Asia Adventure 2012: Mumbai

We saw so much today, so pardon the long entry.

Meena, our Guide was at the hotel promptly at 8:30am to pick us up, but we were late as usual. Fortunately, this did not result in us missing the first ferry to Elephanta Island.

The dock is located in front on the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower which endured a terrorist bombing in November of 2008. The incident started when 10 Pakistani terrorists entered the city by hijacking a fishing troller and executed a well-thought out diabolical plan. The city was held captive for 30 hours while 11 bombings and shootings occurred before police could subdue the terrorists. There have been other attacks in 1993, 2003, and 2011, so it is no wonder the security is so tight in this city.

The ferry to Elephanta Island was very old and rickety, but in an hour, it accomplished its job. We scanned the ferries nooks and crannies, unable to find a single life jacket. When in Mumbai… Meena says, the residents believe and behave like “there’s always room for 1 more”. Unfortunately, we could not get a good view of the city skyline due to the smog and residents look forward to the rainy season which purifies the air and provides a stunning view of the city.

We visited Elephanta Island, originally called Gharapuri Island (or place of caves) is one of a number of islands in Mumbai Harbour, east of the city. The Elephanta Caves were painstakingly carved out of rock. The present name Elephanta, was given by 17th century Portuguese explorers, after seeing a salt sculpture of an elephant found near the entrance. They occupied the caves and amused themselves by shooting at the carvings. How heartbreaking it must have been to the carvers and residents. Only one carving was left intact. It was hidden behind a door and when the Portuguese saw the carving, they thought it represented the “trinity” because it had 3 heads, so they did not wish to destroy something representative of their own religious symbol.

A Maharastra Tourist train takes passengers on a short 600 meter ride from the ferry to the island entrance. Monkeys can be very bold and will steal food from you and it is best not to fight them for it because they will become very aggressive. There are also uncovered palanquins (wheel-less vehicle) available for hire if you need assistance climbing the steps to the caves.

We stopped for a very short glance at Mumbai University where it is forbidden to enter the grounds unless you belong there or have business. We managed to get pictures of the clock tower from the street despite it being under construction.

Next, we visited the train Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus “central train station” around 2pm and it was just packed, so I can only imagine what it must be like during rush hour. Between 10 and 20 people are killed each day on the trains either by suffocation on very stifling days, but mostly from falling out of the train in the “door-less” doorways of overcrowded trains. Can you imagine? This station was also the site of a shooting attack during Nov 2008.

Depending on who you talk to, the percentage of of Mumbai citizens live in the slums ranges from 45-70%. Meena likened it to a fusion of New York and Los Angeles where business and Bollywood reign. Mumbai is a safe city to walk around in due to the religious beliefs and cultural values around family and community. That is why there are no “rich” or “poor” sections of town. The rich and poor live in the same neighbourhood.

Tata Group is a diverse Indian multinational company headquartered in Mumbai; one of the largest in India with 2/3rds of its income generated from outside of India. A socially minded corporation, 66% of its ownership is held in charities. It has interests in communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. The corporation has established and financed numerous quality research facilities, educational and cultural institutes in India. When in Bhutan, most of the tractor trailers were all Tata trucks.

Antilia is the name of a twenty-seven floor personal home in South Mumbai belonging to businessman Mukesh Ambani, reportedly the most expensive home in the world at an approximate cost of $2bil. This home is 400K square feet of living space which includes the following; parking space for 168 cars, vehicle maintenance facility, nine elevators in the lobby, three helipads, an air traffic control facility, health spa, yoga studio, small 50-seat theatre, swimming pool, three floors of hanging gardens, ballroom, and an ice room where snow flurries are created.

Can you imagine what the socially-minded Tata Group thinks of that?... "The person who lives in there should be concerned about what he sees around him and [asking] can he make a difference. If he is not, then it's sad because this country needs people to allocate some of their enormous wealth to finding ways of mitigating the hardship that people have." The ironic part of it is that the house was built inconsistently with astrological and religious beliefs (guess they didn’t plan for that) and based on those beliefs, is poorly situated for business success. Therefore, no one lives in it. What a waste!

We briefly visited the Hanging Gardens, also known as Pherozeshah Mehta Gardens which are terraced gardens featuring numerous hedges carved into the shapes of animals. We met “Lingokid” there when he approached Greg to sell him a peacock feather fan. His name is Ravi, he is an authentic slumdog, and is remarkably talented in that he speaks 10 languages (self-taught). What a remarkable young man and unofficial tour guide. Greg purchased the fan! Check him out…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-URtZfIgKAU&feature=fvwrel

Jainism community believes in a path of non-violence towards all living beings. They believe in the eternal laws of nature; the 4 elements. They leave their dead on the roof of two tall buildings to be eaten by eagles as a way to give back for the life-giving of nature during their lives.

We visited Gandhi’s home which has been turned into a museum. It was filled with all things Gandhi; books, quotes, the room he lived in, the balcony from which he would converse with people (unless there were too many in which case he would agree to meet them at the beach), a complete set of miniature models depicting significant moments in his life, a library, picture gallery on the staircases, and much more. On the way out, we purchased a handmade paper book about Gandhi and signed the guest book. The Obamas visited November 2010 and gave them a “stone of hope” from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington.

In March 1922, while being tried in an England courtroom for sedition, Gandhi pleaded guilty by saying, “I hold it to be a virtue to be disaffected towards a government which has done more harm to India than any previous system.”

We visited one of the city’s laundry slums. At the entrance was a string of laundry delivery trucks. Tiny one-room homes are rented for 100 rupies per month. In these tiny multi-purpose dwellings; the single bed becomes an ironing board by day and a bed for everyone at night. A small community school is located on site as well. Most laundry is done by beating the laundry repeatedly to clean it in cement pools, while there are some industrial sized washers and extractors. Clothes are hung up on a double-layer of thick chord, with the laundry being secured between the chords, thereby eliminating the need for clothes pegs. Most hotels, businesses, and some households use these laundry services. You might wonder how can they get whites clean? Well, I’m not sure, but trust me, they do. Folks must be doing well enough there because many of the tiny dwellings have air-conditioners.

Our last stop of day was at an authentic arts and crafts store where they sold wood carvings, designer clothing, pashmina clothes and scarves, and jewellery. There was a lot of nice stuff, but we didn’t purchase anything from this very upscale store.

We decided to stay for dinner in the hotel again this evening. It was so darn tasty. Afterwards we went out for a nice long walk along the waterfront on Marine Drive. It was full of people strolling, running, and socializing.