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Well again, my train journey turned into a 24 hr gig, I was sort of expecting it this time though. I didn’t get much sleep as the guy across the isle from me snored all night like a screaming banshee, luckily I had traded my ‘Catcher in the Rye’ for Joseph Heller’s “Catch 22’ another book I had never found the time to read, so at least I had something to do while I was not sleeping. After leaving Mumbai Central railway station and heading for my hostel, I thought I might be in for a small dose of civility. Given the fact that Mumbai is highly regarded as one of the major economic veins pulsating within India. However by reason of this; I discovered food, accommodation and transport are all rather expensive. It turned out that when I landed on the steps of the hostel I had chosen, it was rather aptly named. ‘Volga Guesthouse’; smeared across the third floor of an old damp building were an array of rooms similar to impromptu office cubicles, seeded with bunks draped in stained off white linen. Memories flooded back of the infamous 'Payless Guesthouse’ in Chunking Mansion. I inquired once again,
“This is definitely the cheapest in Mumbai” I was assured it was, I eyed the nearest cubicle; finding a bed a floor and walls, and thought this is me. So after putting my gear away, I headed out into Mumbai, for my final stand in India.
Mumbai formally referred to as Bombay houses some fifteen million people of all manner of life, industrialists, film stars, artists, et al all living ‘top to tail’ with the poverty stricken homeless in both soaring skyscrapers and sprawling slums. The streets are home to many from diverse ethnic backgrounds, your ear catches dozens of tongues, all adding colour, flavour and texture to Mumbai and creating somewhat of a breathing cultural tapestry , reminiscent in many ways of Hong Kong.
I spent the best part of the day on Colaba Causeway stocking up on all the necessities, before leaving India. That afternoon I set off for the ‘Gateway to India’. A commemorative building adorning the Mumbai harbor, signifying the arrival of King George V and Queen Mary of Bombay in 1911. This was a really impressive structure, but standing on the edge of the harbor instilled me more with the sudden urge to
feel the orienting breeze of the ocean, than the dram of an empire. So I caught a cab, quite a novel luxury over to Chowpatty Beach.
Chowpatty is the heart of Mumbai. It looms large in the city's psyche, and is often cast as the backdrop to many emotional, festive and political rites of passage. I arrived just in time to see the sun go down and watch the beach transform into a carnival scene. Kiosks lined the beach selling delicious kulfi (Indian ice cream) children still swam in the ripples of the Arabian Sea, and I took long deep salty breaths, relishing the feeling of perspective that the sea brings, after a few weeks in the desert.
Mumbai is also a staging point for the coming and going for many travelers, so I spent the evening at ‘Leopold’s Bar’ Fosters in hand trading war, sorry travel, stories with everyone else.
The next morning I got up and tidied up a few loose ends, trading one lonely planet for another. Then made my final Indian sight seeing trip to ‘Victoria Terminus’
Modeled on the lines of the St Pancras Station in London, Victoria Terminus is undoubtedly one of the
finest pieces of colonal architecture in India. Complete with carved stone friezes, stained glass windows and flying buttresses. It is Gothic architecture at its best, an awesome edifice governing the approach to ‘Regal Circle’. Today though it has been re-christened Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus after the Maratha warrior. But as I found out, it is still strongly regarded as ‘Victoria Terminus’ by many ex pat British baby boomers. It was a pretty uneventful day, even though I got propositioned as an extra for a Bollywood feature. I unfortunately had to turn them down as I was short on time and full of last nights bad bad bad curry!
India..... what can I say about India, there is certainly a period of adjustment when traveling in India, even when arriving from somewhere, evidently so diverse and intricate as China. I’m sure it’s different for all, but for me, it was at least few days. I experienced not so much a ‘culture shock’ as an initial ‘lack of culture’ shock for I was primarily immersed in the irate human mass of the combination of New and Old Delhi. Some things though are truly shocking: human excrement anywhere at any time, filthy streets, near constant harassment by would be con artists, beggars and street children, the combination of which was exceptionally demanding.
Yet once I got used to handling, or ignoring it all, (bar a the early morning groping session) I barely even noticed anymore, and was are able to fully enjoy the best that India has to offer.
Of which there is a lot; the food is delicious. India’s history is extraordinarily captivating whether you view it in a colonial European guise or through its much older pretext of Hindu empires, Muslim invasions, the founding of Buddhism or dramatic Rajasthan forts. Yet honestly one of India’s greatest treasures, and simultaneous banes, are its people, the ones you meet on buses, trains, or on the streets who are profoundly curious and interested in you, and occasionally want nothing more than for you to enjoy their country. At first the long stares feel, and sometimes are, offensive but as soon as you smile or wave or on occasion use a wrist lock, many of them melt. I guess India is the ultimate contrast, Honestly I found it harder to travel here than expected and I’m still weighing my thoughts on how I truly feel about India.
But for now I’m heading for Mumbai airport, I have roughly 36 hrs in transit before I reach Egypt. But I am definitely viewing this as an absolute positive, as Toby (my brother) is going A.W.O.L for the day to hang out at the airport.
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Paul Roberts
non-member comment
8th one from Paul
Hi Luke. From what I can gather, India is a place to explore when you're under thirty! I guess first class would be OK but then there's always the condradiction to that lifestyle with the beggars (and the gropers). You paint a very realistic picture of your time there and for me, it will I think, have to suffice, as I have never and still have little desire to visit. Having said that, a good curry might just tip the scales! So, Egypt eh? Now you're talkin'! Egypt's always been a destination I've hankered after, so I wait eagerly to be guided through it by you. Take care, oh, and remember to take the plastic off the blade next time you shave! Paul.