Back to reality

The long flight back (which really is longer than the flight there... something about tail winds or earth rotation, I'm not entirely sure) did not seem as long to me. I think I was so tired from our running around and staying up late the past few days, that I slept more.

We're both off today, and while there are things I appreciate about being home, I really miss India and my family there, and have spent most of the day moping around. I'm mainly doing the moping, and M has thankfully been a little more cheerful. It's always hard for me to come back from any trip I've enjoyed, even more so when returning from India, and even more so this time.

My car wouldn't start yesterday when we got to my parents house from the airport (we'd left it there). M realized that the security system in it drained the battery. We gave it a jump from my parents' car and drove home, figuring that was the end of it. M tried to drive it today to run to the grocery store for a couple of things and it wouldn't start again. He gave it a jump from his car and decided to drive it for a longer distance thinking that's what the battery needed to be fully charged. He called when done at Costco to say the car wouldn't start again, and the Costco people can't give him a jump due to liability issues! I don't know how to drive his car (it's a manual) to drive over there, and AAA would take too long (not to mention that I'm the member and I'm at home). I called my bro and he's driving over there with jumper cables. M is then going to go buy a new battery so that I can go to work tomorrow. We figure between the fact that the battery is 5 years old, and having the car sit there for 4 weeks, it's dead! It's just not a problem we need today... talk about back to reality!

Leaving today

This is it. Our long-awaited month-long trip to India is coming to a close. We've been running around the past couple of days, crossing things off our list. It's amazing how even a month isn't enough time to see everyone, do everything.

It's 2:41p right now, and we'll be leaving home at 4p to head to the airport. Our bags are all right at the weight limit, so hopefully there won't be an issue.

Signing off for now...

Jan 3

I've had a cold for the past couple of days, and I hate it. I'm taking meds so it feels better than before, but it's making me tired, and I simply don't have time left to rest and do nothing. I can't believe I've gotten sick twice while here (although in very different ways). I'm convinced that we live in such sterile environments in the US that my immune system is no longer equipped to handle India. I also think it might be different if I made it here more frequently, so that's my goal now. I absolutely cannot let another 7 years go by before I make it back.

We're pretty much spending as much time with family as possible, taking care of last minute errands and visits, and (unfortunately) starting to think about our departure on Saturday. M and I have yet to go see my parents' place here, but I think we're doing so today (my parents and bro already went once). We just packed 1 suitcase, and need to knock out another one in order to make sure everything will fit! I called the airlines and confirmed our tickets to fly back.

Jan 2

We were able to go to the temple and do what we needed to do, and then headed back on the bus at 2:30p.

We arrived in A'bad at ~9:30p, and ate dinner at home (we keep some late hours here, especially when it comes to meal times). My cousins that are here from England came by to visit, which was awesome! We'd seen the older one at my wedding in '03, and I hadn't seen his younger brother since '92! We hung out, and it was quite a scene to hear all of us talking- 2 of us speak British English, 3 of us speak American English, and 2 more in the room speak Indian English, and yet we were able to communicate at quite a fast pace regarding our adventures in India. The 2 from England have been here since the 24th, but between our travels and their own, this was the first time we were able to catch up. And, all of us leave on the 5th, so we don't have much time left.

It really stinks to realize that we leave in a couple of days, and it's back to reality :(

New Year Day

I was surprised to learn that offices are open today, and many schools are too. My little cousin's school was still closed from before X-mas, although today was the last day of vacation. My cousins and Uncle own their own businesses, so it was up to them whether they made it to work, which they did not! It was a late night for all of us, so we took it easy and did not do much.

Around 10:30a here it was midnight in the US, so Happy New Year! We saw pics of the Sydney Opera House and its New Year's Eve festivities in the paper here. My cousin commented that every year they do show a pic of Times Square and we were wondering why it wasn't in the paper. We realized a second later that it was only midnight there just then, while we were eating breakfast, so of course it wasn't in the papers yet!

About 11 of us went to a mall in the evening, just to walk around and do a little shopping. Came home in time to eat dinner, and then the 5 of us + my Aunt got dropped off at the bus stop.

We were headed to a temple about 6 hours away, one that is important to our family. We had decided to take a luxury bus at night, instead of renting a car, because I felt safer that way. I really dislike watching Indian traffic/drivers on the highways, and I feel most comfortable in a big vehicle at a time when I can sleep on the way. We left A'bad at 9:30p and arrived at our destination at 4:00a.

New Year's Eve

We spent the majority of the day visiting extended family on my Mother's side. It was a tiring day, yet good to see everyone.

We came back to my Uncle's place in time for the annual New Year's Eve bash he throws. Most of my Dad's family was around for it, and we had a nice time celebrating with everyone and eating good food.

Dec 30

We're disappointed to realize that we fly out next Saturday, and wish we had more time here. M says we should extend our trip by a week but we know that's not really do-able. I think we learned that in future trips, if we do decide to travel while here, we should only be gone for 5 days or so, not more. The part I relish the most about my visits to India is time with my extended family; I'm happy to note that M feels the same way, and being gone does not allow for that.

We got up rather late today, which I'm sure we won't be able to do the rest of the days here. I went with my bro and parents to see the Gandhi Ashram here. Gandhi was born in Gujarat (state) and spent a few years in A'bad before moving on, and he built a center here which my bro wanted to see. M had enough of sightseeing and did not join us. It was a quick visit as it's a simple place. It's not nearly what I remember it being when I went with my grandmother when I still lived here.

We came home to find M happily eating lunch with the rest of the family. I love how nicely he is getting along with my family, and how easily they have embraced him. I took a short nap and then we went to a couple of stores for a little shopping. We're now killing some time at home, and are about to head out for dinner with my cousins. The older folks (my parents and his brothers and their wives) went off on their own tonight. Sunday is the big day of rest and relaxation here and everything, from malls to restaurants, are PACKED! People here work on Saturday, and most kids also have school (1/2 day or more) on that day, so Sunday is really the only day off.

I'm sure it'll be another late night, but these are what our memories in India are made of.

M's star moment

I forgot to tell you about a cute moment that happened in New Delhi involving M. We were at the Qutb Minar, a historical site, when I saw that he was being approached by a group (I was just a few feet away). I understand Hindi, so I knew that one of the girls said "no, not with her" meaning me. Right after that, a person went up to him to ask him if he would pose for a picture with him. They used gestures as I guess they didn't speak English. He wasn't sure what they wanted, so he looked at me and I told him to go ahead and pose for a picture with them. Seeing as we get approached a lot, we're always wary of what people want, but I knew this was harmless. I realized that the group did not want me in the picture too, which I did not mind, so I went to take a picture of them posing with him. The person taking their pic however, asked me to get in the picture, so now I don't have a picture of this event. I could tell that the "photographer" wanted one too with him, with someone else taking it, but then they decide to ask another person. They thanked us both and walked away.

M was a little perplexed as to what had just happened, but I thought it was rather cute. We have 1 of 3 guesses as to why they wanted a pic with him- 1. they were from a small town, had never seen a white person, and thought he looked friendly enough to approach to capture the moment, and show their friends back home or 2. they thought he looked like a famous person and wanted to capture that (he's been told a couple of times he looks like Roger Federer, although we both disagree with that) or 3. they were in some "photo scavenger hunt" and needed a picture with a foreigner as one of the activities.

Anyway, we'll remember this as one of those cute moments in our trip, and again, the only time we were approached without it being a hassle.

Back in A'bad

We got back to Ahmedabad at 8a and took a taxi home. It was so nice for both of us to be at my Uncle's home and see my family again. We had chai and relaxed and told them about our adventures. My friend Niyatee (the one who lives in Bangalore and I did not get to see while there) called to say that she was flying out later that day, so we got dressed and went to visit her. I'm so glad we were able to see one another, and for M to meet her. I also got to see her parents, and it was interesting to note that I remembered the last part of the directions to her house (I remember the strangest things about my years here). Niyatee and I decided to drive over to our old school, and it was awesome to see it again, and show it to M. Some of it has changed but enough of it has not.

We came back home, ate lunch with the family, and took a much needed nap (having gotten up at 2:30a). The nap was not long enough, but seeing as we fly out in a week, we're running out of time to go places and see people, so sleep is overrated now.

We went to my Dad's oldest brother's house, had a quick snack, and then went to the house of one of my Mom's cousins for dinner. Saw quite a few people there and it was nice to catch up with everyone. We had dinner on the terrace of their house, which in India means the top floor of their flat (i.e. apartment) building. Terraces are open areas with walls (to keep people from falling off). It was a nice, cool night and we could see stars even though we're in the city.

My 11 year-old cousin who is here from the US was sick, very much the way I was, so we asked that same doc to make a house call. I hope that she will recover as quickly as I did.

We came home and I sat around with the family telling jokes/stories and drinking beer until about 1-something a.m. M decided to head to bed as he was still recovering from our lack of sleep the night before. Being back at my Uncle's house in A'bad is the part we looked forward to the most when traveling!

Feeling like locals (briefly)

M and I asked our driver to drop us off at Connaught Place (the main shopping district, center of New Delhi) at the end of his time with us, around 5:30pm today. We wandered around, went into Palika Bazaar (clearly a local hangout), then decided to take the subway back to our hotel. We figured out which line to take, at which stop to get off, and decided to go for it. We got off at the right stop, and then walked around what was clearly another shopping district, even more so for the locals. We weren't entirely sure where our hotel was located, as we don't have a map. But, M has a terrific sense of direction (it continues to impress me how right on he is in what seem to me to be crowded, convoluted conditions), and we were headed the way he said. At one point we agreed that I should ask the police at their help kiosk (they have those everywhere here) to be sure, and the guy confirmed what M already knew by instinct! We then stopped to buy some beer at a local wine & beer shop, and are in our hotel room now, enjoying a nice glass of Kingfisher (opened with his belt due to lack of a bottle opener).

We're relaxing for a bit after a long day of walking and sightseeing. Need to pack soon, and get up @$$-early for a 6a flight back to Ahmedabad tomorrow. We booked a taxi through the hotel for 4a, but they just called and can't take us at 4a, but will take us at 3a for free. Don't know what else to do for that early in the morning, so we agreed. Guess we should catch some zzzzz's soon...

All this sightseeing has been nice, but we're relieved to be headed back to be with family.

McDonald's

I decided to try out the McDonald's in India for lunch today (M went along with it, rolling his eyes). You may or may not know that McD's has proclaimed that their menu the world over is the same, except for in India. Seeing as beef is a big religious no-no for Hindus, and pork for Muslims, their menu here is half vegetarian, half chicken items. There was even a sign saying "no beef or beef products sold here." Another sign said "no photography" so unfortunately, I couldn't take any pics.

The menu was quite varied and I didn't know what to try, so I asked a random girl sitting nearby what she was eating, and ordered that. It was a McAloo Tikki Burger, which is a patty of potatoes and peas with spices, an orange sauce (Tikki), and tomatoes, on a bun. It was quite good. M got the McVeggie Burger, which was covered in mayo and lettuce, and was ok. It was like the veggie burger they serve in the US. We also got fries (they were the same), Coke (which tastes different in India due to containing sugar vs. corn syrup in the US), and soft serve sundaes (also quite similar in taste). Sounds like a lot of food until you factor in that portions here are MUCH smaller (they're regular in size, vs. the jumbo giant portions Americans expect), so we ate all that and were satisfied (not stuffed). We got all that for under 300 Rupees (exchange rate of ~39 Rps = $1)!

American readers will also be interested to know that McD's delivers here! Yep, you can get home delivery of McDonald's! The particular location we went to was packed, and the few other times we've walked by other locations, they've been packed too, and with locals, not tourists. Granted, McD's isn't at every street corner here, but it's quite a hit. I'm thinking of writing them to ask them to serve the Indian menu in at least certain locations in certain big cities. I was that impressed!

Day 2 in New Delhi

We had the same car and driver today as Wed, and we got started with him around 9:30a. Our aim was to see the rest of the main sights in this city, and after breakfast, we started with Rajpath, the area where the President's House, and certain Ministry Offices are located. I equate this area to the Washington DC area around The White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, etc. I enjoyed seeing it again (having seen it in '95), and M was impressed with the architecture. He even noted that the places looked like they had been designed to represent India well, not having acres and acres of manicured lawns, simply because that doesn't exist in India. For example, the land surrounding the Rashtrapati Bhavan (President's House) has some grass, but mainly has well maintained red dirt pathways, etc. as a lot of the rest of India. You have to see it (which you can, once we post pics). After, we headed to India Gate, which is a war memorial, on the other side of Rajpath (again very similar to the layout in DC).

Finishing with that area, we went to Humayun's Tomb. It's amazing to see the amount of land that is taken up by some of these historical sites and there were some impressive details to note here. We then went to Qutb Minar. I'd equate this to India's Leaning Tower of Pisa, but that's probably a lame way of putting it. We enjoyed it, but we're getting tired of seeing historical sites with Arabian/Mughal motifs, and glad this is done! We had lunch at McDonald's (see separate posting re: it) and then decided to visit the Gandhi Smriti. It's a museum of the bungalow where he spent his last 144 days and where he was assassinated. The exhibits, including recent multimedia additions, are amazing, and we both walked away with better knowledge of this great man and his contributions to India and the world, and feeling somber. I'm left to wonder what Gandhi would have to say about the state of Indian and world affairs today.

After such a serious experience, we wanted to lighten the mood, so we had our driver drop us off to do a little handicraft shopping and such at Connaught Place (more details in other posting).

Agra (Taj Mahal)

We took the Taj Express train at 7:15a to Agra, and arrived there around 10:30a. I had chosen that train because I'd read that it was very nice. My Uncle told me that it used to be but was no longer, but I thought it was worth a try. He was right, it was just a normal Indian train. I should stop believing everything I read in tourist books, but then, how else do you know? In the case of India, I should trust my family, so again, I live and learn.

As I've mentioned before, we're constantly approached everywhere by people selling goods or services, and in similar fashion, we were approached at the train station by a man offering his car services for a set price. I decided the price was reasonable enough and took him up on it since we did need a means of getting around the town. M lets me handle all these things here simply because I can speak Hindi, and he sometimes has trouble with the accent/volume even if the other person speaks English.

We headed to The Taj Mahal first, of course! The "foreigner" ticket at all these sightseeing places is quite outrageous compared to the "Indian" ticket, and would you believe I have to pay the foreigner price? I don't mind too much simply because I hope the money is helping the place be maintained/restored, and these are historical monuments that have been around for centuries, and I'd like for them to continue to be around. At The Taj Mahal, our tickets were 750 Rupees each, vs. 20 Rupees for Indians! Anyway, after waiting in line for about 30 minutes, we cleared security and went in. I was as 'wowed' as I was the last time I was here (in '95, with my parents) + I think I'm retaining details far better this time than I did the last time I saw some of these places. M said it was impressive, but he wasn't 'wowed' as he expected to be; I'd argue that's because the place is very hyped, and it's hard for an archetype to live up to that. He also says he is jaded because he has seen so many other amazing works, that this just becomes one of them. Please don't let his lack of enthusiasm convey to you that it's not worth seeing. It truly deserves its spot as one of the 7 Great Wonders of the World!

After that, we went to eat lunch. We did not appreciate the driver/guide clearly leading us to a restaurant where he probably got a kickback, and it was clearly a tourist trap, so we left and asked to be taken elsewhere. We enjoyed a nice meal at a normal restaurant and then continued sightseeing. We went to the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah (known as the mini-Taj), which was neat, and then went to the Agra Fort, by which M was wowed!!! He always surprises me; he was wowed by this place due to the sheer enormity of it.

At this point, it was sunset, so the attractions were closed, and there wasn't anything major left to see in Agra anyways. We were pissed that the driver/guide insisted on taking us to a couple of shops (probably also places where we would get commissions), but we went along with it to kill time, and didn't purchase anything. This is the kind of crap that really makes traveling in India not fun, but the sights are worthwhile so you put up with it.

We decided we'd rather be dropped off early at the train station than deal with any more of it, and then took the train back at 8:30p. The Shatabdi train we took back to New Delhi was much nicer (again, my Uncle was right!), and we got back in 2 hours. I'm disappointed that M didn't get to see Fatehpur Sikri, a nearby place of great historical significance, but we simply did not have enough time in our day-trip. He's not perturbed by this too much, figuring that we'll be back in Agra in the future, either with our kids, or with his parents.

Day 1 around Delhi

Our car and driver showed up around 10a as requested and we headed off on our first day of sightseeing around this city. Started in Old Delhi with the largest mosque in all of Asia, Jama Masjid, which was awesome. Then took a pedal rickshaw (where a guy pedals a bike with a seat in the back) through Chandni Chowk (old, narrow streets, was residential, but now mostly a shopping district) and saw some nice things. Cars can't go in there, and in retrospect we should have just walked, but our driver suggested doing the pedal rickshaw thing so we went along with it. Drove around the Red Fort, and then went to Raj Ghat, where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated. It's a huge, peaceful park area, where we saw the memorial sites for Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. It also has the sites for Jawaharlal Nehru and a few other notable individuals, but the area was too vast for us to cover. Hindus cremate their dead, hence the memorial sites and not burial sites. It was a very moving experience.

We ate a terrific lunch at a place recommended by our driver, and then went to the Baha'i Temple in South Delhi. It's a beautiful place, all the more so for its simplicity and message. By this point we were tired of sightseeing and needed a break, and our driver's time was up (around 5-ish), so, he dropped us off at our hotel.

I had made reservations for a highly touted restaurant, Bukhara, so we headed for it around 7:30p. The place is listed in our Frommer's guide- Bill Clinton apparently stayed at the Sheraton when in New Delhi in '00 just so he could eat at that restaurant (it's in the hotel), and it was rated one of the Top 50 restaurants in the world in '07, so I thought why not check it out. Plus, I thought it would be a nice splurge, just once during this trip, and it wasn't nearly as expensive as such a place would be in the US or Europe. Let me be frank by saying that M hated it! The food was good, but the service was lacking for a place of this caliber, and M said he'd never felt more like a tourist, which is a feeling he absolutely abhors. People-watching was interesting in the sense that everyone was well-heeled and one could only guess all the various countries from which they originated (i.e. no locals). M's opinion is that this restaurant was so highly touted simply because people of a certain wealth (definitely not us) never venture outside of such posh surroundings. He said if they did, they would find that there were plenty of restaurants with even better food and service, just not located in the austere surroundings of a Sheraton. Anyway, I'll have to remember not to go for the tourist trap again. You live and learn...

X-mas day in India

Merry Christmas to any and all who are reading this today!

Decided to have a relaxed start to the day given yesterday's long schedule. Went to a couple of places with Vijay and had lunch and ice cream. He dropped us off at the airport and we took a 4p flight to New Delhi. Arrived at our hotel around 8p and were pleasantly surprised with it given I'd booked it from the US (you never know with these things!). It even has free wireless access in the rooms, which is why I'm able to catch up on the blog.

It wouldn't feel like Christmas at all today if it weren't for the fact that everyone we've encountered, i.e. airport and hotel staff and deejays on the radio, has taken the time to wish us Merry X-mas. India is fairly egalitarian in terms of the holidays it embraces, even with a fairly small Christian population. M and I both were rather perplexed when we opened the newspaper a couple of days ago to see a picture of a Muslim (clearly indicated by their headscarves) mother and daughter doing X-mas shopping!! Niyatee had an interesting poster at her house saying something to the effect of given Hindu, Muslim, Catholic/Christian, and Buddhist religions/gods, how there are major holidays being celebrated in India every single week. We also talked to M's family today, which was nice. He has only communicated with them via email up to this point, in spite of my urging him to call them.

We've booked a car with a driver for tomorrow and Friday, and I hope that will turn out to be a nice experience. We're taking a train to Agra on Thursday to visit The Taj Mahal.

Day trip to Mysore

We spent X-mas Eve on a 1-day bus tour to Mysore, a city near Bangalore known as the Garden City. This one will go down in the memory books...

Our friends were planning to drive us down to visit Mysore, but due to their change of plans (mentioned in previous posting), they booked us on this bus tour instead.

The bus part of the tour was quite a nightmare, none of which our friends knew or could have done anything about when booking it. We got on at 6:30a, made multiple pickups throughout the city, and finally left Bangalore at 9:00a! Then we stopped on the side of the highway for some type of lubrication, then at the petrol (gas) station, and then at a tourist-trap souvenir shop (we're convinced the driver/tour company must get a cut of the purchases). At noon, we made our first stop in the historic town of Sri Rangapatnam. We could have done without this stop, but it did add to our understanding of the area. We got on our way to Mysore around 12:45p, and lunch was our first stop there. Then, we stopped at another shop, but M and I actually decided to make a couple of purchases there because we liked the things, and it was a government-run operation (we hope). We then saw a Roman Catholic church built by a French bishop. It was very neo-Gothic in appearance, with the Indian touch being red and yellow stained glass in the arches. It was nicely decorated for X-mas. We also saw a couple of temples, but didn't make it inside due to crowds and time constraints.

Of the places we visited, the main Palace and the Brindavan Gardens in Mysore were our favorites. The Palace is gorgeous and easily rivals some of the ones I've seen or heard about in Europe. We were a little miffed that they make you take off your shoes before entering the palace, but "this is India" (my favorite expression to explain away things I don't understand). The Gardens (separate) are known for their musical and lit fountains (i.e. best seen at night, which is what we did). It was quite crowded due to it being vacation for school kids, but we managed to find some quiet spots to enjoy it all.

We had front row seats on the bus, which meant everyone getting on the bus after us at each stop bumped my knee or elbow. The front row also did not have a foot rest, and my legs not touching the floor got old very quickly. We left the Gardens at 8:30p, stopped for dinner at 10p (M and I did not get off to eat as we were too tired and sleepy), and made it to Bangalore around midnight. We then drove around making multiple stops and finally got to ours around 1:30a. We were exhausted and thrilled to get off the bus. Vijay was kind enough to be there waiting to pick us up, and had sandwiches ready as we'd requested.

We're glad to have seen Mysore, but the bus trip is one we'd soon forget.

Bangalore

Our main reason to go to Bangalore was to visit a friend of mine, Niyatee, someone I've kept in touch with since the time I lived in India. And, visiting her was a good way for me to see a new place, and for both of us to see one of the cities that is booming due to outsourcing.

Unfortunately, her grandmother's illness (and subsequent death) meant that she had to fly to Ahmedabad before we arrived in Bangalore. She called me about this, and told us that her husband was going to pick us up and show us around in her absence. We were a little nervous about that, never having met him, but it all turned out fine.

Niyatee's husband, Vijay and a friend of his, made a very tasty dinner for us the night we arrived. On Sunday, he drove us around town. We went to Lal Bagh, one of the gardens for which Bangalore is famous. We also went shopping in the main district, although I had no luck with anything. It was either too expensive, or I didn't like it. We saw the main government buildings, and got a general feel for the city. "Electronic City," where all the outsourced operations are located (Intel and such) are a little outside the city, so we never did make it there. But, all through town, you could feel the presence of this business.

Went to Pizza Hut that night for dinner and had a great time! They have quite a different menu, although some of the pizzas are the same, and I thought the hand-tossed crust pizza we had with some veggies tasted very much like it would in the US.

Day 3 / Last day in Bombay

Woke up early to head to an aunt's house in Bombay. My parents are going to stay there a couple of days, but unfortunately we are not able to do the same due to our time constraints. It's so nice to spend time with people I grew up with, and it's sad that I don't get enough time with them. I keep saying every trip to India that I want to visit more often, but it just does not happen. Maybe now that we're done with school and such, we can make this trip every couple of years, but I'm sure careers and kids will intervene. Also, it's unfortunate that I just don't know some younger cousins as well as I know the older ones, simply because they've grown up during the years we've been in the US.

We headed to a nearby mall to kill some time. It's nice to see a blend of Eastern and Western stores. My favorite part is the food court as it's all vegetarian here, and I have a smorgasbord of choices (unlike in American malls, where I can usually only eat at 1 place).

Ate lunch with my aunt and family, and then headed for the airport. The taxi driver tried to rip us off, which is typical but still pisses me off, but I managed to not let him get away with it.

We're headed to Bangalore, in south India... more on that in subsequent postings.

Day 2 in Bombay

I should note that we use "Bombay" and "Mumbai" interchangeably, with "Bombay" being used most often. It'll take a few more years yet before the British colonial influence of this naming is erased from our minds!

Day 2 was a slow start, with us getting up late and getting dressed in time for lunch. We headed to a nearby mall and had a fun time shopping for random things and window shopping. We then went to Juhu Beach (equivalent to South Beach, I'd say) and sat an oceanfront restaurant, enjoying the view and sipping drinks. We were trying to watch the sunset but the clouds made that pointless. M and I went for a walk, and had a not-humorous-at-the-time experience of getting locked out briefly from the restaurant, with my brother taking a picture of us in which beggars happily decided to pose with us. They were smiling; we weren't. You'll have to see it to know what I mean...

Went home to change and then the 3 of us (bro, M, myself) went out with some friends. This young couple loves to party, so they were able to show us a good time. Hanging out at this lounge, drinking cocktails, eating, and listening to remixed American and Bollywood music truly felt like a Bombay experience.

Day 1 in Bombay

My Dad's friend picked us up at the train station and we went to his house to rest for a few hours. Around 11a, we went shopping on the streets near his house. He lives in a fairly ritzy part of Bombay, so the shops there were worthwhile. After lunch at home, we set off for what outsiders call downtown Bombay (i.e. the original, central part of town). Bombay is a large, crowded city of ~18 million people, which according to our travel guide is 3x the population density of NYC! All of that amounts to a lot of vehicles on the road, and it took about 2 hours from where we were staying to get to central Bombay.

We got to see the Gateway of India, the Taj Mahal Hotel, Nariman Point, the banking district (did not see the Wachovia office), etc. We even took a horse carriage ride, which was fun and embarrassing at the same time (because people definitely stare at you!). We enjoyed happy hour at a bar, and then headed back through town to see it at night. It again took 2 hours to get back.

M said he felt like a tourist for the first time in India as there were other white people in Bombay. I don't see what's wrong with that, considering even I'm seen as a tourist here. He also noticed the one thing that everyone new to Bombay notices, which is that from many different points in the city, you can take a picture that captures all the class levels that exist in India. The shantytowns are visibly right alongside the oceanview flats and bungalows that sell for millions of dollars. We also keep getting harassed by beggars, who take a particular interest in him. It annoys me that they touch us to get our attention, but then it's easy to remember that if that's the only complaint I have in the day, my life is vastly better than theirs.

I read an interesting quote today. The BBC Bureau Chief in India was asked how he coped with the poverty in India. His answer was something to the effect of, he doesn't have to cope with it, they do. That can be viewed as flippant, and yet also very enlightening. We simply see the poverty and ignore it; those people have to live it. It's too vast an issue for any 1 person to make a difference. Thankfully, there are various people and agencies doing their parts to make dents in it in different ways.

We ended the evening at a nice restaurant, with lots of spicy, tasty food. It finally feels like we're on vacation as we've been able to enjoy this cosmopolitan city today.