To begin, today I definitely do not possess the amount of patience and tolerance it takes to function in Indian society, so this entry might be somewhat negative, but for the most part, I’ll try to keep it fairly neutral.
I’m not totally fed up with this place, it’s more that I’ve been sick with a bad cold for a week and a half and am starting to wonder if the horrible air quality here is what is keeping me from getting better. I also had to wake up at 3:20 this morning to catch a 6:25 flight back to Ahmedabad from Mumbai, and despite the nap I took at the new hotel we’re staying at now, I’m still exhausted. Also, I’m starting to stress out about our studio project here; we’ve got about nine days to finish, and (1) I think we need more research and (2) I have no idea what my role in this project should be. Also, I think my tolerance for Indian food disintegrated overnight. I’m tired of having an upset stomach every other day! Last night we went to a questionable restaurant in Mumbai, and Tad’s pretty sure he ate an eyeball in his mutton. Following dinner, we also saw large cockroaches and rats the size of guinea pigs in the street outside the restaurant. This combo definitely did not help my already churning stomach. Ok I’m done complaining now.
On a much more positive note, I’ve gotten to see some awesome things in the past few days. Unfortunately on Saturday night, we had to say goodbye to the wonderful Mehta family, who we have been staying with since our arrival in India. We had a bit of a party that night with some singing and dancing. It was definitely sad to say goodbye to the old city, even though it’s still only a rickshaw ride away. Basically, compared to the old city, the new city sucks…though that’s just my opinion. Everything is much more spread out, somewhat more expensive, and much less interesting.
Fancy Indian dinner
On Sunday, we packed up from the Heritage House, and headed to Baroda. Along the way, we stopped at Amul, a large dairy corporation that collects milk from individual farmers, then processes and sells the products. It was pretty interesting, unfortunately though, we weren’t allowed to take photos. I did have some tasty ice cream though. Ice cream is definitely something that India did get right. After a few more stops and a few more hours of traveling, we met Dr. Ganesh Devy, the man who inspired the library and Budhan Theatre at Chharanagar, for dinner. It was just one of those times that I really, really didn’t want to do Indian food, but we had a pretty awesome Indian feast in the style of a sort of buffet that comes to you. Dr. Ganesh was very interesting, though it was difficult to hear him, as he was sitting at the other table.
12,000-year-old cave paintings
The next day, we headed to a tribal school, though I’m not really sure what the location was. We toured the school, spoke with some of the directors, and hiked up a nearby mountain. On the side of the mountain, we were able to see 12,000-year-old cave paintings, which was really neat. Nihal kind of made it sound like we’d be climbing to the top of the mountain, though the cave was only about 25% of the way up. After this we headed back to the hotel, packed up, showered, and hit the Baroda train station to catch our midnight train to Mumbai. As I said earlier, it really wasn’t too bad of an experience, despite my difficulty sleeping on the train. I think this may have partially been to do my reading of an article in the newspaper that morning that involved a Mumbai-bound train derailing…
Tad and I on the side of the mountain
Probably the strangest experience we had with the whole train situation happened before we were even on board. While Tad and I were waiting, three dogs ran up and down the platform, playing and occasionally barking. All of a sudden a man who was either crazy or drunk (though I’m not sure how this would be the case, as Gujarat is dry) started harassing the dogs and one of them went after him, attacking his arm. Luckily though the man had a coat on and was probably unharmed by the dog. About 15 minutes later, the man went after the dogs again. He approached them, yelling and shaking his hand at them. All three were growling, and as the man got close, the same dog sprang forward and bit the man’s hand, which started gushing blood. I’m not sure what the guy’s deal was, but he definitely had it coming to him by the way he approached the dogs. The dogs showed no aggression to anyone else on the platform and were even affectionate to some of the station personnel. Only in India.
Next to the Gateway to India, Mumbai
We arrived in Mumbai around 7 in the morning, checked in at the hotel, did some laundry, had a rest, then finally went out to explore the city. We began with lunch and a beer, then did a ton of walking, saw the Gateway to India, and the Taj Mahal Hotel. While we were at the gateway monument, Tad and I had Grace take a picture of us. While we were posing, we were surrounded by Indian people that tried to pose in the picture with us. What?! It was a very bizarre experience. Finally though, we were able to get a decent photo. That night we went to a few bars, found a place that actually serves beef, and then went back to the hotel around midnight after a full day and hectic night before.
I'd say we were both pretty happy campers
The following day, which was yesterday, Tad and I broke off from the rest of the group and went to see Chowpatti Beach and the hanging garden, known as Ferozeshah Mehta Gardens. We got to see the city from the oasis-like large hill that sits inside of the city. We had lunch at a diner-type place (though it was veg). We both ordered “Cheese Burgers.” Ha. They tasted like a veggie egg roll in burger form, which really wasn’t that horrible, just not quite what we were hoping for. The menus looked like they had been constructed by google searching ‘burger’ and ‘sandwich;’ there were, very clearly, an image of thick, beef hamburger and a wonderful looking turkey sandwich. I would be surprised, but oh wait, I’m in India. However though, they did have beer, and they did have diet coke, so Tad and I were still pretty satisfied.
At the hanging garden in Mumbai
Hanging gardens
To conclude the trip, we ended the night with that awful restaurant I mention previously, which still makes me a little nauseous to think about. After that, we packed up, slept for a couple hours, then took a taxi to the airport for the 6:25 flight that lasted less than an hour. Now we’re back here in wonderful Ahmedabad in a new hotel that I would describe as relatively okay by Indian standards. Now it’s only two people to a room, plus there are western toilets, toilet paper, and hot showers, so I guess I can’t really complain too much. But there’s no internet and it’s located right next to a large road in the new city that makes the place endlessly loud. Did I mention that I’m in India?
Ornate building close to our hotel
One more note on Mumbai. The colonialism here was overly evident. The city felt so European, I almost questioned whether I was still in India or not. It was such an odd and unique combination, though I still think it worked quite well, at least in the area that we were in. The truth is that we only were able to see a fraction of the city. It’s such a massive place with so many people (approximately 15 million) that it’s nearly impossible to develop a comprehensive understanding of the entire place, especially since we were only there for two days.
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