Arrival in the Bollywood capitol....

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Namaste!

As you have probably guessed I have finally arrived in India. We flew into Mumbai airport on Sunday where we were greeted by a man named Shankar who is the husband of one of Alice's mum's friends. As soon as I stepped out of the airport the India air filled my lungs and it bought back so many great memories of my Rajasthan trip two years ago. We stayed in a place called Juhu which I think is the posh area of the city as it was filled with fancy hotels and posh shops. When we got there we were greeted with Chai tea and Parle G biscuits which really jerked my memory as I practically lived off those darling biscuits last time.

Arriving at the airport was quite funny as when you leave and one has to walk past either the nothing to declare or something to declare aisles right to the side of it there are counters for the elderly, disabled and single women. I thought this quite strange that they should have a whole area for single women travellers as if we are inacapable of defining whether we want to declare something or not or whether we'd be able to stretch our minds around hailing a cab.

On our first day we did all of the regular touristy stuff like visited the Gateway to India, went to an art gallery and visited the markets where I seemed to buy half of India for next to nothing. Then something very excited happened, we were approached by a casting agent to see if we'd be interested in appearing in a Bollywood movie being filmed the next day so of course we agreed and the next thing we know we have arrived at a bustling set full of extras, actors, makeup artists etc. The scene we were doing was set in a club in New York so I was just a girl in the crowd and Alice a policewoman. We spent pretty much the whole day doing one short scene but it was really interesting to see how it all worked and we even got paid...wait for it.... 7 whole pounds. The film is called Mean Love but i'm not sure when it will be out. I think its going to be pretty big because the King of Bollywood features in it. Not that Alice and I new who he was but all the local extras were swooning over him. I don't know whether I will actually be seen or not as there seemed to be some sort of hierachy among the extras as many of the girls squabbled to get infront of the camera which was a funny sight to see.

That evening we were schedualed to go to the Theatre (very studious of me I thought) but then unfortunately the show got cancelled. Shankar has a live in maid called Kussum who is such a sweet lady, she took as for a walk along the beach where we were stared at a little bit then visited her local temple. She gave me a pair of earings that I commented on as being nice which made me feel a bit guilty but she insisted. We bought her a nice present before we left so that made me feel a bit better. She insisted on taking our photo alot and pranced around the house with alice and I on the background of her phone - she was so pleased to have made some new friends.

Mumbai is a really lovely city. I had visions of it being completely over crowded to the point where we wouldn't be able to breathe but I found quite the opposite. When walking round the town the people seem relaxed, we weren't hassled massively and it had a really studenty, cosmopolitan type feel to it. Of course there are areas like the slums that are really really awful places. You pass alot of them on the train into the city which is really quite heartbreaking. I watched the movie slum dog millionaire last night and its incredible the difference between that movie and the very rich afluent areas which we would have visited as tourists. The trains are an experience to be had in Mumbai. Shankar described them as a nightmare and is pretty much like visiting the zoo. This is coming from a man who has a personal driver bare in the mind. I found it no worse than the London underground at rush hour.

We have now come down to a place called Pune (pronounced Poo-Nar) which is pretty much Mumbai but smaller. We are staying with Shankars son Nickhil and he is such a laugh. He is newly married and his wife Rad is also lovely. They took us out on our first night round the town which was good fun. I met this guy who used to live in Highgate, drank in the flask and once played a set with Jimi Hendrix - such a small world! Nickhil randomly quite his job yesterday which came as a shock to all but is good for us as he can now take us round to see the sights :-) We have been to visit a palace called Agha Khan palace where Ghandi was held for a number of years and the place where his wife and lifelong assistant died. Ghandi's ashes are also held there which was quite surreal to see. The palace itself was rather beautiful but there wasn't alot of information about its history inside which was a slight dissapointment.

Yesterday we went to visit a place called Osho Ashram. This is a place where alot of white western upper middle class go to cleanse their souls. We opted to go for a guided tour which included a brainwashing video session and a mini tour of the premesis. People there walk around in these long maroon coloured robes and participate in different meditating sessions throughout the day. It generally costs what will probably be my lifes savings by the time i'm 70 which is why I was lead to beleive that the whole thing was really just a way of making a serious amount of money with these people walking around chanting and finding themselves at a price. We went for the comic value of course. Afterwards we went for a walk around the Osho gardens which were actually really beautiful. It had peaceful flowing rivers with big stone Buddahs dotted around and little 'silent areas' for people to sit in.

So far I am absolutely loving being back in India. The colours, sounds and atmosphere has not changed and has not dissapointed me at all. The air is still thick and slightly sweet, the roads are still dustfilled and cows still randomly miander across the oncoming traffic.

At some point next week we will make our way down to Goa which is pretty much the party capitol of India. Its quite funny as in the book it describes its beautiful temples and old Portugese culture and then right next to it it says "then go and visit rave city" or "disco town" so it should be interesting!

Really have to go now but update soon!

xxxxx

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