Mumbai
Modern Metopolis with old world charm
January, 2007
This is the first time I've ever been to Mumbai and I'm so glad I came. A friend from the US, Greta was visiting Pune and Mumbai just when I got finished with the big export work, so I decided spur of the moment to go meet her. It's always surreal to meet a friend from home in Indis - sort of this amazing - Oh, you, here, me here kind of wonder. With my first meeting of Greta in Pune, which happened at a McDonalds of all places, I must say it was surreal and completely normal at the same time.
Greta's coworkers there arranged an air conditioned car to take her to Mumbai, so I jumped at the chance for a luxury road trip by daylight. The route took us over a beautiful landscape with high hills and breathtaking vistas. It was so fun to have a friend to hang out with for a few days.
 Victoria Terminus is well preserved and had beautiful greenery around it. The wide sidewalks are packed with commuters at rush hour.
I liked Mumbai right away. The city has so many beautiful buildings, many of which are in pretty good shape. It's a pedestrian friendly place with broad sidewalks in many areas so it was easy and pleasant to discover the local markets and restaurants. The first thing I have to always do, when I get to a new place is find a cyber cafe where I can use my laptop. This proved a little tricky near where I was staying in the Fort Area. One nearby shop - a crazy overstuffed place with a gigantic xerox machine, 5 pc terminals, a counter and two phone booths all in a 6 x 6 foot space, offered to give me an ethernet cable, but wanted to charge me double for doing it. Out of principle I pleaded for him to be an honest man, but alas he wouldn't budge. Hurling the necessary insults I left his shop and resigned myself to the 15 minute walk with the laptop to Colaba's main tourist drag where they won't make a fuss about my laptop.
 This tiny cyber/phone/copy center has everything you need for communication in a 36 square feet. But don't go there with your laptop!
One of the great things about Mumbai is of course that everyone speaks Hindi, although it is a funny version of the language, spoken lightning fast and with garbled grammar. Asking help finding a courier around the lanes behind my hotel I pressed one man to repeat himself at least four times before I gave up and asked another man to translate his murmur into foreigner ready Hindi. He just kept saying it even faster and louder, but I could only get a few words. At this point there were 10 guys all standing around laughing at this exchange.
But I found a good courier just around a few more corners and a good selection of 9 yard sarees in a bustling bazaar just north of Victoria Terminus, about a 25 minute walk from my hotel.
 The courier shop was also in an impossibly odd, small space. It was in a half height floor, accessed by a steep stairwell. No one over 5'5" could stand in it, and it had these huge cement beams below that, so you had to duck to get from desk to desk. The beams had padding on them. You can see how the workers must bend to "stand" at their desks. Luckily alot of what goes on in India, happens on the floor.
The Sarishop I stumbled into was a lucky find in a maze of small shops, most of them not selling what I wanted. It turns out that hey've been in business 50 years and had a great collection of 9 yard sarees in all price ranges. I bought well for the sarishop here.
 Mumbai has a thriving perfume market or Attar as they are called here. I walked into a small elegantly furnished shop and was overwhelmed by the smell inside. The owner and his nephew were happy to meet a foreigner who could speak Hindi and we talked about the excessive price of perfumes in the west, and that our designer perfumes are mostly alcohol anyway and contained dangerous chemicals. I paid a little over a dollar for a small bottle of rose oil. This oil is so potent - it puts the perfumes I like to shame. I'm sold on attar! And on Mumbai too!
This is the first time I have ever seen salwaar suits by Nike!
Art Deco building in the Fort Area.
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Beautiful fountain
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Gateway of India
The village look mixing with the bustling metropolis middle class.
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Fruitseller special style sari drape.
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Sarees come in all shapes and sizes. I think she has invented her own drape!
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This huge thing just rolled by. I was having lunch and this uncannily huge, loud and smoking machine, nearly as wide as the narrow road went squeezing by through all the bikes, cars people and animals. He was more interested in me taking his picture than he was in looking where he was driving!
Pan Wallahs at Mangaldas Market.
Another cup of chai - it's the fuel for the business world. I'll come back to Mumbai to explore the markets and see more of this fascinating metropolis.
Take a side trip
vacation in Goa 2007
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