Mumbai (Bombay)

Where to start…

Mumbai is the capital of India and until 1955, it was known as Bombay. Chaos doesn’t quite describe this city of over 23 million people. It does have a magnificent seaside setting and is home to some of India’s most beloved landmarks and none more glamorous than the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel overlooking the Arabian Sea. This was the spot of the 2008 terrorist attack. Then there is the top tourist attraction in Mumbai called the Gateway to India. It was erected to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. The foundation was just laid in 1911 and construction completed in 1924 so unfortunately George never saw the monument.

Because we felt the motto I’ll Not Do India Again (INDIA) applied to us, we opted for 2 excursions today. The first was called Mumbai Markets where we took to the streets on foot and were immersed in a cavalcade of colors, sounds, tastes and smells. We started at Bhuleshwar; the most popular market. We walked the alleyways never letting the guide out of our sight; very easy to get lost. Lots of flies, food and everything else for sale. As we tried to absorb everything we saw, the locals were staring at us while we were staring at them, the kids were waving and loved it when we responded with a wave of our own or a hello. There was a bull and about 6 cows behind a railing right in the middle of the market. The bull decided he wanted out and was able to drop the rail and headed into the market (this quickly became The Running of the Bull). Our tour guide freaked out and was yelling for us to move, move, move and of course being the dumb tourists, we all wanted pictures. It was tense for a moment until the bull led all the cows down a street we were not taking and they became someone else’s worry. Next was Crawford Market where the floor is covered in hay. A family of gyspies picked up on our tour group and would not leave us alone. A mother and daughter had temples on their heads, diamonds in their noses and wanted money. The rest of the family consisted of 2 small boys who had their hands out with sad eyes and a big brother who told them what tourist marks to hit on. Then there was the dad who ran the whole operation. When the women weren’t getting anywhere with their marks, the dad took over. None of them understood “NO”. They shadowed us the entire time and we never got to explore the market because we were continually trying to lose them. It was funny and made us mad at the same time. Our third and final market was called Colaba Causeway. We first had to go into an upscale air conditioned store called CIE and act like we were interested in their “stuff” so the bus could park to let us off. We all just wanted to get across the street (alive) which is where the market was. Crossing streets in Mumbai is very dangerous and we had to go across 4 lanes of traffic. It takes courage and speed. I can write about it now because we made it across and back, but at the time it was hair raising. Looking back, I don’t know what our big hurry was to get over there. This market was just more of the same; vendors crowded onto the sidewalk one after the other, selling the same stuff, and it was hot, humid and dirty. One of us got trapped by a man who called himself a “Temple Man”. He put red powder on his forehead and wrist for good luck, flowers in his pocket and a bracelet of red and yellow something that bled onto his arm (he’s saying no, no, no the whole time, and me I’m walking away). When the guy starts praying over him, he relents and gives the guy $5. Then the “Temple Guy” hauls ass for me but I was faster than him. All in all, it was really a fun excursion.

Our second excursion was hopping on and off a bus for what was called Mumbai at a Glance. I don’t know how anyone gets anywhere in Mumbai. Cars cabs, motorcycles, bikes, guys pulling long carts, cows and people walking EVERYWHERE. Horns constantly honking, worse than in New York, to let others know you are about to be crushed if you don’t get out of the way. Roads are wide enough for 1 ½ cars and yet 3 seem to get by. We visited the Hanging Gardens and Kamala Nehru Park. Hanging Gardens were not gardens as much as a place where real hangings took place. The dead were laid out for the vultures to eat. The Gardens also housed many of the city’s water tanks which were mostly underground. This was safe water to drink for years until it was discovered that because the vultures were dropping pieces of flesh from the dead bodies they were eating into the tanks, the water was now contaminated. Kamala Nehru Park on the other hand was beautifully landscaped with areas where children could play.

A drive down Marina Drive allowed us a beautiful view of the coastline; it was Sunday and hot but no one had on a bathing suit and no one was in the water because of pollution.

Stopped at Mani Bhavan Museum, which was the residence of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Ghandi; saw the room he lived in much of his life. Wish we’d had more time there than 15 minutes.

Drove by a house built in 2009 by the richest man in India. Its 40 stories tall with 27 floors and a heli pad on top. Five people live there with a staff of 500. The view is of trash and poverty – go figure.

Drove by Dhobi Ghat, the largest outdoor laundry in Mumbai. Men do all the washing by beating laundry on rocks and they are hung not with clothespins but by untwisting coiled rope and sticking a corner of the piece inside. There were lines and lines and lines of sheets, uniforms, shirts, saris drying in the hot sun.

Drove by the famous Victoria Train Station which will soon have competition. A Metro Line is being built throughout the city which makes the traffic even worse. Completion date is 2020; we all laughed! And, lucky us there was a cricket game this evening. They have major stadiums for cricket which is the most popular sport in India. All males play and all citizens go to the games and oh yea, we were caught up right in the middle of it. There was a 3 lane road opposite us as we were trying to get back to our ship and the traffic was so bad that people decided to just park in the third lane. Yup, they got out of their cars, locked ‘em up and took off on foot. And yes, they do have road rage!!

Mumbai General