I got to spend this last weekend in old Mumbai as opposed to Navi (new) Mumbai where Ashasthan is. It was kind of an unexpected getaway that came together pretty perfectly. Grace Starbird, a friend of mine working in Dehli who most of you know, came to visit for a few days. Another friend, Dave Paterson, who is interning for IJM in Calcutta, was also in for the weekend. I got to go take a look at IJM’s Mumbai offices with him and meet some of the staff there which was a really great experience and one I was very much hoping to get.
Afterwards we met up with Grace and began the typical tourist’s day. A ten stop jeep tour around the city where we could get out for as long as we wanted at each stop. The stops included a fisherman’s community, the public baths, Gandhi’s house, the Gateway of India, Tower of Silence, Jain Temple, seaside Marine Drive, the Hanging Gardens, and more. My favorite was defiantly the fisherman’s community. All of these kids were playing on huge floating bags of styrofoam and doing handstand to impress us foreigners accompanied by cameras. Old men all lay taking naps along the shore, perfectly situated between their simple homes and atypical work places. The boats were all covered with flags of every color which contrasted nicely to the very grey back drop of ocean and Mumbai skyline. It was as picture perfect as anything could get for me. It was also so incredible to see Ghandi’s house and read through some of his famous letters. He was such an influential man in the world but specifically India so part of appreciating the development of this country is recognizing those like him who played such a huge part in it.
The public baths were also a really interesting thing to see. Hundreds of pants and shirts lined up inspired the obvious “How do you know which is yours?” questions which were answered by blank stares. The best part about this stop was a little boy who came and just stood next to us the whole time. He was unbearably cute but that is not why his presence struck me. It was because it was the first time I had a child come to stand beside me without asking for anything. He was just content to be there. As we went to the car to leave he followed us to the curb. He jumped and clapped as we drove past him. The view of his jumping frame in the back window is one that will stick with me for a long time.
By the time we reached the last stop we were wiped. We had an ice cream by the ocean right as the sun was beginning to set. The next day we took a thirty-minute ferry to get an incredible view of the whole city. Then we took a stroll down Fashion Street before lunch. After lunch we went to Crawford Market. The hustle and bustle of that place cannot be contained. It seeps out of this very old broken down building into any surrounding space it can find. A short walk through this market leaves you drained of any energy you may have left after two days in Mumbai. We went to take a short rest before catching the double decker evening tour of the city. We managed to be the only ones signed up for the tour so we got the whole bus to ourselves. I could not have asked for a more perfect way to end the weekend. Being able to walk around the top of a double decker bus and take shots of a city that completely stole my heart was like a fairy tale for me. I am a full blood city girl and just two days in Mumbai confirmed it to be true no matter where I am in the world. If any of you ever get the opportunity to travel to India you absolutely have to make a stop in Mumbai.
Grace and I
A shot from are very own double decker
halellujah!
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