8.3.2008

Fresh from Mumbai

Well, what a journey. I left Mysore at 6am, watching the world go by. It was a beautiful morning, mist over the fields, sun rising in the distance, trains going by on the other side, everyone still asleep and going smoothly on empty roads. I asked the driver to put somemusic on so first he chose some hindi bollywood music and then changed it to huis traditional Kanataka music, a woman crying out to drum beats.

So all went well, as normal as it can be in India. Then I arrived in Mumbai (I actually missed the touch down as I fell asleep) but the airport was pretty modern. Any aiprot that has a Coffeeday and a comfy sitting lounge is posh! Then I texted Judith to say I was here in Mumbai and I would be meeting her in international airport.

My phone rang, it was Judith. She was still in London. I just had to laugh. We somehow got our days mixed and I ended up arriving a day before her. There wasn't much to think other than laugh at our mistake.

I took a taxi out to our hotel in Colaba. First impression was "oh my god, this feels like I'm in a giant sauna". Then I was excited to the slums near the airpiort. Having read the Shantaram it has really opened my eyes to real India, how people live or in fact survive is a very touching story. The slums look like tin boxes made out of match boxes, that could easily be demolished in a gentle blow of wind. They were maybe 3-4 metre square, packed on top of each other. Then as we were driving I began to notice posh cars time to time. Millions of people live in this city, a city where the gap between the poor and the rich is noticeably huge.

The taxi driver tried to charge me 600rps for a journey that apparently only cost 350rps. I now know to get the rates before hand from places I stay so there were no arguaments at all. We had all the windowns rolled down and I began to develop a cough, to the dust and dirt. Sky was hidden behind a cloud of humid mist, smoke and dirt. As if that wasn't enough the taxi driver lit a cigarette, kindly offered me one. I told him that I had a cough, I used the word asthma assuming that he may understand and told him not to smoke. But in return he just lit it anyway and began to blow the smoke into the busy traffic.

So after an hour I arrived in busy Colaba region. Already seen the gateway to India which is under construction. And there are so many sellers, especially those who try to sell you huge pear shaped baloons. They are gigantic, who would want one and even if you did, what would you do with it? I will take photos and post them up later.

I will go for a little walk now I think, eat some food and look for better hotels in town. I'm still very excited to see Judith tomorrow…Still smiling with the thought of getting our dates mixed!