Little Bit In Love…

Almost a month has passed since I arrived in India and it’s happened! I’ve  developed a crush on the country and Mumbai in particular. I almost dare to say it’s love at first sight…

Every day I see or experience something new and as cheesy as this sounds, I really feel like I’m alive, living instead of just standing on the sidelines as my life passes by. I don’t necessary think this feeling comes solely from living in Mumbai at the moment but has a lot to do with the fact I was quite unhappy before. But so I can happily report there are no regrets (this is quite a relief as there’s always a risk of huge disappointment when one quits their job, leaves friends, loved ones and family behind and f**ks off to India:)

So what has caused this happy fuzzy feeling in my belly, I hear you ask. I would love to tell you – in detail of course! Here are my top 10 reasons for current Mumbai happiness:

1. The People. Indians are so friendly and sincere you can’t imagine it unless you’ve been here. Ok, they love to stare and yes, the guys can go a bit nutty over a blonde girl but in general I’ve faced nothing but absolute kindness. There’s also a bit of an expat culture going on and I’ve met some pretty cool people…
2. The Party. There is literally a party or a festival on every day. People love to dance, do processions, get together and often also worship on the streets.  The image below is of the festival Durga Puja, which has been going on for the past few days. Also Mumbai is not as religious and conservative as many other parts of India, so you can go clubbing or find a house party most nights and the use of alcohol is pretty common. There are also plenty of Western style bars and clubs for when you need a leather couch, air conditioning and a Cosmopolitan. It’s a late night city so things really start happening after sunset.
3. Everything Is a Phone Call Away. You can order anything to your home. Anything. Want a bottle of beer? Call the off-license and be sipping on a cold Corona in a few minutes. Fancy a chocolate bar in the middle of the night? Call your local grocery store. Need some ironing done? Call the ironing shop (yes, there is such thing) to come collect the clothes from your doorstep. Want some dinner? Just call any restaurant to bring it to you (every place, even the smallest deli will do this). The best bit? Delivery is always free.
4. It’s really cheap. Mumbai is the most expensive city in India but it’ still ridiculously cheap by Western standards. I take the rickshaw every morning and evening to the train station (10 minutes one way). It’s usually about 10 Rupees. That’s 15 cents my dears. My monthly train pass in 1st Class, which enables me to travel anywhere in Mumbai, costs 400 Rupees. That’s about 6 euro a month. Dinner in a nice place will be about 500 Rupees, regular Indian lunch about 50-150. That’s why I’ve gained like 5 kg in one month. Ugh…  The only things that you need to pay more for are rent and alcohol. Bottle of beer is something like 200-300 and a G&T would be between 300-500 (depending on how nice of a place it is). Rents can be anything between 5000-25 000 Rs. a month depending on your standards.
   

   This is a typical lunch with different sauces you can eat with bread, roti, naan or rice. Super yummy, about 50 Rs (75c)

5. Service Culture. They have a ridiculous amount of staff in shops and restaurants but service is still pretty slow. You might see three customers in a coffee shop but about 8 waiters and baristas on stand-by. Still when you place your order it will take them 15 minutes to make a coffee. Need to be patient. But also, they will serve you well. In shoe shops it’s out of question you would just try the shoe on yourself. No no no. A man will kneel to the floor, and then help you slip on the sandal. Even if your feet are filthy. Same in restaurants. You don’t do anything. When the food is brought to the table, the waiters will serve the food. They re-fill your glasses, add ice cubes, top up your plate. There is a “water boy” filling your water glass constantly. This isn’t just in fancy shops or restaurants, it’s everywhere. First I felt awful (especially cause the water boys always look about 12 years old) but I’ve been told it’s just not normal to serve yourself.
6. Traffic. Before I came lots of people said the traffic’s awful and you spend hours stuck. Not so. Traffic is crazy for sure and Indians drive like total maniacs. But most often it moves pretty smooth, there are no crazy jams and the trains run every few minutes. As rickshaw drivers don’t really get paid for the time they’re standing still (the meter stops moving) they will find a way to move in traffic even if it means mounting the sidewalk or driving on the wrong side of the road. There’s also this crazy rule you don’t look back when driving. Instead people honk the horn when they want to overtake you. So the noise level is high. You’ll have auto-rickshaws, cabs, cyclists, horses, cows, pedestrians and people with wheel barrows on the same street but still not too many accidents, just little clashes. I think that’s a miracle in it itself. I’ve so far been in two clashes, both times while riding a rickshaw. First time someone hit us from the back and an argument ensued (during which I just listened to my iPod in the back while the two drivers smacked each other). The second time we had a completely nuts driver who didn’t really use his break and we hit another rickshaw when coming to a halt in a crossroad. But as the rickshaws are like toy cars it felt more like being in an amusement park bumper cars than having an accident.
   

   From the backseat. That's the meter. You read it by ignoring the last digit and always deducting 1 from the price.

7. My work. I don’t want to go to the details here but I do really enjoy my work. The organisation I work for is pretty new and there are so many things I’m learning about how NGOs function. My role is very fulfilling and I genuinely enjoy going to work. I work from different offices but the “HQ” is in Dharavi, the slum made famous by Slumdog Millionaire. It’s supposedly the biggest slum in India and some say even the biggest in Asia. I would call it a city within a city. I’m adding a pic here from the slums which you might recognise if you saw SDM…
   

   The famous pipelines that run through Mumbai & the slums

   For the record, the slum is totally safe, it’s a legal slum and has water, post, police, fire station, waste disposal. It’s not some misery central. I’ll write more about this later. Anyways, it’s been a while I’ve felt passion for my work and that I’m actually maybe even making a difference. The fact I don’t really get paid isn’t bothering me. Should I be worried?

8. It’s so safe. Mumbai has over 20 million inhabitants, it’s disorganised, densely populated, badly lit maze with dingy train stations and narrow alleyways. Yet, there is not much crime. Women can safely walk alone at any hour, take a night train, move around in any area. Nobody knows why it’s so safe. Yesterday I heard a theory that the safety comes from the numbers. You’re never really alone. But then again, Delhi is known to be really unsafe and it’s also over-crowded so not sure why Mumbai is such a safe haven. But it is!
   

   I don't have a suitable picture here but instead I give you the cow. Yes, they're holy. This one was helping itself to a veggie sellers tomatoes which caused some agitation.

9. The Weather. This should rank higher but I’m starting to take the good weather for granted. It’s always warm. Always. The average temperature is about 30 degrees Celcius but often feels hotter because of the humidity. That should change now as the Monsoon is over (it was bad this year, very few rains apparently) and the climate gets drier. You sweat all the time and it can feel a bit bad that most of the time girls need to cover up a little but all offices and houses have air conditioning or at least fans. I brought over a few cardigans and sweaters but you seriously don’t need any. Adding evidence below.
   

   Sometimes even the most hard-working NGO girls need a bit of pool time. And coconuts.

   

   View to Juhu Beach from the pool. Why not go to the beach? A) Water is too filthy to swim in B) You can't go to the beach in a bikini unless you want 500 guys jumping on you.

10. The Culture. While not a city of museums, Mumbai has plenty to offer on the culture front. Yesterday we went gallery hopping and I was pleasantly surprised by the vibrancy of the current art scene. We also met some of the artists, which was great as we got to hear about their work. I fell in love with one painting but it cost 50 000 Rs and was huge. I couldn’t take a picture unfortunately. There’s also some historical places, such as the ancient cave statues of Elephanta Island (see pics below) and the temples, churches and mosques built by Hindis, Christians and Muslims – all living in sweetish harmony.
    

    The main attraction in Elephanta Island 1 hour ferry ride from Mumbai is the 3-headed massive scupture of Shiva. Dates from c. 250-500AD.

    

    View from the top of the hill in Elephanta Island.

At the entrance of the caves. I feel it's necessary to let you know I'm not that white anymore. Hehe.

Of course, after this gushing, I should point out that there’s the opposite side to these things as well. Some days I’m irritated by everything, I find myself shocked by the children begging, the skin whitening obsession of women, the constant staring I face and some lewd comments by guys… oh and the internet is shit. So yeah, that can suck big time (I’m not going to say how long it took me to upload these photos cause it is so ridiculous). There are also other kind of issues like over-bearing neighhbours, scamming taxi drivers etc etc… but I can moan about that later. Today I’m just really happy to be here!

Read Full Post »