In my process of moving to Mumbai, I figured it would take about two months to settle in, and the timing on this initial grace period is winding down. So I'd like to assess exactly how far I've come in obtaining my goal.
All in all, I would say I feel very settled. I'll provide a quick glimpse at my daily routine, that in all honesty matches that of working life back home. I'm up, ready, at work by about 8:30. The whole process of navigating traffic, and the general scenery of people skirting around the street with baskets of produce, or motorbikes weaving amongst cars is completely normal at this point. My day at work can be busy or not, depending on what is going on. The most difficult times are having to go out to client sites, which are dispersed all around the city. Mumbai, being a maze of large roads and alleyways that can either be semi-paved or completely potholed while constantly full of cars and people, makes it extremely tedious and time consuming to go anywhere. As a result, I can spend the majority of an afternoon traveling around. Thankfully, the sense of time is very flexible as everyone understands the nature of traveling in the city, and being 30 min late is pretty much normal.
That being said, work life is going well. I'm still enjoying the local Indian food at lunch, and am comfortable pulling up a chair with just about anyone, give a quick hello, then we all simultaneously dive (right) hand first into my meal. My co-workers questioning of "how I like Indian food?" no longer comes up, as they sense I enjoy and even understand how to eat. Sure I fumble around trying to tear of a piece of roti then, and like the arcade game with the metal claw, ply together two ends of the bread in hopes of successfully grabbing a piece of okra, potato, or whatever sort of food chunk is cooked in curry that day. So yes, I've settled in food-wise.
It can take me up to an hour or more arrive home after work, depending on the time I leave and the traffic. These seemingly unpredictable factors really hamper making after work plans, but I typically get back and head to the local gym. Sure enough, it's a Gold's Gym, and the Indian guys take it as seriously as Venice Beach. I'm not sure if I mentioned this already as it's been a while since I wrote last, but I can delve into further detail about the vanity of the young Indian male at a later date. After that I'll head back and eat whatever interesting Indian concoction my cook has whipped up for the day. It's all tasty, well spiced, and convenient to the point that I don't even ask what I'm eating or wonder the quality in comparison to a "real" Indian meal. Some days I'll meet up with a few friends for dinner at someone's apartment, grab a drink or two, but I pretty much keep it easy during the week
As for experiences in general, I've been around for a couple festivals which epitomize the ethnic variance, and I should say acceptance, of India. For starters, a couple weeks ago there was a festival to honor lord Krishna. Now my Indian mythology (Hindu in this case) is not strong, but a woman at work tried to explain it to me. Basically Krishna, lord of attraction (or something like that), has a strong affliction for "white butter" which is some yogurt substance. As a result, he will take any measure to obtain this delight, which somehow translates into people building human pyramids in order to snatch jars full of yogurt at the top of scaffold towers. The prize, other than a pot full of yogurt, is usually a good deal of cash for the winning team. As festivals go, it definitely sounds odd, but oddity is normalcy when living in an area where so many ancient and mystical beliefs collide. I've learned to accept some of the strangest rituals as the norm.
At least I was lucky enough to stumble across one of these competitions on my drive home from work. Amongst a throng of people dancing and running around the street, two groups of young men were piling themselves on each other to reach a platform about 15 feet up. The base consisted of about ten people, and narrowed at the top in which a young boy would climb up the human tower to fetch his prized yogurt. In true Indian fashion, there was no safety measure taken except for the child at the top wore a life preserver and what looked like a rugby helmet. Not sure how a dive from the top would result, but this sort of danger is not the most pressing amongst the majority of Indians who roam the streets.
Just last week, there were two holidays. One was the end of Ramadan, and the other the beginning of the celebration of Ganesh (otherwise known as the elephant headed god). I'm told the Ganesh festival lasts 11 days, only to be told by someone else that it is only 10. In the spirit of India, people decide to spew whatever they believe is proper, rather than understand the true facts. Additionally, for some untold reason in which no one has provided a clear explanation, days 1,2,3,5,8,10,11 are the most auspicious. However, I've also been told that days 1,3,5,9,11 are the most revered. All I know is that this weekend, of which one day will mark the end of the celebration, will be quite rambunctious with crowds lining the street and music blasting as people carry they huge Ganesh statues they've been building during the previous days around the city. The final resting place is the water near the Queen's necklace (a strip of ocean lined walkway) in South Bombay. So yes, they just dump these wooden and largely paper machete statues into the water. I'm led to assume clean up is optional as people typically find washed up legs and trunks over the following days. It should be interesting if I can figure out when this occurs and get past the crowds to view it all.
Ganesh is meant to represent rebirth in a sense of a new beginning for any aspect in peoples' lives. For instance, you pray to Ganesh for and when you get a new job, a new car, have a child, or just want to start a new resolution in your life (i.e. New Year's). I know it is Mother Midge's favorite looking Indian god so I want to wish her the best in starting anew and for her recovery, as well as for Aunt Marta and Uncle Jim up in Vermont.
I think I would be remiss in not mentioning the fact that I took advantage of the holidays last week to venture off to Bangkok. I had the full intention of traveling around India, but buying tickets last minute were in some cases more expensive that flying to Thailand for a few days. So I again found myself jet setting off to another city in South/Southeast Asia. In full disclosure, I had traveled to Bangkok for a couple days after studying abroad, but I viewed this trip as pretty much a first time adventure as I was staying with two friends from school who have lived there the past two years. It would be an insiders tour of Bangkok; a bit daunting and exciting due to the rumors of revelry that cloud the city.
It was great comparing my friends' stay in Bangkok to what I've been experiencing in Mumbai. While Thailand is a developing country, and Bangkok is not exactly Hong Kong, I still found it much easier to be in the Mumbai. For one, there were several easy means of public transit, and the streets where pretty much clean at least when compared to the trash piles I witness on a daily basis in India. Also, it was generally easy meandering around alleys and small market areas, hopping a canal taxi, or jumping on the back of a motorcycle taxi. This last mode of transit was by far the most thrilling, and sure enough the easiest way to weave through traffic. I'll post some videos of these rides if I can.
Sure I was on a bit of vacation so my mind was at ease and free from worries of real life/work. However, it was great to plop down on some plastic furniture on the street corner, order a bowl of the local noodles, taste some colorful and overly sweet Thai teas ice teas, and just take in the scene. This sort of relaxing experience isn't exactly avaialable in Mumbai where food pleasures are found in restaurants and not really on the grime of the street. I must also admit, that I haven't ventured too much into the land of street/corner food in India, but it simply isn't as prevalent as in S.E. Asia.
In keeping with my open retelling of my experiences, I of course ventured into the mystical and more than adventurous Bangkok nightlife. I also had another American friend visiting from Singapore, named Brandon, so the Brendan/Brandon combo attempted to take on who knows what in Bangkok. We had some direction from my local (but also American) friends, however one had previous plans and the other was ill, so we simply went with the flow of the night in Bangkok. This is a pretty accurate description, as we lacked a true plan and simply stepped out of one bar only to slide along the stream of lights, flashing, cat calling, and raucous made from all over the place, into the next one.
I'll spare the mindless details, but say that all in all I felt very safe in large part due to the respectful and amicable nature of the Thai people. Everyone, and I mean everyone, addresses you with a hello and small bow in which you place you hands together in prayer fashion. Conversation flows with an easy smile no matter who you chat with; be it a local or foreigner.
So, Thailand was fun. I came back with some new cheap clothing purchases, a couple nice pictures, a couple pictures I'll hold in fear of blackmail, and a few tales of woe to share with the a certain audience.
Coming back to Mumbai was a much smoother transition than before. Sure it's easy to chide many aspects of this unkempt, less than developed metropolis, yet this being my third time through the airport I felt somewhat comfortable and at ease. The roads home were almost familiar. Even the run down overpass, and sprawled slum specked with blue tarps to protect from the rains was a site I knew so well. Life here is not exactly easy and carefree, but it's no longer hard. Even if I often envisage of a life in almost any other city I've resided or visited, either east and west, I've learned to enjoy and appreciate what it means to live in Mumbai.
Below are some scenes around my area of the city, and pictures of my apartment.
A rickshaw
Thailand Pictures. The motorcycle taxi video won't work, apologies.
Chasing Will on the back of a motorcycle taxi
Brandon enjoying some street corn
Canal Taxi
Ronald saying "hi" the polite Thai way
Will at a local fruit vendor
Picking our poison a the corner shot bar
All in all, I would say I feel very settled. I'll provide a quick glimpse at my daily routine, that in all honesty matches that of working life back home. I'm up, ready, at work by about 8:30. The whole process of navigating traffic, and the general scenery of people skirting around the street with baskets of produce, or motorbikes weaving amongst cars is completely normal at this point. My day at work can be busy or not, depending on what is going on. The most difficult times are having to go out to client sites, which are dispersed all around the city. Mumbai, being a maze of large roads and alleyways that can either be semi-paved or completely potholed while constantly full of cars and people, makes it extremely tedious and time consuming to go anywhere. As a result, I can spend the majority of an afternoon traveling around. Thankfully, the sense of time is very flexible as everyone understands the nature of traveling in the city, and being 30 min late is pretty much normal.
That being said, work life is going well. I'm still enjoying the local Indian food at lunch, and am comfortable pulling up a chair with just about anyone, give a quick hello, then we all simultaneously dive (right) hand first into my meal. My co-workers questioning of "how I like Indian food?" no longer comes up, as they sense I enjoy and even understand how to eat. Sure I fumble around trying to tear of a piece of roti then, and like the arcade game with the metal claw, ply together two ends of the bread in hopes of successfully grabbing a piece of okra, potato, or whatever sort of food chunk is cooked in curry that day. So yes, I've settled in food-wise.
It can take me up to an hour or more arrive home after work, depending on the time I leave and the traffic. These seemingly unpredictable factors really hamper making after work plans, but I typically get back and head to the local gym. Sure enough, it's a Gold's Gym, and the Indian guys take it as seriously as Venice Beach. I'm not sure if I mentioned this already as it's been a while since I wrote last, but I can delve into further detail about the vanity of the young Indian male at a later date. After that I'll head back and eat whatever interesting Indian concoction my cook has whipped up for the day. It's all tasty, well spiced, and convenient to the point that I don't even ask what I'm eating or wonder the quality in comparison to a "real" Indian meal. Some days I'll meet up with a few friends for dinner at someone's apartment, grab a drink or two, but I pretty much keep it easy during the week
As for experiences in general, I've been around for a couple festivals which epitomize the ethnic variance, and I should say acceptance, of India. For starters, a couple weeks ago there was a festival to honor lord Krishna. Now my Indian mythology (Hindu in this case) is not strong, but a woman at work tried to explain it to me. Basically Krishna, lord of attraction (or something like that), has a strong affliction for "white butter" which is some yogurt substance. As a result, he will take any measure to obtain this delight, which somehow translates into people building human pyramids in order to snatch jars full of yogurt at the top of scaffold towers. The prize, other than a pot full of yogurt, is usually a good deal of cash for the winning team. As festivals go, it definitely sounds odd, but oddity is normalcy when living in an area where so many ancient and mystical beliefs collide. I've learned to accept some of the strangest rituals as the norm.
At least I was lucky enough to stumble across one of these competitions on my drive home from work. Amongst a throng of people dancing and running around the street, two groups of young men were piling themselves on each other to reach a platform about 15 feet up. The base consisted of about ten people, and narrowed at the top in which a young boy would climb up the human tower to fetch his prized yogurt. In true Indian fashion, there was no safety measure taken except for the child at the top wore a life preserver and what looked like a rugby helmet. Not sure how a dive from the top would result, but this sort of danger is not the most pressing amongst the majority of Indians who roam the streets.
Just last week, there were two holidays. One was the end of Ramadan, and the other the beginning of the celebration of Ganesh (otherwise known as the elephant headed god). I'm told the Ganesh festival lasts 11 days, only to be told by someone else that it is only 10. In the spirit of India, people decide to spew whatever they believe is proper, rather than understand the true facts. Additionally, for some untold reason in which no one has provided a clear explanation, days 1,2,3,5,8,10,11 are the most auspicious. However, I've also been told that days 1,3,5,9,11 are the most revered. All I know is that this weekend, of which one day will mark the end of the celebration, will be quite rambunctious with crowds lining the street and music blasting as people carry they huge Ganesh statues they've been building during the previous days around the city. The final resting place is the water near the Queen's necklace (a strip of ocean lined walkway) in South Bombay. So yes, they just dump these wooden and largely paper machete statues into the water. I'm led to assume clean up is optional as people typically find washed up legs and trunks over the following days. It should be interesting if I can figure out when this occurs and get past the crowds to view it all.
Ganesh is meant to represent rebirth in a sense of a new beginning for any aspect in peoples' lives. For instance, you pray to Ganesh for and when you get a new job, a new car, have a child, or just want to start a new resolution in your life (i.e. New Year's). I know it is Mother Midge's favorite looking Indian god so I want to wish her the best in starting anew and for her recovery, as well as for Aunt Marta and Uncle Jim up in Vermont.
I think I would be remiss in not mentioning the fact that I took advantage of the holidays last week to venture off to Bangkok. I had the full intention of traveling around India, but buying tickets last minute were in some cases more expensive that flying to Thailand for a few days. So I again found myself jet setting off to another city in South/Southeast Asia. In full disclosure, I had traveled to Bangkok for a couple days after studying abroad, but I viewed this trip as pretty much a first time adventure as I was staying with two friends from school who have lived there the past two years. It would be an insiders tour of Bangkok; a bit daunting and exciting due to the rumors of revelry that cloud the city.
It was great comparing my friends' stay in Bangkok to what I've been experiencing in Mumbai. While Thailand is a developing country, and Bangkok is not exactly Hong Kong, I still found it much easier to be in the Mumbai. For one, there were several easy means of public transit, and the streets where pretty much clean at least when compared to the trash piles I witness on a daily basis in India. Also, it was generally easy meandering around alleys and small market areas, hopping a canal taxi, or jumping on the back of a motorcycle taxi. This last mode of transit was by far the most thrilling, and sure enough the easiest way to weave through traffic. I'll post some videos of these rides if I can.
Sure I was on a bit of vacation so my mind was at ease and free from worries of real life/work. However, it was great to plop down on some plastic furniture on the street corner, order a bowl of the local noodles, taste some colorful and overly sweet Thai teas ice teas, and just take in the scene. This sort of relaxing experience isn't exactly avaialable in Mumbai where food pleasures are found in restaurants and not really on the grime of the street. I must also admit, that I haven't ventured too much into the land of street/corner food in India, but it simply isn't as prevalent as in S.E. Asia.
In keeping with my open retelling of my experiences, I of course ventured into the mystical and more than adventurous Bangkok nightlife. I also had another American friend visiting from Singapore, named Brandon, so the Brendan/Brandon combo attempted to take on who knows what in Bangkok. We had some direction from my local (but also American) friends, however one had previous plans and the other was ill, so we simply went with the flow of the night in Bangkok. This is a pretty accurate description, as we lacked a true plan and simply stepped out of one bar only to slide along the stream of lights, flashing, cat calling, and raucous made from all over the place, into the next one.
I'll spare the mindless details, but say that all in all I felt very safe in large part due to the respectful and amicable nature of the Thai people. Everyone, and I mean everyone, addresses you with a hello and small bow in which you place you hands together in prayer fashion. Conversation flows with an easy smile no matter who you chat with; be it a local or foreigner.
So, Thailand was fun. I came back with some new cheap clothing purchases, a couple nice pictures, a couple pictures I'll hold in fear of blackmail, and a few tales of woe to share with the a certain audience.
Coming back to Mumbai was a much smoother transition than before. Sure it's easy to chide many aspects of this unkempt, less than developed metropolis, yet this being my third time through the airport I felt somewhat comfortable and at ease. The roads home were almost familiar. Even the run down overpass, and sprawled slum specked with blue tarps to protect from the rains was a site I knew so well. Life here is not exactly easy and carefree, but it's no longer hard. Even if I often envisage of a life in almost any other city I've resided or visited, either east and west, I've learned to enjoy and appreciate what it means to live in Mumbai.
Below are some scenes around my area of the city, and pictures of my apartment.
Thailand Pictures. The motorcycle taxi video won't work, apologies.
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