

Here Maryland is a cookie, not a state

The Sadder Side Of Bombay

Today we were given a tour of four of ADAPT's centers. First was Bandra, where we are staying. However then we were taken to two of their other locations that are located within the slums here. This was obviously very troubling to see as we do not have poverty in America like they do here. I'll let the pictures of the slums do the explaining as it's tough to put into words:











Fortunately afterwards we had a pick-me-up by eating at Mumbai's favorite fast food chain Bombay Fried Chicken or BFC. Check it out below:

View From An Auto-Rick

Here's a video I took of a cool, old side street in Mumbai. Keep in mind that most of Mumbai is much more urban and new than this, I just liked this road:

A New Part Of The City

Today we got out of Bandra, the area of the city that we're staying in and went south to Kala Ghoda. While it didn't seem to be that far away the trip there was over an hour in a car because of traffic. On the trip there I learned that Mumbai has many faces. The different areas of the city are noticeably different in social class and especially architecture. The route we took purposefully didn't go by many slums, but we did see a lot of sites.

Our first stop was at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, formerly the Prince of Wales Museum. It was very hot in the museum but cool nonetheless. Denise and Manav know the director of the museum so we got in and got audio tour headsets for free. The museum was in a very cool, very large, old, Indian looking building. The coolest part about it was that it had a very wide array of exhibits. There was all kinds of art and artifacts from India, Nepal, Tibet, Japan, China, Europe and probably more. There was even a natural history section with statues of animals from all over Asia, most of which you'd never see in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. I only took one video of a statue I particularly liked before I was informed that there is a charge of 200 rupees for pictures and 1000 rupees for video and decided that I would just take mental photographs, but check out this statue:



After that we went to two art galleries that were absolutely awesome. I told the guys working at the second one and even signed in a guest book that I've been to the Louvre in Paris and the Met in New York but the paintings I saw there were by far some of my favorites I've ever seen.

At this point we were starving so we got lunch at a place called Britannia where Manav knew the owner, a very funny old man with huge coke bottle glasses that magnified his eyes. His sons now run the place but he still works there and was our waiter because he likes to stay busy. The food was some of the best we've had so far, especially this fish I had that was baked in leaves and given a sweet coriander rub. Here's me and Megan (one of my fellow travelers) with our waiter whom we only knew as Uncle:




Next we went shopping. I got several t-shirts as gifts for friends at home. In The Bombay Store I tried on some more Indian style shirts for myself and while I liked the style and fit they fabric was itchy and uncomfortable so I only bought myself a wallet. And in Fab India I bought two shirts for myself, some really light, loose pants that will be perfect for our meditation retreat at the end of the trip and for Goa, and gifts for my mom and sister. I also bought a set of hankerchiefs on the street because I've almost constantly got sweat to wipe off my brow.

On the way home I took a long video of the traffic that I hope to turn into a time lapse, so look forward to that if and when I can put it together. For now here are some pictures from my day in Kala Ghodei and from the drive home:




The Shrine of Haji Ali


I have no idea what this is advertising.


The Mayoral Bungalow

Goats

Good Morning Mumbai

My first morning here I woke up very early because of jet lag. Fortunately it gave me a chance to take some really nice pictures of the sun rising around ADAPT.

Traffic in Mumbai: We're Not in Kansas Anymore

While we haven't quite seen the worst of the traffic just yet, it is definitely the most apparent of the differences I've noticed in my first day or so in India. Most of it consists of cabs (which are smaller cars than american cabs) auto-rickshaws (which can best be described as scooters with back seats, two back wheels, and open-air covers) and motorcycles. There are also cars, bicycles, foot traffic and trucks which are almost all brightly painted with cool designs not just painted but built into them, especially in the doors. The lanes here are more of suggestions with everyone weaving in and out of them. There are few street signs and almost no traffic lights. Rather than be guided by those things like Americans are, the Indians constantly use their horns to communicate with other vehicles. Unlike the American car horn which is reserved to say things like, "Wake Up!" or "Fuck You" the Indian horn says anything and everything like, "Passing on the right" "Watch out behind you" "Go" "Stop" etc. etc. etc.

I had my first auto-rick ride yesterday when we went to a clothing store and then a coffee shop with Denise's friends Manav and Carissa. The first time the rick pulled within arms reach of another moving car I admit I flinched a bit, but I quickly allowed myself to trust the rick driver (who I'm sure wants to crash even less-so than I do) and since then have been getting my bearings well and enjoying all of my rick rides.

videos to come...

Traveling To India: Expectations Pleasantly Unmet

Before departing on this journey of mine I heard a lot of horror stories and had a lot of worries. One of the bigger ones was how painful the dreaded 15 plus hours of travel would be. Fortunately it was a fairly pleasant experience as far as traveling goes. Emirates Airlines, which we took for both flights including a twelve and a half hour flight from JFK to Dubai has to be one of the tops in the world. I know for a fact (because the screen in front of me told me so many times) that they have an award winning entertainment system (why there are awards for airline entertainment systems I don't know...but I digress). They also had many other cool features I'd never seen on an airline. It has to be the number one airline for small children, not only did they hand out baby food but they also had several small trinkets for children including coloring books, backpacks, and stuffed hand puppets. Also Emirates air has its own in flight duty free shop in which you can shop by catalogue from your seat and purchase things directly from the flight attendants as easily as you can get a coke or an in flight meal. Another interesting aspect of the flight was the ceiling of the aisle which, when the lights were dimmed, lit up like a starscape and even simulated a sunrise with lights as the lights came back up. Finally, as part of the entertainment system there are cameras situated at the nose of the plane facing forward and at the bottom of the plane pointing downwards which we could view on our screens at any time. Granted the views they offered were clouds for 99% of the trip and quite dizzying at points during take-off and landing but it was a cool concept nonetheless.

Before leaving many people, including my Professor Denise, warned me about the Mumbai and Dubai airports. I heard all kinds of stories about how they would be very crowded and difficult and one friend told me that in the Dubai airport it would be common to see armed teenagers in street clothes as part of a not-so-organized army or something. This was not so. The Dubai airport was as clean, sophisticated and modern as any airport I've seen. There was a huge duty free store, several coffee shops, and even a special lounge for unaccompanied minors with Xboxes (lucky little bastards). Also it was not very crowded. However I was sure, after all of Denise's horror stories that I would be hit by the wave of Indians I was promised upon landing in Mumbai, all of them offering to take my bags and be my tour guide. Again, this was in no way true. Perhaps several years ago the Mumbai airport was like this but when we landed it was very modern (though not as nice or fancy as most airports I've been to) and not crowded at all. I thought that we would at least experience a rush around baggage claim but in fact it felt like our airplane was the only at the airport at that time. We got our bags pretty easily, exchanged some travelers checks and met with Denise as soon as we exited the front doors.

Denise, along with her friend Joy drove us from the airport to ADAPT, where we are staying. The traffic (though I understand we hit an uncommonly mild period of it) was very mild. We saw some auto-rickshaws and a fender bender across the highway with people outside of the cars affected arguing. We got to ADAPT without trouble and were promptly shown to our rooms and allowed time to breathe and unpack. I never got a clear description of ADAPT before coming so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It is a large, rectangular building with two quads and four floors. The first two floors consist of the school for the disabled and its offices, the third floor is like a hostel with several, small, dorm-like rooms and a canteen where breakfast and dinner are served and on the top floor are nicer apartments where Denise is living.

My room is not bad overall, I've got a balcony with a nice view of the street we're on, my own bathroom with a western toilet (huge) a bed, a desk and a closet that locks. However, it is no five star hotel. All of the beds here are very stiff wood with very thin mattresses (good for the back I guess but I sleep on my side). My shower is very strange. It is not in it's own shower area but just open in the bathroom with a big faucet and a shower head, a large bucket, a normal bucket and two big cups. From what I've gathered people take bucket-bathes here in which they fill the bucket and use the cups to pour water on themselves as needed. It saves water but it's about as sanitary, if not less, than, well, a bath. I've been using the shower to get wet, but because it has almost no pressure I then fill the cup using the shower head and dump it on myself to wash off soap and shampoo. Also air conditioning is not particularly common here though it has been in all of the nicer shops and restaurants we've been to so far. However in our room we have only our fans to rely on. Granted the fans here go up to 5, in which they whir at what is probably double the speed of american ceiling fans but still is just enough to keep me from getting any sweatier and not quite enough to really keep me cool unless I'm right under it (though I am a sweater). Once monsoon season starts (which is literally any minute now) bugs will be rampant and we probably will have to start closing our windows around 6 pm, though for now it has been bearable. That's probable the best way to sum up my first few hours in India; new, not entirely what I was led to expect, but bearable.




Would you know what to make of this?

Despite how crazy my travels have been already, easily the weirdest thing to happen so far occured as soon as I sat down for my twelve and a half hour flight to Dubai. I immediately noticed that the man sitting next to me, whom I believe was Japanese and sort of resembled Kim Jong Il, had a mole on his neck with ridiculously long hairs growing out of it. Check it out: