Salaam Bombay!

Well, I've gone ahead and done it again. I've fallen in love. With the most populous city in India no less (and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million - Wiki): the great Mumbai. People here are kind, friendly, helpful, not pushy, and overall just wonderful. Weather is also great, much less intense than I was expecting (back in Rishikesh, I overheard rumours about Mumbai being in a record heat wave, but shortly before the plane landed at 5:15pm yesterday, the pilot announced the temperature at 27 degrees celcius. Not bad at all. Though I did break quite a sweat today while walking from Carlton Hotel to India Guest House, which are only a few blocks from each other, but I haven't quite familiarized myself with the streets yet, so went around in circles for about half an hour before finally arriving at my destination, and then traipsing up the narrow staircase with my heavy bags to the 3rd floor of the building, where India Guest House is located. 

You'll only find out about the reasons for the switch in my next post, which will describe yesterday's journey. I'm starting with today, because it'll be simpler and shorter. On average, I've written about 2 pages per day in my journal, but yesterday's count was: 26!!! (What the?!?) Nothing crazy or spectacular happened (well, aside from travelling half way across India using 8 different modes of transportation) so I guess I just had a lot of time to write since I was in transit all day, with my journal never further than an arm's length away. Was also just really inspired and motivated to write (because, clearly, until now, I haven't been... wink, wink), and I think I've officially decided to write a memoir when I get back. (Though I'm not sure when I'll find the time to sit down and write between getting my Intentional Community set up - finding land, resources, funds, material, participants, etc. -, teaching yoga, healing cancer patients, giving Tarot readings, doing a ton of research for everything I just mentioned, organizing fundraisers for Children of the Ganges, catching up with everyone, making a special photo and video montage of India, and hopefully starting a family and applying for adoption at some point... Yeah. I'm gonna be a busy gal. But have never felt more motivated, alive and inspired to do it all!


So, back to Bombay. Up around 6:45 this morning, but awake since about 6, after another pretty interrupted sleep. And not, as you might imagine, due to the unbearable noise of the city. It's actually a million times more calm and quiet than I expected. I can't quite believe how relaxed it feels. (You'd probably think it was nuts and terribly noisy if you were here, but after 50 days in India, I came to expect much worse.) The night-time weather was also quite pleasant. Even shut the window and turbo-strength ceiling fan, laying out on an amazingly comfortable bed (so comfortable, in fact, that I was tempted to just lie in it all day today) with just a tank-top, boxers, and light blanket. So, I'm not really sure why I woke up so often. The only thing I can think of is that I felt very itchy all over. I remember thinking, as I kept groggily waking up, "Please don't let it be bedbugs. Please don't let it be bed bugs." But I would just scratch away, then go back to sleep without checking for bugs. Morning verdict: no bites, no bugs. Don't know what caused it, but I recall a similar night when I arrived in Rishikesh... maybe it's just reacting and adjusting to new bedding. It looked greyish outside when I got up, but when the sun came up round 7, it yet again made its way into a blue sky. (I think I can count on one had the cloudy days since I've arrived, and on 3 fingers the times it has rained.) After using the nicest - though shared - bathroom (bowel movements still A1, fingers crossed!) I've seen so far in India (recently renovated, toilet paper supplied - a real luxury in India! -, hot water, nice tiling, glass division for shower, strong flush toilets), I dedicated almost 2 hours to a stellar packing job. (Sorry, that was a really choppy sentence!) Proper weight distribution and tightly rolled clothing makes the world of a difference. And I happily shoved all my warm heavy clothes down to the bottom, which shouldn't move from there till mid-May's mountain treks. Managed to fit my hiking boots in this time, and even had one less shoulder bag full of stuff than when I arrived. Awesome! Got dressed then went out to the common bathroom area to brush my teeth and splash my face (sadly, with Bombay tap water rather than fresh Rishikesh Ganga water), said good morning to the friendly staff of Carlton's Hotel on my way back to my room, and, packed up and ready to check out at noon, headed out to Leopold's, just two blocks down, for breakfast at 9. 


I must stop here to explain that going to Leopold Cafe was one of the things I most excitedly anticipated when heading to India. It's the location of many important scenes from what is bar-none the greatest book I've ever read: Shantaram. I highly recommend giving it a read if you haven't already. The story is extraordinarily fascinating and mind-blowing, and the way Gregory David Roberts writes and expresses his experiences, thoughts, and realizations, is truly inspiring, riveting, and deeply thought-provoking. Are you convinced yet? No? Ok. Here's more: while reading, I would meticulously (those who know me well know I'm a little - fine, fine, a lot - OCD) fold the pages that had mesmerising and thought-provoking passages, and by the time I got through the novel's thousand pages (oh yeah, have to warn ya, it's a brick!), no less than a few hundred pages were missing a corner. It actually took me two years to through the book, and while I'm certainly a slow reader by nature, it didn't help that I reread countless passages several times, because I wanted to let the profound and beautifully expressed messages sink in. If you're not yet convinced, I don't know what to tell ya. The book is labelled as a novel, but it's primarily the true account of the time Gregory David Roberts spent in India, mainly in Bombay. Actually, he is still living here, and while I didn't spot him at Leopold's this morning, I do hope to do so when I return with Blaire in the next few days! The cafe was actually a little different than what I expected, but I suppose it's changed quite a bit since Roberts first went in 1982.


For those whose interest has been tickled:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Cafe (basic info)
http://www.leopoldcafe.com/ (great homepage)
http://www.shantaram.com/ (An amazing, amazing site. If you have time to get through it all - I haven't yet - I'm sure you won't be disappointed. But if not, check out the fascinating author facts to learn in point form about his incredible past and admirable present. Was thrilled to see confirmation about the rumours I heard before leaving on my trip: he is currently working on a sequel to Shantaram!)
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18907.Gregory_David_Roberts (basic info)
http://ia.rediff.com/news/2004/nov/30inter.htm (out-dated but good article and interview)


Sat down for a deliciously sweet and refreshing cold coffee and what might be the best fruit salad I've ever had (papaya, green grapes, banana, watermelon and pineapple). From Haridwar, I wrote that I thought I might blend in a little more in Mumbai... mission accomplished! So many young westerners in Leopold's that if it weren't for the Indian staff and ceaseless honking outside (though shockingly, there's less here than where I've come from: only about 1 per second, rather than 5 or 6 overlapping at once) I could have been sitting in a cafe in the plateau. And out in the streets, it's the most multi-cultural place I've been yet (by Indian standards, at least). Very little staring, barely stand out at all :) I feel like I'm walking on clouds as I make my way down the streets, which are busy and crowded, but with calm, non-pushy vendors and tourists; and I glide gracefully and confidently through the oncoming traffic at chaotic intersections (where the street lights don't seem to make any sense at all) as if I'd been doing so for a lifetime. I have a strange and strong sensation of feeling at home here. And for a self-proclaimed non-city-girl, that's quite a statement! Must have spent significant time here in a past life ;)  


My pace was often slowed as I passed by book street vendors, but I was strong enough to resist coming to a full stop. Went from Leopold's to an internet cafe, intending - again - to write a blog post, but getting through e-mails and facebook messages took even longer than usual since I didn't sign in yesterday. I've even started my healing working through e-mail. As people read through my accounts of physical, mental and spiritual growth and discoveries, some feel compelled to ask me for advice on all of these fronts. I could easily spend the better part of every day on internet, writing blog posts, answering e-mails about what's going on back home, organizing my Swati fund, giving sought-after advice, staying in the loop through quick scrolls down my facebook feed, researching my next destinations, planning trip details with those who are coming to meet up with me, starting research for all I want to get underway when back home, watching inspiring video links sent through e-mail and facebook, and keeping up with my finances through online banking (and there's probably plenty more I'm not thinking of right now). But please, don't by any means take this comment as a subtle message not to keep me posted with your e-mails, "therapy" requests, link sharing, or other. I absolutely love receiving and responding to all of these. It's just to say that I'm keeping myself uber-busy, what with web stuff and discovering India. My days are pleasantly packed, and I just wish they were longer! Maybe I can try sleeping less??


So, spent an hour and half at internet this morning, went back to Carlton's to gather my bags and check-out at noon, found my way back to India's, checked into a ultra-basic but nice room that I'll share with Blaire tonight, then walked back out to write this post at a different internet cafe... and I've been here for over 3 hours!!! (My OCD makes me re-read each post when I'm done typing - and remember, I'm a slow reader -  to check for typos, edit vocab and fix or add details. Might save me some editor fees for my book!) Internet - along with everything else - is quite a bit more expensive here than in the north, so I kinda wish I had done the long photo-blog task from there! Well, I say everything's more expensive, but still so cheap by western standards.


Ok, I seriously thought this would be a quick and not too lengthy post, since it covers only about 10 hours of one day, but yet again, I've been carried away with words. (Possibly the longest post yet, I think.) I don't even want to think about how much time the account of yesterday will take me to write - and take you to read! As I prepare to click on the Publish Post tab, I'm realizing there's so much more about today that I forgot to include, but to let you get on with your day - and me with what's left of mine! - I'm going to wrap this up. 


Coming up next, a photo-blog (soon, soon, I promise), and as soon as I figure out how to condense my 26 pages of notes on yesterday's travels into a reasonably-lengthed post (I do, after all, have to save a few details and surprises for the memoir, otherwise none of you will feel the urge to read it!), a description of my journey from Haridwar to Mumbai. 


Can't stare at this screen any longer, so off to walk along the ocean waterfront for the first time, then dinner and a little relaxing before heading back through the busy streets for the hour-long ride to the airport, greeting Blaire who lands around midnight. I seriously hope she has some jet-lag to recover from, because after not much sleep last night, and going to bed in the wee hours of the morning tonight, I'm going to have some catching up to do myself. 


Excited to see her! For those who don't know, Blaire is my 18-year-old (I think...) cousin from my mom's side of the family, who I haven't seen in about 8 years. Lots of catching up and fun times ahead I'm sure!


Signing out from Colaba district, on Arthur Bunder Road, a block away from the ocean!