India - Mumbia (7)

We decided to go back to the Hanging Gardens today as we had only had a brief photo stop on our first day "hotel tour"

Our taxi driver this morning has restored our faith in humanity - a reasonable fare plus of IR 110  from the Taj President to the Hanging Gardens. He was very chatty and pointed out all the sights  on the way to Malabar Hill. An uneducated man who admits that he received no formal schooling - his schooling was "on the streets" He adopted 2 girls and also has 2 sons. All his children have been educated and he is paying off his taxi. The mileage these taxi's do daily is huge so by the time the taxi is paid off, it's just about on it's last legs, one would imagine. Perhaps that is why so many of  these taxi's look so decrepit and bashed.

The Hanging Gardens are a little oasis from the noise of the streets and they were laid out in the 1880's. Benches galore to sit on, gorgeous butterflies that refused to sit still for a photo, lovers, and some blooms. Being just after the monsoon, one would not expect an abundance of blooms. The best was watching 2 guys mowing the lawn with a hand-mower - one chap pushing and one pulling. In the heat, this gets the job done quickly and efficiently! The Indians have some age-old customs which are lovely to see!

Opposite, the Hanging Gardens is the Kamala Nehru Park, a pleasant spot to sit in the cooling breeze to regain our breathe after walking all the way up the hill and back again. There are some beautiful apartment blocks and just as many really grotty ones (from the outside anyway!) This a Real Estate with a hefty price tag and this can be believed as we say some really great roof top gardens - they must have amazing views of the city.

As usual, we are the only Westerners in sight but besides a few women (always with a child) begging, we have not been harassed. After a firm NO, most vendors have left us alone. I find the tiny stalls quite incredible - they are only about 1.5 metres wide (if that) and the goods are packed tightly into this minute space. Some even have a phone!!! Although, how they can hear anybody speak with all the road noise is a miracle!

There are always Indians walking to and fro, everywhere we go, and on this road on Malabar Hill, we found them the most friendly with wide smiles, especially from the ladies. It has been a complete eye-opener - nobody has tried to harm us in any way, and it seems that theft is not an issue here. Bicycles are left unattended, laden with goods, a helmet was left on a sidewalk waiting for it's owner to return. Now how is this for co-incidence - our daily newspapers have just been delivered and the front page of the Times of India has an article stating that Mumbai is the 2nd most honest city in the world after Helsinki. This exercise was conducted with wallets being dropped, with cash in, plus a phone number. Citizens in Mumbai returned most of the wallets planted whilst Lisbon came in stone last. South African is not listed as none of the wallets would have been returned!!!!!!! However, this is not to say that there is no crime in India - the country is high on the corruption stakes, rape is a huge issue and burglaries do certainly occur as can be seen by the burglar bars on windows.

Given the number of lovers lining Marine Parade, one can understand the huge population - it seems they start young here! Smooching in public, albeit behind an umbrella, is commonplace along this sea boulevard and this in broad daylight so who knows what happens once the sun sets??? The mind boggles!

It does not seem as if there is a market for scrap metal in Mumbai as all the metal drain covers are still in place. Not like South Africa where nothing is sacred and metal = money!

The other issues are health related - water is not drinkable, we spotted a man doing his "toilet" needs just below Malabar Hill on the beach and the stench from some areas is disgusting.

Eventually our legs got tired so we tried a taxi. IR 200 to go back to the hotel - what a rip-off. The next driver said IR 30 but then changed his tune once we were in the car!! His English was very poor and although he was a total rip-off at IR 80 he did get out of the taxi to get change! So he trusted us to wait for him as we could have just walked off. It's a crazy country and the hotel room has muted honking sounds which is bliss after our very long walk.

They honk, they honk, they honk some more - often just for the hell of it! Nobody points a gun though and nobody gives any rude finger signs so just bear with the noise - they will get you to your destination in one piece, even if the price is a total rip-off! So much for honesty amongst taxi drivers!

Supper time came around and once again, no taxi's to be had. As we did not feel like paying fo the hotel cab, we ventured back to the Thai restaurant at the hotel. Bad move as my tummy did not enjoy this again. Obviously, something in their food does not agree with me and it is very irritating. I had asked for the veg curry and could count the few beans on virtually one hand, with a tiny slice of potato thrown in. Drowned in a bowl of curry sauce, this was a poor choice and a rip-off. Whilst our first meal here was pretty good, except for my poor tum-tum, this one was very poor. Win some, lose some.

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

www.bradclin.com

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India - Mumbai (6)



Churchgate Station, Mumbai, India

We arose rather late this morning - all the walking and noise is exhausting!

Breakfast at the President Taj was busy this morning. Service is always friendly although sometimes rather hit and miss as the staff seem to be all over the place instead of concentrating on a few tables. The spicy tea (don't ask me for the Indian name) gets the taste buds going and then we can enjoy our eggs and normal tea/coffee.

A IR 50 taxi ride, with us holding on for dear life, got us to Churchgate station in time to watch the  dabbawallahs come off the trains, cross the road and start sorting out their food bags for delivery to offices across  the city. How on earth they know what goes where is beyond my little brain but it is all precision packed either onto bicycle handle-bars or those famous Indian wooden carts. The carts take loads of meals and are pulled by hand. Luckily, all the bags are closed as we saw one of these guys picking his nose and then proceeding to go off on his deliveries for the day.

Hygiene does not seem to be a big thing in India, given  the fact that so many tourists fall ill.

Started a century ago with home-cooked meals. this tradition lives on in the modern Mumbai. 5000 of these man deliver approx. 200,000 lunch boxes from homes to respective offices every day. Making virtually no mistakes (1 in every 16 million delivers)  these men earn between 2000 - 4000 IR per month. The system was started by the British who preferred their home-cooked meals, made by their staff, to be delivered to their workplace. The fact that this system still runs like clockwork and is favoured by many so many years later, is incredible, given the age of modern technology. This defies modern systems and shows that old traditions can survive, despite everything. The boxes are colour coded which tells where the food comes from, which station it will be delivered to and the address where it has to be delivered. The dabbawallahs deliver in all weathers, never go on strike and now even have their own website or you can order via sms. Modern and ancient mixed together in an incredible way.

Apparently, business schools ask these dubbawallahs to lecture on their systems and they have been used to promote their new products. Prince Charles met them in 2003 and Richard Branson has also spent time with them. It's totally mind-boggling that such a simple system, yet with so many logistical problems such as train travel, can be delivered on time each and every day. Dubbawallahs need to be well-disciplined as there reputation is of paramount importance.

Hats off to these people in carrying on with a tradition which started in the 1890's. It's mind-boggling to me, yet it runs like clock-work.
Sometimes, people from other countries need to sit up and take note of systems that work, of people that have pride in their jobs, no matter that they are not the most well-paid in society. Coming from South Africa, where many people have no pride in their work and yet expect huge pay increases  every year, despite the poor economic climate, makes one see India in a very positive light. The Indian papers are also quick to report rapes or crimes - they are not hidden away or swept under the carpet.

Once all the dubbawallahs had left, we saw from the map that Churchgate  Station is not too far from Marine Drive, so off we set on foot. This time we walked North to the end of the pier which is right opposite the Fisherman's Village (near our hotel). With humidity of around 88% today, it is very hot unless walking in the shade. Once again, we are surrounded by only Indians - the Westerners can be counted on 10 fingers so perhaps they are more into the fancy shopping centres than the down-to-earth Mumbai with it's thousands of taxi's, honking horns, normal people going about their daily lives, collecting their kids from school and catching buses and trains to wherever they need to go.

We have not been brave enough to catch either a bus or a train but we have walked most of Colaba -  my feet and legs tell me so. 

Most of Mumbai is fairly clean - the streets are tidy and neat except in the areas where the squatters (fisher folk) live. Even there, the rubbish seems confined to patches near the rubbish skips and on the beach where they have their boats.

Crossing the roads in Mumbai is a rather death-defying experience as nobody stops at a pedestrian crossing and one wonders why they even bother to paint them? Most are very faded and worn from all those feet stumbling across! I nearly got squashed by a taxi today and I was not amused - silly people - surely a second will not make that much difference in their lives? But no - they blow their horns and just keep going hell for leather. It's daft, it's crazy, it's Indian and it's Mumbai. Love it or leave it! Some of the locals just walk - I suppose they know the taxi will stop at the last minute or face homicide charges, but we are not willing to take that chance. Scaredy cats? YEP!

We have not seen many stray cats or dogs - those near the shack dwellers are all rather thin and don't look too healthy. The well-looked after dogs are being  walked on leads by their well-dressed owners. Those look in tip-top shape.

We reached our hotel totally drenched in perspiration and me looking like a beetroot with my hair all over the place and the shorts sticking to my limbs. A cold shower has somewhat revived me but my core temperature still feels overheated!

At least we can say that we have walked this small area of Colaba (in relation to the entire city!) It is so very different to anything that we are used to in Cape Town or have ever experienced anywhere else in the world. Over-stimulation of the senses, especially the ears!

Feeling peckish, we decided to try a Pizza place in Nariman Point. Well....nobody wanted to take us there - obviously too close and they wanted a min of IR 80 to virtually go round the corner. So...too far to walk and having tried at least 5 taxi's, we decided that they were all a rip-off so we stayed at the hotel and ate their pizza instead! Boring?? Yep but what can one do. The taxi's do seem to rip off foreign tourists, as I suppose they do all over the world.

Complimentary fresh fruit from the hotel and a cuppa of my own Five Roses tea will do me fine together with some R&R time on the Kindle.

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

www.bradclin.com

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India - Mumbai (5)

Now we head for the Prince of Wales Museum to "try" and soak up some culture.
Yeh right - it is difficult but nothing ventured, nothing gained. The taxi fare of 100 Rupees (most probably a rip-off!) got us to the door of the museum just as the rain came down.



We waited under shelter, like idiots, as nobody told us that there were umbrellas to use to reach the entrance.

The museum has 3 floors of art collections such as Nepal-Tibet, Krishna, Chinese and Japanese, European paintings, sculpture, weapons, coins etc.

The foundation stone was laid by Prince of Wales (later KIng George V) in 1905 and is a heritage building and landmark of South Mumbai.The museum opened to the public on Jan 10, 1922 wit various collections plus the Sir Ratan Tata bequest. The Tata family are well-known and very wealthy - Tata vehicles are even available in South Africa.

The Natural History section is superb, spoilt only by a group of Primary (Called High School) kids who were sooooo noisy we could not even hear our audio head phones. They were all very smartly dressed in uniform, with name tags and photos, all wearing sandals but, oh my goodness, what alot of chatter at the top of their voices. The teacher telling them to be quiet had absolutely NO effect! Even the museum chap tried to move them along....he did not succeed. Rather a pity that such smartly dressed kids from obviously wealthy backgrounds can be so disobedient when all the signs say "Silence Please" We had to wait for them to leave to enjoy the exhibits.

Have you ever seen a "saw" fish? It's the most amazing looking sea creature with a huge saw in front of it's body. Don't think I would like to encounter one of those in the ocean! Forget the magician trick of sawing somebody in half, this would be the real deal!

Indian 1 Horn Rhino's also faced near extinction until measures were taken to increase the population. The conservation program in India and in South Africa (White Rhino) are mentioned here for their efforts in saving these magnificent animals.

We found the history of Karl Khandalavala most interesting. A lawyer by profession, he became an Indian Art Collector and had close links with the Prince of wales Museum. He was asked to source art for the museum and then stopped collection for his own use. He was also a great photographer and one numerous awards. His collection is now in the gallery where he spent many a Saturday afternoon, such was his love of the arts.

A video in the Prechand Roychand gallery was totally fascinating as it showed the history of the art of painting for mobile temples. This huge painting is taken from village to village. Today this art form includes words and more colours than the originals - however, it needs to be preserved for future generations.

We decided to walk back so that we could get some exercise and experience the noise of Mumbai again!!!!! The noise is so invasive that I can't even concentrate on taking interesting photos of people, cars, shops etc that we pass. It's all encompassing noise that assaults the senses to such a degree that one walks like a zombie! There is nothing like this anywhere in Europe, USA, SA and certainly not in New Zealand (peace and quiet!!) or law-abiding Australia. There are no rules of the road and most roads are packed, with truly only about a centimetre of space between cars or bodies. How there are not more accidents, I have no clue. Apparently, in the monsoon season there are many accidents - thankfully, for my sanity, the rain is no longer too much. Whew!

We had hoped hoped to see the Kala Ghoda Pavement Art which is on either side of the Jehangir Art Gallery but this is closed until October ( after the Monsoon Season) I suppose no self-respecting artist would want his/her work ruined by the rain?

As we did not find the Colaba Causeway on our Saturday outing, we decided to walk back to via this route. These stalls of full of cheap trinkets and clothing and quite claustrophobic. We did buy an elephant for 300 rupees for my elephant collection at home. Gorgeous and ornate, he will rule the other elephants when he gets back to South Africa! The beggars all seem to be women with children, sitting on the pavement. I was eventually tempted to use rather strong African swear words - just the fact that they did not understand these, seemed to have an effect! I won't repeat them here!

Although the Internet reckons that the area around the President Hotel is not so safe we have found all the areas so far to be hassle free. Wherever we have walked there has been no problem even though we stand out like sore thumbs - white faces and with a Nikon camera slung around my neck! Many of the buildings look like total slums, yet they are not. It's a crazy place, a noisy place and the Indians themselves are all over, shopping, eating, buying and driving.

We spotted a Driving School called "Good Luck" - yep, I think the bumps and scratches on the car are testimony to the crazy driving in Mumbai and India. Quite frankly, I would think that no license is required - nothing could equip one for driving in this country - hence the fact that foreigners are not allowed to hire a car without a driver. Driving in India, without being born in this country, would be the fastest way to voluntary suicide.

Indians, please come to South Arica - you will LOVE the way we drive - we don't hoot very often, we tend to obey most of the rules of the road and we can be very polite!!! Capetonians, your driving is SUPERB - I love you all!!!!!

Our laundry arrived, delivered in a briefcase and with cardboard in the t-shirts. Service!!!!! Singita Lebombo, a fantastic hotel in the Kruger Park of South Africa,  can learn a few tricks from the Taj Group! Joking - Singita is very special and our memories there will never fade.

For our evening meal, we decided to catch a taxi to Leopolds - famous in Mumbai. This is right in the Colaba Causeway area and was packed with locals and a few Westerners. The menu is under the glass on the table so sometimes you have to read upside down. The noise is incredible as the buzz of conversation competes with the honking horns in the road outside. If you are in the mood for a romantic dinner, this is not the place to be. If you want tasty food at a reasonable price, then it IS the place to be. Our waiter was very helpful and I decided on a vegetable curry called Makhanwala  while James chose Butter Chicken. Served with some Naan Bread, it was delicious. Leopolds also serves huge "tower of beer" at 1400 IR - needless to say, we stuck to a glass each at 180 IR! No need to fall over in Mumbai! The cakes and desserts are scrumptious - the Chocolate Ecstasy was just that - so rich that I could barely finish it, despite James stealing a few mouthfuls.

There were plenty of taxi's outside so we opted for one that said 80 IR (the fare we paid to get to the restaurant)
At our destination, James handed over a 100 note and was told "no change" So he counted out his smaller notes and made 60 which he then offered the driver. Suddenly, change of 20 miraculously appeared! We were not impressed by this tactic - however, only fair to say that this has happened to us whilst taking a taxi to Cape Town airport so it is obviously a ploy used by taxi drivers world-wide. Why they would want to annoy their fares to such an extent, is beyond me. Mind you, in Mumbai you never get the same driver - this last one was extremely surly and spoils the good experience that we have enjoyed from others in this city.

The streets at night are even more crazy it seems than during the day with far more people walking, riding and just being out and about. We even saw a gent sitting on the pavement having his ears cleaned by another. How gross is that? Funnily enough, I have only seen one taxi driver open
his door and spit! Even more gross!

On that note, back to our cool, clean hotel room......to read the latest in the Indian Newspapers:

The Mumbai Mirror, the Bombay Times and the Times of India are delivered to our room daily. They make interesting reading and show us that problems are really world-wide and so is good news.

Some snippets:
Armed with lathi, constable beats back 10 train robbers
In a first, chemist is booked for not having pharmacist!
Ragpicker stumbles upon woman's partial remains near sea link
Free Seminars across the city to help students study in USA
Rehearsing teens spark real dram on Marine Drive ( this happened across from the Inter-Continental Hotel where the Pakistan Judicial Commission is staying!!)
Study: Drug-resistant TB in city air, families clear yet kids affected.
Irrespective of faith, 12 year old cannot be wife.
Grad steals mobile, blackmails owner - love this one - in SA they just re-sell them at bargain prices!
Wheelchair bound Deepa Malik (43) will cover 2000 km across 6 states in 10 days in a car designed by students from Sathyabama University, Chennai
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. "Keep it simple, stupid" Kiss Principle

Ad - 2 months later, 7 kilos lighter and a plan that finally worked. SMS Slim to .......!
Ad - Get going in your own Innova for a perfect holiday (Toyota)
Ad - 30,000 cars sold, 30,000 lived changed - Honda

You have guessed - it is raining today so more time to read these fascinating glimpses into Indian life in Mumbai.

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

www.bradclin.com

Please share - if you did not enjoy this post .....Shhh - but please still share!

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