Mumbai - India

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Arrived here on the 20th Dec. We usually book into the Juhu hotel on Juhu beach (next to the 5* Marriott, coming to India you should stay in a family run hotel not the clinical ones) but it was closed for refurbishment, so we checked in to the 4 Seasons on the same beach. Katan arrived the next day with a friend. We did a couple of days touring: the Taj was cordoned off but we managed to do some shopping and eat at our favourite Mahesh's fish restaurant, um um. We then got my cousin to pick us up and headed for home while Katan and Sham went to Goa for the New Year.

What can I say about India, well here's a note on India for those who have not visited it but wish to do so:

India is a true multi-cultural country. Her population is enormously diverse and at odds on the basis of religion, language, class, caste and ethnicity. But somehow she manages to incorporate each identity in a seamless manor.
She lays bear all that humanity offers: depravity and great opulence as well as a "well to do" middle class . There are some shocking sights though: I thought after many visits here that I'd seen enough not to shock, but no, I saw a girl aged around 10, begging on her knees as her feet were like balloons with little toes poking out the end.

When visiting India don't go off impressions made during the first few days, especially if you are coming from the West of Oz etc. You will get use to the poverty and dust and start to enjoy yourself if you tolerate it for the first few days.

Observations

I now know why Indians put scented oil in their hair, I use brylcreem (yes I know) and the flies have a field day,

Traveling around the roads is at best hair raising, now everybody has a mobile it's positively life threatening e.g. I saw a family on a motorbike (mum. dad and two kids) and dad was talking on the mobile propted between his shoulder and cheek.

The number of beggars has risen dramatically, you can't get out of a car without several of them (recall Zombies) surrounding you. Bit of advice if you do come here don't give them money, buy some food off a street vendor for them.

The quality of the food has gone up vastly. I lost about 7lbs on this trip up to India looks like I've put on 14lbs now!

Getting annoyed at the abbreviations and acrimony's without definitions in the media and papers.

Had probably the worst day of the entire holiday. We were told that we could get to Shirdi (this is the shrine of one of India's most venerated men Sai Baba) in a day and return home. On that basis we got up at 3am. Got going around 4am. Actually got to Shirdi around 11:30 (we were told we'd get there around 8am). We then stood in a queue for the next 31/2 hr and eventually through the pushing and shoving got to the spot for all of 10seconds before we got ushered out. We'd not eaten since we had tea at 7am. We had dinner on the way back at 9pm arriving home at 1:30am. So we traveled and queued for nearly 24hrs for 10secs of what I don't know.

Well we're back in Bolton where the sun don't shine and the outlook looks grim. I'll have to find work for the next trip Russia, Japan, Cambodia etc.

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Photos

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Natasha (my niece) trying on a dress for the wedding

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Shopping for saris

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Natasha trying on another dress for the wedding.

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All the traffic rules exist but nobody abides by them.

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As you can see my family are not hard up!

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This is the best place to have masala dosa (actually we are eating masori dosa).

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Masori dosa at a street stall

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Nikita (my neice) trying on a dress for the wedding.

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Quite day in the market.

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Nikita trying on another dress

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Came across this on our way home. Nobody was injured. As usual in India safety is not an issue (nor is life). Here road repairs were being done. The sand was dumped on the outside lane and this car ran other the side of it.

Home
My cousin's wife is expecting. Tradition has it that on the eight month she is taken to her parents home for the birth. This is the equivalent of the "baby shower"

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Baby shower.

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Doing the ceromony for the healthy birth.

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Our home, my brother and son are doing the Khirta - blessing the home.

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View from our flat roof of the temple (you can see the steeple spires) and the setting sun.

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Solar panels on the roof provide hot water for the home and 4 bathrooms.

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View from the roof. You can just make out one of the land plots I've got.

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Our bedroom. All the furniture in the house was made on site and hand crafted. The wood is teak.

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Kitchen. The dining table is carved with elephants heads.

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Front.