This year I went on a trip I have been talking about since the Summer of 1998. Namely a trip to India, more specifically Mumbai. This adventure evolved out of a conversation I had with Anita X in the summer of 1998.
Anita X and I were new neighbours in the new building Citylights in New York City; we met in an elevator in ´our´new building in the summer of 1998. Hearing that I was from Ireland, she expound on the charms of the island, and how she would like to visit Ireland one day. Well she did 16 years later in 2014. So it was in order that I visit her in Mumbai/Bombay, which I did over December/January past.
Mumbai by night like many international cities has some beautiful buildings - not least their central railway station, the beautiful Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The locals are very proud of this edifice and with good reason; the terminus which was built in 1887 is a marvel. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is one of the busiest railway stations in the world, it runs like clockwork and from my few times visiting and using the terminus, it was superbly clean.
All this in an extremely busy railway terminus that is well over 100 years old that is still, amazing to my mind, much the same as it was built over a century ago - they cannot update the workings of add building modifications in any significant way, because of its UNESCO Heritage status.
(Very Harry Potter-esque in my mind too.)
Self and Anita X photographed standing before Taj Mahal Palace Hotel - named of course after same named Taj Mahal Palace. This beautiful building is situated near the Gateway of India below.
See photo of the self same Gateway of India below. Again beloved by the locals, am not sure why; to my mind this edifice was not as impressive as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, both of which you can see above.
The alert among you will note that we are enjoying the sights of Mumbai at night. Right on!
The best time to do so, less traffic - RELATIVELY SPEAKING that is. These photos were all taken at about midnight. It is cooler too. And safe. As you can see there are families everywhere, and one did not feel at all unsafe. (Though a family member visiting from another big city in India said she always felt safe in Mumbai, whereas where she lives she is more alert out and about, esp. as a woman.)
Left Anita X´s brother in law Dhiren. A most gracious host, one of the many in Anita´s family. The first night I was in Mumbai, he drove us around - in the middle of the night, as you can see, to see the sights.
Street Life
These next images are of street life, hectic and colourful as one would might imagine it to be in a big city in India. Most of these photos were all taken around the intersection of two streets This area runs the gamut, jewelry stores, beautiful, albeit compact clothing stores and small very humble accommodations. And more as you will see below. Do enjoy.
Note below the combination of old and new: street vendors before a trendy costume jewelry boutique...
And the trees. I was amazed to see street trees all over the old city of Mumbai.
Yes, you are right, two oxen further up this same street. While I would not be one to promote farm animals living in big city metropolis, I hazard a guess that these two animals were more comfortable than say your average cow having to deal with the conditions in´agri-business´housing.
However these hens, in the small picture on the right, had it made. Big City Free Range - how cool is that! The rice vendor with the bike below is a very humble situation. Out of respect to the owner I did not want to take a more direct photos of his place of work and I surmise his home too. Note the sleeping dog on the street. They were all over the city, and sadly all strays. I have no idea how these dogs survived; not only was their food source a mystery to me, but more, their water source. I have no idea how they got enough liquids to survive. No one could tell me either. I had to surmise people must have left water out for them at night.
There was building all over the city Safety standards were not what I might be use too. Often I saw hard hats, and neon vests, but I rarely saw shoes never mind steel toe capped boots. - But that was another phenomenon in Mumbai except for restaurants, every one working everywhere that I visited was in bare feet when working indoors, as were people when in their own homes. Yet never once did I experience ´a smelly feet´moment.
(For me even in the warm weather, I found the tile floors too cold not to wear slippers but no one else that I saw wore slippers. This must mean that no one suffers from corns and other other ailments one suffers from wearing too tight badly designed shoes. )
I did enjoy! In this store, there were jars and shelves of all sorts of goodies: sweets, nuts, cakes, dried fruit, all so nicely arranged.
And again, none of the employees were wearing shoes!
A good investment in India and for yourself!
Now dear reader if you have a few dollars at your disposal that you care to invest wisely, I would suggest you could do worse than consider buying shares in HDFC Bank. Shares which now trade on the New York Stock Exchange at at $103.00. In the 1990´s they started on the exchange there at $3.12.
´Why?´ You may ask. Well I tell you why! Right there on the right is a picture of a branch of the HDFC Bank - yes, there right beside a small store space that sells cement. And there just in front there is washing hanging out to dry.
Across the road is .... well a row of shacks, some of which have businesses, and some are homes.
The bank building itself was nondescript inside, an average not flashy place where local customers can do their business. This bank is not spending money on bling, they have offices near their customer base, which in this instance is likely not very rich but VERY hard working people in Mumbai.
For example, under that blus tarpaulin there across the street from the bank is a little bakery; I bet you when that owner needs to do their banking, or needs a loan to expand... where will they go? Across the street to HDFC Bank.
My positive observations were added to by Anita X; she said this bank found a niche for lending money to non-moneyed middle class people who had a good education. The people could not afford to buy a home with cash, but they could afford a mortgage, albeit a mortgage with a 7% plus interest rates. - We are not talking charity here, but it made possible what was not previously possible for many people in India: buying their own home.
And that dear reader is the reason you should consider shares in HDFC Bank!
(Note the two school children on the moped, more on that later.)
(Note the two school children on the moped, more on that later.)
In an different area again a picture of Anita standing before D-Mart.- It is Mumbai´s answer to Cosco in the U.S. or Aldi in Germany. 
And now for something completely different:
Balaji Farms. http://www.balajifarms.com/
Anita X arranged a lovely trip out into the country. Two hours out of Mumbai we were in the boon docks of India. (It was a crazy drive, but ´driving as ususal´ in India. And never once did I see an accident in the whole time I was there. Amazing.) Anyway it was beautiful out in the country on the farm. Some smart person living in Mumbai bought this area of land, about 7 acres, and built huts in styles from different parts of India. But with mod cons and what not included.
Local people provide tasty local food, they have rescued donkeys and free range hens and turkeys wandering about. Here is moi on the left, enjoying ´my´ terrace.
Warli Art was the theme of the other cottage.
In Warli art the pictures are about every day life; there are no straight lines and the figures tend to be two triangles joined in the middle. To find out more about this fascinating ´happy´art form check out:
http://knowindia.gov.in/culture-and-heritage/folk-and-tribal-art/warli-folk-painting.php
Right: a doting Mama in the kitchens of Balaji Farm making her dear darling his favorite bread his favorite way.
One morning while on the farm, Ania X and I want for a short walk down the road, we met two local woman who were as interested to talk to us, as we to them. The young married women, sisters-in-law it seems, were very clearly content in their lives; they explained the had not been to school for long, but I understood their children are going to school. They carried a smart- phone. (If I knew enough about it, I would right a blog posting on the fabulous pluses of smart- phones to the world. But I don´t. Enough to say it is WONDERFUL that people such as these two women, whose lives and world can be opened, expanded and hopefully bettered because of this technology.)
A nice connection, both had relations who worked on Balaji Farms. So more money going into the local community. All good stuff.
A visit to the Museum. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Museum of Mombai to give the museum its rightful moniker. Now the alert amoung you will note the locals also named the railway terminus above after Herr Schivaji, and for good measure the local airport. Again one of the best run airports I have ever visited -(Note to ´the top people` at Heathrow, JFK. If you want to know how to run a nice quiet airport, visit the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.) But I digress. Back to the museum.
Anita X and I had a wonderful day in the museum and art gallery. This picture of a the sleeping Buddha brings one peacefully into the lovely space. While not a huge museum what it has to show and how it presents it is a top class presentation of Indian art, culture and history. Enjoy the pictures below. To learn more click about the museum click on. https://www.csmvs.in/
The rear of the sleeping Buddha; if you look carefully, you can see the Buddha lying down.
I hope I can convey to you a bit of the of peace and calm the museum offers in this bustling metropolis.
A lovely story on the picture below. It was a nice experience, which I had a few times in India. The family very politely stopped me and asked, again extremely politely if they could have a picture with us all together. Anita X confirmed as I myself felt, there was nothing untoward, it was simply something to share with their friends that they saw a white skinned person. Of course then I had to have a picture of the family too. So we all took our pictures, smiled politely to one another, thanked each other and went on our way. Sweet I can only say.
On the way home from the museum on the train we got chatting to these two delightful women in the ladies only carriage. (The aforementioned, I would highly recommend. Other metropolis take note, esp. in rush hour, I can imagine it can make life for 50% - or more of travellers more pleasant.) But again I digress.
It was after 5:00 p.m. and they were teachers who were on the road since 5:00 a.m. that morning - they were at an abacus bee. (Like spelling bee if you will only with abacus. ONLY the children did not use the physical abacus, rather they did the calculations - in their heads!) Is seems children in their charge were participating in this event.We had a lovely chat. What lovely sari´s they wore too.
My Mehndi Moment. - Or rather 2.5 hours!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehndi
These beautiful designs........
.....were painted by this artist. No, it is not permanent, it is henna. The art form called Mehndi in south east Asia and henna art in the West can take hours to apply. My hands took 2.5 hours. For weddings and big do´s the bride can have both arms and her feet painted; that is with two painters one on each arm taking 10 HOURS each working together, and then the feet are done by someone else.
Naturally everyone has to oohh and aah over the finished work.
Mehndi is also popular in Islamic countries and Africa. See more on this link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehndi
Back in Germany, it was fun seeing people´s reaction at the school where I worked. Children from countries and culture where Mehndi is know got so excited and would tell me about times they had seen their mothers having their hands decorated.
Other Moments
Another day we visited two Catholic churches that Anita
X used to visit as a little girl. The first Mount Mary Basilica was the prettier church, but the second church St. Michael´s though more minimalist was I felt much more lived in, loved and prayed in, including by Anita´s
family. Yes although her family are devout Hindu´s,
as is wont to be the case for many people in India, there seems to be a feeling
among many Hindus as far as I can see of ´why not share all the joy?´.
So much so that St. Micheal´s has a Novena event EVERY Wednesday. 13 masses are celebrated EVERY Wednesday, and packed to the gills I understand. Clearly there are not so many practicing Catholics in Mumbai to fill a
church for 13 masses on a weekday. So it is more than Anita´s
family that are attending these masses.
And another poignant moment was our visit to Mother
Theresa´s Home in Mombai. The residents
there looked cared for, well and happy. Though all that praying... oh my....
A visit to Mahatma Gahndi´s home.
He lived for only a few years in Mumbai, these rooms I recognized from the
scenes from the film on his life.
It
is not true that we are all in-dispensable.
Mahatma Gahndi was not; in my opinion he could have achieved more success
working towards peaceful independence for India, just like Nelson Mandela in South
Africa and Martin Luther King in America..
Yes, most of us are dispensable,
but no not all of us are. But I digress.
Appropriately you
can visit Mahatma Gahandi´s home for free. And it is
well maintained too.
Normally, I don´t show people´s faces clearly in my postings without their permission, but now you can see who Anita X really is, here is a poster where she gave a talk at the Mumbai Press Club.
A park at lunch time. Hard to believe it was so quite in a city that not only never sleeps, but does not know the meaning of it.
Mumbai is a coastal city, and yet the beach area is not over crowded as you can see. Though swimming in the sea is not recommended.
Well fancy that! The unexpected that surprised.
The water in Mumbai is VERY soft. While not recommended for drinking the water was soft and great for skin and hair. And neither was it in short supply, the supply comes from two fresh water lakes right there in the middle of the city.
Oil well right off the coast. Just out of view from land working oil wells, imagine, there just a few miles off the coast of a huge metropolis. Not enough to supply all India´s need, but it certainly helps. But it is a good reason not to go swimming there!
Tress tress everywhere. That I had not figured on. I am not sure, but I suspect they are a a fallback from colonial times. These trees were often very dusty, but they were loved, cared for and counted too I understand.
Children going to school everywhere. The was most heartening. At lunch time or in the after school hordes of children in uniforms every where. Hope for the future.
A wild nature reserve in the middle of the city.
It seems about a century ago, they started building on this beautiful wild land... until someone pointed out ´This land is legally designated as a parkland by the state.` Opps an end to the building. But, occasionally wild animals, and owls can be seen and heard where Anita X owns her home in India.
Traffic in India. On the side streets on the highways - everywhere. Driving in Mumbai makes the Italians look as careful as the Swedes. I have no photos as proof, either we were driving so fast, that the photos were a blur or we were sitting in traffic - which looks exactly the same as people sitting in traffic every where. Except of course there were very often whole families on one motorbike or on a moped in this flow of traffic too. Not infrequently I saw a daddy driving, a small child on the tank in front of dad, a child of 4 or so behind him, and behind that child mummy sitting side-saddle with a baby in her arms. No bother to anyone! But yet I never once saw an accident. Thank God.
Hinduism is alive and well - in a way that the leaders of other faiths the world over could only envy.
They are Hindu temples everywhere, and all very well attended; on special feast days one may have to queue for hours to get into the temple. People were very prayerful in the temple, they were there just to pray - or to volunteer with logistics and organization for a time. As I said, people occasionally took note of me because I was so light skinned, but in Hindu temples that never happened, no body noticed me in any way shape or form; they were there to pay homage and that was it. (This was exactly the same when I visited Hindu temples with Anita and her friends in the U.S.)
Young people in India carry the devotion too. The genuine faith and participation in religious services of the young people in India was clear to see. In any house I visited there were small alters, no less in the bedrooms of the teenagers in the house.
Thoughts on my trip to India. (A person ´close´ to this blog writer observed ´it will take me two hours to read all this. Please note no on has to read any or all of this. This is my blog, so I can write in it if I want. But, no one is obliged to read. If you want, just look at the photos and enjoy!)
I can say it was a very interesting experience; my hosts were SO gracious, I was made to feel as one of the family. Indeed many families would not treat their family members as well as I was treated!
But I cannot say it was a relaxing holiday, there is poverty and that upset. But there was not despair, people worked hard and worked long days especially, as far as I could see, the poorer people, but I rarely saw despair. In addition there is the matter of the caste system, That is there; how it evolved as it is today is not something I am expert enough to discuss nor, I suspect, is this blog the place to discuss the issue. Back in the middle ages being un-clean meant that you ate the wrong food, or you did wrong, and you could preform rituals or whatever to become ´pure´ again, in the same way as in the Catholic faith when one does wrong, one can do penance so that the souls is made ´pure´ again. So how it came that whole communities just for being who they were, were designated as ´impure´ is not clear. However this change, I understand may have evolved through the presence of the Mughals and much more seriously again during British Colonial times.
Hinduism, however, does not have a monopoly on the Caste system; many societies historical and into the present have a system of separation either informal or formal. In India itself, any review of the philosophy assures that Catholics and Muslims too when they convert from Hindism ´take´ the caste system with them, so at Mass in Catholic churches the different communities may sit in different parts of the church. Indeed as a child in Ireland I remember people of different social standings sitting in different parts of the church at mass.
All that said in Mumbai and environs in the space of about two weeks I saw no more than say 20 people on the streets that were broken or hurt in their minds and hearts. That number of broken or hurt people you could see in a day in any big city in the west. Yes, I saw many very poor people who lived on the streets and near or under the big highways, but they appeared to just get on with it, with life, with work, with supporting their children. With surviving. Anita pointed out that the land on which some of these families have their very modest abodes is now VERY valuable real estate, so there you have a person of extremely humble means with a good card in their hand; a few square meters of very valuable land.
In addition, something that struck me after I came back to Europe: In India nobody appeared to try to hide the poor or the unpleasant.
To clarify no body tried to hossh them away, - just as they did not try and hoosh away the stray street animals. And while there were no shacks in the very very posh area, they certainly were in other areas, and people stayed and lived there without bother from what I could see. For example see the photo again of the happy free range big city hens.
Look closer in the back ground. That there is someone´s home. And this was a very respectable part of town, and one of the bigger better street homes that I saw. - I took no pictures directly of peoples street homes, out of respect. Being poor does not make one a spectacle.
Under a blue tarpaulin only meters from the street home above, I got chatting to three lovely, well behaved, fun, happy children, about 3, 4, and 9. They could all chat to me in English. I offered them bananas which I had, the eldest took them thanked me and said two each was enough, they did not need more bananas. As I was chatting with the children, a man came, I thought he was their father, he was not, I later saw that he was the car park attendant for the area. He was clearly looking out for the children.
Later I was passing back this way, at a distance I could see the children's mother arrived. She was dressed in a very happy pink outfit (I asked myself often `how in the name of God can people living on the street look so clean and well turned out?´ HOW do they do that!) Anyway back to the children and the mammy; I could see the eldest child explaining about the bananas and pointing to me down and across the street. The mother smiled graciously, I waved, she waved back, she smiled, I smiled back, both of us gave the other a little bow, and that was it.
Not too far away from there, I saw another family living on the street; daddy was preparing a meal, and mommy was sitting there on the street teaching her son, about 4 years of age, his letters - English letters. Again Mum and Dad smartly turned out. We exchanged friendly greetings, in English of course, and that was it. But in a land were not all is right, there is MUCH right where people on the street can focus and plan and work towards a better future for their children.
To end - a picture of a lovely statue I saw in the airport when I left India.
The story behind the statue:
It seems just the same as Einstein was no Einstein as a child, so Krishna was no angel as a child. He and his friends were rather prone to stealing butter - on a very regular bases so the story goes. The butter would be hung up to keep it safe and out of the way. Krishna would climb up on his friends´ shoulders to get at the butter, which you see him doing here. While the statue is modern in style, the story is old, well known and loved by Hindu children everywhere.
I would welcome any comments on this blog posting, especially from people from India, or others who have travelled to India. If I have any incorrect information, I will be happy to clarify if I am advised of same.
