Hunter Gatherer Part II + Highlights
Trip Start
Oct 09, 2007
1
40
42
Trip End
Nov 16, 2007
Mumbai (Bombay),
India
Thursday, November 15, 2007
All of a sudden Alan takes my hand and leads me across the road. This brings us directly in front of a Kodak shop. The special thing about this ordinary looking shop is that every time I passed it, I would look longingly and shamelessly at the 2 posters in the window of Shah Rukh Khan. That 6-pack, shirtless, on his knees pose and know that I would not be able to buy this as we had looked for it in vain at all the street vendors that deal in posters of every kind. "Too new madam, take this one - Chak de."
The shop was almost closed with the roller doors half down. Alan told me to wait and ducked under to go inside. I was wondering "What is he going to buy now - it's not like we need film for our digital cameras." After a short while, he emerges with a big grin on his face and says "Come, come, come!" I follow him under the door into the semi-darkness and see 2 shop boys behind the counter digging around. One of them then produces a roll that he opens up revealing a fresh copy of the poster I had been coveting. Alan took out his wallet to pay them for it but the boys said with big smiles, "No - take. For Madam."
(ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Omigod omigod omigod! I wanted to scream with happiness there and then - my Hunter Gatherer FULLY redeemed himself for his misadventures over lunch! Bbsighhh! That is my Alan.)
Now some of the "...est" moments from our trip.
Funniest Moment : Seeing a gora (white boy tourist) walking along Collaba looking at the shops and their wares while brushing his teeth with a frothy mouth full of toothpaste! ahahahhaahh what the??
Cutest Moment : While at Crosswords Bookshop which also sells cds and dvds we heard a little voice singing "Chak de, Chak de India .... " (from SRK's Chak de India movie which recently came out on DVD) This little voice kept singing pitch perfect and then I heard a man's voice giggle and say "My girl, you have really lost it!" She kept singing so sweetly that both Alan and I sought her out. She would have been about 4 or 5 years old and her father told us when we complimented her on her beautiful singing that he had just bought her the DVD as she loves the movie. She had been to see it a couple of times in the cinema! See they start early, SRK fans!
Scariest Moment : In Jaipur, in the Pink City I witnessed a woman fall off the back of a motor-bike. The women here clad in saris all sit side-saddle and look so precarious. I still see it happening, one moment she was on the bike and I just knew she was going to fall off ... and then she did and she twisted in such a way that she landed flat on her back. It was horrible. We told our auto to stop - which he did for a few seconds but then said "No she is ok." I am not sure if she was really okay, but the road was so congested and he had to keep moving.
Kindest Moment : Of course it's Joseph from Ernakulam who so gallantly held his umbrella over my head in the heavy rain while Alan waited in the rain queueing for tickets for our ferry ride.
Most Entertaining Waste of Time : Attempting to buy tickets for SRK's Om Shanti Om - we have never felt such a combination of frustration and amusement! What an eye opener that was.
Most Heartfelt (bbsigh) Moment : Little Lakshmi's successful operation where she was separated from her parasitic twin. This 2 year old was born with 8 limbs and an extra torso which was joined to her pelvic area. She stole the hearts of everyone with her gorgeous smile and personality, and she now is recovering and will likely live a normal life.
Craziest Sports Fan Moment : Walking back from Collaba, we spotted a large crowd of people standing in front of a restaurant. Another crowd of equal size was standing on the median strip of this incredibly busy intersection. And then another crowd still, even larger was on the other side of the road completely. All heads turned toward this restaurant's semi-large screen TV which was inside the restaurant by the way. The India Vs Pakistan Cricket Match was on!
Will end here. Tomorrow we head back home.
Time to go! (Donovan, had to put that line in specially for you, darling!)
