Cindy and I posing with the Taj Motel after getting off a crazy boatride from Elephanta Island
The outside of the Tea Shop (full name is Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Tea House)
A Hip Hotel & Neighborhood
Cindy and I landed in Mumbai after our whirlwind tour of Northern India ready for new adventures sans Garmeet. We had been spoiled up to this point with our personal driver and now good friend to guide us in our travels but we were ready to be out on our own. After learning that we could find hotels that were very nice but still in a reasonable price range, we changed our original plan to stay at a 5 star hotel on Marine Drive to a boutique hotel called Bloom in the hip West Bandra neighborhood. We arrived in the later afternoon to our hotel and decided to lay low, get our ducks in a row (or as it were laundry ready to wash) and then headed up to the rooftop bar to have a cocktail. After that, we headed out into the streets of our new city to find some cash and a place to eat. Wasn’t hard to find an ATM or several nor an interesting place to eat since this was a pretty cool part of the city. We landed at a Lebanese restaurant and had a great falafel wrap and french fries and chatted with the manager who was excited about this newly opened restaurant.
The next day, we decided to stay in the neighborhood and check out some of the notable art galleries in the area, but first I insisted we walk to some parks by the sea since they were just a few blocks away. It was a hot day, but it didn’t seem like too bad of a walk to get there. The first area we arrived at was scattered with fireworks debris from the recent Diwali celebrations, which would continue every night we were there. It wasn’t all that pleasant to walk there as it was hot, there wasn’t a lot of shade and there were just a few vagrants hanging around. We walked north a bit and found Jogger’s Park which had more shade, some nice areas for running and for kids to play and some nicely designed ponds and gardens. We then headed to the Tea Shop, a place Cindy had found in her book to have a cool drink and see what it is all about. It was a very sweet little tea place with many unique teas and some great small plated foods. One thing I came to realize that tea was very much a part of the Indian culture…however, it is unclear whether it was British to start or if the British started the tea thing after they took over India. Either way, it did become a part of our daily routine in one way or another, whether it was stopping at a wayside dhaba or going to this fancier contemporary tea house. We very much enjoyed some great samosas and unique iced teas and, of course, the air-conditioning. After this, we headed out to find some of the art houses Cindy had read about. Unfortunately, none of the places were open, because of Diwali or because there wasn’t a current exhibit. It was nice getting to know the neighborhood, none-the-less. That night we went out to a hip and young restaurant in the neighborhood, called Sixteen 33 where we had a cocktail and some calamari. Yum!
A Case of the Missing Car, Lots of Laundry and an Interview
I know, it’s a weird heading but it leads into a very funny story. On our third day in Mumbai, we wanted to get out a little further, more specifically to the southern tip of the city where the Taj Hotel, the India Gate and other historical sites were. I also had set up and interview in the afternoon in a neighborhood in between where we were and the furthest point we were heading. Needless to say, we thought it best to find a driver who could take us around and stay with us for the duration. Cindy looked online and found a site called Driver for Hire which had a very reasonable price compared to what we had paid so far. The driver showed up at the hotel soon after our scheduled time but here’s the thing…it was JUST A DRIVER, without a car…he looked at us and said, “Your key?” Thankfully, the hotels valet or security guard was there to interpret and told us we had hired a driver to drive OUR car, not a driver and his car…OOPS…no wonder it was so reasonable. We paid him 200 rupees so he could make it back home and we had the hotel find us a driver AND A CAR.
The first spot our driver took us was to the Dhobi Ghats. The Dhobi Ghat is a famous spot in Mumbai because not only is it a large slum in the middle of tall sky scrapers but it is the place where all the laundry of the city is done. The people who live there, wash hotel, restaurant, and household laundry and hang it to dry within this small space…it’s quite a site to see and you’ll see with the pics in the gallery…here is one shot…
After stopping here to take some shots, we headed for the India Gate and the famous Taj Hotel. Our driver dropped us in front of the Taj amongst a very big crowd of other folks. We could see the India Gate but couldn’t find our way into the area to get close. We knew we were likely to come back down to this area, so we decided to take a few photos and then get our driver to come back. We were a bit short on time and it was a bit tough to get around this area with the traffic and all the people, but we decided to make one more stop at the Jehangir Art Gallery. This was one of the big highlights of the day as we not only saw some fantastic modern art but we met all the artists. The art here was varied with paintings, prints and sculpture. The artists were mostly young, up-and-coming folks who were happy to talk about their work and get their photos taken with the work. You’ll see a few of these in the gallery below.
After this, we made our way to meet Kamalika Bose, an architect who started Heritage Synergies, a firm devoted to keeping the heritage of India alive in many ways, including doing research on communities and creating exhibits to bring to life these communities for others to see. That’s a simple way of explaining her and her partners work which is more complex and varied than just exhibits in terms of maintaining the country’s structural and communities heritage. I will write much more about this for my research but one of the things I found most intriguing about the work is how Ms. Bose used students from various educational institutions to research and engage with the communities. Also how this work was brought to the powers that be to bring to light the activities and potential challenges of these communities in hopes to fund the exhibits and possibly bring about some change.
Religious Art, Boat Rides, Neighborhoods and People
On our fourth day in Mumbai, we decided to head back down to the Southern tip of the city, mostly with the goal of getting on the ferry to Elephanta Island but we had a couple of distractions along the way. We decided to go the cheap route on this day and try the train as our transportation. The train station wasn’t too far from our hotel but we did get a little lost finding it and ended up taking a Tuk Tuk part of the way. Finally, we had a Tuk Tuk driver who was honest and very helpful. He charged us only 30 rupees and when we arrived at the station he pointed us in the right direction to get our tickets. From this point, every where we had to go in the station, to the right track and the right car, people helped us at every turn…without us even asking. We came to realize that this is just the norm of how the Indian people are. I can’t stress enough what great experiences we had with the people here. Anyway, we hopped on the women’s car of the train to where we were going. The train ended a bit short of our final destination but it wasn’t too far of a walk and along the way we found some great things to see, including old administrative buildings and an amazing museum of religious relics, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Museum. At this point, we had been fairly well-educated about Hinduism and had some knowledge of Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism, so seeing these old, well-preserved relics from these faiths was quite amazing. It was a hot day and the museum wasn’t air-conditioned, but it was worth the time spent here…I plan to learn even more and look closely at the symbolism and iconography of these different faiths.
After the museum, we headed down to catch the ferry to Elephanta Island to see even older religious relics in the caves on the island. We found the line for the ferry, which wound around in quite a long queue but was right in front of the India Gate, so we got a much closer view of this landmark. The queue moved fast and we chatted with some folks along the way and people watched. Once we boarded the ferry, it was about an hour out to the island. It was entertaining to watch how excited the families were about being on the boat, watching the big ships go by in anticipation for the island. It was cooler in the boat, thank goodness but still a very hot day. Cindy and I could not believe how much we sweat in this climate. Once we arrived at the island, it was a fairly long walk up and up to the caves. You had the option to take the toy train up but we opted for walking. To get to the caves, you walked through vendors selling the usual trinkets, and some restaurants and other treats. Finally, we arrived at the caves, of which there are 7, with five holding various statues of Shiva and his tribe with the first one the most prominent and stately. It is a complex that has fairly well in-tact columns and various reliefs and full 3D statues devoted to Shiva. There are small rooms, as well, one guarded by lions, holding the lingam, said to be the creation point, symbolizing the power of the universe. We explored all of the caves, except the final two which are devoted to Buddha and on the East side of the island. We ran out of time and, as I said, it was extremely hot this day…I think if we had tried to reach those caves we might have expired.
A Mural of a Bollywood Actress in Ranwar Village
Click on the photos below to go through the Mumbai Gallery
The Buddhist Goddess, Tara. The Goddess of compassion and clearer of obstacles to the path of enlightenment, among many other powers.
We made it back to the boat before the last boat went out. Oh, btw, there were many monkeys on this island, as well…not the good kind…and they were successfully stealing food and drink from people there. You’ll see one image of a monkey drinking a juice that he had just stolen from an unsuspecting young boy…that monkey had no problem removing the cap and drinking the juice down in front of all who watched. The ride back to the mainland was quite exciting as the seas had gotten quite choppy. People were having fun until they weren’t and by the time we got back to land, a few had lost their cookies. However, we had a fun distraction from the madness, we were chatting with various folks and one young man decided to educate us on the Hindu gods and goddesses. He would take a break every now and then and then suddenly, you would hear, “Do you know about the God Hanuman?” and he would go on to give us a little background on said god. Next to him, were three young muslim men who started asking us questions and talking about their lives in Mumbai. We also got a little background on Islam and the Koran. Wow! Who would think so much could happen and so much knowledge could be gained on a little one hour ferry ride.
After we got off the boat, we found our first brewery and enjoyed a nice, cold beer. What a treat! On our way back to the train station, we ran into a man who decided to follow us to the station. He gave us the story that he was a traveling nurse whose family lived near Pune. He asked if we wanted to share a tea with him before we got on the train…we said, why not. Well, why not..because it was a scam…he was hoping we would get some food as well and share it with him. After he walked us to the station, he asked if we could give him a little money so he could eat…we felt bad, so we gave him 100 rupees to find something to eat. By the time we got back to the hotel, we just decided to order room service and lay low the rest of the night. It was a great day in Mumbai.
A Rainy Visit to a Portuguese Village
On our last day in Mumbai, we decided to again stay close to the hotel, but explore a few different areas. One was the village of Ranwar, which is historically a Christian Portuguese neighborhood with interesting architecture and murals. On our way to find this place, we first were looking for this Buddhist temple but what we found was more of a school and not really a place to visit. About that time, it started to rain and we popped into a little cafe to have coffee and a snack. It was a good thing we stopped as it started to pour and we picked a good spot to try a unique snack and a wonderful chocolate dessert. After this we made our way to the village. By the time we arrived there, it had started raining heavy again so we explored and found some great buildings, the murals, some Christian altars and more but quite quickly were soaked to the bone and ready to go back to the hotel. We rested and then went out for dinner at a very healthy restaurant called Greenr. It was a very busy restaurant and we certainly found out why as our food was quite tasty fresh and vegetarian fare.
