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Published: November 18th 2005
Our last 2 hours in India were spent working our way through the congested, exhaust filled streets of Mumbai (Bombay), weaving between people, cars and rickshaws. As we moved out of the core of the city we entered the slums which seemed to stretch out in all directions except up; no structure was taller than over 6 feet. Reportedly, 5000 new people arrive to the slums of Mumbai each week, most of them internal refugees driven from their villages by various catastrophes and general poverty. Hundreds of thousands of people live together in shelters pieced together out of reclaimed tarps, rags and plastic in what are the largest slums in Asia.
Groups of smiling barefoot children rushed to our cab at every corner, singing and laughing and hoping for rupees, and then latching on and chasing our taxi as we pulled away. The single lane chaos between the slums turned into a double lane highway and the contradiction between the realities of India was no more apparent than at this moment. Looking ahead we saw the shining billboards and modern glow of Mumbai’s impressive international airport, looking back we could still see the stretches of endless poverty and devastation we
had just passed through.
Here is where we get nostalgic. Our last few days in India and the trip to the airport are best descibed as bittersweet. We started to realize that the things that had initially saddened and irritated us about India we had began to see in a different light; to gain understanding and appreciate. We left realizing that there was so much more in India that we wanted to see and understand, knowing that we’d only experienced a glimpse of the country and its people. Another journey for another time, I guess.
We boarded our flight at 11:00pm and arrived the next morning in the stunning capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. We spent three days in Malaysia to see our cousin Jim who has been living and working in Kuala Lumpur for the last two years. He met us at the airport and we took a high speed skybus back into the downtown of the city and his apartment. We felt like we were in a different world. Downtown Kuala Lumpur is an incredibly modern and affluent area - filled with endless shopping malls and ritzy hotels. It was reverse culture shock. We spent
most of our three days divided between sleeping, enjoying forgotten creature comforts, and catching up with Jim who neither Lindsay or I had seen in the last few years. With him we discovered Kuala Lumpur nightlife and had trouble keeping up: we’d grown used to our India bedtime of 11:00 pm. We may have not seen much of Malaysia but enjoyed our very comfortable time there - thanks once again Jim for being so hospitable and showing us the city!
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Janis Irwin
non-member comment
Amazing
Hello Sistahs!!! Your last blog regarding the cows was simply fantastic! It's true that we definitely take advantage of them (even those of us who are vegetarian). I'm equally impressed by your "investigative journalism"; it shows you truly want to become immmersed in Indian culture. Your next journal entry was sad, but enlightening. I'm so happy you got to see Jim! Thank you (and him) again for calling me, despite your apparent drunkenness (Lindsay). It meant a lot!! I'm writing too much. Love you both and keep the blogs coming. Remember, just because people don't write comments doesn't mean they don't read the blogs and love them!!! Keep up the great grammar. I'm proud of you :)