But if I was forced to chose just one, it would be ‘overwhelming’. It’s less a city than it seems to be an ongoing explosion; a riot of noise, color, pollution, heat, and constant chaotic motion. It’s everything happening at once, and it’s in your face whole time. So, after just a couple of hours, I gave up trying to overlay any orderly narrative on my experiences, and just started noting the most eye-catching examples and contradictions. Of everywhere I’ve ever been, I think this is the one where the statement “you have to see it for yourself” is most true. That being said, you’re probably reading this to hear about it, so I’ll convey some of my experience during my brief stay (by the way, I’m writing this in the airport, heading to Aurangabad, a short flight east of Mumbai, to see ancient caves filled with Hindu, Buddhist, and Jainist carvings).
Two facts first, Mumbai is big and it is filthy. These are the two things that struck me first on my ride from the airport to the hotel at 4am; big (i.e. crowded) and filthy. And I say it now to get it out of the way, because it’s so much more than that, but you cannot ignore either of those things while you’re here, and it’s so much of a shock for the first day that it almost overwhelms the good. It’s one of the largest cities in the world and the 12 million or so people who live here are packed into a fairly small coastal area, and a large percentage of the population live in what would be considered “slums” by American standards. Taking the train, I saw tents backing up to shacks backing up to tenement buildings backing up to nice apartments. Almost any available space is used as living quarters, much of it with no plumbing or electricity. And I did see people tossing garbage onto a veritable hill already present in a vacant lot, while there were people sorting through the garbage for anything edible or worthwhile. There are beggars too, but the city has made begging illegal, and surprisingly, this seems to have worked… although if I had started giving out rupee to one who did approach me, I’m fairly certain I would have been instant surrounded nonetheless. All of that is here, in force, but it’s only one (highly noticeable) part of a very complex city.
Mumbai is also the financial powerhouse of India, and something like 6 million commuters make their way downtown and back everyday. Against the recommendation of my guide book, I took the train downtown one day (25 minute ride, 2nd class, one way = 10 rupee, about 1.6 cents). At 9:30am, it was less crowded than the DC metro would have been and I actually got a window seat through the heart of Mumbai. Coming back, however… well, at 8:30pm on the night of a major festival, it was a different story. Within one stop the train car filled to sardine-level capacity, and then for the next four or five stops, new passengers would simply grab onto the edge of the doors and lever their way onto the train, until the whole car was full of compressed commuters, to the point where taking a deep breath was difficult. I ended up going three stops too far, as did several other riders, simply because I couldn't shove my way to the door before the next crowd shoved in and the train moved on. It was quite a memorable experience, but it made me keenly aware that something that was an adventure for me is simply the daily commute for millions of people.
I was lucky enough to be in Mumbai on the last day of the Ganpati festival, which is the annual festival celebrating Ganesh, the Hindu god of learning, new beginnings, and removing obstacle. Ganesh is my favorite of the Hindu gods, and usually is shown as a chubby man with an elephant’s head, with 2 to 4 arms, and sometimes riding a rat. Like this..
And since he is usually described as being playful, friendly, and a lover of sweets, he’s a pretty likable and well-liked deity. In Mumbai, the festival is a multi-day event where locals craft and decorate statues of Ganesh, display them for a few days, and then on the last day carry them down to the main coast road on floats or by hand, and immerse them in Mumbai Bay (which, by the way, is fiercely polluted). This year, the last day of the festival was my 2nd night in Mumbai, so I walked along the coast road and watched the festivities until the crowds got too bad, which is ironic, because I didn't want to get stuck in a crowd, only to get on the train. Local businesses often sponsor statues and floats of Ganesh, and I saw several spectacularly decorated wagons go by with music and drums playing, dancing, people throwing dye or spraying silly string into the crowd, and lots of firecrackers going off. Mumbai seems to know how to throw a festival. They also seem to know how to use a festival to sell stuff, like the "Ganpati Sale" at Toyota, or this...
All of which is to reiterate my point that India is overwhelming to me. One of my first posts a couple of months ago was about Norway, and not “feeling like I was in a place” until late in the trip. That is impossible in India. From the moment I left the airport parking lot, I knew exactly where I was, and in many ways it was what I was expecting, but so much more intense than expected. Until I get a little more acclimated, the best way I've found to cope is to narrow my focus a bit onto the little things, like the fact that all the women wear the most beautiful and colorful clothes I've ever seen, or that the roadside fruit stands put Whole Foods to shame, or that 3-cent roadside chai tea is like nectar, full of sugar and highly addicting.
By now, you've probably noticed that I mention a lot of the cliches about India (cows in the street, beggars, colorful, noisy, etc.), and I’m not a fan of cliches and stereotypes, but after seeing them again and again, I can’t deny that they are here and they are real. The trick, I think, is not to get so focused on them that you miss the things you aren't expecting, or the things that contradict the cliches. Bear in mind that I spent a grand total of about 2.5 days in Mumbai, and saw a very tiny piece of this very big city, but I feel like I've been here a week, just because it’s such an intense experience. From here I’m planning to explore the historical cave sculpture for a couple of days, then head south down the coast in search of beaches, elephants, former Portuguese colonies, tigers, and amazing spicy food.
Finally, the remainder of my photos from Croatia and Montenegro are up on the photos page.
Two facts first, Mumbai is big and it is filthy. These are the two things that struck me first on my ride from the airport to the hotel at 4am; big (i.e. crowded) and filthy. And I say it now to get it out of the way, because it’s so much more than that, but you cannot ignore either of those things while you’re here, and it’s so much of a shock for the first day that it almost overwhelms the good. It’s one of the largest cities in the world and the 12 million or so people who live here are packed into a fairly small coastal area, and a large percentage of the population live in what would be considered “slums” by American standards. Taking the train, I saw tents backing up to shacks backing up to tenement buildings backing up to nice apartments. Almost any available space is used as living quarters, much of it with no plumbing or electricity. And I did see people tossing garbage onto a veritable hill already present in a vacant lot, while there were people sorting through the garbage for anything edible or worthwhile. There are beggars too, but the city has made begging illegal, and surprisingly, this seems to have worked… although if I had started giving out rupee to one who did approach me, I’m fairly certain I would have been instant surrounded nonetheless. All of that is here, in force, but it’s only one (highly noticeable) part of a very complex city.
Mumbai is also the financial powerhouse of India, and something like 6 million commuters make their way downtown and back everyday. Against the recommendation of my guide book, I took the train downtown one day (25 minute ride, 2nd class, one way = 10 rupee, about 1.6 cents). At 9:30am, it was less crowded than the DC metro would have been and I actually got a window seat through the heart of Mumbai. Coming back, however… well, at 8:30pm on the night of a major festival, it was a different story. Within one stop the train car filled to sardine-level capacity, and then for the next four or five stops, new passengers would simply grab onto the edge of the doors and lever their way onto the train, until the whole car was full of compressed commuters, to the point where taking a deep breath was difficult. I ended up going three stops too far, as did several other riders, simply because I couldn't shove my way to the door before the next crowd shoved in and the train moved on. It was quite a memorable experience, but it made me keenly aware that something that was an adventure for me is simply the daily commute for millions of people.
I was lucky enough to be in Mumbai on the last day of the Ganpati festival, which is the annual festival celebrating Ganesh, the Hindu god of learning, new beginnings, and removing obstacle. Ganesh is my favorite of the Hindu gods, and usually is shown as a chubby man with an elephant’s head, with 2 to 4 arms, and sometimes riding a rat. Like this..
All of which is to reiterate my point that India is overwhelming to me. One of my first posts a couple of months ago was about Norway, and not “feeling like I was in a place” until late in the trip. That is impossible in India. From the moment I left the airport parking lot, I knew exactly where I was, and in many ways it was what I was expecting, but so much more intense than expected. Until I get a little more acclimated, the best way I've found to cope is to narrow my focus a bit onto the little things, like the fact that all the women wear the most beautiful and colorful clothes I've ever seen, or that the roadside fruit stands put Whole Foods to shame, or that 3-cent roadside chai tea is like nectar, full of sugar and highly addicting.
By now, you've probably noticed that I mention a lot of the cliches about India (cows in the street, beggars, colorful, noisy, etc.), and I’m not a fan of cliches and stereotypes, but after seeing them again and again, I can’t deny that they are here and they are real. The trick, I think, is not to get so focused on them that you miss the things you aren't expecting, or the things that contradict the cliches. Bear in mind that I spent a grand total of about 2.5 days in Mumbai, and saw a very tiny piece of this very big city, but I feel like I've been here a week, just because it’s such an intense experience. From here I’m planning to explore the historical cave sculpture for a couple of days, then head south down the coast in search of beaches, elephants, former Portuguese colonies, tigers, and amazing spicy food.
Finally, the remainder of my photos from Croatia and Montenegro are up on the photos page.
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