India

Trip Start Sep 04, 2008
1
21
61
Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of India  , Maharashtra,
Monday, November 3, 2008

Okay, first off, I can touch all four walls in my room at once.  But, my room does have a view of the bay.  On the other hand, the smells of Mumbai drift in my open window and alternate between the smells of myriad spices and unbelievable food, and what I imagine to be the apotheosis of street side Roman effluence circa the first century.  Often, both smells swirl together in what could only be described by someone  with a  limited vocabulary as, "interesting."

I have never seen poverty like this, and it's completely mixed in with the normal high rise buildings and swanky hotels and restaurants of a modern city.  Last night, I caught a Hollywood movie (movies are huge here, as it's the city of Bollywood), then walked home and witnessed entire families sleeping on the street.

Yesterday, I took an incredible tour.  It was into the biggest slum in Asia, called Dharavi.  President Clinton once visited, although I would guess it was after he was out of office.  With roughly one million inhabitants, dwellings mostly consisting of corrugated steel, and nary a modern entrapment in sight, I felt more than lucky to have been born in America.  It's a tired cliche, but all four of us younger guys (eight people in our group) commented that when bitching about our jobs, we should just remember how people live in Dharavi.  By accident of birth, we were born in the Western World, while these folks were not.

The industry is almost entirely recycling.  Generally, the women sort the trash, and the men use the machines.  Safety, in any form, does not exist.  The federal government has a plan in place to redevelop the area.  Is it because they care about the terrible working conditions (almost all of these operations are technically illegal) and the plight of the poor?  No, actually the government wants the land as it's smack dab in the middle of town near the airport, and two major highways go through it.  Most of the people in the slums are against the plan, which consists of tearing down there homes, and putting up tall apartment buildings.

It's amazing, but some of these workers, particularly the textile laborers, actually earn a wage well above the government set minimum.  There's definitely no way I can adequately describe what I saw, and pictures were off-limits, understandably.  However, the tour company is supposed to email me some pictures that I will then post.

On a side note, I once again left my ATM card in a machine.  Wouldn't it make sense to give a person his card back before his money.  After all, no one would ever leave the machine without their money.  Anyways, the bank destroyed my card before I got there the next morning.  So, I'm accepting applications for an assistant.  Basically, duties consist of keeping track of my belongings, shielding me from touts, and finding the cheapest beer.  Pay is minimal, and by minimal, I mean nothing.  But, on the other hand, you'll be in India.

One more thing to add to this long post.  I have a business plan, finally.  It's called "Literary Classics, Books on Tape (Indian Accent Edition)."  I think the Indian accent is my favorite.  Imagine this line in the most comical Indian accent imaginable (head wobble and upraised index finger optional, but highly recommended), "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."  Or, from our highly acclaimed Shakespearean series, "To be, or not to be, that is the question."  Or, "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?"  Imagine Macbeth with three Indian witches, "Boil, boil, toil and trouble.  Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." I would buy it.
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