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Mumbai
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In Februari 2008 I had the opportunity to visit my expatriated sister & family in Mumbai India, Breach Candy area. I stayed 10 days and included two trips, one to Aurangabad (Ajanta caves) and one to Goa (Colva Beach).
The international airport is being renovated and rows of plants attempt to cheer the place up. The passengers are efficiently herded through immigration with no less than 40 manned immigration booths. For some reason all international flights are processed at night and the domestic ones with its own domestic airport during the day. The drive from the international airport to the south of the city is not especially uplifting: the streets are lined with dilapidated one-storey buildings and cars share the road with bicyclists and even pedestrians. Headlamps or taillights on cars are only optional.
Daytime traffic is chaos. The major roads have three to four lanes well separated from opposite traffic. Getting ahead means squeezing the car in any crevice that opens up at every opportunity which is accompanied by non intermittent honking, even more confusing because Indians like the English drive on the left side of the road. The large number of motorcycles (which can accommodate an entire family) and auto rickshaws add to the mayhem. T-junctions are very common and the only way to reverse direction is a 180 degrees wheelie and of course traffic approaching from the opposite direction will never voluntarily allow the wheelie to be completed which means more honking. A drive to the airport can take 10 minutes or 2 hours. A new road located right in the Arabian sea is under construction and can be spotted on the way there.
Driving is bad enough but the consequences for pedestrians are even worse. Crossing a street is hazardous and crossing a busy 6 lane intersection requires careful planning (subways and over ways are scarce). Mumbai does not have speed bumps. Taxis (crappy interiors, breakneck-speed driving) proved to be reliable at least in my experience. The black box on the outside is the taximeter that displays a set of three numbers. The fare is calculated by reading the numbers from the meter lets say 0,2 and 40. The rupee amount is found on a table where for example 2,40 corresponds to 100 rupees. You can always ask the driver to produce this table. I was not brave enough to test out the Mumbai local train system.
Mumbai experienced a cold weather spell with temperatures up to 28°C and 10°C at night not seen since the early sixties and many locals were observed wearing woollen caps and sweaters even in 30 degrees sunshine. In the early hours of 3 February there was even a brief shower. At night the streets were dotted with small firesand people huddled around them. The newspapers updated their readers on the basis facts of the common cold.
So what does the Mumbai urban scene in 2008 look like. There are of course the large number of cars, motorcycles and rickshaws. For delivering goods 6 meter long wheelbarrows are employed. No sightings yet of nanocars though. What is also striking is the large number of people crowding the streets day or night although life tends to start after 10 in the morning. Then the pavements are cluttered with shops and vendor stalls. Although there is no shortage of big posters asking the public to keep the city clean and explaining fines as part of a new municipal initiative, it is impossible to find any garbage bins.
In terms of wildlife, one notices the ever presence of fish eagles, crows and stray dogs but none of them bother humans. The famed holy cows have been spotted only twice (not free-roaming but tended to). Goats are abundant in chor bazaar and two elephants were sighted participating in a religious festival, blocking Marine Drive one afternoon. The newspaper the next day (headline: truncated truck call!) reported they were arrested by the police because elephants are banned from the city. Also identified one cow-propelled wooden cart. (observed a caravan of 50 carts in the early hours while staying in Ellora). No temple coplex is complete without a band of monkeys.
Much business appears to be conducted outdoors, or was it because of the unusually cool weather. The streets in the diamond selling area around Tata street were thick with merchants, lawyers and their clients lined the streets around the court building and it was equally busy outside the Mumbai stock exchange. Western tourists were only found in the direct vicinity of touristic spots
An absolute joy are the numerous English newspapers. There must be around 10 of them at least and cost an amazing 2 rupees. They are stocked with horrendous traffic accidents, corruption, and politics of course. To name just a few continuing stories (week 5 2008): manhunt for kidney-stealing physician, hotels apparently note the caste of Indian guests, Indian - Australian cricket row after racist slur continues in court, Raj Thackeray (politician) says Amitabh Bachchan (famous Bollywood star) is not a true Maharashtrian, North Indian cab drivers molested by Thackeray supporters and Raj's uncle Bal not prosecuted for his involvement in the anti-muslim 1993 riots. As described in Mehta's Maximum City, thugs 'encountered' and shot by the police are in fact purposely exterminated and indeed newspapers still dutifully report on thugs encountered and shot without a trace of irony.
Sights to see: Malabar hills with Hanging Gardens and Jain Temple, take Siri road and you will find yourself on Chowpatty beach. The big touristic sigths can sometimes be difficult to find because of lack of signs especially for tourists (Chowpatty beach this way! Gates of India this way!). My Lonely PLanet 2005 edition already warned that the small Christian enclave called Kotachiwadi (from the end of Chowpatty up north again) is difficult to find and I was not disappointed. After only 2 hours searching I finally located the place as a side street of Girgaon Road. Yes the wooden houses are still there although not that many. On the other hand all the little side streets away from the busy roads are worth popping into. they are relatively quiet, car-free, clean, green and essentially little villages in themselves.
The next set of sights cover the area of the Fort district, the area around the Gate of India (currently under renovation and incredibly messy) and the Cobala area with Cafe Leopold, local headquarters in G.D. Roberts Shantaram. Read that book!. My copy is personally signed with this line: 'May all the journeys bring you wisdom in the struggles of the heart and courage in the heart of the struggle', dated January 1 st 2006 with the 6 crossed out and replaced by a 7. A special mention to Chor bazaar, a really big market place with one street for every trade be it in second-hand tools, tires, car and computer recycling , sweatshops, garlic or flowers. I spent 4 hours wondering around and I think I have seen only half of it.
In Mumbai just to the north of Breach Candy several places of interest are within walking distance. The Mahalakshmi temple complex and the Haji Ali Dargah Mosk (tight security!) hug opposite shores. From there to the horse race track where incidentally the horses also sport the tilaka or bindi (red dot) between the eyes. The bridge at Mahalaxmi rail station offers a great view of the Dhobi Ghat laundry operation but also check out the opposite side where you can see 10 rail tracks leading into south-Mumbai with a great skyline.
Very worthwhile is a boat trip to Elephanta Island for its collection of temples. On the particular day I went there the owner of Kingfisher had his boat (95 meters, three storeys) the Indian Empress anchored not 500 meters away from the Gates of India (Why Men Drink Beer). Very noticeable: a brown carpet of smog looming over the city and even though the boat trip is about 70 minutes, the island is in fact located in the outskirts of Mumbai harbour as evidenced by moored freighter ships unloading their cargo right next door. In order to get to the temples you have to run a gauntlet of souvenir shops (a 500 meter trek uphill) but luckily the temple area itself is a commerce-free zone. The wares on offer were the usual collection of stone or wooden elephants, elephants, Buddhas and Buddhas (did I mention elephants?). But where is the stuff you can actually use or where are the innovative products? I lost my belt in the security airport check and good luck trying to purchase a new one from one of these vendors. With respect to souvenirs I settled for one of those tiffins (a kind of lunchbox you see all over the place) and a nice quilt from Fabindia.
Domestic air travel is well organized (with a dedicated domestic airport). Be careful to respect latest boarding time! I was ruthlessly turned away at the check-in desk of GoAir (10 minutes late! at 06:15 hours and second try 12:30 spiceJet faired better despite 2 hours delay) On the upbeat, this airline provides text messages in the event of delays (to me a novelty) which is great because public broadcasts at any terminal tend to be inaudible. A general nuisance that many people can relate to is lack of leg space in aircraft, especially for as I am 201 cm tall. Fortunately Indian seats are just as crappy as European seats and not worse. The obvious solution of course is to aim for a seat next to the emergency exit at e-booking time but not all airlines clearly indicate emergency exit seats. In the specific case of Swiss Airlines (Zurich to Mumbai) it is not even possible to book this seats. A great tool is the website seatguru.com in which you can select the airline, the type of aeroplane and then get a very detailed overview of the seating arrangements. For example select the Swiss Airlines Airbus A330-200 3-Class and you will agree that 28K is the best seat in the house.
Nuisance number two are the airport security checks. In the same week that a Dutch television programme detailed how a bomb could be smuggled on a plane at Schiphol airport (none of the 25000 airport employees have their luggage or id checked and can just wander around at over the place!) I spent much time in a queue simply waiting and wondering why I was unable to buy a 50 ml sunscreen bottle. Specifically in India the first queue starts outside the terminal as no one without a ticket is allowed in. Tip: on departing from Mumbay international travellers are treated to x-ray luggage scan even before reporting to the desk, a novelty to me. I also found out my brand new Scarpa hiking boots have two metal strips in them (why!) so I had to take these of as well as the belt. Which I subsequently lost. A big sign at the security check at Aurangebad airport gives a list of 20 dignitaries which are exempt starting with the president, the prime minister, deputies and so one. The Dalai Lama is also listed.
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