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Published: November 4th 2008
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Erin was here a couple years ago, but my (Asaf) first introduction to India was 10 days ago, when we landed in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay). It was not the nicest introduction.
It was early morning, and on the taxi drive from the airport, we passed by hundreds, if not thousands, of families living and sleeping on the street. Then we saw what looked like slums. I have seen poverty before. I have been to South America, Africa, other parts of Asia, etc. But I never saw anything like this. The poverty in Africa is bad, but this was far worse than anything I saw there. We were in Ethiopia last year, a country that is statistically much poorer than India, with an economy that is certainly not growing as fast, but the contrast between wealth and poverty here is very disturbing, as is the
urban poverty. In Africa, you don't usually see thousands of families sleeping on the streets of a city, though no doubt there is tremendous lack, and people dying in cities and villages of hunger and curable disease.
Another sad site is all the street children here, begging, selling things, and working.
Some of them, who
tried to sell us things on the streets of Mumbai, spoke perfect English. No doubt, if given the opportunity, they could be straight A students and go on to live productive lives. The fact they don't have this opportunity is tragic. Fortunately, some organizations are making a difference. You can read about one at the end of this post.
Anyway, I found it all very disturbing, especially in a country which also has so much wealth. I just read that there are over 50 billionaires in India! Yes, in dollars, not rupees! That is second only to the U.S.
I think the problem is little concern for the poor by those who have the resources to help, like the aforementioned billionaires, but also simply too many people. Over a billion in a country smaller than the United States.
Our taxi was, like all of them in Mumbai, a cute old black and yellow cab. We got to our hotel, around the corner from Victoria Terminus. Victoria Terminus is the busiest train station in Asia, with about 2 1/2 million passengers a day. Like many of the grand buildings in Mumbai, it was built in the 19th century, during the
British colonial period. Unfortunately, many of these grand buildings are dirty and a bit decrepit. They could certainly use a bath. When you see old pictures of them, they look truly glorious.
We also visited Victoria Gardens (notice that many things were named after the then-Queen of England) and its zoo. For whatever reason, apparently no tourists come here. So instead of being 5 rupees (10 cents) for Indians, and 250 rupees ($5 US) for foreigners, like all other tourist attractions have been, Victoria Gardens just charged everyone 5 rupees. But the biggest attraction at the zoo turned out to be... us. Or, specifically, Erin. Everyone stared at her, the only white girl among thousands of Indians. People asked her name, where she was from, etc. All this in Mumbai, the largest city in India, at the zoo!
We timed our trip to India with Diwali, the Indian New Year, and that was a good idea, because we got to see the celebrations. Fireworks going off all night, for three consecutive nights. They're perfectly legal here, and people were lighting them everywhere. It got a little crazy, actually. The constant loud explosions, often just outside our room, made us feel
like we were in a war zone! Since Diwali is known as the Festival of Lights, there are also small candles on every doorstep, and lanterns hanging from doorways. It really lights up the streets!
We visited Elephanta Island, where ancient Hindu gods and godesses are carved into rocks. That was memorable, as were the monkeys running around all over the island.
We also visited the Eliyahu Sassoon synagogue, established by an Iraqi Jew who immigrated to Mumbai in the 19th century. When we got there, they were in the middle of a meeting, and since we were the only foreigners except for a couple other people, we were given flowers, tea and cake, and treated like guests of honor. It was pretty cool.
Other bits about Mumbai:
There are photocopied books on every street corner, including the latest bestsellers from the US and UK. These sell for $2 each. How they can copy them so cheap and still make a profit is beyond me. They also sell pirated Hollywood and Bollywood DVDs, music CDs, and software.
Cricket is the national sport and obsession, and you see kids playing it in the streets, and adults at
the parks.
There are some stray cows and goats, but not as many as I expected. It's worse outside Mumbai.
After 5 days in Mumbai, we took a 13 hour train south to Goa. The train ride was spectacular, with tropical scenery of lush, green hills, palm trees, rivers, and a bit of the gorgeous coast.
Here in Goa, it's a totally different kind of life than Mumbai. This former Portugese colony (which India only regained in the 1960's after a brief battle) has no large cities, but many beach resorts, catering to every budget. Bars, restaurants and nightclubs line the streets as well as the beaches.
There are British tourists, Germans, and above all - Russians. Yes, Russian package tourists are everywhere here. Apparently, this is a new hot spot for them. They even put signs on stores now (in Russian) saying "We speak Russian", and we've heard a few Indians speak Russian to the Russian tourists . There's something really funny about listening to an Indian speak Russian...
Anyway, our small hotel is a two minute walk from the nearest beach, and we've been spending most of our days lying on sunbeds on the beach,
sipping fresh watermelon and pineapple juice ($1), and alternating between reading and swimming. The weather and water have both been lovely.
There are jetskis, waterskiing, and parasailing available on the beaches, as well as boat trips to see dolphins, and so on. While we have passed on these, we did do a couple very nice excursions.
One was to a spice farm in the hills, where we saw them grow nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, pepper, chili, lemongrass, betelnut, and turmeric. We smelled and tasted many of these.
You see the Portugese influence mostly in the churches and crosses that are everywhere. About 1/3 of the people are Christian, many times higher than in the rest of India. Goan cuisine also has Portugese influences. And many people have Portugese names. Our hotel manager, for example, is Andrea D'Souza, and our entertaining taxi driver is Freddie Fernandes. Both Christian, and completely Indian.
Even though it is known for mass tourism, and its foreign influences, as well as being the wealthiest (or least poor, I should say) state in India, Goa is still very Indian in many ways. Cows are on every road - much more than Mumbai, in fact. There are
large Hindu temples everywhere (only here they might be next to a church). There is the usual Indian hustle and bustle. And, unfortunately, poverty is still a huge problem that affects most people, including children.
Today, we visited a home for former street children, and those whose parents can't afford to take care of them. They were boys and girls, ranging in age from 2 1/2 to 9 years. When they get older, the organization, El Shaddai, has other homes for them. We brought the children San Francisco postcards, pizzas, sweets, and games. They were as playful and happy, and seemed to be as well adjusted as any children anywhere. Thank goodness there is an organization like this, to help children have a brighter future. We encourage you to read some of the stories of the children on their website, and find out how you can help:
http://www.childrescue.net
Reminder: What you are seeing here on the blog is just a few of our photos. To see them all, go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mcaleece
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