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Published: February 15th 2014
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And then before you know it it’s the last train journey the last city you will visit in India and the last days and hours. The train journey was lovely the country side was very hilly we seemed to be going up into the mountains passing through great valleys. It was only a 3 hour trip and it went very quickly. What I love about Indian trains is that you are constantly plied with drinks and food as well as that you can order breakfast, lunch or dinner. I had omelet toast which usually means there is chilli in the egg and it comes as a sandwich mildly warm and hardly toasted but amazing how the orders are taken on long slips of paper and that you always getthe right order. The Mumbai train station- the Victoria Terminus - has got to be one of the most beautiful train station the world and looks more like a Gothic palace than a train station. The British sure knew how to build. Our hotel was near the beach front a big sweeping bay (that at night is known as the Queens necklace because of the twinkling lights) that you would love to take
a swim in but unfortunately the water is toxic to us foreigners, lined with mildly decaying art deco buildings. If painted they would be grand as some of them are.
We cleaned up and went out to explore the city. Terry has been here 4 times before but this was my very first time. There is a huge park called the Oval Maidan (sounds like where the cricket term maiden oval came from) where hundreds of people are out playing cricket on Sundays. In fact there are about 3 of these large open areas in close proximity. On weekends it’s who knows who playing and during the week we saw a lot of school groups practicing there. Of course this is India and everywhere we have been, on any dusty patch even, you will find a game of cricket going on. Colaba is vibrant area of old Mumbai where all the old beautiful buildings are. The streets are wide and lined with people selling everything you can think of. More fashion jewelry, pashmina’s, clothes, trinkets, toys the list can go on and on. It’s all so confusing for a girl and one really needs a girlfriend to come spend
time here shopping. As it was Sunday it was busier than ever and here we saw on the pavement what I had seen in Kolkata a young girl doing her tight rope walk act. It was almost identical in every way – the child so young how many hours a day does she do this? I am sure she keeps the family alive with her performance as everyone who takes a picture has to put money in the box and why not it’s only fair. We wandered through the markets past Leopolds Café made famous in the book Shantaram - people queuing to get in delicious looking cakes and pastries tempt you in the open to the street cake stand, then down to the harbor and the two iconic buildings the Taj Hotel and the Gateway to India. Both imposing and majestic. I had my sandals cleaned and fixed by a shoe shine guy. They were so ingrained with dust and I was feeling embarrassed about them but after he had finished they looked new and ready for another long journey. Thanks Naot (Israeli shoes)you make the best sandals in the world!!!!! 0n our meanderings we went past the David
Leopolds Cafe
made very famous by the book Shantaram and yes i have read it and had to come here for at least a drink Sassoon Library which had a wonderful exhibition about his life and the contribution the Sassoon Family had made in India and Asia as far as Shanghai. They had built quite a few synagogues in the city as well as schools, libraries and hospitals.
Breakfast on the roof with a view of the city and the local newspaper is a great way to start the day. Of course it was off to the main markets for another mind blowing experience. Alleyways full of crumbling buildings that you can see were once beautiful, and of course once again crammed to the hilt – I wish I could transport you all for the sounds and smells (ok so some of the smells not that great) often of burning incense which can only mean two things food stalls or temples. You usually come across the sellers of offerings before you see the temple and they can be in the weirdest places too. Offerings are made at shrines verywhere outside shops, stalls, in trees. There are about 18 million people who live in Mumbai and every single motor vehicle toots their horn all the time so there is always a lot of
noise. There is a lot of movement in the market of long trolleys moving goods around and you had better get out the way as they don’t stop for you. Pseople, bikes and cars- if they can squeeze through they will try and then you trying to make your way too. It can all become too much after a few hours. We started off at the main temple the Mumbadevi Temple. We have not seen wandering cows like in other cities. Here rather they are tethered and well fed. Usually old ladies sitting with bundles of grass and people pay her to feed them. So that whiled away a good few hours in fact time seems to really fly past when observing life.
The next day we hired a taxi for the day and drove into the very up market Juhu area. We popped in to see a delightful Jain temple brightly painted with lots of friendly people. Then the hanging gardens on the top of the hill – the Jains do not bury their dead they leave them out in the open like Buddhists’ and they are eaten by the eagles and I am sure the crows. There
are many birds in India that is one of the most pleasant things. Well not the crows really as they have a croaking cry but are funny to watch and cheeky as all hell. Next on the itinary was Ghandi’s house – a lovely old house set in a leafy tree lined road. The floors were tiled with beautiful Victorian tiles and whole house was set up with pictures, sayings and rooms showing movies of his life. The room in which he stayed was as it would have been. Our lunch stop was a great local where I had a delicious butter chicken and Terry had mutton biriyani his staple. A quick stop at the dhobi ghats to see thousands of mostly men, doing the washing of the city. Hotels make use of this service and it’s quite amazing. You get harassed like hell by the poor - young girls with babies on their arms begging you to buy things you really don’t want. Our last stop was the synagogue well one of them there are a couple in town. Mumbai boasts about 3500 Jews and they do get a minyan for Shabbat but unfortunately I will not be here
so it was just a visit and of course I had to purchase something to help with the upkeep of the shul. Outside there was a heavy military presence which made me think back to the terrorist attack in 2008 – there is always a possibility of an attack so one must be prepared.
I have loved my time here and hope to tell you all in person all the wonderful things about this journey that I have forgotten in this blog– the little snippets and cameos that hopefully I would have captured in my pictures – and of course Terry’s. No good internet here at the moment so I might have to send this from home tomorrow. Even though I have loved every moment here and seen so many changes - well it has been a quarter of a century since I was last here! Some things stay the same which makes the flavor of India – I am looking forward to coming home tonight.
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