Blogs from Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Asia - page 92

The trip to Mumbai was endless but uneventful. We arrived at 12.30 am, Tuesday, January 11th. Somewhere along the way we missed out on half a day as we crossed time zones. Clearing the airport in Mumbai was hassle free and the promised taxi driver, complete with a ”Penelope and Vernon Eccles’ sign was waiting for us, amid a sea of name signs. We felt great relief at seeing him. During the drive to the hotel, our taxi driver gave us a running commentary on the upcoming visit to Mumbai by the President of the Congress Party, interspersed with identifications of various tourist spots we were passing. All of this in a deep Indian accent. Our ears have yet to become attuned to the cadence of Mumbai speech so much was probably missed. An hour later ... read more

Well well well. Mumbai was certainly not initially high on our list of places, but Prit suggested we visit, and it made sense for the route. Boy, were we pleased we went. What a great city. If, like us you have an image of Bombay as being really dirty, smelly, busy etc etc. then think again. Yep there are hundreds of very sad and dirty slums, especially in from the airport, but once you hit 'downtown', it's a really lovely place. It's the commercial centre of India, and has a real buzz around it. The buildings are majestic, the traffic is reasonably well behaved, and smart suited business men buzz around from their BMWs into the glamorous chromed bars and restaurants. However, the old bits, including Crawford market, still retain the classic 'Indian feel'....great fun. We ... read more

I went shopping today again. I was shopping for eyeglasses. I heard you could get them here in India for a good price. We went to Crossroads Mall near Haj Ali. The one glasses store that was open had a pretty good selection, and the prices were okay. They were asking 2400 Rupees for the frames and another 1000 for the lenses. That is cheaper than I would get back home. I will think about it, and probably come back to get the glasses. Then we went to an indoor bazzaar just down the road from the mall. I guess it was mostly full of smuggled and immitation goods. There were some good perfumes, PC games, and watches there, and I would like to go back and look a little more. I'm planning to come back ... read more

Geo: 19.048, 73.0828A common question we are asked is, "how do you find Mumbai?" That is a question with a complicated answer, and here we will answer it for you (if you too have asked this question). I think we both have liked and disliked this city. We are in admiration of the people who make this city their home and live their life here. Honestly, we couldn't do it and we take relief in knowing we have our home to return to in Portland. Being here has been exhausting, frustrating, exhilarating and immensely rewarding. This is a city where a sense of humor is a must. We are not always able to summon up that humor in the moment; and we are not always proud of our reactions, but in the end, we find a ... read more

Geo: 19.048, 73.201In the five weeks since we last wrote about our work at AVNI, much has transpired. As we related, Justin's project was to assess the impact of HIV/AIDS on people over 49 years-old - both those that are HIV-positive themselves, but also those that are caregivers, "the affected," for infected family members. As we said, currently, all prevention and treatment efforts in India are currently aimed at younger age groups. So exploring this impact in India has not been done before. Before designing the questionnaires needed to survey the "affected" and "infected", I (Justin) had to learn quite a bit about the subtlies of the epidemic amongst the elderly in India. After talking with leaders of HIV/AIDS relief organizations, he learned that there are quite a number of stigmas and barriers faced by Indian ... read more