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Published: March 14th 2006
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First impressions on landing in India were probably the same as most people report... hot, humid, chaotic, dusty and dirty, a bit scary - and a little bit mad. Going into a little more detail, however...
The hardest thing about that arrival, though, is that the route from the airport to South Mumbai takes in the worst slum areas of the city and therefore the country. It's pretty confronting. Lean-to shack things line all the streets - highways and main roads included and people clearly are living, sleeping, eating, washing, working, having babies, caring for families and going about their everyday lives... in what appears to be less than a half a square metre each. And as we drive along - thankful for our pre-booked airconditioned car - it seems like it will never end, with row after row and street after street of this. Some of them are even double storey! A lean-to ladder leads to the upper half square metre.
Clearly these were made from temporary materials to be there temporarily, but it is sadly apparent that they have become a long established permanent fixture here. They are not in ghettos or anything, they are just part
of life - opposite some of them could be a car showroom, a shopping mall, street food stalls. It is all dusty and grey and bit depressing, but at the same time there is so much activity and movement and colour - people scurrying to do chores, wearing riotously coloured but torn saris covered in dust. There is humour too, with signs on the front of tiny shacks which advertise the likes of "Bombay Premier Auto Repairs" - you can hardly read it for its age and coating of dust my the side of the highway, but there it is!
Toby and I don't speak much on that journey, there is too much to take in. The odd comment or gesture to point something out in case we missed it, but other than that we're both pretty overwhelmed.
The hotel (Hotel Godwin in the Colaba area) - while nice and comfortable, thank goodness - is overstaffed and over-attended in a way I've discovered only India can do. And its a shock and we both feel like we're being stalked - about 3 guys to show us in, cleaners darting around barefoot in dirty clothes, 2 to carry our
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
It's quite an impressive train station modest luggage, another to drive the elevator and 3 to see us into our room before we have a moment on our own. Oh and of course they all need to be tipped at every point. We realised it may take some getting used to - but have 2 nights there to get ourselves together.
A lot of Indians' jobs seem to be to do nothing at all. At first this is irritating, but after a day or two is strangely engaging. The door man is sweet and the lift man salutes us as if we are his captains. And the thing that makes it endearing rather than irritating is that they do it with such joy and seriousness, taking their role and it importance to heart. Without wanting to sound patronising, it is just incredibly appealing... and before I know it I'm in love with India and Indians.
I don't love the attention I get as a white woman, though, and am surprised by it in what I understood to be a very cosmopolitan city. I know I will adapt to it, but I do feel a bit unhappy by it at first. And I'm very pleased
not to be travelling alone and to have Toby with me.
In reality, it only takes us a day before we are happily strolling along busy streets, palming beggars out of the way and happily negotiating the insane traffic to cross roads. Its amazing how fast people can adapt!
The other thing which I have to mention is the traffic. It is THE most insane thing about this country and Mumbai is a law unto itself. I have never seen so many autorickshaws and little 50s style taxi cars and open red buses crowd together in such a way. They fit at least 10 vehicles across a 4 lane road and all going in different directions. Its like they are playing chicken all teh time! The horn tooting is something else as well, if you haven't been I almost can't exlpain how loud and constant it is. And its all in code and means different things - to the person you are overtaking as well as the person behind you and the people going in the opposite direction. It is utterly chaotic and crazy to my untrained eye, but it seems to work and everyone gets where they're
The Oval Maidan
India's version of mass backyard cricket - all day every day! going almost in one piece.
So to cover the normal stuff, we saw the Gateway to India and all the normal sights. We walked for absolutely hours in huge heat, sweating litres, fending off touts and beggars without really minding them and loving the tiffin-wallahs andthe kids playing endless cricket. We ate at some great places and had the best veg Thali either of us can remember, plus ate Bel Phuri on Chowpatty beach at sunset (the only non-Indians doing so at the time I must say, which seems a little scary!). We drank very little apart from copious amounts of water. We loved that our hotel room was airconditioned! We both really enjoyed Mumbai and are looking forward to getting back there in time for the 3rd test between India and England.
My vow is made in Mumbai to ensure I cover all main modes of transport... normal cab, A/C cab, autorickshaw, local bus, train, plane... and anything else I can find. So watch this space!
Next journey is a plane to Cochin in Kerala (flying Go Air, the Indian version of easyjet in UK or virgin blue in Oz), so there will be more reports to come...
Thanks for reading, love to hear from you. Fi x
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